Saturday, 19 April, 2003The Puce of ClubsThose of you in the habit of reading BuzzMachine or a small victory may be familiar with a blogroach who goes by the name of "Puce"; well, Jim Treacher informs us that "Puce" now has his own blog. It's worth taking a look at, just to witness the exercise in utter incoherency. Now, I don't think for a moment "Puce" is for real; nobody who genuinely speaks English that badly could possibly understand how to work Blogger, use the word "chortle" (albeit misspelt) or come up with a creative euphemism like "damp ladypart." And nobody who professes that much distaste to all things American would work in what looks suspiciously like a Reservoir Dogs reference. Incidentally, puce is French for "flea," but I think that's either coincidence or a smokescreen; this guy wouldn't make sense in French either. Perhaps he just went with the most repulsive colour he could think of and decided to use that as a handle. This joke is going to get really old really fast, so have a "chortel" while it lasts. posted 0214 Z-8 [link] Friday, 18 April, 2003The Can of Worms IIIFollowing on from last Sunday's report in The Observer (which I mentioned here), the San Francisco Chronicle reports Russia admits providing training to the Iraqi security services: A spokesman for the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), Boris Labusov, acknowledged that Iraqi secret police agents had been trained by his agency but said the training was for nonmilitary purposes, such as fighting crime and terrorism.Define "crime and terrorism," товарищ. What part of "violation of UNSC resolutions" do you not understand? I have to say the Chronicle is more than a little obnoxious about the affair; they claim the discovery of the training certificates was a Chronicle "exclusive" (which, given that the Observer ran the story in print probably some 8 hours earlier, is obviously bollocks) and suggest that Labusov's admission was all their work as well, until you head down the page and discover Labusov's statement was made to Andrey Soldatov, "director of Agentura, a Moscow-based journalism organization that uses the Internet to disseminate information about Russian intelligence services." Nevertheless, the can opener on the Can of Worms has been given another twist. (Link to the SFC article via Counterpoint.) posted 2129 Z-8 [link] 419 An e-mail arrived in my in-box today, professing to be from a Nigerian gentleman by the name of Mohammed Abacha. "Mr. Abacha" claims to be second son of the late General Sanni Abacha, a former military ruler of Nigeria. The late General had $26m salted away, and my cooperation was required to launder the money through an account at a European bank; in return for my help, I would receive 15% commission ($3.9m). This is a classic example of what is known as a "419," named after the relevant section of the Nigerian Criminal Code. It's also known as the "advance fee scam"; the idea being that after the mark agrees to cooperate, blinded by the prospect of a couple of easy millions, he will be asked to advance a few K to "cover expenses." Once he deposits this money, he never hears from the contact again. posted 1856 Z-8 [more..] The dark side of liberation I've been re-reading We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families, Philip Gourevitch's excellent book on the 1994 Rwandan genocide (I also recommend Elizabeth Neuffer's The Key to My Neighbor's House, which focuses on the ICTY and ICTR). In chapter 13, Gourevitch notes by way of illustration: Similarly, in France, during the months immediately following World War II, between ten and fifteen thousand people were killed as fascist collaborators in a nationwide spasm of vigilante justice. Although nobody looks back on those purges as a moment of pride, no national leader has ever publicly regretteed them. France, which considers itself the birthplace of human rights, had a venerable legal system, with plenty of policemen, lawyers and judges. But France had been through a hellish ordeal and the swift killing of collaborators was widely held to be purifying to the national soul.France had four years of Nazi occupation; Iraq has had over two decades of Saddam. Draw your own conclusions. posted 1727 Z-8 [link] The Master Plan Speaking of COINTELPRO Tool, Bill provides some damn fine analysis of the nonsensicality of some pervasive memes concerning the Project for the New American Century. The PNAC is (not inaccurately) described as a "neoconservative think tank," whose membership has included such people as current Under-Secretary for Defense Paul Wolfowitz. In September 2000, PNAC published a report titled Rebuilding America's