Landstuhl: planeloads: "Prior to the Iraq war, the hospital received no more than 10 injured U.S. soldiers a year from conflicts. Now, it usually handles between 30 and 55 a day from Iraq and Afghanistan alone."

Landstuhl: planeloads: "Prior to the Iraq war, the hospital received no more than 10 injured U.S. soldiers a year from conflicts. Now, it usually handles between 30 and 55 a day from Iraq and Afghanistan alone."

David Marr: Howard's 'dark victory': "Both sides of politics - Labor and Coalition - claim whatever galvanised Australia in the Tampa crisis can’t be called racism because it was so pervasive, so popular. Manipulating race for
electoral advantage is a hallmark of Howard’s government but he insists on the right to cut down Native Title and turn back boats filled with Moslem refugees without this being named for what it is, “without being accused of prejudice or bigotry, without being knocked off course by ... phoney charges of racism”."

Howard with his remarks on Asian immigration way back in the 80s indicated his support for racism. It has just taken this long for the opportunity to arise that he can exploit. Hanson opened the way. World War 11 was a shock and helped create something of a bi-partisan taboo - racism was too horrible to contemplate. But with the passage of time and the rise of Hanson/Howard, the taboo has worn off and the issue is being exploited by a skilled operator. In other words, business as usual.

David Marr: Howard's 'dark victory': "Both sides of politics - Labor and Coalition - claim whatever galvanised Australia in the Tampa crisis can’t be called racism because it was so pervasive, so popular. Manipulating race for
electoral advantage is a hallmark of Howard’s government but he insists on the right to cut down Native Title and turn back boats filled with Moslem refugees without this being named for what it is, “without being accused of prejudice or bigotry, without being knocked off course by ... phoney charges of racism”."

Howard with his remarks on Asian immigration way back in the 80s indicated his support for racism. It has just taken this long for the opportunity to arise that he can exploit. Hanson opened the way. World War 11 was a shock and helped create something of a bi-partisan taboo - racism was too horrible to contemplate. But with the passage of time and the rise of Hanson/Howard, the taboo has worn off and the issue is being exploited by a skilled operator. In other words, business as usual.

The Dangerous Game: ordinary people's support for authoritarian/militarist/corporatist leadership: "ordinary voters whose jobs have been shipped abroad by Bush-promoted economic 'values' and whose kids are being sacrificed on the killing sands of Iraq, but who are nevertheless quite enthusiastic about the Republican ticket. The phenomenon of workaday folks who are getting royally screwed by the Right facilitating their own shafting is undeniably disturbing.

"History shows that fascism lethally consolidates itself when the people it will inevitably destroy become its staunchest, massively deceived backers. But we shouldn't succumb to hopelessness. For every woefully misled person who alternates between listening to Rush Limbaugh and Toby Keith, thereby tightening the piano wire around his or her own neck, there's someone with sufficient social consciousness and political savvy to recognize the ominous, pre-Hitlerian parallels in America today."

The Dangerous Game: ordinary people's support for authoritarian/militarist/corporatist leadership: "ordinary voters whose jobs have been shipped abroad by Bush-promoted economic 'values' and whose kids are being sacrificed on the killing sands of Iraq, but who are nevertheless quite enthusiastic about the Republican ticket. The phenomenon of workaday folks who are getting royally screwed by the Right facilitating their own shafting is undeniably disturbing.

"History shows that fascism lethally consolidates itself when the people it will inevitably destroy become its staunchest, massively deceived backers. But we shouldn't succumb to hopelessness. For every woefully misled person who alternates between listening to Rush Limbaugh and Toby Keith, thereby tightening the piano wire around his or her own neck, there's someone with sufficient social consciousness and political savvy to recognize the ominous, pre-Hitlerian parallels in America today."

Father mourns son killed in Iraq: "Saddest of all was hearing the father of Sgt Ben Isenberg of Oregon talk about his son’s death in Iraq. Sgt Isenberg was killed when his Humvee ran over a home-made mine. His father quietly explains how the war in Iraq is a “spiritual war” and that people “need to just dig into their Bible and read about it — it’s predicted, it’s predestined.” He says his son understood he had to go to Iraq because “our current President is a very devout Christian … [who] had the knowledge, and understood what was going on, and it’s far deeper than we as a people will every really know, because we don’t get the information that the President gets.” What can one say in the face of such belief? The President is simply unworthy of the trust these people have placed in him.... [Shelby:] Any president is unworthy of the level of trust you describe. The scary thing about Isenberg’s comments is their utter incomprehension of political structure, their cession of all critical thought."

Father mourns son killed in Iraq: "Saddest of all was hearing the father of Sgt Ben Isenberg of Oregon talk about his son’s death in Iraq. Sgt Isenberg was killed when his Humvee ran over a home-made mine. His father quietly explains how the war in Iraq is a “spiritual war” and that people “need to just dig into their Bible and read about it — it’s predicted, it’s predestined.” He says his son understood he had to go to Iraq because “our current President is a very devout Christian … [who] had the knowledge, and understood what was going on, and it’s far deeper than we as a people will every really know, because we don’t get the information that the President gets.” What can one say in the face of such belief? The President is simply unworthy of the trust these people have placed in him.... [Shelby:] Any president is unworthy of the level of trust you describe. The scary thing about Isenberg’s comments is their utter incomprehension of political structure, their cession of all critical thought."

