POLITICS IN BRITAIN
IF YOU WANT TO HAVE A RANT, A MOAN OR JUST A WHINGE, FEEL FREE TO POST YOUR VIEWS BY EMAILING ME IN THE FIRST INSTANCE. 2002/2003
So the CIA and others are trying to locate the money Saddam has stashed away. We all know how he got a lot of it, via illegal oil sales. Breaking embargoes is quite normal and has been going on for ever.
A physical oil trade will typically go through many hands and offers any number of opportunities for 'losing' cash. If I were the CIA I would be very careful, however. There are a lot of oil trading companies in Texas. Were the Bush family and many of their pals not involved in oil trading ? Caveat inquisitor !
A new ambassador
In brief
Britain - multicultural ?
Even wickeder whispers
It happened in Berlin
Fuck the duck
Commentaries
Is fox-hunting really that cruel ?
Britain at war
A letter to President Bush
Where have all the Stasis gone ?
EMI - just singing the blues
Duncan Hague - give the man a drink !
A new dimension in politics
Smuggling immigrants
I read in the News of the World last week that a French/Algerian hooker has been working behind one of the bars in the House of Commons. Big deal ! What's the gripe ? Surely not the fact that security is appaling ? No, that's par for the course. The fact that she said she has had it away with a Labour minister, a peer ? No. I know prostitutes who can blow away half our politicians, half the judiciary and half the police force with what they know ! Is it then that Cocaine was being offered for sale in the House ? No, surely not. We all remember a year or so ago, when 'white powder' was found in the toilets of the house. In any case I harbour the suspicion that half the front bench is on Charlie, given that they talk, and talk, and talk - such a load of crap. No, the issue is this. Judging by the pics in the paper it would appear that half gram packs were being sold for �60. This is outrageous. It epitomizes 'Rip Off' Britain. Surely our representatives can have the best quality gear at the going rate, �60 per gram ? Perhaps it should be made available through the shops on site.
I understand that US troops used heavy metal music as a form of psychological warfare. Who is paying the performance royalties. This presents potnetially a huge audience and I only hope the various collection societies are on the ball on this one. Have enough trouble with PRS, mind you !
Were war not such a serious matter, I would suggest that the way this war is being fought verges on te farcical. It is played to the gallery of the media, thus so often giving Saddam the initiative. He can too often determine the agenda. Sure, he is going to lose, but what a way for the coaltition to go about waging this nasty little war.
But the coaltion has to win the peace and there's the rub. It has not been won in Afghanistan, and I see no evidence that it will in the long term in Iraq. The USA has historically displayed great naivety in foreign politics, being isolationist and introvert. Yes, it has involved itself in two world wars and other lesser conflicts, but only with a view of protecting its interests. One can argue there is nothing wrong with this.
What the USA does not seem to understand, or perhaps does not want to understand, is why it is so universally disliked by so very many people. The American way of life, which they so revere, is not acceptable to much of the rest of the world. The white, protestant ethic in the USA has peaked in any case, and will slowly but surely decline in importance, to be superceded by that of the USA's ethnic minorities, the Hispanic for example.
The one over-riding factor that the USA has still not come to terms with is the damage its unstinting support for Israel has brought it. Until this is addressed there will be no peace.
The Osar ceromony was understandably somewhat muted this year. I would have nominated Blair for the best supporting role as international statesman. He has tried to play many roles, but failed in all. The only one he has going for him at the present is supporting Bush, his side-kick, the Tonto to the Lone Ranger if you like. It's an easy role, requiring little skill - so our boy is emminently suited for it.
As I suggested recently, we may not win the peace. The extent of the looting that has taken place in recent days was totally unexpected by the miltary - no matter what they tell you. Was it totally spontaneous, or was it in part orchestrated and if so, by whom ? Certainly elements of the previous regime, as also other Arab and non-Arab regimes would have much to gain. I happen not to believe that the USA will be able in the long run to force upon the Iraqis the American way of life. Their attempts to pass the business of re-building what they destroyed, given that the war cost them a lot of money when they can ill afford it, on to USA companies will face opposition. Well, fair enough perhaps. Wars are good for business. Yet I wonder whether they will succeed in this in quite the way they had envisaged.
To win the peace requires diplomatic skills, or as some intellectually disfunctional US spokesman recently said, 'Soft Power'. This is an area where the USA have since the inception of their country been a notorious failure. Let us hope they may succeed on this occasion.
I read a few days ago that a muslim women in a morgue had her body covered in bacon. Again, we are only given part of the story. What we need to know is, was it smoked or unsmoked bacon, streaky, best back or what. Not being a lawyer, I don't know whether this act was illegal, but should it be repeated, think of all those starving in Iraq that could be fed with the product. Would it not be cheaper and more convenient to use lard?