Chris Gueffroy Lives

When the Iron Curtain fell, allowing the stage players to leave — it fell on the side painted with blood. Graffiti won.

Marek J | Songs of Freedom

McPatriot Acts

Infidels 2:5

Everyone in the Middle East rewrites history, but never before have we had a US administration so wilfully, dishonestly and ruthlessly reinterpreting tragedy as success, defeat as victory, death as life — helped, I have to add, by the compliant American press.

I'm reminded not so much of Vietnam as of the British and French commanders of the First World War who repeatedly lied about military victory over the Kaiser as they pushed hundreds of thousands of their men through the butchers' shops of the Somme, Verdun and Gallipoli. The only difference now is that we are pushing hundreds of thousands of Arabs through the butchers' shops — and don't even care.

Robert Fisk | Defeat is Victory, Death is Life

It must be added that Mr. De Klerk himself is a man of integrity who is acutely aware of the dangers of a public figure not honouring his undertakings.

Nelson Mandela

A student of Wealth Bondage, I noted—with concern—columnist Joseph McPatriot's latest diatribe against Archbishop Desmond Tutu, now campaigning to house the Happy Tutor in circumstances more salubrious than the dumpster outside the Kum and Go store of convenience.

Showing political nous, McPatriot shouts Desmond Tutu Denounces Wealth Bondage before embarking on a scurrilous attempt to discredit the Archbishop's's worthy initiative. Reading the short but informative report, I put a call through to Bishopscourt.

"Yup?"

"Hi. Is Arch there?"

"Nope. He moved."

"Damn, you don't say. Who's speaking?"

"Njongonkulu Ndungane. The archbishop."

"Oh. When'd you move in?"

"1996."

"Bugger it. Sorry, I didn't notice."

"Don't worry, nobody did. They always ask for Arch."

"Maybe you should have done that thing where you knock on the door with your stick and demand to be let in. Arch did that, the SABC covered it, and it was all over the TV. Sort of like the first shuttle launch and Joe Slovo's funeral."

"They covered it because he was the first black archbishop. They thought it would make them look good. They expected a Muzorewa in a frock."

"Umm, yeah, I guess you're right. And they got a shit-stirrer of the First Order wearing a Springbok rugby jersey. Christ, how quickly we forget these things."

"Don't tell me, my Son."

"I won't. I trust you're in The Know, as it were?"

"Yeah?"

"So you've got Arch's number?"

"Yeah."

He gave me Tutu's mobile number and I called him. He was, needless to say, busy. Blessing an election rally in Bonteheuwel.

"So what's it with all these rallies?" I asked.

"We need to ensure people vote with open hearts. Without bitterness."

"Ah, you mean the power cuts? They're going to cost the ANC the Western Cape."

"It was sabotage."

"I know. But millions don't. They'll look at turnover and blame government. It's what they do."

"Yeah. But really, Mike, this has nothing to do with that. These people live in desperate circumstances and we're able to do some good out here."

"I know, I know. But why don't you bless a DA rally?"

The archbishop chuckled. "Heh, for those people, I pray."

He's a wily old bird. Anyway, the upshot was that he had his hands full and asked me to deal with McPatriot. So here I am, but who am I to argue with the cognoscenti of the neocon elite?

Nobody. But I will say this much. Get tagged, Joseph. It suits you and your overlords and will do you good to remember that a little implant from some south-east Asian sweatshop will, in all likelihood, outlast you.

Okay, unpleasantries aside (we are—after all and when all is said and done—consummate professionals), let's get down to business. We South Africans had apartheid imposed on us for long enough to understand and respect people of your ilk. We suffered Verwoerd, Vorster, Botha (talk about security of tenure—these guys put the stereotypical 'African dictator' to shame) and De Klerk and plead guilty to Burke's charge that we suffer a "deep inclination ... to favor an indirect and conspiratorial understanding and framing of political causality and political speech."

So what? Like Horowtiz, we learned some 350 years ago that—at certain times—politics is war, its objective being to destroy your enemy. Which, in the 1990s, we did. Screw Burke's manipulative apologia and Nunes's mix of Occam's Razor and...well, nonsense. It might come as something of a surprise to you and your fellow Republicans, Joseph, but it's not only Arab fundamentalists that despise Republican reptiles (see David Icke). Most of us do, but you'd have to blow the planet to rid yourself of us.

Good grief man, simple math renders 150m rednecks somewhat insignificant in the face of 5bn detractors. As ordinary people we base our policy and strategy on the harsh reality we are faced with. And this reality is that we are still suffering under American foreign policy.

Speaking of Horowitz, by the way, couldn't he do better than to advertise his book, destructive generation, on FrontPageMag.com as being "...Updated, Expanded...and Discounted!"? I mean, we discounted it on publication but, really, should its author do so?

Of course, my anger at your shabby treatment and complete misunderstanding of the Archbishop's statement does not detract from my respect for the Republicans creating, perpetuating, and exporting Wealth Bondage while Democrats, locked in its embrace, discuss and profit from its detail.

Take, for example, this snippet from a Mike Whitney article citing many analysts I enjoy reading: "Nimmo is not alone in his judgment. Other prominent analysts including, Pepe Escobar, Ghali Hassan, AK Gupta, Dahr Jamail, and Christian Parenti all agree that the Bush administration appears to be inciting civil war as part of an exit strategy."

Fools. You and I both know the Bush administration to be inciting civil war as its primary tool of occupation. I said as much back in 2003. 'Fragmentation' is the name of the game. But they will learn. 'Divide and Rule' dictates power being usurped by the divisive third party.

In South Africa's case—though never on the scale of Iraq, black ops by the SAP, CCB and the Vlakplaas guys set the ANC and IFP at each others throats, their death squads roaming the countryside, massacring hundreds.

It's a short to medium-term political strategy, with long-term social consequences. "Rubbish," said the whites and their press at the time. The guilty later paraded before the Archbishop's TRC, detailing the extent and savagery of their crimes.

"She just wants money for booze," sneered my overly wealthy and under informed Zimbabwean-farming sister-in-law, exiting the mall, her car packed with goods, dismissing an impoverished beggar at the streetlights. WB sets the haves against the have-nots, and both are its victims. In Zimbabwe, Mugabe smiles. While he's empowered by a few hundred white farmers, his people starve.

We who now fight WB from South Africa used many of its tactics in the run up to the '94 democratic elections. For example, once we'd cleared the way to democracy, we promised our people free housing. As we both know, there is no such thing in WB. In the loo leading off the Hani Memorial Hall, I have a poster promising our youth a free, quality education. That all we managed was a quality-free education decided the poster's position some ten years later.

It is true that you can find a free lunch in Africa, but you are always it.

Otherwise, we are pretty much the same as you Americans. The Tutor understands this and does not seek physical relocation from his dumpster. From a shack in Khayalisha on the sandy wastes of the Cape Flats, you can see Table Mountain far better than you can from the green-leaf suburbs sheltering beneath its bulk. Similarly, Tutor evinces great understanding of the American body politic.