Omar Barghouti: Americans, You've Lost Your Alibi!: "Barring an unforeseeable turn of events, Bush seems to be comfortably heading towards a second term, this time he will not need a mediocre court ruling to instate him; he will democratically win a valid majority of American votes. After four years of having the almost perfect, nearly credible alibi, 'we did not really elect him,' come November, you shall have to finally look the entire world in the eye and defend why you've chosen as your leader a time-tested racist, ruthless, semi-intelligent, religious fanatic who has committed enough war crimes to warrant being locked up for life at the Hague."

"In all likelihood, you shall stand guilty of renewing the mandate of Bush and his militant regime, effectively allowing them to continue battering, pillaging, ruining, dividing and hating the world, while erasing whatever is left of your civil and economic rights on their way. You've chosen that path, no question about it.... Isn't it utterly pathetic that a major subject of competition between the two is military service in Vietnam? Vietnam was without doubt a solid case of genocide. Your leaders ought to be ashamed of, not to mention put on trial at the International Criminal Court for, having anything to do with it. That is probably Bush's only moral bright spot: that he was too much of a coward to actually take part in your savagery against the Vietnamese, another sub-human species from your perspective at the time. Imagine German candidates for Chancellor competing on who participated more actively in the Holocaust!"

Omar Barghouti: Americans, You've Lost Your Alibi!: "Barring an unforeseeable turn of events, Bush seems to be comfortably heading towards a second term, this time he will not need a mediocre court ruling to instate him; he will democratically win a valid majority of American votes. After four years of having the almost perfect, nearly credible alibi, 'we did not really elect him,' come November, you shall have to finally look the entire world in the eye and defend why you've chosen as your leader a time-tested racist, ruthless, semi-intelligent, religious fanatic who has committed enough war crimes to warrant being locked up for life at the Hague."

"In all likelihood, you shall stand guilty of renewing the mandate of Bush and his militant regime, effectively allowing them to continue battering, pillaging, ruining, dividing and hating the world, while erasing whatever is left of your civil and economic rights on their way. You've chosen that path, no question about it.... Isn't it utterly pathetic that a major subject of competition between the two is military service in Vietnam? Vietnam was without doubt a solid case of genocide. Your leaders ought to be ashamed of, not to mention put on trial at the International Criminal Court for, having anything to do with it. That is probably Bush's only moral bright spot: that he was too much of a coward to actually take part in your savagery against the Vietnamese, another sub-human species from your perspective at the time. Imagine German candidates for Chancellor competing on who participated more actively in the Holocaust!"

Father threatens suicide in protest at soldier's death: "Reginald Keys climbed a pylon at the front of the pier with a noose tied around his neck and told police he would jump. Reginald Keys threatened to hang himself from a pylon. He called the Prime Minister a war criminal and demanded an apology for the death of his son, Lance-Corporal Thomas Richard Keys, 20 ... Mr Keys, 52, from Bala, north Wales, was persuaded to climb down after an hour and, clearly distraught, was comforted by police officers."

Father threatens suicide in protest at soldier's death: "Reginald Keys climbed a pylon at the front of the pier with a noose tied around his neck and told police he would jump. Reginald Keys threatened to hang himself from a pylon. He called the Prime Minister a war criminal and demanded an apology for the death of his son, Lance-Corporal Thomas Richard Keys, 20 ... Mr Keys, 52, from Bala, north Wales, was persuaded to climb down after an hour and, clearly distraught, was comforted by police officers."

Peak Oil & Gas - is nuclear energy the answer?: "Physicist David Goodstein writes in Out of Gas: The End of the Age of Oil -- 'Is there enough uranium around for that to be a long-term solution? Just like oil reserves, as at an earlier time, uranium reserves will surely increase, as a result of both further exploration and advancing technology. However, known reserves are estimated to be enough to supply all of Earth's energy needs - at the current rate of energy consumption - for a period of only five to twenty-five years. That ignores the growing world demand for power, as well as the Hubbert's peak effect, which just as valid for uranium as for oil.'

"Planet earth has been scoured and raped of its mineral resources. The large, 'easy to extract' finds have been made. Here too, depletion is the watchword. There is no equivalent energy replacement - this is not a debatable issue, this is an unpleasant fact.... Clearly, the issue at hand is how to best manage the decline of our society to one that is simpler and less complex."

