"Key Email contacts for key activities and teams in the Office of the e-Envoy"I wonder if my emails will get through their spam and green pen blockers?

And I'll bet it'll take 3 or 4 months just to get an acknowledgement, let alone a face to face. But it's time to get seriously political about blogs and the competitive advantage for UK plc to have nearly every one of the Queen's subjects blogging. Blogging reviews, blogging events, blogging rants, blogging good ideas. And connecting up with each other. Wasn't this the idea behind The Big Conversation? That died a death didn't it.With no dates on the few messages posted there it sure looks like it.

Never mind the bottom up business of Bill Gates, what about the bottom up politics of Tony Blair?

1746 Also posted to: Home page , cyberSaps ,  At: 2:28:40 PM  . .
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Other title(s) for this story: A blog for everybody in the UK   Blogs could be the UK's competitive advantage  

From the Guardian: "It's pretty clear that Iranians had us for breakfast, lunch and dinner," said an intelligence source in Washington yesterday. "Iranian intelligence has been manipulating the US for several years through Chalabi."

Larry Johnson, a former senior counter-terrorist official at the state department, said: "When the story ultimately comes out we'll see that Iran has run one of the most masterful intelligence operations in history. They persuaded the US and Britain to dispose of its greatest enemy." [John Robb's Weblog]

Eh? Run that by me again. But though they weren't exactly mates, the Iraq/Iran war was over, and there seemed to be reasonable relations between the two countries for the past few years. And to have brought US troops so close, and given the US a chance at steam rollering Iran too? Would this have been simply a case of Iraq's my enemy and so too is the US, but the US is more dangerous, therefore my enemies enemy is my friend, thus Iran would have supported Iraq.

I don't know who to believe anymore.

 Source: John Robb's Weblog; 25/05/2004; 17:45:14.
1743 Also posted to: Home page . At: 12:17:16 PM  . .
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Other title(s) for this story: US intelligence fears Iran duped hawks into Iraq war

Dropping the kids off this morning, I listened in the car to the Pogues version of this old song:

Now when I was a young man I carried my pack
And lived the free life of the rover
From the Murray's Green Basin to the dusty outback
I waltzed my Matilda all over
Then in 1915 my country said "Son,
It's time you stopped rambling, there's work to be done."
So they gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gun
And they mached me away to the war...

And so now every April I sit on my porch
And I watch the parade pass before me.
And I see my old comrades, how proudly they march,
Reviving old dreams of past glory.
And the old men marched slowly, all bones stiff and sore,
They're tired old heroes from a forgotten war,
And the young people ask,"What are they marching for?",
And I ask meself the same question.

A sad old ballad that brought a lump to my throat. It's been doing that for the past few days.

1733 Also posted to: Home page . At: 10:10:32 AM  . .
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Other title(s) for this story: Forgotten wars   Sad old soldiers   We will always remember them  

Reading about the hatred for Rumsfeld in the US military, I realised that these antitheses have all the makings for a military coup in the US. Not quite tanks rolling through Washington, but certainly backroom shenanigans.

Bye-bye Rumsfeld. If not maybe tanks will roll through town — after Bush, and the rest of his neo-con gang.

But this doesn't sound right. Would the tanks be lefties? Militant democrats, perhaps?

1726 Also posted to: Home page . At: 9:31:58 PM  . .
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Other title(s) for this story: The campaign to oust Rumsfeld   Army against Rumsfeld   Rumsfeld clings to power  

It's pretty certain that Bush will lose his election at the end of this year. And I'm hoping that Blair too, will step down, to ensure Labour still wins with another massive majority.

I suggested that Blair fall on his sword months ago. To further that effort, I'll be tactically voting in this June's European elections. Voting for Libdems, rather than Labour.

Question then will be, will the world be a better place? I'd hope that the Arab Street will see what democracy can do, and want it for themselves. But democracy is an ass. And the Arab Street has never been given the free, secret vote. They won't understand.

And we'll be back with the generational war that started at the end of the second World War, when Jews moved into Palestine.

Still, it'll be better without Bush and Blair.

1725 Also posted to: Home page . At: 5:42:02 PM  . .
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Other title(s) for this story: Bye-bye Bush, bye-bye Blair

Propaganda
Smother Iraq with locally targeted propaganda, brochures, leaflets, videos, radio, TV; tell them how it is—honestly. Show the torture pictures, tell them this is unacceptable and it means those involved will probably go to jail, the victims financially compensated and counselled by premier New York and Californian shrinks. The Iraqi people have been children, now they have to grow up fast!

This is the rightness of America.

Truth, justice...
We want out but have to ensure peace and calm as is our responsibility as conquering forces. We want nothing more than peace, democracy and tolerance. Sure we are a majority Christian army and nation, but we have always tolerated other religions, cultures and creeds. Blah, blah... American way... blah, blah. we'll need to educate about democracy, judicary and the quest for the truth; they don't know about these values

Show pictures of Saddams gaols, show recreated pictures, fill a half of a newspaper with them. There's plenty of local stories, illustrate them, remind of millions of victims not hundreds and was part of the reason for coming and educate about why we came.

Stories
There's so many stories to tell. There's so much that they, as a democratic nation, can do in the area. Sell them the propaganda. Make what they'll be like if they could raise their standard of living, get houses in neigbourhoods done out like the TV programme Garden Force. One of the most media savvy nations on the face of this earth and the US doesn't know how to sell a concept of peace and harmony. Show them dubbed Friends. (It's addictive you know.)

Deeds
Explain religious tolerance; illustrate with 9/11 and how strange war is. Let's show how idiotic this is. Take the religion out. We could knock down the gaols and rebuild mosques to prove how religiously agnostic and supportive we are. Your happiness is our mission, now.

1718 Also posted to: Home page . At: 1:22:15 AM  . .
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Other title(s) for this story: What Bush should do next   Torture, where do we go from here   What now for Rumsfield  

Watching the two hearings with Rumsfield and his generals, I see that the questioners are too sympathetic they are trying too much to help Rumsfield. They don't want to make this worse than it is.

The BBC just had two different people from the Red Cross, who say this torture is in all Iraqi prisons, not as Rumsfield says, just a few bad apples in one place. And the Red Cross have been telling the State Dept. this since April 2003! And previously in Afganistan. If that isn't systemic what is?

Reuters: The Red Cross also said coalition forces had fired on unarmed prisoners from watchtowers and killed some of them.

The explosive nature of these pictures and soon video was in the system for months, the abuse for over a year and Rumsfield didn't know about it?

Rumsfield says he heard of abuse in Jan 2004. 5 months later the press let the cat out. Did he not hear the Red Cross? Did he ignore it? Rumsfield didn't see these photos till last night. Could he really have missed the explosive nature?

He will have to go to show the world that this was wrong. At last the black guy asked him, pleads with him to resign for the same reason as I--top heads need to role. Honour.

And the British will have to do something too. But we are small potatoes in this game.

1717 Also posted to: Home page . At: 11:19:43 PM  . .
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Other title(s) for this story: Rumsfield has to resign