Plan to oust Saddam drawn up two years before the invasion
Secret document signalled support for Iraqi dissidents and promised aid, oil and trade deals in return for regime change
By Michael Savage, Political Correspondent
A secret plan to foster an internal coup against Saddam Hussein was drawn up by the Government two years before the invasion of Iraq, The Independent can reveal.
Whitehall officials drafted the "contract with the Iraqi people" as a way of signalling to dissenters in Iraq that an overthrow of Saddam would be supported by Britain. It promised aid, oil contracts, debt cancellations and trade deals once the dictator had been removed. Tony Blair's team saw it as a way of creating regime change in Iraq even before the 9/11 attack on New York.
The document, headed "confidential UK/US eyes", was finalised on 11 June 2001 and approved by ministers. It has not been published by the Iraq inquiry but a copy has been obtained by The Independent and can be revealed for the first time today. It states: "We want to work with an Iraq which respects the rights of its people, lives at peace with its neighbours and which observes international law.
...
Friday, February 05, 2010
Thursday, February 04, 2010
ACORN Pimp Arrested
The "pimp" who gained fame by recording conversations in ACORN offices was recently arrested with three others while attempting to install recording devices on phones of a Congress woman. This occurred in a federal building.
Has James O’Keefe been acting on his own, or is some group directing his actions against a sitting Congress woman?
4 Arrested in Phone Tampering at Landrieu Office
By CAMPBELL ROBERTSON and LIZ ROBBINS
Published: January 26, 2010
NEW ORLEANS — Federal officials charged four men on Tuesday with plotting to tamper with the telephone system in the New Orleans office of Senator Mary Landrieu, Democrat of Louisiana. One of the men was a conservative activist who gained fame last year by secretly recording members of the community group Acorn giving him advice on how to set up a brothel.
Stan Dai, left, and James O’Keefe, were arrested in the office of Senator Mary L. Landrieu.
All four of the men arrested Monday in New Orleans, each in his mid-20s, were charged with entering federal property under false pretenses with the intent of committing a felony, ...
If convicted, the four would face sentences ranging from a fine to 10 years in prison.
The political activist was James O’Keefe, 25, who has gained renown in conservative circles by poking fun at the left through pranks and undercover video.
...
Has James O’Keefe been acting on his own, or is some group directing his actions against a sitting Congress woman?
4 Arrested in Phone Tampering at Landrieu Office
By CAMPBELL ROBERTSON and LIZ ROBBINS
Published: January 26, 2010
NEW ORLEANS — Federal officials charged four men on Tuesday with plotting to tamper with the telephone system in the New Orleans office of Senator Mary Landrieu, Democrat of Louisiana. One of the men was a conservative activist who gained fame last year by secretly recording members of the community group Acorn giving him advice on how to set up a brothel.
Stan Dai, left, and James O’Keefe, were arrested in the office of Senator Mary L. Landrieu.
All four of the men arrested Monday in New Orleans, each in his mid-20s, were charged with entering federal property under false pretenses with the intent of committing a felony, ...
If convicted, the four would face sentences ranging from a fine to 10 years in prison.
The political activist was James O’Keefe, 25, who has gained renown in conservative circles by poking fun at the left through pranks and undercover video.
...
Monday, February 01, 2010
Airliner Security
An unbiased article by, The Christian Science Monitor, on wasted resources that don't enhance airliner security.
More airport security won’t do much to stop terrorists. Leaving the Middle East would.
... pundits have therefore called for heightened security measures at airports and on airplanes.
It won’t work without addressing why there are attacks to begin with.
Additional security measures may prevent a few attacks, at least until terrorists learn to circumvent the new policies. But these measures will have little lasting impact, as with many past tactics, because they do nothing to reduce the demand for terrorism against the US.
If the desire to engage in a certain activity is not reduced, attempts to raise the costs (such as harsher punishment) of such an activity do not matter much.
Consider the evidence from existing policies toward drugs, prostitution, and immigration. In each case, policy tries to ban or limit the activity, hoping to raise the costs of supplying it. Meanwhile, minimal effort is exerted to reduce the demand for intoxication, sex, and a higher income.
...
More airport security won’t do much to stop terrorists. Leaving the Middle East would.
... pundits have therefore called for heightened security measures at airports and on airplanes.
It won’t work without addressing why there are attacks to begin with.
Additional security measures may prevent a few attacks, at least until terrorists learn to circumvent the new policies. But these measures will have little lasting impact, as with many past tactics, because they do nothing to reduce the demand for terrorism against the US.
If the desire to engage in a certain activity is not reduced, attempts to raise the costs (such as harsher punishment) of such an activity do not matter much.
Consider the evidence from existing policies toward drugs, prostitution, and immigration. In each case, policy tries to ban or limit the activity, hoping to raise the costs of supplying it. Meanwhile, minimal effort is exerted to reduce the demand for intoxication, sex, and a higher income.
...
Government Allowed Christmas Bombing
The US government aided and abetted the Christmas airplane underwear criminal by not revoking his visa.
The timeline that makes clear government complicity is available at The Truth About Flight 253 Has Been Revealed.
Terror suspect kept visa to avoid tipping off larger investigation
Nathan Hurst / Detroit News Washington Bureau
Washington --The State Department didn't revoke the visa of foiled terrorism suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab because federal counterterrorism officials had begged off revocation, a top State Department official revealed Wednesday.
Patrick F. Kennedy, an undersecretary for management at the State Department, said Abdulmutallab's visa wasn't taken away because intelligence officials asked his agency not to deny a visa to the suspected terrorist over concerns that a denial would've foiled a larger investigation into al-Qaida threats against the United States.
...
The timeline that makes clear government complicity is available at The Truth About Flight 253 Has Been Revealed.
Terror suspect kept visa to avoid tipping off larger investigation
Nathan Hurst / Detroit News Washington Bureau
Washington --The State Department didn't revoke the visa of foiled terrorism suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab because federal counterterrorism officials had begged off revocation, a top State Department official revealed Wednesday.
Patrick F. Kennedy, an undersecretary for management at the State Department, said Abdulmutallab's visa wasn't taken away because intelligence officials asked his agency not to deny a visa to the suspected terrorist over concerns that a denial would've foiled a larger investigation into al-Qaida threats against the United States.
...
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