Iraq could strike elsewhere, but I think the US military has enough forces to put the beat down anywhere that Iraq and friends could distract any major operation. It seems to me that the heads of the US are pretty sure that war will be happening… its just a matter of time. Im not sure what the hold up is (maybe the U.N.?) and Im not sure why Bush appears to be so “gung-ho” for a war.

Where is Bin Laden now? Are there still troops bombing every cave in the Middle East? What made Saddam want to come out from his rock and stir up international powers?

Every story of the “End of the World” or any prophesy could have been interpreted to any war in the past, or even an eclipse… Its all about how one interprets something… we wont know til its over.

Ha, now this is hotting up! I write and write and write and write and then get drunk and find someone else ready to give it some welly! (English term for Umph!)

Here goes White Rose again :-)

OK so the US hits Iraq, Iraq hits Israel, Israel hits back at everyone its
been itching to hit for ages and evicts the Palestinians to boot (Lebanon or
Jordan maybe) and Europe goes tut tut but doesnt actually do anything.

But I think there is a move missing here. If the US are blatently preparing
for war whats to stop Iraq plus buddies arranging for something nasty for
the US before it mobilises? It could hit US forces elsewhere forcing them to
focus away from the Middle East. It could could also arrange for something
nasty in the US itself. Or it could wait for their economy to implode from
corruption in the near future.

In the Old Testament it talks of a final empire as being “iron mixed with
clay” a good description of the EU at the moment. If this does all go the
way I see it power will switch from the US to the EU with minimal damage.
Anyone care to guess what will happen next?

This post is from a friend via email.

Tony Blair’s Dilemma, is it ours too?

Which way will Tony Blair take? It seems to me he has to make a choice between 2 options. First of all he has to decide just how far he wants to sink Britain into the US’s clear mission to “finish the job in Iraq”. Just watching him on the TV reveals to me a man who is thinking he has bitten off more than he can chew. He is slow to make any comments at all on how far he is willing to back the US while all the time sending positive signals to Washington. As the US build up continues he will have not only his back benchers but also his vastly overstretched military to contend with.
Secondly, Mr Blair has to decide just how far into Europe he wants to go. I am quite sure he knows (especially after this year) just how strongly the British people feel about the Euro and to some lesser extent their sovereignty. He is quite keen on handing back Gibraltar to the Spanish (regardless of how the people who live there feel), turning up at conferences as a sort of Superpower-by- proxy and pushing for greater membership complete with its own President.
But I think the problem for him runs much deeper than it appears. The US is staunchly pro Israeli; Europe given any chance at all will show its colours to be anti-Semitic. History tell us that even in England anti-Semitism has been around since medieval times.
Does Mr Blair choose the US and therefore find himself in the firing line over Israel too? Or does he choose Europe, staying out of the (not so definite) war, but winding up against the State of Israel?
It seems to me that the whole world is heading for a decision as to which camp they are in, pro or anti Israeli. And this is why I think Tony Blair will choose Europe. He’ll choose Europe because he’ll avoid getting involved in a war he doesn’t want and because Europe is still an area he thinks he still has some control over. I am glad that I am not in his position because either way he is going to make some powerful enemies.

- White Rose.

My head, the shakes, that bottle of whisky. A good night. A coma day.

Articles and links.

Kurdish guerrillas poised to fire first shots in war on Iraq

Center for Nonproliferation Studies (A resource site)

Work on the wild side. ( A simple story :-)

Ground Zero

Good morning. How are we today? Im not too bad, quite chilled, reading the newspapers. The weekend paper is, sadly, a time of the week I geuinely look forward to as it reviews the past week and offers up thought for the week ahead. Big, no….oversized articles talking about all that stuff I ususally talk about. Pictures too. Nice. Anyway, here are some of the best bits that I CAN put up here. Other bits are forgotten but Im sure you would have enjoyed them too.

Firstly, read the true stories of a Porn Clerk. Working in a Porn shop in Chicago she describes the problems of dealing with customers. Worth a read, I wont say any more about it.

Well, this debate on whether to invade Iraq is ever changing and if you dont know what Im talking about now, you never will. However, one weblog in America is currently attracting alot of attention. NZ Bear writes in the year 2014, a post-apocolyptic era,and also the present day. His views might cause a few to frown, especially his angle towards foreign policy, but I enjoy reading it.

Here are some articles for today.

Saddam woos Arab friends and enemies

US schools returning to segregation

‘No one wants to say this law is wrong’

Some Opinions (Not by me I hasten to add) and other articles:

Why it makes sense to end Saddam Hussein’s regime.

A senior Iraqi scientist tells how
Saddam Hussein, in a decades-long quest
for the bomb, systematically hoodwinked the IAEA.

The tragic ineptitude of the English male. Yes, well?!!?? :-(

Trawl through the trivia of Sight and Sound’s ‘Directors’ top 10 films of all time’ list to test your knowledge. So … do you feel lucky? Do you?

If you want to understand material culture at the beginning of the 21st century, you must understand the overwhelming importance of unnecessary material. If you are looking for the one unambiguous result of modern capitalism, of the industrial revolution, and of marketing, here it is. In the way we live now, you are not what you make. You are what you consume. And most of what you consume is totally unnecessary yet remarkably well made.

I suppose what drives me to stick with the topic of Iraq and the ongoing debate is that EVERYBODY should have an opinion on it, but no particular site covers all angles, which is why I post the links that I do. If you have been following the situation you would have discovered that it is most definately under world debate, and it is becoming more and more apparent that people are stepping into the streets either to oppose or support any future strike.
Some countries are dead against the idea of war whereas others will follow, albeit under support of the US or tactically ensuring their place at the finish line. Whichever reason, the chances are that should regular Western forces go into some sort of prolonged offensive and occupation then citizens at home will be recalled from reservist waiting lists or into territorial roles to ensure the security of the home bases. Emergency services would be stretched, Oil supplies revised and your world will be disrupted. It will also be a media war and I guarantee you will see public rallies in the street.

And what of Iraq? The people of Iraq arent all bad. The sanctions imposed upon them have caused many problems in the country, and it isnt their fault that they are ruled by such a dictator. But do we have the right to force upon them a new ruler, and at a cost? Difficult decision to make isnt it?

Read this short article explaining the background of the situation.

How to make a dirty bomb.(A story)

Yo MobK, isnt it about time you put fingers to keyboard?