Ed's Weblog

Letter to Robin Cook, MP.

I have just written a letter to Robin Cook, M.P., the British ex-cabinet minister who resigned over the war on Iraq, asking him to question the Prime Minister about his knowledge of and/or support for the ideals of the Project for the New American Century (PNAC).

PNAC has been mentioined a number of times in previous postings by both Charl and me. The aim of this group is clear: American global domination. The overlap between its members and the Bush administration is striking. This letter is a desperate attempt to gain some publicity for PNAC, not to help them of course, but to expose them for what they are.

It is slightly longer than it should be really, but its a complex issue and cannot be reduced to slogans and soundbites.

Dear Mr. Cook,

First of all I would like to commend you on the stance you have taken on the issue of the war on Iraq; it cannot have been an easy decision to take. It is on exactly that issue that I write to you now.

I am sure you aware of the United States neo-conservative pressure group known as Project for the New American Century (PNAC). If not, may I recommend that you study their website (www.newamericancentury.org) carefully. The group was founded in 1997 with the aims of promoting American global leadership, and a 'Reaganite policy of military strength and moral clarity' through which to achieve this. The founding members of this group include Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Jeb Bush and others. The overlap between the people who have been associated with this group and those now in senior positions in the Bush administration is remarkable.

In September 2000 the report 'Rebuilding America's Defenses' was published under the PNAC banner, and is currently available via the group's website. The report starts from the premise that 'America should seek to preserve and extend its position of global leadership by maintaining the preeminence of U.S. military forces' and is essentially a plea for a dramatic increase in the defense budget, essential for the transition of the military they see as necessary for America's continued global preeminence. It goes on to warn that 'the true cost of not meeting our defense requirements will be a lessened capacity for American global leadership and, ultimately, the loss of a global security order that is uniquely friendly to American principles and prosperity'.

The report's authors, while making the case for continued American global domination through transformation of the military, accept that '...the process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event - like a new Pearl Harbor'. It is clear that the tragic events of September 11, 2001 provided the catalyst they spoke of.

The report details the regions of the world where America would like to extend its influence, and these regions of course include the Gulf:

'...the United States has for decades sought to play a more permanent role in Gulf regional security. While the unresolved conflict with Iraq provides the immediate justification, the need for a substantial American force presence in the Gulf transcends the issue of the regime of Saddam Hussein'.

So Saddam Hussein is merely the 'immediate justification' for the current military action in Iraq. It is clear from this document that the plan to depose Saddam Hussein from power was formulated not only long before the attacks of September 11, but also before George W. Bush came to power, and is not a response to the threat of weapons of mass destruction or the alleged links between Hussein and the perpetrators of September 11, but a thinly-veiled excuse for an increase in American military and political influence in the Gulf region.

Anyone wishing to gain a better understanding of the Bush administration's 'new' foreign policy of preemptive action could do far worse than read PNAC's report 'Rebuilding America's Defenses'. It is quite simply the blueprint for this policy and everything we are seeing now, not only in Iraq but also the threats being made against other states such as Iran, Syria and North Korea, can be explained in terms of this document.

What I find remarkable about this report, apart from the alarming nature of its content, is the fact that it has been more or less completely ignored by the mainstream media and the British parliament. A quick search of Hansard reveals just one mention of PNAC, by Paul Flynn (Newport, West) on 17 October, 2002. The Guardian and Observer newspapers have recently run articles on this group, but these are notable exceptions, and I have seen nothing whatsoever in the broadcast media.

I therefore implore you to raise this for discussion in the House of Commons at the earliest opportunity. Please ask the Prime Minister why he believes it is right to risk the lives of innocent Iraqi civilians and British servicemen and women, widespread instability in the wider Arab world, and an increased risk of terrorist acts in Britain, America and elsewhere in the pursuit of the foreign policy aims of the American far right. By supporting the invasion of Iraq now, we set a terrifying precedent which may well result in many more wars in the places already mentioned, and will not lead to the shaping of a 'New American Century', but to a century of untold bloodshed and misery for all.

I urge you to act now, Mr. Cook, before it is too late.

Yours sincerely,

E.K.J. Chadwick.

Iran Next?

WarBlogging has another article about PNAC, this time focussing on rumours that Iran will be the next target on the Bush regime's hitlist.

These rumours seem entirely plausible.

Departure of the Prince of Darkness

Warblogging, amongst others, is reporting the news of Richard Perle's resignation from the Defense Policy Board (this can only be a Good Thing), following allegations of a conflict of interest. They also refer to Perle's role in PNAC and the particularly odious document, Rebuilding America's Defenses, in which the case for American global domination is made without so much as a small blush.

