The present problems of Iraq are 100% down to our murderous invasion and occupation. The idea that further western bombing will make things better is so deluded as to beggar belief.
I was surprised to find during my Burnes research that the imperialist powers of Britain and Russia were explicitly exploiting Sunni and Shia divisions to further their conquests of Islamic lands as early as the 1830’s. This has been the major tool of the neo-con Middle Eastern gameplan for some time, spreading disunity and crippling war throughout the Middle East, with the hope that this will benefit the interests of Israel.
The peculiar result has been that in general the West is very actively supporting Sunni armies and miscellaneous forces, but in Iraq is supporting the Shia. ISIS – which is heavily backed by the Saudis, who hate al-Maliki – brings this paradox into sharp relief. The current US and UK strategy is to persuade Saudi Arabia to get ISIS to reconcentrate their efforts against Assad, on the understanding they will be allowed to keep the Sunni areas of Iraq (the old neo-con plan of dividing Iraq is firmly back on the agenda).
The BBC News this morning said that ISIS would not be capable of using the billions of dollars of sophisticated western armaments they have captured. I think you will find the Saudis remedy that one quite quickly. It is quite possible we will see some token airstrikes to kill civilians in Mosul, in order to appease Obama’s domestic backers who are never happy if Americans aren’t killing enough people, but only after agreement has been reached with the Saudis that no serious harm will be done – except to the ordinary people neither Obama, the Saudis or al-Maliki care in the least about.
As you say Jay, there is no peace for any of us anywhere in this still beautiful world that we inhabit.
But in spite of the seriousness of the present situation on many fronts, Agent Cameron found time to wish the footballing millionaires well for tonight. He is so like BLiar now, it’s laughable.
He has a namesake LOL
Cameron the lion, who lives at Bristol Zoo, has chosen an England victory tonight having had three boxes of meat to choose from, England, Italy and the draw. http://www1.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/9348866/lion-predicts-england-win
Remember that clever octopus?
All is well in Ruritania. Silly hats and silly uniforms worn by silly people.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/06/14/article-2657820-1EC1616700000578-507_964x517.jpg
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2657820/Happy-Birthday-Maam-British-pomp-ceremony-best-Royal-Family-turn-fine-style-traditional-Trooping-Colour-parade-saluting-Queen-turning-88.html
Excellent post – Craig.
I came against this interesting website:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/former-french-foreign-minister-the-war-against-syria-was-planned-two-years-before-the-arab-spring/5339112
Pure speculation but wasn’t this the time of Adam Werrity and Liam Fox?
What have we started?
Can we not ban Habbabkuk? He’s gone too far this time.
Anon
Those objecting to the use of Scotch clearly never read the preface to AJP Taylor’s English History 1914-1945
“Some inhabitants of Scotland now call themselves Scots and their affairs Scottish. They are entitled to do so. The English word for both is Scotch, just as we call les français the French and Deutschland Germany. Being English, I use it.”
As expected.
Tony Blair rejects ‘bizarre’ claims that invasion of Iraq caused the crisis
‘We have to liberate ourselves from the notion that “we” caused this’, argues former prime minister in website essay
The Observer, Saturday 14 June 2014 22.16 BST
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jun/15/tony-blair-iraq-essay
The article refers to his ‘essay’ on his Faith Foundation website but I cannot see it there. http://www.tonyblairfaithfoundation.org/
“I came against this interesting website:”
Nah – I don’t think so
http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Globalresearch.ca
“Can we not ban Habbabkuk? He’s gone too far this time.”
I think Habba can point to at least 10 insults for everyone he gives out in return – but strangely enough never a call for the banning of those giving out the most insults. Mary for example has yet to even provide an explanation for her “something of the Talmud comment” about Peter Mandelson a few weeks back.
R2D2 How strange that you should know about that slime. You are not the author of it by any chance are you?