Peak Oil & Gas - is nuclear energy the answer?: "Physicist David Goodstein writes in Out of Gas: The End of the Age of Oil -- 'Is there enough uranium around for that to be a long-term solution? Just like oil reserves, as at an earlier time, uranium reserves will surely increase, as a result of both further exploration and advancing technology. However, known reserves are estimated to be enough to supply all of Earth's energy needs - at the current rate of energy consumption - for a period of only five to twenty-five years. That ignores the growing world demand for power, as well as the Hubbert's peak effect, which just as valid for uranium as for oil.'

"Planet earth has been scoured and raped of its mineral resources. The large, 'easy to extract' finds have been made. Here too, depletion is the watchword. There is no equivalent energy replacement - this is not a debatable issue, this is an unpleasant fact.... Clearly, the issue at hand is how to best manage the decline of our society to one that is simpler and less complex."

Orcinus on proto-fascism in the USA: "My longtime analysis of the state of fascism in the past always presumed that mainstream, ordinary conservatives, whose decency I've never doubted, would act in concert with liberals in preventing any such thing from occurring here. But liberals, or at least their political leadership, have been simply too spineless to effectively counter such aggression; and conservatives, it has grown increasingly apparent, are now content to sit back and watch.
I came to this conclusion some time back, but it has been deeply reinforced by the mainstream conservative response to the rising tide of rhetoric that appears aimed at fomenting violence against liberals."

No one can predict the future. The error is not to perceive the tendencies that are clearly apparent, or not to have the courage to oppose them.

Orcinus on proto-fascism in the USA: "My longtime analysis of the state of fascism in the past always presumed that mainstream, ordinary conservatives, whose decency I've never doubted, would act in concert with liberals in preventing any such thing from occurring here. But liberals, or at least their political leadership, have been simply too spineless to effectively counter such aggression; and conservatives, it has grown increasingly apparent, are now content to sit back and watch.
I came to this conclusion some time back, but it has been deeply reinforced by the mainstream conservative response to the rising tide of rhetoric that appears aimed at fomenting violence against liberals."

No one can predict the future. The error is not to perceive the tendencies that are clearly apparent, or not to have the courage to oppose them.

Downer invites attack on Australian soil by foreign forces: "Indonesia would be entitled to launch a pre-emptive strike against terrorists in Australia threatening the country, if Canberra refused to take action against them, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said yesterday."

I wonder whether there is any other example in recorded history of a government leader permitting an attack on his own country. Surely Downer could not be the biggest idiot in world history?

The last country to bomb northern Australia was Imperial Japan during World War 11. No one bombs or attacks Australia, ever, for any reason, on any pretext whatsoever. That is an act of war which is totally unacceptable. For a senior Australia Government official to suggest, permit or encourage such an act is nothing less than treason. Such a person should be immediately dismissed from office and charged.

Of course, Downer (like Howard) is nothing but a fool and hardly anybody would take him seriously, including our northern neigbours (luckily). Still it is remarkable that the folly and nonsense of the doctrine of 'pre-emptive strikes' could be articulated and its sponsors not be immediately shouted down and removed from office.

Downer invites attack on Australian soil by foreign forces: "Indonesia would be entitled to launch a pre-emptive strike against terrorists in Australia threatening the country, if Canberra refused to take action against them, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said yesterday."

I wonder whether there is any other example in recorded history of a government leader permitting an attack on his own country. Surely Downer could not be the biggest idiot in world history?

The last country to bomb northern Australia was Imperial Japan during World War 11. No one bombs or attacks Australia, ever, for any reason, on any pretext whatsoever. That is an act of war which is totally unacceptable. For a senior Australia Government official to suggest, permit or encourage such an act is nothing less than treason. Such a person should be immediately dismissed from office and charged.

Of course, Downer (like Howard) is nothing but a fool and hardly anybody would take him seriously, including our northern neigbours (luckily). Still it is remarkable that the folly and nonsense of the doctrine of 'pre-emptive strikes' could be articulated and its sponsors not be immediately shouted down and removed from office.

PM's wife Janette Howard: my husband is not a a liar: She needn't be so insecure. I don't think he is accused of lying about that.

PM's wife Janette Howard: my husband is not a a liar: She needn't be so insecure. I don't think he is accused of lying about that.

The Plan: Baghdad Year Zero: "The most common explanation for what has gone wrong in Iraq, a complaint echoed by everyone from John Kerry to Pat Buchanan: Iraq is mired in blood and deprivation because George W. Bush didn’t have “a postwar plan.” The only problem with this theory is that it isn’t true. The Bush Administration did have a plan for what it would do after the war."

"Before the fires from the “shock and awe” military onslaught were even extinguished, Bremer unleashed his shock therapy, pushing through more wrenching changes in one sweltering summer than the International Monetary Fund has managed to enact over three decades in Latin America. Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel laureate and former chief economist at the World Bank, describes Bremer’s reforms as “an even more radical form of shock therapy than pursued in the former Soviet world.”

