innerhippy

According to the BBC, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has warned that the US will take action against any country seeking to destabilise Iraq.

No irony there then.

The Iraq Study Group have just published a major report into the situation in Iraq.
Some small gems from the publication:

"To date, the United States has spent roughly $400 billion on the Iraq War, and costs are running about $8 billion per month…Estimates run as high as $2 trillion for the final cost of the U.S. involvement"

"Despite a massive effort, stability in Iraq remains elusive and the situation is deteriorating"

"Current U.S. policy is not working"

"The ability of the United States to shape outcomes is diminishing.Time is running out."

"If the situation in Iraq continues to deteriorate, the consequences could be severe for Iraq, the United States, the region, and the world."

"The Iraqi people could be subjected to another strongman who flexes the political and military muscle required to impose order amid anarchy. Freedoms could be lost."

"Iran could send in troops to restore stability in souther Iraq and perhaps gain control of oil fields"

"a Pandora’s box of problems – including the radicalization of populations, mass movements of populations, and regime changes – that might take decades to play out."

"Terrorism could grow. As one Iraqi official told us, Al Qaeda is now a franchise in Iraq, like McDonald’s."

"Continued problems in Iraq could lead to greater polarization within the United States."

ah, but…

"These and other predictions of dire consequences in Iraq and the region are by no means a certainty….Iraqis may become so sobered by the prospect of an unfolding civil war and intervention by their regional neighbors that they take the steps necessary to avert catastrophe…"

oh,

"…But at the moment, such a scenario seems implausible"

Holly shit.

Congratulations to the Iraq Study Group for finally realising what everyone else has known for ages.

It seems that there are two people left who refuse to see the bloody writing on the wall. Unfortunately, they're the two that started the whole mess. Another one to fess up is General Sir Mike Jackson.

100 more US deaths until we reach the grand total of 3000.

I reckon that will be the final turning point.

Another 14 British troops were killed yesterday when a Nimrod plane crashed in Afgantistan.

The MoD (Ministry of Deception) were very quick to dismiss claims that Taliban forces shot it down with a Stinger missile.

Enter Des Brown: "Frankly the Taliban regularly make claims which we know to be untrue and I think in this case this is instructive of the nature of their dishonesty and I think it's an object lesson for the media of the world to the extent at which they are prepared to lie in order to generate propaganda"

Narurally, the British government would never stoop to such depths as to lie in order to generate propaganda. Remember WMD? Remember what the hell we're doing in Afganistan in the first place?

The PMOS (Prime Minister's Official Spokesman) was asked yesterday why the PM's influence over the US was so weak, especially over the sticky issue of Guantanamo Bay. Blair has secured the release of the handful of UK citizens, but the PMOS said that the US was a sovereign country and they would have to take the decisions on this, not us. He also added, "The Prime Minister's position was clear and, as a result of that, certain provisions concerning UK citizens had been made and the rest of it was not a matter for us".

Hang on a minute, what did he say, "not a matter for us". Really? So detaining people without access to basic human rights is ok as long as they're not a UK citizens? What a ridiculous thing to say! Since when did events in foreign countries affecting foreign people prevent us from getting involved (for good or bad reasons)?

It sounds like the poodle has done some token yapping but doesn't have any true conviction on moral issues. Like we didn't know.