Unlike those feeding and patting the Republican elephant, mistaking its parts for an illusory whole, the Tutor's view from the dumpster ensures he sees it as it is.

The trouble with you people, Joseph, is that you're both smart and dumb. You build the elephant and then you bow before it, expecting others to do the same. The Tutor will not. Like Chris Locke, Brother Marek, other EGR Irregulars and countless virgins residing sumptuously at The Jesus Bunker, the Tutor's free house lies not in Wealth Bondage, but in one of our Father's Many Mansions.

Were you, Joseph, able to rediscover your faith in human nature and Other Things (the Presidential Prayer Team and Landover Baptist come well recommended), I'm sure you would forgive your Father His Heavy Hand, lower your trousers, and proffer the other cheek.

It will not release you from Wealth Bondage but, with the Purple People Eater ready to liberate worthy souls from its vile clutches (like our week-long series of blackouts, WB cuts both ways), it might make it far easier for you to bear.

"I am going to stay on top of this little development. And if cancer wins in this world, I am going to move on to the next world. Either way I have an important role to play."

Nelson Mandela

Note: Over at Global Research, Michael Keefer sketches the economic rationale for McPatriot using dumpster-busters to pre-emptively dislodge the Tutor from his abode, while Michel Chossudovsky plays devil's advocate in two parts, suggesting the use of people-friendly coercion might reflect poorly on Wealth Bondage. Wimps.

Paperclips

I mean, yeah, what's left for Herr Reichsmarschall to do but inspect the Waffen SS Honor Guard? All the shit that went down after the crudely engineered Pearl Harbor incident was set up a long time before this goon came along.

Tom Feeley gives air to a forerunner of the infamous PNAC propaganda piece, Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategy, Forces and Resources For a New Century (which became the National Security Strategy of the Untied States of America), proving again (as the emasculated intelligence community is subsumed into the military) that the Pentagon took the U.S. government in a bloodless coup while Americans slept.

You have to admire the military's perspicacity. Rumsfeld's in particular. He and Cheney have been working towards this since the 70s. Anyway, here's the Tom Peter's of the Right on Constant Conflict:

We have entered an age of constant conflict. Information is at once our core commodity and the most destabilizing factor of our time. Until now, history has been a quest to acquire information; today, the challenge lies in managing information. Those of us who can sort, digest, synthesize, and apply relevant knowledge soar — professionally, financially, politically, militarily, and socially. We, the winners, are a minority.

[...]

For those individuals and cultures that cannot join or compete with our information empire, there is only inevitable failure (of note, the internet is to the techno-capable disaffected what the United Nations is to marginal states: it offers the illusion of empowerment and community). The attempt of the Iranian mullahs to secede from modernity has failed, although a turbaned corpse still stumbles about the neighborhood. Information, from the internet to rock videos, will not be contained, and fundamentalism cannot control its children. Our victims volunteer.

[...]

There will be no peace. At any given moment for the rest of our lifetimes, there will be multiple conflicts in mutating forms around the globe. Violent conflict will dominate the headlines, but cultural and economic struggles will be steadier and ultimately more decisive. The de facto role of the US armed forces will be to keep the world safe for our economy and open to our cultural assault. To those ends, we will do a fair amount of killing.

[...]

The next century will indeed be American, but it will also be troubled. We will find ourselves in constant conflict, much of it violent. The United States Army is going to add a lot of battle streamers to its flag. We will wage information warfare, but we will fight with infantry. And we will always surprise those critics, domestic and foreign, who predict our decline.

Major Ralph Peters | Constant Conflict

Undeniably good, it's a load of crap. But it gets to the heart of the canker destroying America. These people, too lazy to delve into the broader, more pressing, and more dangerous issues underlying their fear-filled drive to war, believe their own propaganda. They've sold themselves on it and that's what matters.

Well, Bubba, it's a case of ninety-miles-an-hour down a dead-end street.

Kablooey!

What's that I was going on about the other day? "Too much information; too little knowledge, and bugger-all wisdom."? The truth is that the Emperor and his sycophants have dressed themselves in bits and bytes. Sadly, they do not cover their more than ample asses. They're dangerous, but they're on to a hiding to nothing.

I mean, read this. The guy's as bent as a paperclip. Anybody taking him seriously should ask the CIA for a brain enema.

The Pentagon’s strategy for taking over the internet and controlling the free flow of information has already been chronicled in a recently declassified report, The Information Operations Roadmap; is a window into the minds of those who see free speech as dangerous as an “enemy weapons-system”.

The Pentagon is aiming for “full spectrum dominance” of the Internet. Their objective is to manipulate public perceptions, quash competing points of view, and perpetuate a narrative of American generosity and good-will.

Rumsfeld’s comments are intended to awaken his constituents to the massive information war that is being waged to transform the Internet into the progeny of the MSM; a reliable partner for the dissemination of establishment-friendly news.

Mike Whitney | Rumsfeld Zeros in on the Internet

Scents of Time

"Col. Frank Slade has a very special plan for the weekend. It involves travel, women, good food, fine wine, the tango, chauffeured limousines and a loaded forty-five. And he's bringing Charlie along for the ride."

IMDb | Scent of a Woman

This is Dean's revenge. I'm sure of it. I didn't get round to answering that mail... God will get you for this, Dean. Mind you, as Dean points out, it's Frank's fault. Wouldn't you guess it? Ah, fuck it, either way, it's my choice so here goes...

Four Jobs I've Had

Clerk Grade 3 South African Airways Okay, so thereby hangs a tale. I needed the job, wrote an aptitude test, and cut my hair. The guy working next to me read a book entitled Die Rooi Komplot (The Communist Conspiracy) and all the manne (males) played jukskei (horseshoes) behind one of the hangars at lunch time. The chief clerk was a dickhead; I went totally insane (whether that was SAA's fault or my and Wendy living in a hard-drinking and drugging commune is debatable—but I like to blame SAA for it), and decided all work and no play would make Jack a dull boy. I retired at 21, but it didn't last.

Sub-editor This meant rewriting several books for South African academics. These people cannot write. They are dumb. They are also wealthy (sub-editors are not). Able to prescribe their texts to students at university level, they're published on promises of prescription and their so-called authors rake in royalties which, in academic publishing, can be considerable.

Sailor South African Navy. I kinda had to go. The alternative was six years' imprisonment. I have strong convictions, but there's a limit... They initially called me up at age 16 to the infantry—from where I'd go on to killing people. I opted for extra time in the Navy, served on three frigates, and have no regrets.

Copywriter / Freelance Journalist (there's a difference?) This was a two-year freelance gig linking 13 years in publishing with what has become an inordinately long time in e-learning content development (didn't know that, did you?). I edited and contributed to a couple of magazines, became a stringer, a critic, a reviewer...it was a gas, but like most of the jobs I've had, it didn't pay.

Four Movies I Can Watch Over and Over

Apocalypse Now A flawed masterpiece. Highlighting hypocrisy rather than the fundamental lie with which we comfort ourselves, the ending chosen by Coppola is unfortunate, betraying Conrad's intent. Nevertheless, an awesome creative feat.