Defenses, which has been seized upon by certain anti-war types—such as John Pilger—as "proof" that the Bush administration had it in for Iraq all along. Bill deftly explains that "the difference between the document and how it has been portrayed is quite shocking," noting in particular that régime change was also a stated policy of the Clinton administration and other Democrats. A thoroughly interesting and, in my opinion, convincing read. posted 1639 Z-8 [link] Ouch! Bill Herbert over at COINTELPRO Tool links to a story on Yahoo! News about US Marines hunting gazelles in Saddam's private game reserve in order to get some variation in their diet (they've been on MREs for two months); they are being careful not to overhunt and deplete the herd. Bill remarks this is likely to annoy PETA, and titles the entry Oh, Stop Whining. At Least They're Not Using the Baghdad ZooIn an unfortunate coincidence, Jeff Jarvis' BuzzMachine links to an article in the San Diego Channel, "Sad Scene At Baghdad's Zoo" The animals are underfed and dehydrated, and some have been stolen or set loose by looters. The article does note, though, some US troops have been trying to keep the animals fed from their own rations, so as it turns out, Bill's title didn't inadvertently become a sick irony. posted 1619 Z-8 [link] No Cameras? I haven't slagged off CounterPunch in a while, so it's about time. They're inordinately proud of this article: "Embedded Photographer: 'I Saw Marines Kill Civilians'" You'd think an embedded photographer might have shot some photographs, wouldn't you? Yeah, so would I. Yet not one photo accompanies the article. Actually, the original appeared in Le Monde, though for some reason CP didn't feel like putting in a direct link, despite the fact that an editorial note at one points says "SEE PHOTO IN LE MONDE." As it turns out, the Le Monde page is accompanied by one photograph, of what looks to be a less than fresh corpse. If this person was killed by the Marines Van der Stockt was embedded with, he apparently hung around for a few hours, if not days, before snapping this picture. Actually, the entire story makes no sense; the victim in the photo is supposedly an old man, who was bimbling along with his cane, oblivious to the fact that the Marines in question were machinegunning everything approaching their roadblock. Uh-huh, sure. No photos of these vehicles Van der Stockt claims the Marines shot up, no dead women and children. The spirit of Mohammed Said al-Sahaf lives on. PS. (18-Apr-2003, 1800LT) I received an e-mail from "Potter," who used to work in a funeral home mortuary; "Potter" concurs that the body in the photograph does not look recently deceased. In fact, he comments that at first glance it is not even evident that the deceased died of gunshots. Thank you for the input, "Potter." posted 0312 Z-8 [link] 'Only' 18 years Jackie D linked to some commentary by Mickey Kaus (whoever that is) on Slate (scroll down to "Insanity defense") regarding the "lenient" sentence handed down to Volkert van der Graaf; 18 years for the murder of Pim Fortuyn. For starters, the title "Insanity defense" makes no sense; a psychiatric evaluation entered into evidence during the trial found that Van der Graaf was not insane. But Kaus' description of the sentence as "ludicrous" and "Euromoronic"... well, let's just say a brief fisking is in order. posted 0243 Z-8 [more..] Thursday, 17 April, 2003Where you stand depends on where you sitA couple of people who have linked to me have reflected the rather unwieldy phrase I used in my "About" page to describe my political stance (I was thinking of changing it, but I suppose that'll have to wait). As an exercise in self-indulgency, I thought I might expound a little on what it all means. (Feel free to skip this one if it sounds dull.) posted 2233 Z-8 [more..] 'Politicization' of the ICC In COINTELPRO Tool, Bill Herbert reassesses his opinion of the International Criminal Court on the basis of an article in the Canadian newspaper, the National Post ("War crimes case planned against U.S.") I hope I can convince him to re-reassess. As I've noted before, injudicious use of the term "war crimes" annoys me no end. Two organisations which make a habit of this are the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York and Public Interest Lawyers in London. In their latest stunt, these two groups, along with the Center on Economic and Social Rights*, have announced they intend to submit an outline for a case against the United States and the United Kingdom regarding the war in Iraq to the Prosecutor of the ICC. posted 0225 Z-8 [more..] Wednesday, 16 April, 2003Mohammed Said al-SahafI've been getting a fair number of hits from people looking for jokes about the (former) Iraqi Minister of Truth, I mean, Information, Mohammed Said al-Sahaf (note how I vary the spelling to cover as many different Google searches as possible; I'm such a slag). What you really want is the current Photoshop feature on Somethingawful.com; here's a sample:  It's a mixed bag, but it contains some real gems.