"The tone of Bremer’s tenure was set with his first major act on the job: he fired 500,000 state workers, most of them soldiers, but also doctors, nurses, teachers, publishers, and printers. Next, he flung open the country’s borders to absolutely unrestricted imports: no tariffs, no duties, no inspections, no taxes. Iraq, Bremer declared two weeks after he arrived, was “open for business.” One month later, Bremer unveiled the centerpiece of his reforms. Before the invasion, Iraq’s non-oil-related economy had been dominated by 200 state-owned companies, which produced everything from cement to paper to washing machines. In June, Bremer flew to an economic summit in Jordan and announced that these firms would be privatized immediately. “Getting inefficient state enterprises into private hands,” he said, “is essential for Iraq’s economic recovery.” It would be the largest state liquidation sale since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

"But Bremer’s economic engineering had only just begun. In September, to entice foreign investors to come to Iraq, he enacted a radical set of laws unprecedented in their generosity to multinational corporations. There was Order 37, which lowered Iraq’s corporate tax rate from roughly 40 percent to a flat 15 percent. There was Order 39, which allowed foreign companies to own 100 percent of Iraqi assets outside of the natural-resource sector. Even better, investors could take 100 percent of the profits they made in Iraq out of the country; they would not be required to reinvest and they would not be taxed. Under Order 39, they could sign leases and contracts that would last for forty years. Order 40 welcomed foreign banks to Iraq under the same favorable terms. All that remained of Saddam Hussein’s economic policies was a law restricting trade unions and collective bargaining. If these policies sound familiar, it’s because they are the same ones multinationals around the world lobby for from national governments and in international trade agreements. But while these reforms are only ever enacted in part, or in fits and starts, Bremer delivered them all, all at once. Overnight, Iraq went from being the most isolated country in the world to being, on paper, its widest-open market."

"The pragmatists were men like Secretary of State Colin Powell and General Jay Garner, the first U.S. envoy to postwar Iraq. General Garner’s plan was straightforward enough: fix the infrastructure, hold quick and dirty elections, leave the shock therapy to the International Monetary Fund, and concentrate on securing U.S. military bases on the model of the Philippines. “I think we should look right now at Iraq as our coaling station in the Middle East,” he told the BBC. He also paraphrased T. E. Lawrence, saying, “It’s better for them to do it imperfectly than for us to do it for them perfectly.” On the other side was the usual cast of neoconservatives.... The Iraqi Year Zeroists made natural allies for the White House neoconservatives: Chalabi’s seething hatred of the Baathist state fit nicely with the neocons’ hatred of the state in general, and the two agendas effortlessly merged. Together, they came to imagine the invasion of Iraq as a kind of Rapture: where the rest of the world saw death, they saw birth—a country redeemed through violence, cleansed by fire. Iraq wasn’t being destroyed by cruise missiles, cluster bombs, chaos, and looting; it was being born again. April 9, 2003, the day Baghdad fell, was Day One of Year Zero.

"While the war was being waged, it still wasn’t clear whether the pragmatists or the Year Zeroists would be handed control over occupied Iraq. But the speed with which the nation was conquered dramatically increased the neocons’ political capital, since they had been predicting a “cakewalk” all along. Eight days after George Bush landed on that aircraft carrier under a banner that said MISSION ACCOMPLISHED, the President publicly signed on to the neocons’ vision for Iraq to become a model corporate state that would open up the entire region. On May 9, Bush proposed the “establishment of a U.S.-Middle East free trade area within a decade”; three days later, Bush sent Paul Bremer to Baghdad to replace Jay Garner, who had been on the job for only three weeks. The message was unequivocal: the pragmatists had lost; Iraq would belong to the believers. "

... and more excellent stuff from Naomi Klein in a lengthy article. She's nailed it in terms of the highwater mark of 'neoliberalism' and US imperialism. The internal contradictions and detachment from reality of the dogma has inexorably led to the strategic defeat that is Iraq. Iraq is not a blunder or a mistake, it is the plan - a plan defeated only by the escalating gap between ideology and reality.

The Plan: Baghdad Year Zero: "The most common explanation for what has gone wrong in Iraq, a complaint echoed by everyone from John Kerry to Pat Buchanan: Iraq is mired in blood and deprivation because George W. Bush didn’t have “a postwar plan.” The only problem with this theory is that it isn’t true. The Bush Administration did have a plan for what it would do after the war."

"Before the fires from the “shock and awe” military onslaught were even extinguished, Bremer unleashed his shock therapy, pushing through more wrenching changes in one sweltering summer than the International Monetary Fund has managed to enact over three decades in Latin America. Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel laureate and former chief economist at the World Bank, describes Bremer’s reforms as “an even more radical form of shock therapy than pursued in the former Soviet world.”