Natural Born Killers Oliver Stone does Lynch and Tarantino. This movie's a hoot. I mean, look, it came out before George W. Bush came on. Back ten, the broadcast media's ability to define reality was not only absurd; it was funny. I've seen it a few times and still believe it a comedy. Some people think not. Perhaps that's because we now have George W. Bush.

Scent of a Woman He's dumb, he's stubborn, he's sexist, he's selfish, he's insensitive, frightened, overbearing, depressed, hurt and seemingly out of synch with whatever's going down. But, hell, he catches on to the ineffable, wondrous world of enchantment only women can bring to our being. At bottom, he's a hopeless fucking romantic. I like to think I've a lot of The Colonel in me.

The Graduate Dustin Hoffman. What can one say?

There's a raft of movies I could watch again. Directors like Kubrick and Bergman spring to mind. There's a welter of exquisite, gentle, and beautiful movies I'd see again at the drop of a hat. But, I dunno. This little viral exercise should serve some point. These movies reflect dominant themes in my life.

Four TV Shows I Love to Watch

Hill Street Blues It was twenty years ago today... so what? Now that every series is advertised as 'gritty', it's good to remember that this was the first of its kind. Mick Belker was a saint and Buntz... well, Buntz was from the Other Side.

The Simpsons It started when my three kids were the same age as Marge and Homer's. It kinda fit and it's yet to jump the shark. My Maggie (Cathryn) is addicted to the thing, has taped virtually every episode, and watches hours at a time for relaxation.

Homicide: Life on the Street I called it 'Pembleton'. Andre Braugher made that series. A smart guy up against impossible odds, he portrayed a forceful but humane personality suffused with a dignity I doubt any cop possesses. He was my last hero.

South Park The only current affairs program I'll watch.

Four Places I've Been on Vacation

U.S. East Coast With the navy. Charleston enchanted me, Norfolk awed me (there're a lot of big fucking warships there), and New York... well, it's like it was in the movies. I watched one of Dean's favorite movies on returning (this was thirty years ago—when the WTC was a novelty), Three Days of the Condor, and recognized many of the places I'd visited. At eighteen, we didn't do the usual tourist things—we spent most of our time in bars speaking to people who either lived or worked in Manhattan. A weird bunch, seemingly oblivious to the world outside, I really dug their company.

The intersection of the Greenwich meridian and the Equator 0 degrees NSEW When you're out there, you're on vacation. Check it out on Google Earth. A deep green ocean, abundant sea life, clouds piled to heaven, a warming heat that melts butter, and all the fresh air you can suck into your lungs. No crowds.

The South African East and West Coasts The West Coast is flat, dry, scrubby, desert-like. And the water's cold. The East Coast contradicts it. A warm ocean feeds tropical forests in a verdant mountainous wonderland. Both are beautiful.

Malawi God's First Good Idea.

Four Favorite Dishes

Steak A simple man myself, I understand George W. Bush. But steak is ludicrously expensive here. I last had a decent rare steak when in the publishing industry (12-18 hour drunken lunches were the norm) some twenty years' ago.

Biltong Jerky. I salivate when thinking of heavily spiced ostrich biltong. As an adolescent, my favorite meal comprised sticks of biltong and a pint of milk.

Ice cream Why not? Some things are forever.

Peanuts... ...are for monkeys. I know. But there's something about them that could get me into trouble. Eaten by the handful, I'll munch a pound of peanuts daily without thinking twice. Lotsa fat. Lotsa protein. Lotsa carbohydrates. Gotta watch them peanuts.

Four Websites I Visit Daily

Google News For a news update...
InformationClearingHouse For a real-world news update...
Guardian Online For what's going on in the world...
wood s lot For what's going on in my head...

I must add here that, owing to a strange dint of circumstance and use of blogging tools I, like Steve Larsen and select others, get my daily dose of spiritual upliftment from Father Christopher.

It's not so much a case of the mountain going to Muhammed, but Muhammed coming to the mountain. As it were and so to speak. And without wishing to trample anybody's religious sensibilities, of course... (I've a sneaking suspicion Locke has something to do with this, but I've yet to figure it out. Ah well, such is the nature of enlightenment.)

Four Places I'd Rather Be

This presupposes something with which I'm not entirely comfortable, i.e. that I'd rather not be here. Well, let's dispense with that one. I'm happiest at home, with my immediate family, relaxing. And home's Cape Town, a place many people pay too much money to visit ('too much' because most Cape Town businesses are run by a bunch of avaricious gougers). We should rival Thailand, Bali and other high-turnover tourist traps, but the M.D. must have his Merc...

That said, I wouldn't mind being...

...at sea ...which I am, most of the time, but in this instance, I mean the ocean. There's something about the sea... if I knew what it was, I'd probably not enjoy it as much.

...in Baghdad Seriously. I realize I'd have to undergo enormous physical change, learn a foreign language, and mug up on the different forms of Islam if I were to survive, but it doesn't change the fact. I'd like to be over there.

...in Teheran ...before George bombs a magnificent culture to hell and gone. If Iran and Iranians had fair exposure in the Western media, I'm pretty certain the neocons would not be able to implement the next step in their genocide.

...in the Seychelles It's a variation on being at sea. The water's crystal blue. The beaches stretch to forever (like a circle, they would on an island, no?). And then there's the women...

Four Bloggers I'm Tagging

Tamar Jacobson
Peter (the Other)
Bill Connolly
Gaspar Torriero (gone verbose or visual)

"You know, I detect... a fragrance in the air."

Colonel Frank Slade

Friends in Low Places

Tutu denounces WB — Calls to house Happy Tutor

This is going to hurt you far more than it will me.

Dick Minim Snr.

I dunno. Besides having taken to wearing chunky bling given him by Busta Rhymes, my pal The Archbishop just hasn't been the same since he got back from the States. An Anglican, he's right up there with the Catholics and Episcopalians (that should tickle Sea Biscuit's Blogging Chaplain).

Blessing a local government election rally in Khayalitsha yesterday, Desmond "Call Me Arch" Tutu delivered a tirade against the usual—housing, utility, job, food shortages, etc.—before launching into a diatribe against Wealth Bondage (of which Mistress Candidia Cruikshanks is M.D.). Whether he met Mistress Candidia while receiving treatment for his prostate cancer, I don't know. Either way, he seems to dislike the woman, but takes inordinate pity on her perennial whimpering whippingboy, the Happy Tutor, sometimes confused with the Author Function.

The Tutor, as we all know, has been reduced to the Wealth Bondage barrow boy, slaving away at the bordello by night and sleeping in his dumpster (the aptly named Gitmo) outside the Kum and Go store of convenience, by day.