Brian Whitaker also discusses Perle's departure in The Guardian:

"In 1996 Mr Perle, nicknamed the Prince of Darkness, was the main author of a report entitled "Clean Break" whose contents were revealed by the Guardian last September (Playing skittles with Saddam, September 3 2002). This set out a plan to protect Israel's strategic interests by reshaping the Middle East, starting with regime change in Iraq."

Random cartoon

A random cartoon from Private Eye:

An Arab View

The Jordan Times describes how the current "liberation" of Iraq looks to many Arabs, in the context of nearly a century of European and American power-brokering in the region:

"For many Arabs, this revives historical ghosts from 1915-22, when British and French armies brazenly rearranged our region into strange-shaped countries with Euro-made power structures. The Arab view is that this was done mainly to protect Western colonial interests, divide up local spoils and promote Zionist national goals, largely ignoring indigenous Arab, Kurdish and other local interests. The consequences have been catastrophic: nearly a century of chronic wars and insurrections, unstable frontiers, underachieving and distorted economies, and the most persistent modern legacy of political autocracy anywhere on the planet."

Read the article here.

Also, have a look at this (quite stylish, in my opinion) website about the background to war: WhoDies

iPod fixed at last!

Apple have finally upgraded their iPod firmware, fixing a long-running battery-life problem.

"Some customers have reported that over time their iPod?s battery life has declined. This update enables the iPod to more accurately monitor its battery charge, thus using the entire battery capacity and regaining long battery life."

A quick glance at the Apple Discussion Lists will indeed confirm that some, if not many, customers have reported this problem. Also, when they say that battery life declined over time, what they mean is over the time it took to run the previous upgrade, or a few seconds.

What I don't understand is why Apple will never acknowledge problems until they've found a solution. Any ideas?

Death of the UN?

US uber-hawk Richard Perle delights in the death of the UN, in today's Guardian:

"The chronic failure of the security council to enforce its own resolutions is unmistakable: it is simply not up to the task. We are left with coalitions of the willing. Far from disparaging them as a threat to a new world order, we should recognise that they are, by default, the best hope for that order, and the true alternative to the anarchy of the abject failure of the UN."

This total disregard for the rule of law, and the reliance on ad hoc coalitions to convey some kind of legitimacy onto the naked aggression now seen in Iraq, is shameful but comes as no surprise. After all, the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), which espouses a "Reaganite policy of military strength and moral clarity" leaves us in no doubt as to where the Bush administration is going.

North Korea, Iran, Cuba and others beware.

Patriotism or piss-take?

Please, please tell me that this is a piss-take.

No really, please. And while you're there, don't forget to check out the Hall of Patriots - its really scary.

Liberty and justice for all

Matthew Engel in The Guardian suggests that the newly liberated Iraq will soon be "able to enjoy the benefits of American-style democracy", including:

At present, according to the official website of the Iraqi National Assembly ("a major organ for the expression of democracy") the 250 members are elected by blocs of 50,000 voters throughout the country. This suggests the outline principle is the same as in the US. However, the American constitution demands that the 600,000 inhabitants of its own capital city should not be allowed to take part in this process. The reasons are so obvious that no one can remember what they are, but most of those affected are poor and black, anyway. To ensure true devotion to US principles, the same will have to apply in Iraq; doubtless the Americans will break the news to the people of Baghdad tactfully.

Under decree 59 of 1994, Iraqis can lose their right hand for theft of more than 5,000 dinars and their left foot for a second offence. This will presumably be replaced by the three-strikes law, ratified this month by the supreme court, under which Leandro Andrade has been jailed for 50 years for stealing nine videos and Gary Ewing got 25 years to life for the theft of three golf clubs.

and I particularly like this one:

Saddam has been universally seen firing his gun indiscriminately and menacingly. Under the second amendment, this right would be extended to everyone.

Read the whole article here.

Mots du jour

The BBC has gathered together a collection of war jargon. For example:

going kinetic: military term for invading or bombing, shorthand for kinetic targeting. Psyops, such as leafleting propaganda, is known as soft targeting. Time magazine: "'It will be highly kinetic,' an Air Force planner says with grim understatement."

vertically envelop: invade (see going kinetic). Pentagon buzzword for the tactic of sending troops in by helicopter to seize key targets in Iraq.

and this particularly fine example of the razor-sharp wit of George Dubya:

legs of responsibility: what the UN needs to regain, according to George Bush: "...in the post-Saddam Iraq the UN will definitely need to have a role. And that way it can get - begin to get its legs - legs of responsibility back."

