U.S. PLANTING WMD IN SOUTHERN IRAQ

[ESCUBRIA]

Looks like the Bush administration is now clutching the final straws...

Link: www.commondreams.org

[Max Kon]

don't try that link try this one, it leads to the right place

Link: http://www.commondreams.org/" target="_blank">the right link

[ESCUBRIA]

Thanks Cybermax.

[The Amstor Computer]

Interesting until you note the source - the story is from a Tehran news agency. It's in the same league as the Israeli propaganda outlet Debka for trustworthiness, especially on this subject.

I'd entertained the possibility of Coalition forces planting a WMD "find", but I can't see the point anymore. Leaving aside the question of whether they would have, the time to do it would have been before the WMD justification was thoroughly, and publicly demolished, before their survey group was disbanded, and certainly well before the explosion of violence in the past fortnight.

Planting WMD only really serves one purpose - to convince a domestice audience that the war was justified. I don't see how that benefits the Coalition now, when they're dealing with what looks like the beginnings of a full-scale Iraqi rebellion.

BTW - if you're interested in the major problems in Iraq, watch Najaf. The massing of armour and artillery around the city is worrying, and while I can't believe the US forces would be stupid enough to mount an assault on the city to "kill or capture" Sadr, they've proved me wrong before :-(

[-=>DEMONIZER<=-]

"Common Dreams News Centre"?

"Breaking News and Views for the Progressive Community"?

It must be true then.

In all this anti War/Bush/U.S. goings on, this concoction is inevitable.

[ESCUBRIA]

Well, I just watched the Bush press conference on T.V. and like a bad comedian on a bad night, he died on stage. Talk about question dodging. All that lying got too much for him and he blanked quite often because, as he said himself: "he's just not quick enough". Poor laddie.

Let's face it, the greatest threat to peace is the Bush admin.

[stront692]

i think that the attacks are being organised now with a political purpose, after all the shock swing in voting in spain after the election was incredible

i think they have realised they can make a diference, plus america has a bad history with the faction of the largest part of the iraqi population (i think its the suni but not sure, its the ones that were oppressed by saddam anyway) ever since the ayotollah in iran

they cannot deliver on their promise of an elected government bcos then iraq would be against israel and that would upset all the jewish american community and most of new york - but the country is made up of 60% of tehm so they should win any election held

now starts the puppeteering and another 'vietnam'

thanks, george

[Steamboy]

If the US are in it only for the oil as most people seem to say why dont they pull back to the refineries, protect the pipes and let the stupid fanaticts rip the country apart?. Hey wait a minute I know why...because America isnt that bad, they actually want to help and aren't just in it for the oil!!! thats my opinion anyway.

CU Krestel

[Matt Timson]

Hmmm... the source seems a bit ropey, but I had wondered at the possibility of planting evidence before now.

I thought that they'd have done it sooner, to be honest!

[ESCUBRIA]

They are never in it only for the oil, they are there to establish a large strategic base under direct U.S. control in the Middle East. The oil is always on the agenda for the U.S. anyway but military and strategic dominance is supreme in their concerns. Iraq is now the largest U.S. embassy in the world. Oil is always a background concern for resource control because they don't want the expanding E.U., or China having the largest share because they fear their growing economic dominance. The Bush admin are made up mostly pf powerful business people with outside vested interests from politics, how can they ever be nonbiased to their own business concerns

I can still see them planning to plant WMD, the question just won't go away and it was a major justification for the war. Remember public opinion is a very fickle continuum especially around election time. And the Bush admin. is getting more desperate in their tactics hence the increase in violence in Afghanistan, to catch Bin Laden as an election token, and in Iraq. The want war as a continuum of normal policy.

[Steamboy]

I'm just arguing for arguments sake here ESCUBRIA but isn't Israel considered little America in the middle east, surely with such good ties with Israel America already has a large base of operations through which they can manipulate the middle east why waste lives trying to get another one?
I guess my main point is "I think America did it thinking they were doing the right thing", but this is just my opinion and everyone has a right to their own opinion.
I think I'm going in circles.....

CU Krestel

[Art]

Never believe jsut anything you read on the interweb.

Link: http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,63048,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_2" target="_blank">http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,63048,00.

[Dudley]

Krestel -

In answer to your question about the oil, if they pulled out of the rest of the country and let it go to hell in a handbasket then there would be 3 new problems:
1) the feed of all the dying Iraqis wouldn't go down well back home, might hurt Bush's reelection prospects
2) eventually some group would get strong enough to control a significant proportion of the country.  This would almost certainly be a Taliban-style group of vicious fundamentalist killers
3) By making their mission to get hold of the oil that obvious, the Americans would ensure ceaseless terrorist attacks on every part of their oil operation - pipelines blown up, refineries attacked, etc.

Bringing "democracy" to Iraq makes sound business sense - it gives lucractive contracts to American companies (particularly Halliburton, Dick Cheney's old company that pays him a million a year for supposedly not doing any work for them), it keep the voters on side, and they get to control the process anyway since even the UN agrees there can't be any actual votes in the upcoming "election" of Chalabai and his group of cronies who were the source of most of the WMD propaganda and the wilder stories about tortured babies, plastic shredders and so forth.

One thing I've learned over this last couple of years is that every time I make a cynical prediction about the Bush administration, they turn out to be worse.  For example, last week I said "They wouldn't be so stupid as to openly kill al-Sadr against all US and international laws, but they'll probably mount a major propaganda offensive against him and arrest most of his followers on some pretext".  Lo and behold, the Americans have annnounced that they are actually going to kill al-Sadr at the first opportunity, and stuff the rule of law.

[stront692]

what he said (plus bush cant be seen to be losing before a re election campaign, thats a real biggy, hes gotta be worried - if hes smart enough to be worried by anything that is)

of course we will end up fighting any impending war bcos hes going to hang blair out to dry otherwise (over WMD and th fake evidence his government provided)

[Dudley]

The Guardian's search facility is off at the moment, but there's a great article in today's edition from the Iranian embassy press officer, just pointing out the numerous mistakes the coalition have made over the past 50 years - they all seem, strangely enough, to add up to suppressing democracy and promoting dictatorship.


But, a bit of good news as well.  Did you know that this year more people will vote in elections around the world than ever before?