PS Michel Chossudovsky knows of it too
Give it a week, it’ll be some other paper, and 600k. Osborne’s robots really need to get a grip on inflation, this quantatitive-easing lark is getting out of hand, can’t the comeback-kid clunking-fist Brown come back and do one last favour for humanity?
You can’t make this stuff up, but they do, surprisingly often. The Telegraph hack’s article doesn’t say Ladbrokes, but William Hill, as did the Daily Record one -I wish you, or they would make up their minds which bookmaker and stick with it, the bookie’s runner spokesmuppet named in both articles is the same, one Graham Sharpe, and he seems pleased and confident in his well-vetted and hauntingly familiar statement, that they – William Hill – will be keeping any money wagered (less the chancellor’s take) -it doesn’t sound like there’ll be much spectral jam tomorrow for this phantom anonymous punter. Here we have more of Blair’s toxic legacies, along with Iraq: divisive happy-clappy ‘faith’ schools, vampire banks and now record levels of gambling and parasitic back-street bookies spreading like a nasty rash. Casino Loyal, where once mighty engines forged the modern world, our fate turns now on George Osbourne getting a full-house at the bingo.
The newspapers have entered the silly-season Olympics with a series of spectacular flops.
Resident – I wouldn’t believe too much on rational wiki…
A moment’s internet research would be wise.
The interesting thing is just how media popular the past few popes have become.
They’re now biggin’em up.
Ratso’s visit to Westminster was an absolute disgrace. All that curtseying and crawling from the political and media class. It was very creepy, as if a bigger boss had come to town.
Big shift from not so long ago.
And this Pope Francis, Assisi, the Jesuit, who didn’t go along with Liberation Theology during the fascist days in South America, and now he’s kissing ugly people, disabled people, poor people and gods knows what else.
I mean, if people can’t see all this nonsense for the media charade it is, then it’s not surprising they’re always on their knees.
If true, it is outrageous. I am told that on the BBC ‘News’ it was announced that BLiar is coming on Marr tomorrow morning. The blurb only mentions John Reid and Sajid Javid.
Perhaps the likes of BLiar’s mate has been leaned on and James Harding too, Director News and Current Affairs and Zionist supporter.
Apologists for Israel take top posts at BBC
http://electronicintifada.net/content/apologists-israel-take-top-posts-bbc/12395
Herbie Did you know that Patten Chairman of the BBC Trust was seconded to organize the Ratzinger visit. Wasn’t it excruciating and each minute of it was covered by the BBC. It must have cost a fortune.
Pope visit declared ‘overwhelming success’ by Lord Patten
The Pope’s visit to Britain has been an “overwhelming success”, according to the Government’s organiser.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/the-pope/8014433/Pope-visit-declared-overwhelming-success-by-Lord-Patten.html
Yes, Mary
Patten is a famous English Roman Catholic. Earlier in his career this was pointed out at every available opportunity, for some reason.
But yes, it was very weird and creepy. Ratso looked like Klaus Kinski in Nosferatu with his pointy red shoes and dark eyes.
However, this was a very political moment.
Interesting perhaps to look at how much they were hit in media, across the Western world over the child abuse scandals.
Not so much of that now in media internationally, but if you look locally you’ll see there is much yet to resolve.
Looks to me like they were hit with the child abuse stuff to change their mind about something.
Must have worked.
The media campaign is over, and they’re rehabilitated and being crept to again.
I’d love to see a mass media campaign against Councils and their care of children. Seems we only ever get that in incidental form, and no overall narrative is ever constructed.
Its all just Roman theatre and PR.
Ratzy was told to do one cos he wasnt telegenic.
Beergoggler was fixed in as the new,ahem,touchy feely geezer.
The rest is guff.
Mary – if you really want to read Blair’s full demented denial
http://www.tonyblairoffice.org/news/entry/iraq-syria-and-the-middle-east-an-essay-by-tony-blair/
“R2D2 How strange that you should know about that slime”
“Resident – I wouldn’t believe too much on rational wiki…
A moment’s internet research would be wise.”