It is a tragic tale. Of the same vintage and class as Father Christopher's stenographer Chris Locke, the Tutor—unlike Locke—is an educated, sensitive man imbued with what we in the trade call Finer Feelings. His fall from grace has shocked us all. While the lowly Locke continues to occupy sumptuous... nay, palatial rooms in the Jesus Bunker, occasionally transcribing Father Christopher's Divine Revelations, darning frayed vests for RageBoy (a suicide bomber in training), or popping out to take advantage of Angel's presence (she's just returned from the coast) at love clinics conducted by Brother Marek, our Tutor licks scraps of cheese from the discarded remnants of upturned pizzas tossed to the floor of his burning-sun Houston dumpster by tow-truck drivers in a hurry.

Seldom shocked—I have seen the Archbishop risk his life to rescue a woman being necklaced by a frenzied mob—this sad state of affairs has laid His Grace low.

The purpose of his visit to the States was to update Father Christopher and the Tutor on Bush's domestic invasion plan. He starts bombing in March. Although most don't see it, the Tutor and Father Christopher—the latter through Locke and RageBoy—fight the good fight. While most of us berate the obvious and plaster ugly pictures over our blogs, their exposure of a society riddled with a cancer every bit as evil as Nazism is more nuanced. I mean, in his research of the mystic bourgeoisie, does FC not write of racism, eugenics, the master race, etc.? Does the Tutor, through his guests Blowtorch, Proctor, Powers, Chadwallah and Minim, not expose the evils of capitalism on junk steroids?"

For this, and many other reasons, Arch believes Tutor should enjoy a standard of living befitting a man of his standing and expectations. And to do that, he needs a house. Which proves my point. It is always good to have friends in low places.

"What point?"

"Whaddaya mean?"

"Well, you said it 'proves my point'. And I want to know what proof you've offered that it benefits one to have friends in low places."

"Does it matter?"

"Not really."

"Well, there you go then. It proves my point."

"The meek shall inherit the dumpster."

Major-General James Blowtorch III

Note: It's characteristic of the man (and the Web) that Tutu's extraordinary action during the 1980s, wherein he walked into a crazed horde about to set alight a young woman already beaten and doused in petrol as a prelude to her necklacing, remains undocumented (although TV footage must be available). She lived only because of his direct intervention.

"I heard that."

Joseph McPatriot

Addendum: If there's anybody out there, they might well wonder, given the sporadic nature of my projectile blogging, why I continue. Happily, in Free speech, responsible listening, Chris Corrigan extends Jack Ricchiuto's riff off a zenmaenad comment on responsible listening. The Tutor picks up the thread, expands it with delicacy and insight in Chris Corrigan Speaks with Authority, and leaves it to his commenters to explain where I'm coming from.

I certainly wouldn't be capable of it.

So it's good to know Wealth Bondage still offers decent hired help—despite its best efforts and fiendishly clever employment policies. More, its helpers offer their services pro bono; because they want to. Doesn't get much better than that, does it?

Fighting Satan's Army

Fair and Balanced

The CIA, working with other intelligence agencies, has captured an estimated 3,000 people, including several key leaders of al Qaeda, in its campaign to dismantle terrorist networks. It is impossible to know, however, how many mistakes the CIA and its foreign partners have made.

Having not found recent material portraying Abu Ghraib atrocities worthy of mention in its daily e-mail, the New York Times' James Frey today asks Can Oprah Change the Phony-Memoir Culture?. With the recently released Abu Ghraib photos and the U.N.'s demand that Gitmo be closed reminding us that such barbarism is the continuing norm rather than a past exception, the Times points out that "The queen of TV talk shows has exposed James Frey, but the problem of fictional nonfiction goes deeper than just one author..." You betcha. My point exactly. I wonder if we'll see Oprah succeeding Condi Rice. Should she, I'm sure we'll get nothing but fair, balanced, investigative reportage and see an end to linguistic inversion and the Boys Own / Hercules Hurricane buffoonery of the so-called intelligence community and their armchair-warrior support services.

Members of the Rendition Group follow a simple but standard procedure: Dressed head to toe in black, including masks, they blindfold and cut the clothes off their new captives, then administer an enema and sleeping drugs. They outfit detainees in a diaper and jumpsuit for what can be a day-long trip. Their destinations: either a detention facility operated by cooperative countries in the Middle East and Central Asia, including Afghanistan, or one of the CIA's own covert prisons — referred to in classified documents as "black sites," which at various times have been operated in eight countries, including several in Eastern Europe.

Washington Post | Wrongful Imprisonment: Anatomy of a CIA Mistake

A Neocon Scrapbook

Required Reading for the New American Century [Abu Ghraib 2003]

"Today, I'm going to give you an update on the progress that we're making in the broader war on terror: The actions of our global coalition to break up terrorist networks across the world, plots we've disrupted that have saved American lives, and how the rise of freedom is leading millions to reject the dark ideology of the terrorists — and laying the foundation of peace for generations to come."

George W. Bush February 9, 2006

Okay, so thanks to our neocon buddies and their inept political puttpets, we know 911 was probably cooked and that the illegal invasions of Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran have nothing to do with tyrants, democracy, WMD, clashes of civilizations (vainglorious racism), or that much-loved but fast-becoming outdated stalwart, terrorism.

More important, let it be remembered that, as with Afghanistan and Iraq, none of these ghouls' long-term strategies (or concerns) had anything to do with Iran's possible development of the Bomb.

And, yeah, I know, there is no war in Iran. Or war as you define it. Well, I'll tell you this much. Your type of war—with its rquisite shock and awe heavily laced with schlock and gore—will be on Fox, CNN, ABC, etc. before you know it. The neocons have ordered it and the neocons are riding high.

In large part, I appreciate these guys' concerns. Staving off short-term damage to the oil-linked dollar by a Euro-based oil bourse is critical and, long-term, locking up regional resources in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and South America to counter the effects of Peak Oil, environmental degradation and climate change, and the diminution of the U.S. economy by India and China, is paramount.

The idea is not, as Thomas P.M. Barnett advocates in Straussian newspeak, to 'shrink' the Gap or promote 'globalization'. It is to take ownership of global resources and exploit them for all they're worth. Remember Esquire's strapline to his article, The Pentagon's New Map?

It explains why we're going to war. And why we'll keep going to war.


The New American Flag [Abu Ghraib 2003]

Well, that's the way it is and that's the way it's going to be. For as long as it takes. There's nothing as ugly as liberals gone bad. Smart, they're mean and vicious, projecting the full weight of their dark souls onto the world about them. They then attempt suicide by proxy.

Full-spectrum dominance lends substance to their Grand Unitifed Theory (GUT) and their arrogance imbues them with an unshakable belief in their ability to swing it. More, they know they have to. Not for nothing do they play on visions of the Apocalypse. If the wheels are going to come off, they'll do so in a big way.

Anti-war movement? What anti-war movement? There is no anti-war movement. Like the man says: you'll keep going to war. Having not deviated from their long-publicized agenda, the neocons will have their way. Get used to it. Prepare for the draft or, if you live elsewhere, prepare to be bombed. The Americans are coming.

