This morning Australians heard the news that the so-called ‘Coalition of the Willing’ in Iraq will soon be down to just one member.

After the last troops from a humbled, bloodied, bankrupted Britain exit the country, only troops from a humbled, bloodied, bankrupted USA will be left.

Greg Sheridan: an Australian Zionist War-Liar, works for News Corp

In just a couple of days the Coalition of the Willing in Iraq will be a coalition no more.

The only troops remaining will be American, and even they’re continuing to reduce their role towards making a complete withdrawal by the end of 2011.

Those of us who opposed this disgraceful episode in murderous imperial barbarity prior to March 2003 were often accused of ‘appeasement’ . It was facile reference to events in Europe in the late 1930s, based on a skewed, simplistic view of the history of that era.

The blatant dishonesty of these 21st Century war liars has gone unpunished.

In Australia, a cavalcade of pundits and ‘experts’ were paraded before us in 2002/3 to stir up popular enthusiasm for war. Most of them remain on our screens and in our newspapers today.

They were never particularly successful in generating real war fervor – but helped persuade most conformist politicians their interests lay in regurgitating the same nonsense and going along with the media-sponsored war.

Andrew Bolt: another Australian Zionist War-Liar, works for News Corp

Helen Thomas, the extraordinary 89 year old American reporter, whose coverage of US Presidential politics spans five decades, was interviewed a couple of years ago about the quality of the White House press corps in the Bush era.

Her account is damning. Although Helen Thomas didn’t spell it out, the conclusion is inescapable that there was a large measure of collusion in the way the press corp pursed a common agenda.

Helen Thomas

Who decided, from the time Bush arrived in the White House, to hype up the ‘threat’ posed by Iraq? That kind of convergent bias doesn’t happen by accident.

The Bush Administration itself played ball, but virtually no-one in the press corps asked Bush and Cheney hard questions about 9-11, the ‘Patriot Act’, the Anthrax attack, the War on Terror, Afghanistan, Iraq… and Israel.

From 2001 until Bush was elected for a second term, the Bush Administration and US mass media engaged in an orgy of mutual admiration, all directed towards a massive expansion of America’s military and ’security’ budget, the launch of new illegal wars to serve Israel’s agenda that helped bankrupt America, the establishment of police state machinery with the USA and the drastic curtailment of Americans’ civil liberties.

This is what Helen had to say:

Hat-tip to HomePageDaily where I spotted this video, It’s a fine online news service by the Australia’s one and only Richard Neville that goes beyond the enervating mainstream consensus.

One of my favourite blogs is Atheo News. The blog subtitle is ‘dauntless dissent’. I’d add ‘intelligent’, ’savvy’ and ‘grown-up’ (in the best sense).

David Edwards & David Cromwell of Media Lens, winners of the 2007 Gandhi Foundation International Peace Award : keeping an eye on mainstream media spin

The most recent post on Atheo News quotes a recent story covered by MediaLens. It’s a story about a story. Tales like this would be an integral part of the curriculum in a highly-evolved society. If institutions such as the BBC are spinning like tops on a regular basis, people need to know about it.

The sad fact is that they are; the good news is more of us are finding out about it. Every day, the stench of lies gets worse. Why doesn’t the British Government simply sell off the BBC to the same corporate interests who control most of the western mass media and arms industry? Fake public interest broadcasting is more dangerous than none at all.

Incidentally, the same practice of “if in doubt, it’s Al Qaida” is followed faithfully by the ABC – Australia’s equivalent to the Beeb. It must be a shared values thing…

Here’s the story:

Al-Qaeda – Who Else?

On March 23, BBC online reported another bloody day in Iraq:

Phillip Adams of Late Night Live: Sceptic - or Spook?

The following letter of complaint is self-explanatory.

I don’t believe in writing private emails to these folk anymore. It’s too lonely.

So I publish the letters I send, on the rare occasions when I bother to correspond with them. If I ever receive a sensible reply, I’ll publish that too.

But I won’t, as the saying goes, hold my breath…

Dear Sir/Madam

I formally object to the title ‘Canberra Babylon‘, which is currently used to define a segment of the ABC’s Late Night Live program – the segment in which Australian national political tittle-tattle is discussed by a so-called ‘Canberra insider’.

Babylon, as you may know, is an ancient World Heritage site, situated close to Baghdad. It was occupied by US and Polish troops in 2003 and has been substantially damaged as a result of a most inconsiderate military occupation.

It appalls me that you compare Canberra with Babylon.