That’s where a moment’s internet research into Global Research led me – and everything it said appeared to be revealing and well sourced – I note its healthy skepticism towards the usual conspiracy theories. Of course Mary calling it “slime” would be a another argument in its favour.
“Mary – if you really want to read Blair’s full demented denial”
Of course she does – she hangs on his every word don’t you know – she’s Dorking equivalent of the old ladies in Clochmerle who monitored the public urinals so as confirm how they offended public decency.
Blair’s ‘demented denial’ in part from his diatribe:
http://www.tonyblairoffice.org/news/entry/iraq-syria-and-the-middle-east-an-essay-by-tony-blair/
So after invading Iraq, what measures where put in place to rebuild ‘with functioning institutions and systems of Iraq’s Government’?
(Leaving aside the dictum ‘if you break it you own it’ for the moment.)
1) Appoint a total cretin like Bremer who banned the Baathist party and disbanded the Army, 400,000 immediately without income and not happy campers (not Blair’s fault, poodle factor – even the Brits used Japanese soldiers for security after Japan’s surrender)
2) Bremer the cretin again, ignoring the socialist economy, tries to privatise infrastructure and natural resources.
2) In the meantime, stand by and watch while the nation’s treasures are looted.
3) Allow the sectarian divisions to deepen by allowing/encouraging ethnic cleansing of Sunnis
4) With Sunni political grievances largely unanswered, (exclusion and discrimination against Baathist party members for example irrespective of culpability under Saddam) create the circumstances for extremist groups to flock to Iraq.
5) Spend the next 8 years fighting the extremists with ‘collateral damage’ among civilians reaching appalling levels, likely hundreds of thousands. Such extremist in such numbers having never existed before, especially in Iraq.
6) When the ethnic cleansing was practically complete, tell the world it was the ‘surge’ that did it, ignore the underlying cauldron of hatred created among even moderate Sunnis
7) Engineer the accession of a Sunni hater like Maliki to power.
8) Prop up Maliki and help him smash even Shia rivals.
9) Allow/turn a blind eye to torture centres, Abu Ghraib etc
10) When it all goes belly up, withdraw, blame the Yanks, blame now the events in Syria creating ISIS ignoring the support of same by Saudi Arabia, who not incidently wanted to smash Saddam in the first place etc etc
Tony Blair is one sick poodle.
There appears to be conflagrations everywhere. LIbya is still screwed, we must recall, who knows what’s happening in Ukraine, and Iraq, well, that sad basket case of a country is screwed for a generation, probably more. And yet, there is talk of more of the same. These neocons really can’t learn a single thing. Obama has, true to his usual tactic, said something reasonable, then belied it instantly, perhaps under pressure from the militant wing of neocons. Air strikes already on the cards. I also read something about a tactical alliance with Iran, through the looking glass stuff there. And apparently Bliar will be on our screens soon, doubtless telling us what we must do. Prick. What he should do is STFU, but he won’t.
“The BBC News this morning said that ISIS would not be capable of using the billions of dollars of sophisticated western armaments they have captured.”
Ah, the beardy goat-molesting terrorist ignoramus meme. Well, they seem to have taken time of from goat-troubling, and defeated the Iraqi army, so I think the bbc might have got this one wrong, as usual. The amount of misinformation floating around, I just don’t bother these days. Blogs tell you more than well-funded media outlets, well some of them.
umm. yes. Ukraine seems to be slightly out-of-focus. mebbe someone can bring it back to the foreground. The rope-a-dope strategem seems to be a winner. Look over here, no here. So it goes. No one seems that interested, yet.
Dad was in high spirits at 8 13pm when he was showing RD how grown-ups do debates and stuff.
”Which is a bit rich coming from the bitch who mindlessly cuts and pastes away the whole day and never ever responds to perfectly reasonable and pertinent questions.
Ni discussion, no reasoning, no thought, no follow through.
An ostrich bitch.”
Who could take issue with such a calm and reasoned explanation?