Forcing an artificial 'clash of civilizations' by playing off apocalyptic Western and fatalistic Middle Eastern religious narratives is merely another in a long string of tactics, going back way before 911 to WWII. It builds on Kennedy's covert operations (the CIA is not as dumb as it makes out), Johnson's carpet bombing, Reagan's Star Wars, Nixon, Kissinger and Clinton's Kiss of Death, George H. Bush's New World Order, the perpetuation of the dollar's influence by extortionist banking, lending and aid policies implemented by the World Bank, WTO, IMF, G8, Monsanto, etc.

These things have been thought out, planned, trialled, tested and honed over decades. Globally, almost every country has served as a test bed. Applied in moderation, such tactics work.

Desperate times call for desperate measures and, as the polar ice cap reflects a nine percent annual thaw, all such resources are being brought to bear on building an empire mirroring that of Rome. In short, George W. Bush is Occupation Man. But, to put the world to work for the U.S. and its subservient allies, is a case of too much too late. It cannot work. The neocons will not beat the deadlines set by dwindling resources and irreversible global warming.


Spreading freedom throughout the world [Abu Ghraib 2003]

Who pays for neocon fantasy, First World consumer greed and The Long War? Ordinary people whose fortitude derives from their cultures having been around centuries before Vikings decided to sail the Seine, sack Paris, and move on to give the English a good smack. They'll outwit, outfight, outlive and outlast what is, when all is said and done, a shoddy plan, the moral decrepitude of which is born of paranoia, delusion, and desperation.

They'll defeat the empire because the neocon strategy ultimately calls for 'remote policing' (be it by diplomacy, economic strategy, or bunker busters) or for building enormous, fortified garrisons in every country falling into America's 'sphere of influence'.

Subjugation by bombing from space is a long way off. Threats of nuclear devastation are laughed at (although a one-sided nuclear holocaust should not be dismissed). And while most suffer or ignore American strategies, Hugo Chavez mocks them for their impotence. Western partners too doubt the Yanks can pull this off, and are hedging their bets.

With the States, convinced of its inalienable right to dominate the globe, against the ropes in the fifteenth round and looking for a knockout punch, who comes out ahead? So far, Russia's doing a good job playing honest broker. The EU is doing a lousy imitation of buttering its bread both sides. China forges on. Australia, India, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea are skittish. Most Muslim countries, especially the world's fourth largest, Indonesia, couldn't give a damn (it'll be under water in a few decades). Neither could Pakistan.

Hell, like the neocons, the ISI deal in real politiek. They see another end, one for which the authors of the New American Century have no Plan B.

Look, I realize scenarios catering to most every eventuality have been dreamt up, played out, and planned for in countless liberally funded think tanks. These guys may be stupid but, hell, they're certainly not dumb. Still, the solution to one problem begets another. And we usually overlook the most obvious. The neocons' most glaring flaw is their failure to credit other peoples, cultures and nationalities with spine. Most don't want to become slaves to First World fancies and most will refuse to do so.

And that'll be the end of The Long War. And, with their self-proclaimed right to filch Earth's remaining resources for their own use in tatters, the United States, like the rest of us with whom it might have worked, will be kaput.

Tough.

First, the state of our union is strong and is getting stronger. And I want to thank you all for putting policies in place that, on the one hand, spread prosperity throughout the country and, at the same time, spread freedom and peace throughout the world."

George W. Bush February 9, 2006

The United States has criticized the release of grisly images by an Australian television network, which shows apparent detainee abuse at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq [my italics].

The program did not show all of the pictures. It deemed some of them too graphic for air, Carey said. Among the images broadcast were pictures of naked men who appeared to have suffered physical trauma, one of whom the report said had 11 non-lethal bullet wounds in his buttocks.

Other pictures show corpses, one of which the program said a U.S. Army report identified as one of three men killed during a riot over living conditions at the prison. According to the TV report, two Abu Ghraib soldiers said that guards were ordered to use lethal rounds on prisoners after they ran out of rubber bullets trying to halt the riot.

One image depicts two women described by a guard to "Dateline" as prostitutes held at the prison for two days. In one picture, the breasts of one of the women are exposed. Another grisly image shows a corpse that appears to have had a section torn from its head, while another one features a man whose arms are covered in purple bruises.

Also broadcast was video that appears to show a prisoner — handcuffed to a metal door — repeatedly slamming his head full force against the door. Though the guards appear to have videotaped the incident from several vantage points, no one is seen intervening to stop the prisoner.

CNN | U.S. slams 'prisoner abuse' leak

Oh dear, here we go again. The same CeeNoNews report offers a video, Watch why the hoods, nudity and poses suggest abuse -- 2:02 [CNN popup and, again, my italics]. It does nothing of the kind. General John Abizaid merely covers the Pentagon's considerable ass, berating Australia's Dateline for releasing the videos and photographs and denying that such abuses continue.

A comprehensive dossier is available at Salon.com, as is the article The Abu Ghraib files and the site's rationale for publishing the material available to it.

And, now, not content with bleating about Abu Ghraib, the Yanks are decidedly aggrieved that the United Nations Organization should take it upon itself to call for the closure of the illegal concentration camp and torture center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. At the rate it's going, the U.S. State Department will soon be indistinguishable from Israel.

Abu Ghraib cannot be allowed to fade away like some half-forgotten domestic political controversy, which may have prompted newsmagazine covers at the time, but now seems as irrelevant as the 2002 elections. Abu Ghraib is not an issue of partisan sound bites or refighting the decision to invade Iraq. Grotesque violations of every value that America proclaims occurred within the walls of that prison. These abuses were carried out by soldiers who wore our flag on their uniforms and apparently believed that Americans here at home would approve of their conduct. Rather than hiding what they did out of shame, they commemorated their sadism with a visual record.

Salon | Why we're publishing the new Abu Ghraib photos

And Tom Feeley has the Dateline video over at InformationClearingHouse.

Yeah, it bears repeating...



Prisoner forced to sodomize himself [Abu Ghraib 2003]

"First, the state of our union is strong and is getting stronger. And I want to thank you all for putting policies in place that, on the one hand, spread prosperity throughout the country and, at the same time, spread freedom and peace throughout the world."

George W. Bush February 9, 2006

Go fuck yourself, Dubya.

Democracy

...and the democratic state. [Graphic: James Neff]

It's coming from the sorrow in the street, | The holy places where the races meet; | From the homicidal bitchin' | That goes down in every kitchen | To determine who will serve and who will eat. | From the wells of disappointment | Where the women kneel to pray | For the grace of God in the desert here | And the desert far away: | Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

The United States and Israel are discussing ways to destabilize the Palestinian government so that newly elected Hamas officials will fail and elections will be called again, according to Israeli officials and Western diplomats.

The intention is to starve the Palestinian Authority of money and international connections to the point where, some months from now, its president, Mahmoud Abbas, is compelled to call a new election. The hope is that Palestinians will be so unhappy with life under Hamas that they will return to office a reformed and chastened Fatah movement.

New York Times | U.S. and Israelis Are Said to Talk of Hamas Ouster

Nice, eh?