Australia is a brave and independent country and has never suffered occupation by unwanted US military forces.

Any time an Australian Government wishes the US to vacate its bases in Australia, the latter will undoubtedly do so without a murmur. The fact this request has never been made is a clear sign of broad public support in Australia for the siting of US  ’facilities’ in this country.

The Lion of Babylon: may have survived US occupation

Lazy Iraqi Police get motivational speech (aka How to Make Enemies and Ferment an Insurgency) is like a scene one might expect in an anti-war movie about the Iraq war that hits the flatscreens c. 2025

It is not for children or folk who find vulgar language offensive.

Beyond that, further comment is unnecessary – except that it seems to be authentic. Hat tip to Layla Anwar.

___________________

Other articles in this blog about: [cattagart iraq]

Tony Blair, war criminal

I discovered via Craig Murray’s excellent website that the Blair War Crimes Foundation is open for business. Check it out!

Maybe you’d like to sign the online petition!

Below is the letter the BWCF sent to the President of The United Nations General Assembly, H.E. Father Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, and The Attorney General of the United Kingdom, and their successors in office. It rocks!

Any Australians with legal skills and the inclination to do a version for down-under?

Jim Wallace: is the ex-SAS Commander Australia's holiest man?

The rising star of Australian Christianity, Jim Wallace, is stepping up his campaign for government control over the content of Australia’s Internet, presumably to protect the nation’s youth and save us all from too much online sex.

Later this very morning, it’s expected that Jim Wallace will debate Mark Newton on ABC Radio National. It should be interesting.

In my secular opinion, Mark has the best command of the facts and superior understanding of the technology. He’s also strong on civil liberties.

Mr Wallace, on the other hand, as Managing Director of the Australian Christian Lobby, presumably has Almighty God on his side.

Not really a fair contest, when you think about it.

I checked the ABC Radio National archives for some of Wallace’s past performances. He has been a busy Christian soldier over the years – and seems to specialize in unfair fights.

What’s more, like his role model Jesus Christ, Mr Wallace is not afraid to criticize mainstream religious leaders of his day when he feels they’re out of line:

Here’s a report from 2nd September 2003, when Mr Wallace supported (then Australian Foreign Minister) Alexander Downer’s attack on Australian religious leaders (emphasis added):

Last week, the Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, gave church leaders a serve for straying too far into the political arena, and in particular, opposing the recent Iraq war.

This is a Part 1 of 5 of the video War by Deception – All Roads Lead to Israel.

There’s more to watch, read and think about at Ryan Dawson’s website.

His Master's Voice

Now here’s a question…

Back in March 2003, did Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper plagiarize a speech made by Australian PM John Howard two days previously?

Both speeches were made at a crucial time, when each of the former British domininions was justifying participation in the invasion of Iraq

‘Harper as Plagiarizer’ is the thesis of this rather clever video put together by the Liberal Party of Canada:

But there’s at least one other plausible hypothesis.

Perhaps BOTH Prime Ministers were reading texts drafted by the SAME third party?

Some comments below the YouTube copy of Stephen Harper copies Australian Prime Minister John Howard make this suggestion. One speculates Howard and Harper read scripts prepared in the White House.

It’s conceivable. But more likely, I think, that all the colluding  ‘Anglo-Saxon’ national leaders – from London to Ottawa, Washington to Canberra – were following the same direction.

If cantral casting wasn’t actually located in Tel Aviv, it might as well have been.

The enterprising folk who put ‘Sock and Awe’ together in a day have hit the jackpot. Assuming the hit counter is accurate, they’re about to clock twenty million successful shoe-hits on an electronic George Bush

Sock and Awe Scorecard

That’s a lot of therapy for a lot of people.

Sock & Awe National Scoreboard

Sock and Awe also keeps a tally on hits by nationality. Here’s the great news for Australia! We’re in third place. That’s a strong showing. We Australians are flinging above our weight.

As expected, Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are doing well. France is in second place.

Which country is on target for Gold?

None other than the USA itself!

I’d like to see a Russian version, in which Putin picks up the hapless Bush and tosses his flailing torso into a pit of depleted uranium.

Who gets all the email addresses trawled from the SockandAwe.com website?

It’s a good question. Suspicious minds may suspect a CIA black op – and stranger things have happened.

But compiling lists of George Bush’s opponents, which used to be a manageable task, is becoming rather pointless.

By December 2008, even the average self-respecting CIA agent thinks Bush sucks.

UPDATE: The day brings a flurry of new shoe-throwing games and related web paraphernalia. A page on the Wired blog is trying to keep track.