Impressed with his own brilliance he drained the last bottle and just managed to shake RD from his stupor before taking a well earned kip.
…
So, the US wants to provoke a war with Russia over Ukraine.
While there’s no doubt people will die in large numbers, what are the chances of success if they get their war?
I feel there must be a pattern somewhere here if only I could make it out.
“Lebanon: US wanted a new Middle-East. Fail.
Iraq: US wanted to built a client-state. Fail.
Afghanistan: US wanted to eliminate the Taliban. Fail.
Pakistan: US wanted to eliminate the Taliban. Fail.
Syria: US wanted to regime-change Assad. Fail.
Egypt: US wanted to create a client state. Fail.
Libya: US wanted to create a client state. Fail.
Chechnia: US wanted to subvert Russia and control the Caucaus. Fail.
Georgia: US wanted to subvert Russia and control the Caucasus. Fail.
KSA: US wanted an alliance with KSA over Syria. Fail
Qatar: US wanted Qatari support over oil prices and Russia. Fail.
Yemen: US wanted to destroy al-Qaeda. Fail.
Somalia: 20 years ago the US wanted to take Somalia under control. Fail.”
From http://vineyardsaker.blogspot.co.uk/
Well said Sofia
here too, is Abby reminding us of cia crimes over the years…just Some of an Endless List –
Abby Martin goes over some of the Most outrageous CIA opperations around the world…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opyymMi50rk&feature=youtu.be
(Hat tip to Rudyard Kipling)
On June 13, Bangkok-based geopolitical analyst and writer Tony Cartalucci in an article, entitled NATO’s Terror Hordes in Iraq a Pretext for Syria Invasion has cleared some of the fog surrounding the evildoers behind the so-called “ISIL Islamists”.
“In actuality, ISIS is the product of a joint NATO-GCC conspiracy stretching back as far as 2007 where US-Saudi policymakers sought to ignite a region-wide sectarian war to purge the Middle East of Iran’s arch of influence stretching from its borders, across Syria and Iraq, and as far west as Lebanon and the coast of the Mediterranean. ISIS has been harbored, trained, armed, and extensively funded by a coalition of NATO and Persian Gulf states within Turkey’s (NATO territory) borders and has launched invasions into northern Syria with, at times, both Turkish artillery and air cover,” says Cartalucci.
“The alleged territorial holdings of ISIS cross over both Syrian and Iraqi borders meaning that any campaign to eradicate them from Iraqi territory can easily spill over into Syria’s borders. And that is exactly the point. With ISIS having ravaged Mosul, Iraq near the Turkish border and moving south in a terror blitzkrieg now threatening the Iraqi capital of Baghdad itself, the Iraqi government is allegedly considering calling for US and/or NATO assistance to break the terror wave,” adds Cartalucci.
The Jewish-controlled Western media is capitalizing on ISIS’ notorious brutality, including mass beheadings and hundreds of thousands of civilians fleeing before them, is part of anti-Muslim campaign to pave the way for the so-called “humanitarian intervention” in both Syria and Iraq to further Balkanize the Middle East for the evil interests of Israel.
http://rehmat1.com/2014/06/15/rouhani-iraqi-nation-is-capable-of-defending-itself/
Ah dear, Tony Bliar has waded in, as we knew he would. I almost feel sorry for the guy, he’s evidently in need of professional help. His ‘contribution’, however, is from the standard neocon play book. We did nothing wrong. Everything is as it should be. Nobody made a mistake, nobody resigns and nobody gets fired. Go back to bed, world.
I’ve yet to see a single neocon change his\her mind about the invasion. The facts speak for themselves, but still every neocon sticks by their position. I’ve no explanation for this, other than perhaps they have been advised to hold the line by their expensive lawyers. Or, they are scared of retribution …
Personally I think The Guardian should stop giving Bliar air-time, but that’s not going to happen.
The BBC have put Blair at the top of their home page.