It's coming to America first, | The cradle of the best and of the worst. | It's here they got the range | And the machinery for change | And it's here they got the spiritual thirst. | It's here the family's broken | And it's here the lonely say | That the heart has got to open | In a fundamental way: | Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

Leonard Cohen | Democracy

The US House of Representatives has voted to cut direct US aid to the Palestinian Authority unless Hamas renounces its call to destroy Israel.

BBC | Hamas win prompts US aid cut vote

Is it not possible to do the same to the States? Convert oil sales to Euros or something—if they don't get the fuck out of the 130-plus countries in which they have a belligerent military presence?

Who's Destroyed the NPT?

Pentagon plans bomb blitz...

Strategists at the Pentagon are drawing up plans for devastating bombing raids backed by submarine-launched ballistic missile attacks against Iran's nuclear sites as a "last resort" to block Tehran's efforts to develop an atomic bomb. ... "This is more than just the standard military contingency assessment," said a senior Pentagon adviser. "This has taken on much greater urgency in recent months."

The Age | Pentagon plans bomb blitz on Iran's nuclear sites

Central Command and Strategic Command planners are identifying targets, assessing weapon-loads and working on logistics for an operation, the Sunday Telegraph has learnt. They are reporting to the office of Donald Rumsfeld, the defence secretary, as America updates plans for action if the diplomatic offensive fails to thwart the Islamic republic's nuclear bomb ambitions. Teheran claims that it is developing only a civilian energy programme.

The Telegraph | US prepares military blitz against Iran's nuclear sites

The former U.N. weapons inspector who said Iraq disarmed long before the U.S. invasion in 2003 is warning Americans to prepare for a war with Iran.

"We just don't know when, but it's going to happen," Scott Ritter said to a crowd of about 150 at the James A. Little Theater on Sunday night. ... He predicted the matter will wind up before the U.N. Security Council, which will determine there is no evidence of a weapons program. Then, he said, John Bolton, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, "...will deliver a speech that has already been written. It says America cannot allow Iran to threaten the United States and we must unilaterally defend ourselves."

"How do I know this? I've talked to Bolton's speechwriter," Ritter said.

TMCNet | Ritter warns that another U.S. invasion in Mideast is imminent [February 9, 2006]

"The West is hiding its ugly face behind international bodies, but these bodies have no reputation among nations. You have destroyed the reputation of the NPT."

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

For God's Sake...

You're saying that you personally see it as defamation?

I'm deeply distressed that many Muslims have seen the drawings as a defamation of the Prophet Mohamed...

Al-Ahram | Danish Prime Minister Andres Fogh Rasmussen


'It's a purely secular matter...'

While some on principles baptized | To strict party platform ties | Social clubs in drag disguise | Outsiders they can freely criticize | Tell nothing except who to idolize | And then say God bless him.

A campaign is emerging to depict Islam as an inferior culture that is incompatible with "Western values." There are clear parallels here to the anti-Semitic caricatures that were spread in the 1930s by fascist newspapers such as the Nazi Stürmer. The depiction of Jews as sub-humans served as the ideological preparation for the Holocaust.

Today the systematic defamation of Muslims is being used to prepare public opinion for new wars against countries such as Iran and Syria—wars which will be even more brutal than the Iraq war, and could well involve the use of nuclear weapons.

It is no coincidence that it was the Jyllands-Posten that took up this initiative. The newspaper is notorious for its declarations of support for the Nazis in the 1930s, and has played a key role in Denmark’s recent shift to the right.

Peter Schwarz | Denmark and Jyllands-Posten: The background to a provocation

The fact that the editors behind the anti-Islamic images claim to be exercising free speech while refusing to address Europe's strict censorship laws regarding discussion of the Holocaust and the ongoing imprisonment of historical revisionists reveals the existence of a more sinister agenda behind the provocative cartoons.

"Agents of certain persuasion" are behind the egregious affront to Islam in order to provoke Muslims, Professor Mikael Rothstein of the University of Copenhagen told the BBC. The key "agent" is Flemming Rose, the cultural editor of JP [Jyllands-Posten], who commissioned cartoonists to produce the blasphemous images and then published them in Denmark's leading morning paper last September.

Christopher Bollyn | Why the European Press is Provoking Muslims

Muslims have been deeply insulted by much of Europe's behaviour regarding the Danish cartoons, but not only regarding the cartoons, because our concerns and fears are much wider and deeper than that. Many ordinary citizens in the Arab-Asian region see the European position on Iran's nuclear industry and the victorious Hamas party in Palestine as moving closer to American-Israeli positions that grossly discriminate against Arabs or Muslims.

Coming after the American-led assault on Iraq, this explains why large majorities of people polled in Arab countries just three months ago believe that the main motives of American policies in the Middle East are "oil, protecting Israel, dominating the region and weakening the Muslim world".

The Age | The real truth behind the cartoons fury

If Muslims have felt there has been a conspiracy against them, starting with the invasion of Afghanistan, then Iraq, (and comparing it to the Christians' Medieval wars against Muslims in the Holy Land) they feel it all the more so now. They view the cartoons as part of the West's strategy to eradicate Islam and destroy the Muslim culture.

Up to now, most Muslims have felt they could tolerate the killing of thousands of innocents in Iraq, but the cartoons have unified Sunnis, Shi'ites; all the Muslim sects, like no other single act of Western aggression against them has.

"They've actually done us a favour", says Dr Joma. "Instead of driving us apart, they've drawn us together. No Muslim, regardless of how conservative or moderate he or she is, will tolerate the denigration of their most sacred symbol; the most revered person in Islam. The Danes and their supporters have made a double mistake. Not only did they insult Islam, they insulted the Prophet."

News24.com | Why the Muslims are so angry

Disillusioned words like bullets bark | As human gods aim for their mark | Made everything from toy guns that spark | To flesh-colored Christs that glow in the dark | It's easy to see without looking too far | That not much | Is really sacred.

Bob Dylan | It's Alright, Ma

"They have designed and distributed a map where national borders are erased and replaced by a global extremist empire."

Donald Rumsfeld

"The United States is a nation engaged in what will be a long war."

"It will take unity of effort to win the long war in which our Nation is engaged."

"As we continue in the fifth year of this long global war, the ideas and proposals in this document are provided as a roadmap for change, leading to victory."

"The Department of Defense conducted the 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) in the fourth year of a long war, a war that is irregular in its nature."

"This wartime construct, described in detail later in this Report, makes adjustments to better capture the realities of a long war by..."

"Giving greater emphasis to the war on terror and irregular warfare activities, including long-duration unconventional warfare, counterterrorism, counterinsurgency, and military support for stabilization and reconstruction efforts."

"Since 2001 the U.S. military has been continuously at war, but fighting a conflict that is markedly different from wars of the past. The enemies we face are not nation-states but rather dispersed non-state networks. In many cases, actions must occur on many continents in countries with which the United States is not at war. Unlike the image many have of war, this struggle cannot be won by military force alone, or even principally. And it is a struggle that may last for some years to come. On any given day, nearly 350,000 men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces are deployed or stationed in approximately 130 countries. They are battle-hardened from operations over the past four years, fighting the enemies of freedom as part of this long war. They maintain the Nation’s treaty obligations and international commitments. They protect and advance U.S. interests and values. They are often asked to be protectors of the peace and providers of relief. They are a force for good."