In (partial) defence of the UN Though I'm more than happy to take cues from other blogs, I don't much like to write about what other blogs are saying. This is mostly because I really don't care for self-referentialism in any given medium, and I certainly don't hold with news media (and I'd like to think pundit bloggery is a news medium of some sort) creating copy about other news media. It's a process my mother once referred to as "media masturbation," and though it be far from me to knock masturbation—"the thinking man's television," as playwright Christopher Hampton once called it—it's not always an activity one is particularly interested in watching. However. I've noticed there is tendency, particularly among right-wing American bloggers, to assume that anything "the United Nations" does must, ipso facto, not serve any useful purpose; indeed, that the only purpose "the United Nations" serves is to hamper American in doing what is right for the world. I don't know where this idea comes from, except ignorance and prejudice, but I find it disturbing. As a former UN staff member, I would be the last person to deny the UN has problems, but my take on them is rather different from those of, say, Glenn Reynolds, Steven den Beste and Russell Wardlow, or, in the regular print media, George Will and Charles Krauthammer. Indeed, I sometimes find myself wondering whether they're thinking of the same organisation. posted 0148 Z-8 [more..] Tuesday, 15 April, 2003Return to SenderSadly, I have to report "Letter from Gotham," one of my favourite reads, is no more. According to a communiqué I received this morning, problems at work have forced Diane to not only cease writing "Letter from Gotham", but to take the site down altogether. (On a personal note, I don't know what this is about, but my initial reaction is that it sucks like an airlock breach on the Sulaco.) But, she assures her fans (and if they are not many, they damn well ought to be), she will resume blogging at the earliest opportunity. Hopefully, that will be soon. posted 1025 Z-8 [link] Monday, 14 April, 2003Meanwhile, back in the Netherlands...The Dutch (semi-editorial) cartoon Fokke & Sukke commented last month that the war in Iraq would be resolved sooner than the formation of the new Dutch coalition government, and it looks increasingly like that assessment was correct. posted 1258 Z-8 [more..] Oh, behave! From CNN: US 3rd InfDiv personnel, including the increasingly famous CPT Chris Carter (having an AP journalist embedded in his company definitely gets him noticed), found what appears to be Saddam's "love shack". [T]his home was different: beanbag chairs, a garden of plastic plants, a sunken kitchen and a room for a servant, all 1960s-style. The sunken wet bar was stocked with 20-year old Italian red wines and expensive cognacs, brandies and Scotch whiskeys, the same brands found in several presidential palaces. The glassware, too, was the same pattern that was found in at least three palaces also visited by U.S. troops since the regime collapsed. The pattern features the Iraqi government seal and a gold pattern on that rim. [...] posted 0911 Z-8 [link] Sunday, 13 April, 2003TJC Muzzles 2003The "Jefferson Muzzles" have been awarded for 2003; check 'em out. Awarded by the Thomas Jefferson Center from the Protection of Free Expression, they're like "Golden Raspberries," only for people or bodies who have acted to limit the First Amendment of the US Constitution. It's an interesting read. (Thanks to my other bro-in-law, Larry, for bringing this to my attention.) posted 2249 Z-8 [link] The Can of Worms II Jackie D links to an MSNBC article, "I’m Shocked, Shocked!", detailing some finds by US 3rd InfDiv at Roland can be mounted on a variety of vehicles, or in fixed positions. A French Embassy spokeswoman insists that the Roland-2 missile was an old model which the manufacturer stopped making years ago, though she admits the Roland-3 is a newer model.You're damn right, it's a newer model. As far as I can make out, Roland 3 started production in 1995, and didn't enter service with France and Germany until later than that. She says the Chirac government’s position is that new goods from France found in Iraq were probably illegal deliveries that Saddam purchased on a