"The tone of Bremer’s tenure was set with his first major act on the job: he fired 500,000 state workers, most of them soldiers, but also doctors, nurses, teachers, publishers, and printers. Next, he flung open the country’s borders to absolutely unrestricted imports: no tariffs, no duties, no inspections, no taxes. Iraq, Bremer declared two weeks after he arrived, was “open for business.” One month later, Bremer unveiled the centerpiece of his reforms. Before the invasion, Iraq’s non-oil-related economy had been dominated by 200 state-owned companies, which produced everything from cement to paper to washing machines. In June, Bremer flew to an economic summit in Jordan and announced that these firms would be privatized immediately. “Getting inefficient state enterprises into private hands,” he said, “is essential for Iraq’s economic recovery.” It would be the largest state liquidation sale since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

"But Bremer’s economic engineering had only just begun. In September, to entice foreign investors to come to Iraq, he enacted a radical set of laws unprecedented in their generosity to multinational corporations. There was Order 37, which lowered Iraq’s corporate tax rate from roughly 40 percent to a flat 15 percent. There was Order 39, which allowed foreign companies to own 100 percent of Iraqi assets outside of the natural-resource sector. Even better, investors could take 100 percent of the profits they made in Iraq out of the country; they would not be required to reinvest and they would not be taxed. Under Order 39, they could sign leases and contracts that would last for forty years. Order 40 welcomed foreign banks to Iraq under the same favorable terms. All that remained of Saddam Hussein’s economic policies was a law restricting trade unions and collective bargaining. If these policies sound familiar, it’s because they are the same ones multinationals around the world lobby for from national governments and in international trade agreements. But while these reforms are only ever enacted in part, or in fits and starts, Bremer delivered them all, all at once. Overnight, Iraq went from being the most isolated country in the world to being, on paper, its widest-open market."

"The pragmatists were men like Secretary of State Colin Powell and General Jay Garner, the first U.S. envoy to postwar Iraq. General Garner’s plan was straightforward enough: fix the infrastructure, hold quick and dirty elections, leave the shock therapy to the International Monetary Fund, and concentrate on securing U.S. military bases on the model of the Philippines. “I think we should look right now at Iraq as our coaling station in the Middle East,” he told the BBC. He also paraphrased T. E. Lawrence, saying, “It’s better for them to do it imperfectly than for us to do it for them perfectly.” On the other side was the usual cast of neoconservatives.... The Iraqi Year Zeroists made natural allies for the White House neoconservatives: Chalabi’s seething hatred of the Baathist state fit nicely with the neocons’ hatred of the state in general, and the two agendas effortlessly merged. Together, they came to imagine the invasion of Iraq as a kind of Rapture: where the rest of the world saw death, they saw birth—a country redeemed through violence, cleansed by fire. Iraq wasn’t being destroyed by cruise missiles, cluster bombs, chaos, and looting; it was being born again. April 9, 2003, the day Baghdad fell, was Day One of Year Zero.

"While the war was being waged, it still wasn’t clear whether the pragmatists or the Year Zeroists would be handed control over occupied Iraq. But the speed with which the nation was conquered dramatically increased the neocons’ political capital, since they had been predicting a “cakewalk” all along. Eight days after George Bush landed on that aircraft carrier under a banner that said MISSION ACCOMPLISHED, the President publicly signed on to the neocons’ vision for Iraq to become a model corporate state that would open up the entire region. On May 9, Bush proposed the “establishment of a U.S.-Middle East free trade area within a decade”; three days later, Bush sent Paul Bremer to Baghdad to replace Jay Garner, who had been on the job for only three weeks. The message was unequivocal: the pragmatists had lost; Iraq would belong to the believers. "

... and more excellent stuff from Naomi Klein in a lengthy article. She's nailed it in terms of the highwater mark of 'neoliberalism' and US imperialism. The internal contradictions and detachment from reality of the dogma has inexorably led to the strategic defeat that is Iraq. Iraq is not a blunder or a mistake, it is the plan - a plan defeated only by the escalating gap between ideology and reality.

Weapons expert's fight to warn PM: "Australia's leading expert on weapons of mass destruction defied political and bureaucratic barriers to warn the Prime Minister that his case for war against Iraq was based on falsehoods and would make Australia a bigger terrorist target.

"Bob Mathews, a 35-year veteran of the Defence Science and Technology Organisation, wrote to John Howard as a private citizen three days before he committed Australia to the war - a last, desperate act after the expert's superiors repeatedly blocked him from expressing his views."

"The Herald has obtained a copy of Dr Mathews's letter and been appraised of what one colleague described as his "disgraceful" treatment both before and after it was sent to Mr Howard. His actions were investigated, his travel was curtailed and charges were contemplated. Dr Mathews's lengthy critique called on Mr Howard to reconsider his position and take action to dissuade the US from its path. In the letter, he said:

"There was not even circumstantial evidence to back the view that Saddam Hussein had substantial stockpiles of usable WMD. If he did have WMD, and if Iraq were invaded, there was a "high probability" they would be passed on to terrorists. He said there was no chance of their falling into al-Qaeda's hands while Saddam remained in power. Australia would "face an increased risk of terrorist acts" if it joined the invasion, which was a "serious distraction to the fight against terrorism".