Ho ho ho...

"Like Afghanistan, Iraq is a crucial battleground in the long war against terrorism."

"As more Iraqi units gain confidence and operational experience, they will increasingly take the lead in security operations. This example is a model for the future: helping others to help themselves is critical to winning the long war."

"The long war against terrorist networks extends far beyond the borders of Iraq and Afghanistan and includes many operations characterized by irregular warfare – operations in which the enemy is not a regular military force of a nation-state."

"Today, efforts large and small on five continents demonstrate the importance of being able to work with and through partners, to operate clandestinely and to sustain a persistent but low-visibility presence. Such efforts represent an application of the indirect approach to the long war."

"The Military Departments have also begun more intensive cultural and language training, which over time will create a more culturally aware, linguistically capable force, better able to forge victory in the long war."

"The long war has also seen U.S. forces taking on greater roles at home. Immediately following the 9/11 attacks, U.S. forces were called upon to assist in securing the homeland."

"The Department applied these lessons over the course of the QDR as it identified changes to the mix of joint capabilities and the enterprise-wide reforms needed to fight the long war."

"The United States, its allies and partners, will not win this long war in a great battle of annihilation. Victory can only be achieved through the patient accumulation of quiet successes and the orchestration of all elements of national and international power."

"Long-duration, complex operations involving the U.S. military, other government agencies and international partners will be waged simultaneously in multiple countries around the world, relying on a combination of direct (visible) and indirect (clandestine) approaches."

"Maintaining a long-term, low-visibility presence in many areas of the world where U.S. forces do not traditionally operate will be required."

"In the post-September 11 world, irregular warfare has emerged as the dominant form of warfare confronting the United States, its allies and its partners; accordingly, guidance must account for distributed, long-duration operations, including unconventional warfare, foreign internal defense, counterterrorism, counterinsurgency, and stabilization and reconstruction operations."

"For the foreseeable future, steady-state operations, including operations as part of a long war against terrorist networks, and associated rotation base and sustainment requirements, will be the main determinant for sizing U.S. forces."

"For example, Operational Availability assessed the availability of forces prior to, during and following major combat operations, as well as to meet routine missions and the increased demands of the long war."

"It is reorganizing its combat and support forces into modular brigade-based units – including brigade combat teams (BCTs) and the support brigades to sustain them – to increase breadth and depth for the long war."

"To win the long war, the Department of Defense must reshape the defense enterprise in ways that better support the warfighter and are appropriate for the threat environment."

"Recent operational experiences highlight capabilities and capacities that the Department must instill in the Total Force to prevail in a long, irregular war while deterring a broad array of challenges."

"The traditional, visible distinction between war and peace is less clear at the start of the 21st century. In a long war, the United States expects to face large and small contingencies at unpredictable intervals. To fight the long war and conduct other future contingency operations, joint force commanders need to have more immediate access to the Total Force. In particular, the Reserve Component must be operationalized, so that select Reservists and units are more accessible and more readily deployable than today."

"Developing broader linguistic capability and cultural understanding is also critical to prevail in the long war and to meet 21st century challenges."

"Supporting the rule of law and building civil societies where they do not exist today, or where they are in their infancy, is fundamental to winning the long war."

"Recognizing that stability, security and transition operations can be critical to the long war on terrorism, the Department issued guidance in 2005 to place stability operations on par with major combat operations within the Department."

"Close cooperation with these partners in the long war on terrorism, as well as in efforts to counter WMD proliferation and other non-traditional threats, ensures the continuing need for these alliances and for improving their capabilities."

"The United States will work to strengthen allied capabilities for the long war and countering WMD."

"Bringing all the elements of U.S. power to bear to win the long war requires overhauling traditional foreign assistance and export control activities and laws."

"In particular, winning the long war requires strengthening the Department’s ability to train and educate current and future foreign military leaders at institutions in the United States."

"Victory in the long war ultimately depends on strategic communication by the United States and its international partners."

"Finally, by emphasizing greater cultural awareness and language skills, the QDR acknowledges that victory in this long war depends on information, perception, and how and what we communicate as much as application of kinetic effects."

"The War on Terrorism – a war of long duration – differs from the kind of conflict for which the Department traditionally prepared."

Quadrennial Defense Review Report 2006

"See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda."

George W. Bush [May 24, 2005]

"So, d'ya reckon this is gonna be a long war?"

"Uhn... dunno. Do you?"

"Dunno."

"Yeah."

"Who cares anyway?"

"Yeah. Who cares?"

"Unless we invest in our defence and security, our homelands will be at risk."

Donald Rumsfeld

Public concern over Iran's nuclear program has risen dramatically in the past few months. Today, 27% of Americans cite Iran as the country that represents the greatest danger to the United States. In October, just 9% pointed to Iran as the biggest danger to the U.S., while there was far more concern over Iraq, China and North Korea. Nearly two-thirds (65%) believe that Iran's nuclear program is a major threat to the U.S., placing it on par with North Korea's nuclear program, and far ahead of China's emerging power among possible threats to the United States.

Overwhelming numbers believe that if Iran were to develop nuclear weapons it would likely launch attacks on Israel (72%), and the U.S. or Europe (66%). There is even greater agreement that a nuclear-armed Iran would be likely to provide nuclear weapons to terrorists (82%).

The public is clearer in its view of the potential threat posed by Iran than in what to do about it. More Americans worry that we will wait too long than act too quickly in dealing with Iran's nuclear problem.

The Pew Research Center | Iran a Growing Danger, Bush Gaining on Spy Issue

The second is the representation of the new security paradigm as the "long war", a phrase that has crept into Pentagon-speak over the past two years and is now being used as a pithy successor to the "cold war" as encapsulating the US defence outlook (in London on 6 January, the deputy director of US central command, Brigadier-General Mark Kimmitt, delivered a speech outlining the US's reconfigured military strategy in what he also called "the long war".)

The term is hugely convenient in that it simplifies everything into a "them and us" global confrontation, awarding the current adversary the same role that the Soviet Union occupied between 1946 and 1991. The implication is that the United States is again engaged in a major confrontation in which it deserves sustained support, and that it is as unacceptable to be "against" the long war as it once was to be "against" the cold war.

Paul Rogers | The world as a battlefield

And who better than to sum up this page than John Pilger?

Next month, Iran is scheduled to shift its petrodollars into a euro-based bourse. The effect on the value of the dollar will be significant, if not, in the long term, disastrous. At present the dollar is, on paper, a worthless currency bearing the burden of a national debt exceeding $8trn and a trade deficit of more than $600bn. The cost of the Iraq adventure alone, according to the Nobel Prizewinning economist Joseph Stiglitz, could be $2trn. America's military empire, with its wars and 700-plus bases and limitless intrigues, is funded by creditors in Asia, principally China.