Back to Iraq

Christopher Allbritton, an independent American journalist, has a nice blog on Iraq here. He's planning to go to Iraqi Kurdistan and report the war from there, using a laptop and a satellite phone. First impressions are that its a nicely written, objective site.

If he's intending to be there for the kick-off, though, he'd better go now.

Carping on about the end of the world

Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water, The Observer comes up with this. A couple of excerpts:

"According to two fish-cutters at the New Square Fish Market, the carp was about to be slaughtered and made into gefilte fish for Sabbath dinner when it suddenly began shouting apocalyptic warnings in Hebrew. "

"Some say they fear the born-again President Bush believes he is preparing the world for the Second Coming of Christ, and war in Iraq is just the opening salvo in the battle of Armageddon. "

Its a fair cop, guv

It seems that among the six hoops that Mr. Hussein has to jump through is this:

1. A public statement in Arabic by Saddam Hussein, to be broadcast on television and radio in Iraq, admitting to the possession and concealment of weapons of mass destruction and declaring his regime's intention to give them up without delay.

Rumour has it he will also be asked to put a pair of underpants on his head and sing "I'm a little goblin".

Blair fit to lead us into war, says Telegraph

To prevent this from becoming a Guardian-log, I would like to point out a voice from the other side of the argument today. An editorial in Britain's ultra-Thatcherite Telegraph says this of Tony Blair:

"Any fair-minded person watching Tony Blair's performance in the House of Commons yesterday would have concluded that we have a prime minister fit to lead us into war."

and

"The line that separates reasonable criticism from small-minded mischief has been crossed - and people like Kenneth Clarke and Charles Kennedy are now on the wrong side of it. We have 30,000 troops "in theatre" in pursuit of a policy long announced and in conjunction with our most important ally.

Can anyone who wishes them and this country well really believe that we should now stand them down, send them back and let Dr Blix poke around the desert for a few more months until the world has turned its attention to something else? Ninety-nine per cent of the time politicians are just politicians, and that is fine. But for one per cent of the time, they must behave like statesmen. At this moment, Mr Blair is, and his critics are not."

Given that the Telegraph (aka the Torygraph) wouldn't have spit on a Labour member on fire five years ago, this is a quite remarkable turnaround and more indicative of where (parts of) the Labour Party finds itself today than the fickleness of the Telegraph.

Its the economy, stupid

This from today's Guardian:

"The American government is on the verge of awarding construction contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars to rebuild Iraq once Saddam Hussein is deposed.

Halliburton, one of the companies in the running for the highly profitable deals, was formerly headed by the US vice-president, Dick Cheney. Halliburton has already been awarded a lucrative contract to resurrect the Iraqi oilfields if there is a war."

The article also points out that of the five companies on the shortlist, five of them are American.

George Monbiot also has a hard-hitting article on the Project for the New American Century, previously mentioned in comments to this.

Suggestions welcome

The other day I received a letter from my landlord, who was most upset to hear that my flat did not satisfy the fire-safety regulations. I was also quite upset initially, until I read the details of the proposed changes, when I became merely amused. It seems they are planning to install a stepladder from the floor to the windowsill (about 1.5m) so that I can climb out of the window in the event of a fire. That's it. After that I'm on my own. They make no mention of what I am supposed to do after using the stepladder. The other side of the window, where there is no ladder, is about 30m above the ground.

Next week I'm going to apply to the council for a parachute.

Laughing all the way to the West Bank

Just in case we'd all forgotten about Palestine in the frenzied rush to secure the world's oil supplies (or peace, depending on who you believe), the Guardian reminds us what the real obstacles to peace in the Middle East and elsewhere are:

"Laughing all the way to the West Bank, Israel's Ariel Sharon plays Mr Bush like an open-mouthed trout on a line. Having gone into coalition with absurdist zealots repelled by the mere thought of Palestine, he set tough new terms for future talks that if maintained will preclude any progress at all while he is in office. In tandem, offensive Israeli military assaults, especially in Gaza, grow more deadly and less inhibited."

Read the whole article here.

And if that's not enough, try this one on for size:

"Of all the images associated with the occupied Palestinian territories of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, extreme hunger is not the first to leap to mind. It is more likely to be the usual television pictures of tanks and guns, angry crowds and stone-throwing youths."

"But according to UN figures, children in Gaza are today as seriously malnourished as children in Congo and Zimbabwe."

And finally, Steve Bell (again) on the Hamburger-eating war monkey.

On The Bandwagon

Well it seems everyone and his dog has got a weblog these days, so I thought I'd jump on this particular bandwagon too. If I don't like it, or get bored, I'll jump off again. Thanks to Charl for setting it up for me.

Link of the day: Steve Bell on George Bush talking out of his arsenal.