"Australia would have greater difficulties dealing with South-East Asian nations in combating terrorism due to the Iraq war. The United Nations must be given more time for inspections, and was an important curb on Saddam's WMD ambitions. "There are no reasons at the present time to justify supporting a US-led invasion of Iraq," Dr Mathews told Mr Howard, urging him to make a last-ditch effort to persuade the Americans to abandon their war plans. Dr Mathews sent his letter to Mr Howard on March 17 last year, three days before the Prime Minister formally announced Australia was at war."

Yet another high level leak, which further devastates the already shattered case for the war, and the credibility of the leadership. But does it matter? Or are we in an era when official lying and warcrimes are to be accepted as the norm?

Weapons expert's fight to warn PM: "Australia's leading expert on weapons of mass destruction defied political and bureaucratic barriers to warn the Prime Minister that his case for war against Iraq was based on falsehoods and would make Australia a bigger terrorist target.

"Bob Mathews, a 35-year veteran of the Defence Science and Technology Organisation, wrote to John Howard as a private citizen three days before he committed Australia to the war - a last, desperate act after the expert's superiors repeatedly blocked him from expressing his views."

"The Herald has obtained a copy of Dr Mathews's letter and been appraised of what one colleague described as his "disgraceful" treatment both before and after it was sent to Mr Howard. His actions were investigated, his travel was curtailed and charges were contemplated. Dr Mathews's lengthy critique called on Mr Howard to reconsider his position and take action to dissuade the US from its path. In the letter, he said:

"There was not even circumstantial evidence to back the view that Saddam Hussein had substantial stockpiles of usable WMD. If he did have WMD, and if Iraq were invaded, there was a "high probability" they would be passed on to terrorists. He said there was no chance of their falling into al-Qaeda's hands while Saddam remained in power. Australia would "face an increased risk of terrorist acts" if it joined the invasion, which was a "serious distraction to the fight against terrorism".

"Australia would have greater difficulties dealing with South-East Asian nations in combating terrorism due to the Iraq war. The United Nations must be given more time for inspections, and was an important curb on Saddam's WMD ambitions. "There are no reasons at the present time to justify supporting a US-led invasion of Iraq," Dr Mathews told Mr Howard, urging him to make a last-ditch effort to persuade the Americans to abandon their war plans. Dr Mathews sent his letter to Mr Howard on March 17 last year, three days before the Prime Minister formally announced Australia was at war."

Yet another high level leak, which further devastates the already shattered case for the war, and the credibility of the leadership. But does it matter? Or are we in an era when official lying and warcrimes are to be accepted as the norm?

Iraq is Hell: "Three years after the attacks on the World Trade Center, attacks in which they played no part, the people of Iraq have been liberated from one tyranny only to be remanded to another: continuous urban warfare, religious extremism and a contagion of fear.... Successful countermoves by the Sunni insurgents have prevented the United States and new Iraqi government from gaining any real political support.... There are so many new fighter cells that they are at a loss to distinguish themselves ... We are seeing the beginning of a larger conflict that is busily giving birth to monsters.... Here is something everyone in Iraq knows: The U.S. is now fighting a holding action against a growing uprising, and the more it fights the worse it gets.... The war, illegal and founded on a vast lie, has produced two tragedies of equal magnitude: an embryonic civil war in the world's oldest country, and a triumph for those in the Bush administration who, without a trace of shame, act as if the truth does not matter. Lying until the lie became true, the administration pursued a course of action that guaranteed large sections of Iraq would become havens for jihadis and radical Islamists."

"All we need to know, according to the administration, is that America is a good country, full of good people and therefore cannot make bloody mistakes when it comes to its own security. The bitter consequence of succumbing to such happy talk is that the government of the most powerful nation in the world now operates unchecked and unmoored from reality; leaving us teetering on the brink of another presidential term where abuse of authority has been recast as virtue.

"The logic the administration uses to promote its actions -- preemptive war, indefinite detention, torture of prisoners, the abandonment of the Geneva Convention abroad and the Bill of Rights at home -- is simple, faith-based and therefore empty of reason. The worsening war is the creation of the Bush administration, which is simultaneously holding Americans and Iraqis hostage to a bloody conflict that cannot be won, only stalemated.

"Over the last three years, practicing a philosophy of deliberate deception, fear-mongering and abuse of authority, the Bush administration has done more to undermine the republic of Lincoln and Jefferson than the cells of al-Qaida. It has willfully ignored our fundamental laws and squandered the nation's wealth in bloody, open-ended pursuits. Corporations like Halliburton, with close ties to government officials, are profiting greatly from the war while thousands of American soldiers undertake the dangerous work of patrolling the streets of Iraqi cities. We have arrived at a moment of national crisis."

Iraq is Hell: "Three years after the attacks on the World Trade Center, attacks in which they played no part, the people of Iraq have been liberated from one tyranny only to be remanded to another: continuous urban warfare, religious extremism and a contagion of fear.... Successful countermoves by the Sunni insurgents have prevented the United States and new Iraqi government from gaining any real political support.... There are so many new fighter cells that they are at a loss to distinguish themselves ... We are seeing the beginning of a larger conflict that is busily giving birth to monsters.... Here is something everyone in Iraq knows: The U.S. is now fighting a holding action against a growing uprising, and the more it fights the worse it gets.... The war, illegal and founded on a vast lie, has produced two tragedies of equal magnitude: an embryonic civil war in the world's oldest country, and a triumph for those in the Bush administration who, without a trace of shame, act as if the truth does not matter. Lying until the lie became true, the administration pursued a course of action that guaranteed large sections of Iraq would become havens for jihadis and radical Islamists."