LATEST:Blair: ‘We didn’t cause Iraq crisis’
The 2003 invasion of Iraq is not to blame for the current crisis in the country, which is the “predictable” result of western inaction in Syria, Tony Blair says.
US deploys warship amid Iraq crisis UK offers £3m for Iraq aid effort Iraq crisis: Reporters’ round-up Deal over Bush-Blair Iraq documents MPs’ vote halts UK action over Syria
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-27852832
The accompanying photo, taken in 2006, has the pair in quizzical mode with Bush slightly out of focus. Is that supposed to imply that he’s the Wicked Witch and the clear eyed and staring BLiar the Goody Two Shoes?
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/75532000/jpg/_75532640_75532639.jpg
From an interview with the late Clarissa Dickson Wright.
‘It’s not just her own private life up for grabs. Clarissa’s time at the Bar overlapped with that of several prominent New Labourites, and she’ll discusses their escapades with equal gusto: ‘Cherie Blair was clever but desperately needy and always jumping on Derry Irvine.’ I wince. ‘Actually, Derry Irvine was quite a sexy guy back then,’ says Clarissa. ‘He radiated intelligence.’ And then there’s Tony Blair. ‘He was a few years younger than me but I remember him well. He was very glib, a chancer and, you know, he wasn’t really respected by anyone of my generation. Everybody used to say, it’s just as well he’s going into politics because he’ll never succeed at the Bar. We used to call him Miranda.’ Because he was wet? ‘No, no, he wasn’t called Miranda because he was wet, ducky!’ Clarissa guffaws impatiently. ‘Remember that scene in The Tempest when Miranda sees the sailors? Well then. He got on conspicuously well with all the male junior clerks. Everybody knew it.’ But he’s married now, I say. ‘So are a lot of people.’’
Perhaps Resident Dissident in his little swipe at me above, and referring to Clochemerle, was subconsciously thinking of the stories that circulated about Blair’s activities in his early years in such a place in London
http://www.spectator.co.uk/features/143476/im-a-pinup-for-scottish-pensioners/
Fixed.
Mary I think Bush being out of focus in that pic simply reflected the need for Tony to look more intelligent and stern while in the company of a cowboy idiot.
Better suggestion than Blair’s: To recover some moral authority towards the ME, either Tony Blair surrenders to the ICC with handwritten confession OR he be allowed to exercise the courage of his ‘use force’ convictions and is parachuted into Mosul as the advance party of further (Coalition of Unrepresentative Swill) military action.
BLiar is of course the Quartet Peace Envoy which is a great irony in the light of his recent outpourings for more war.
Has he ever left his luxury hotel suite in Jerusalem and been into a Palestinian home and spoken with the members of the family? Would he have ever met this gentleman? Probably not.
‘ON RADIO 4 TODAY, SUNDAY, 15 JUNE 2014 AT 11.15 AM
Raja Shehadeh
Kirsty Young’s castaway this week is the Palestinian author and human rights activist, Raja Shehadeh.
Born in Ramallah in the West Bank, his life and writing has been dominated by displacement, struggle and a search for justice. His father was murdered in 1985 and aside from chronicling the unhappy history of his family and his homeland, he’s also co-founded the Palestinian human rights organisation Al-Haq – which monitors and documents violations by all sides in the Middle East conflict, publishing reports and detailed legal analysis on its findings.
Amid the heavy weight of his work he somehow finds time to nurture a glorious garden growing grapevines and pomegranates.
He says of his work, “When you write your thoughts and feelings and emotions … then you can move on to new ones. Otherwise, they will keep rotating in your mind and you will go in circles”.’
The use of the word ‘conflict’ irritates. There is an Occupier oppressing the Occupied. Just like the word ‘intervention’ is used by the corporate media instead of ‘offensive war and invasion’.
Quite so Peter Kemp but he is protected in many ways and by many people.
I liked your version of ‘If’.
Thatcher liked to quote it. So did old Dan Maskell in his commentating at that relic of the British Empire, the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club, where the poem is displayed on a plaque over the entrance to Centre Court.