marché parallel, or black market.Uh, sure. The French armed forces have a total of 20 Roland systems, the Bundeswehr has 11; if one went missing, I'm sure they'd notice. And, as I said, the thing has been in production for less than a decade. It's not like the international black market for arms is going to be awash with these things. The French government either knew, in which case they're dirty, or if they didn't, they're incompetent; either way, they're culpable. Speaking of illegal exports of anti-aircraft missiles, Hans Blix noted on 14-Feb-2003 that Iraq had illegally imported 380 engines of the type used in SA-2 GUIDELINE missiles (intended to power the al-Samoud II). What he didn't mention, and what I'm curious about, is who sold those engines to Iraq. Large-scale production of SA-2 variants has taken place in two countries: the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China (as the Hong Qian-1 and 2). Egypt reverse-engineered and modified the model, but never put it into production. Now, the SA-2 and its variants were sold to, and used by, a fair number of countries, but you don't just pull 380 missile engines out of your spare parts stores; we're looking at a producer here. So the list of suspects is rather short: a former Soviet Republic, most likely the Russian Federation or maybe the Ukraine, or the PRC. The opening of the Can of Worms continues... posted 1732 Z-8 [link] Halle-bloody-lujah  Ex-PoW Specialist Shoshana Johnson is escorted to a transport aircraft on Sunday Rescued: CWO Williams, David; CWO Young, Ronald; SGT Riley, James; SPC Hernandez, Edgar; SPC Hudson, Joseph; SPC Johnson, Shoshana; PFC Miller, Patrick. Greece - nation of traitors redux The Economist this week features a lovely article ("Having it both ways" which, sadly, is premium content) on the Greek stance towards America: In a televised speech to his Pan-Hellenic Socialist Movement (Pasok), [Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis] said that by waging war America and Britain were trying to undermine the EU. “Those fighting the war don't want to see progress in unifying Europe. They want it to weaken,” he said.That last bit, frankly, says everything about the Greeks, because you can bet they're not going to send back the money. As for the EU, the main reason the Greeks are so keen on it is because they're a major beneficiary of common agriculture policy funding, development funding and because last October the European Commission decided that feta is a "label of protected origin." The latter means that by the end of 2007, only Greek-produced feta will be allowed to be called "feta" within the EU. The Greek Dairies Association hailed the ruling, stating Feta [...] will no longer face illegal competition from other white cheeses in brine.("Illegal competition"... looks like somebody needs the concept of "free market economy" explained.) Some 75% of feta is produced outside Greece. Denmark, the foremost non-Greek producer of feta, is appealing the ruling before the European Court of Justice. So much for "unifying Europe." My earlier sentiments on Greece remain unchanged. posted 0144 Z-8 [link] The Can of Worms I Patrick Graham of the Observer appears to have found something which, if not a "smoking gun," is at least an ejected cartridge case. Oh yeah, and something about Mukhabarat personnel receiving training from the Russians right up to last September, which is probably a violation of UNSC resolution 661 (1990), which forbids the sale or supply to any person or body in Iraq of "any commodities or products" except for medical supplies and, "in humanitarian circumstances, foodstuffs." Admittedly, certain restrictions were lifted under resolution 687 (1991), but I don't think "surveillance training for state intelligence and/or security organs" qualifies as "materials and supplies for essential civilian needs as identified in the report to the Secretary-General dated 20 March 1991." (Link via Jeff Jarvis' BuzzMachine; I like that guy.) posted 0055 Z-8 [link] Yet another ISM casualty It's happened again; on Friday, 11-Apr-2003, between 1630 and 1700 LT, ISM activist Thomas Hurndall (21, from Tufnell Park, London, but living in Manchester, UK) was wounded in the head by gunfire. The shooting took place in Rafah, in the Gaza Strip, less than a kilometre from where Rachel Corrie was killed by an IDF bulldozer slightly less than a month ago. Hurndall has been hospitalised in Be'ersheba; he is alive, though he reportedly shows no brain activity. As in the case of the shooting of Brian Avery, reports are confused, and contradictory. posted 0004 Z-8 [more..] |
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