"All we need to know, according to the administration, is that America is a good country, full of good people and therefore cannot make bloody mistakes when it comes to its own security. The bitter consequence of succumbing to such happy talk is that the government of the most powerful nation in the world now operates unchecked and unmoored from reality; leaving us teetering on the brink of another presidential term where abuse of authority has been recast as virtue.

"The logic the administration uses to promote its actions -- preemptive war, indefinite detention, torture of prisoners, the abandonment of the Geneva Convention abroad and the Bill of Rights at home -- is simple, faith-based and therefore empty of reason. The worsening war is the creation of the Bush administration, which is simultaneously holding Americans and Iraqis hostage to a bloody conflict that cannot be won, only stalemated.

"Over the last three years, practicing a philosophy of deliberate deception, fear-mongering and abuse of authority, the Bush administration has done more to undermine the republic of Lincoln and Jefferson than the cells of al-Qaida. It has willfully ignored our fundamental laws and squandered the nation's wealth in bloody, open-ended pursuits. Corporations like Halliburton, with close ties to government officials, are profiting greatly from the war while thousands of American soldiers undertake the dangerous work of patrolling the streets of Iraqi cities. We have arrived at a moment of national crisis."

Zunes: Bush’s UN Speech: Idealistic Rhetoric Hides Sinister Policies: "This idea that if the United States withdrew, these terrorists would suddenly leave Iraq and start attacking the United States and other countries is specious. This is simply a retread of the rationalization used during the Vietnam War that “If we don't fight them over there, we'll have to fight them here.” Despite the U.S. withdrawal and the Communist victory nearly thirty years ago, the Vietnamese are yet to attack the United States. The Vietnamese stopped killing Americans when American forces got out of Vietnam. One can similarly assume that the Iraqis will stop killing Americans when American forces get out of Iraq."

Zunes: Bush’s UN Speech: Idealistic Rhetoric Hides Sinister Policies: "This idea that if the United States withdrew, these terrorists would suddenly leave Iraq and start attacking the United States and other countries is specious. This is simply a retread of the rationalization used during the Vietnam War that “If we don't fight them over there, we'll have to fight them here.” Despite the U.S. withdrawal and the Communist victory nearly thirty years ago, the Vietnamese are yet to attack the United States. The Vietnamese stopped killing Americans when American forces got out of Vietnam. One can similarly assume that the Iraqis will stop killing Americans when American forces get out of Iraq."

Wallerstein: Iraq fiasco backfires for neocons/Likudniks: "The problem for Israel today is the Bush invasion of Iraq. It is a fiasco. And the American public is turning against it, each day more. The latest poll shows that for the first time a majority of the American public believe that the invasion was a mistake. And members of the Establishment like Sen. Fritz Hollings are now ready to write op-ed pieces saying that 'the United States has lost its moral authority.' As the U.S. reconsiders fundamentally what it has done in Iraq, it will not be too long after that the public will start to reconsider the unconditional support of Israel. And when that collapses, as it has in the last decade in western Europe, Israel will be in real trouble."

Middle East oil is expected to run out in about 30-40 years time. That is the outer limit of US support for Israel. Support could be withdrawn much earlier. The ongoing Zionist enterprise is insane: 3 million jews seeking to attain hegemony over 300 million Arabs. Failure (and possibly disaster) is inevitable. It is not too late, of course, to implement the two-state solution (as in the recent Geneva initiative) but the oddity and tragedy of modern 'democracies' is that sensible solutions are not attainable given the domination of the state by extremist/militarist/corporatist elements.

Wallerstein: Iraq fiasco backfires for neocons/Likudniks: "The problem for Israel today is the Bush invasion of Iraq. It is a fiasco. And the American public is turning against it, each day more. The latest poll shows that for the first time a majority of the American public believe that the invasion was a mistake. And members of the Establishment like Sen. Fritz Hollings are now ready to write op-ed pieces saying that 'the United States has lost its moral authority.' As the U.S. reconsiders fundamentally what it has done in Iraq, it will not be too long after that the public will start to reconsider the unconditional support of Israel. And when that collapses, as it has in the last decade in western Europe, Israel will be in real trouble."

Middle East oil is expected to run out in about 30-40 years time. That is the outer limit of US support for Israel. Support could be withdrawn much earlier. The ongoing Zionist enterprise is insane: 3 million jews seeking to attain hegemony over 300 million Arabs. Failure (and possibly disaster) is inevitable. It is not too late, of course, to implement the two-state solution (as in the recent Geneva initiative) but the oddity and tragedy of modern 'democracies' is that sensible solutions are not attainable given the domination of the state by extremist/militarist/corporatist elements.