That oil is traded in dollars is critical in maintaining the dollar as the world's reserve currency. What the Bush regime fears is not Iran's nuclear ambitions but the effect of the world's fourth-biggest oil producer and trader breaking the dollar monopoly. Will the world's central banks then begin to shift their reserve holdings and, in effect, dump the dollar? Saddam Hussein was threatening to do the same when he was attacked.

John Pilger | Iran: the next war

Reporting Iran...

...while trusting in Israel. [flash]

Implementation of the NPT Safeguards
Agreement in the Islamic Republic of Iran

Resolution adopted on 4 February 2006

The Board of Governors,

(a) Recalling all the resolutions adopted by the Board on Iran's nuclear programme,

(b) Recalling also the Director General’s reports,

(c) Recalling that Article IV of the Treaty on the Non Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons stipulates that nothing in the Treaty shall be interpreted as affecting the inalienable rights of all the Parties to the Treaty to develop research, production and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes without discrimination and in conformity with Articles I and II of the Treaty,

(d) Commending the Director General and the Secretariat for their professional and impartial efforts to implement the Safeguards Agreement in Iran, to resolve outstanding safeguards issues in Iran and to verify the implementation by Iran of the suspension,

(e) Recalling the Director General’s description of this as a special rendition verification case,

(f) Recalling that in reports referred to above, the Director General noted that after nearly three years of intensive verification activity, the Agency is not yet in a position to clarify some important issues relating to Iran's nuclear programme or to conclude that there are no undeclared nuclear materials or activities in Iran,

(g) Recalling Iran’s many failures and breaches of its obligations to comply with its NPT Safeguards Agreement and the absence of confidence that Iran’s nuclear programme is exclusively for peaceful purposes resulting from the history of concealment of Iran’s nuclear activities, the nature of those activities and other issues arising from the Agency’s verification of declarations made by Iran since September 2002,

(h) Recalling that the Director General has stated that Iran's full transparency is indispensable and overdue for the Agency to be able to clarify outstanding issues (GOV/2005/67), International Atomic Energy Agency

(i) Recalling the requests of the Agency for Iran's cooperation in following up on reports relating to equipment, materials and activities which have applications in the conventional military area and in the civilian sphere as well as in the nuclear military area (as indicated by the Director General in GOV/2005/67),

(j) Recalling that in November 2005 the Director General reported (GOV/2005/87) that Iran possesses a document related to the procedural requirements for the reduction of UF6 to metal in small quantities, and on the casting and machining of enriched, natural and depleted uranium metal into hemispherical forms,

(k) Expressing serious concerns about Iran's nuclear programme, and agreeing that an extensive period of confidence-building is required from Iran,

(l) Reaffirming the Board's resolve to continue to work for a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear issue, and

(m) Recognising that a solution to the Iranian issue would contribute to global nonproliferation efforts and to realising the objective of a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction, including their means of delivery,

1. Underlines that outstanding questions can best be resolved and confidence built in the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran's programme by Iran responding positively to the calls for confidence building measures which the Board has made on Iran, and in this context deems it necessary for Iran to:

• re-establish full and sustained suspension of all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including research and development, to be verified by the Agency;
• reconsider the construction of a research reactor moderated by heavy water;
• ratify promptly and implement in full the Additional Protocol;
• pending ratification, continue to act in accordance with the provisions of the Additional Protocol which Iran signed on 18 December 2003;
• implement transparency measures, as requested by the Director General, including in GOV/2005/67, which extend beyond the formal requirements of the Safeguards Agreement and Additional Protocol, and include such access to individuals, documentation relating to procurement, dual use equipment, certain military-owned workshops and research and development as the Agency may request in support of its ongoing investigations;

2. Requests the Director General to report to the Security Council of the United Nations that these steps are required of Iran by the Board and to report to the Security Council all IAEA reports and resolutions, as adopted, relating to this issue;

3. Expresses serious concern that the Agency is not yet in a position to clarify some important issues relating to Iran's nuclear programme, including the fact that Iran has in its possession a document on the production of uranium metal hemispheres, since, as reported by the Secretariat, this process is related to the fabrication of nuclear weapon components; and, noting that the decision to put this document under Agency seal is a positive step, requests Iran to maintain this document under Agency seal and to provide a full copy to the Agency;

4. Deeply regrets that, despite repeated calls from the Board for the maintaining of the suspension of all enrichment related and reprocessing activities which the Board has declared essential to addressing outstanding issues, Iran resumed uranium conversion activities at its Isfahan facility on 8 August 2005 and took steps to resume enrichment activities on 10 January 2006;

5. Calls on Iran to understand that there is a lack of confidence in Iran’s intentions in seeking to develop a fissile material production capability against the background of Iran's record on safeguards as recorded in previous Resolutions, and outstanding issues; and to reconsider its position in relation to confidence-building measures, which are voluntary, and non legally binding, and to adopt a constructive approach in relation to negotiations that can result in increased confidence;

6. Requests Iran to extend full and prompt cooperation to the Agency, which the Director General deems indispensable and overdue, and in particular to help the Agency clarify possible activities which could have a military nuclear dimension;

7. Underlines that the Agency’s work on verifying Iran’s declarations is ongoing and requests the Director General to continue with his efforts to implement the Agency's Safeguards Agreement with Iran, to implement the Additional Protocol to that Agreement pending its entry into force, with a view to providing credible assurances regarding the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran, and to pursue additional transparency measures required for the Agency to be able to resolve outstanding issues and reconstruct the history and nature of all aspects of Iran's past nuclear activities;

8. Requests the Director General to report on the implementation of this and previous resolutions to the next regular session of the Board, for its consideration, and immediately thereafter to convey, together with any Resolution from the March Board, that report to the Security Council; and

9. Decides to remain seized of the matter.

Derestricted 4 February 2006

Okay, so we all know about Israel. Don't we? Even so, on January 5, 2006 the Guardian posed a question, the answer to which would make this business so much easier on all of us. George Bush insists that Iran must not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons. So why, six years ago, did the CIA give the Iranians blueprints to build a bomb?

Yeah, that's just the headline. Now, what about some answers? None? Okay, let's move this story along, folks. The dollar's tied to oil. Like Iraq, Iran intends selling oil in Euros. Worse, the Iranian Oil Bourse opens March 23, 2006. The dollar, the U.S. and, of course, Israel, will soon be worthless, hence the West's willingness to go to war. Any comment? No? Nothing? Umm...

Experts say Israel has the world's sixth-largest stockpile of nuclear weapons, but the Jewish state neither acknowledges nor denies having such a program.

Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday lauded the IAEA's decision, saying it was now charged to "ultimately exact a very heavy price from Iran if it persists with these plans and tries to enrich fuel so it can realize its option to build non-conventional weapons."

Mark Regev, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said Israel does not see a linkage in the decision between the Iranian nuclear program and Israel.

Houston Chronicle | Israel Hails Decision to Report Iran