Global Warming May Spawn More Super-Storms: "Sharp reductions of emissions of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide on the order of 70 percent are urgently needed to minimize the impacts, Gelbspan said. But despite the recent destructive series of hurricanes and tornadoes, global warming is off the radar screen of the U.S. presidential election campaign, he said. Gelbspan is not surprised at this, given the power and influence of the fossil fuel lobby in Washington, which he outlines in great detail in his book. 'America's oil and coal industries receive more than 20 billion dollars a year in subsidies,' he said. 'Imagine what could be done if that money was invested in green energy.'"

Global Warming May Spawn More Super-Storms: "Sharp reductions of emissions of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide on the order of 70 percent are urgently needed to minimize the impacts, Gelbspan said. But despite the recent destructive series of hurricanes and tornadoes, global warming is off the radar screen of the U.S. presidential election campaign, he said. Gelbspan is not surprised at this, given the power and influence of the fossil fuel lobby in Washington, which he outlines in great detail in his book. 'America's oil and coal industries receive more than 20 billion dollars a year in subsidies,' he said. 'Imagine what could be done if that money was invested in green energy.'"

Pseudo Fascism: "Without these facets, the current phenomenon cannot properly be labeled 'fascism.' But what is so deeply disturbing about the current state of the conservative movement is that it has otherwise plainly adopted not only many of the cosmetic traits of fascism, its larger architecture -- derived from its core impulses -- now almost exactly replicates that by which fascists came to power in Italy and Germany in the 1920s and '30s."

Pseudo Fascism: "Without these facets, the current phenomenon cannot properly be labeled 'fascism.' But what is so deeply disturbing about the current state of the conservative movement is that it has otherwise plainly adopted not only many of the cosmetic traits of fascism, its larger architecture -- derived from its core impulses -- now almost exactly replicates that by which fascists came to power in Italy and Germany in the 1920s and '30s."

Leaked documents show Blair committed to war by March 2002, also committed to lie over 'WMDs' as the pretext: "Taken with the Joint Intelligence Committee's warning at the same time that intelligence on Iraqi WMD was 'sporadic and patchy', the account appears to prove the charge that Mr Blair's use of the issue was purely tactical."

Leaked documents show Blair committed to war by March 2002, also committed to lie over 'WMDs' as the pretext: "Taken with the Joint Intelligence Committee's warning at the same time that intelligence on Iraqi WMD was 'sporadic and patchy', the account appears to prove the charge that Mr Blair's use of the issue was purely tactical."

John & Belle Have A Blog: Why I Was So Totally Wrong About Iraq: Blogger and commenters discuss why they were wrong on Iraq. It all seems to me to display a greater or lesser degree of naivete. It has been said by someone 'Chomsky has been proven correct', although one might respond, when was he ever wrong? From his 1967 essay What is the responsibility of intellectuals? (the responsibility of intellectuals is to tell the truth and expose lies) until today he has told the story as plainly as can be. Humankind learns lessons the hard way, and then go to the grave with their wisdom, leaving the next generation to learn it all over again. But the Iraq war has demonstrated in stunning fashion to the whole globe the basic lessons: Power corrupts, Leaders cannot be trusted, Governments lie, War is a crime, States act for 'national interest', not humanitarian motives, the corporate media is a propaganda system, the military is a menace, etc etc.

John & Belle Have A Blog: Why I Was So Totally Wrong About Iraq: Blogger and commenters discuss why they were wrong on Iraq. It all seems to me to display a greater or lesser degree of naivete. It has been said by someone 'Chomsky has been proven correct', although one might respond, when was he ever wrong? From his 1967 essay What is the responsibility of intellectuals? (the responsibility of intellectuals is to tell the truth and expose lies) until today he has told the story as plainly as can be. Humankind learns lessons the hard way, and then go to the grave with their wisdom, leaving the next generation to learn it all over again. But the Iraq war has demonstrated in stunning fashion to the whole globe the basic lessons: Power corrupts, Leaders cannot be trusted, Governments lie, War is a crime, States act for 'national interest', not humanitarian motives, the corporate media is a propaganda system, the military is a menace, etc etc.

Hegemony or Survival? - new Afterword by by Noam Chomsky: "In the desperate flailing to contrive justifications as one pretext after another collapsed, the obvious reason for the invasion was conspicuously evaded by the administration and commentators: to establish the first secure military bases in a client state right at the heart of the world's major energy resources, understood since World War II to be a "stupendous source of strategic power" and expected to become even more important in the future."

Hegemony or Survival? - new Afterword by by Noam Chomsky: "In the desperate flailing to contrive justifications as one pretext after another collapsed, the obvious reason for the invasion was conspicuously evaded by the administration and commentators: to establish the first secure military bases in a client state right at the heart of the world's major energy resources, understood since World War II to be a "stupendous source of strategic power" and expected to become even more important in the future."