Sun Front Page On General Election Day

THIS HAS TAKEN ON A WHOLE NEW MEANING NOW

Blair Donates Memoir Money - Will It Save Him From Hell?

                     NO

Us Media Ignoring Explosive Testimony

h/t to After Downing Street.

Al Megrahi Release - US Hypocrisy

The US Senate are trying to coerce the Scottish First Minister to give evidence on the release as part of their inquiry. You may recall that the horrendous Lockerbie attack was linked, accurately, to the shooting down in July 1988 of Iran Air Flight 655 by USS Vincennes. Where is the US Senate inquiry into that massacre of men, women and children? 290 dead - an 'accident' the US said.

This affair also serves to reopen the Iraq debate, in a way that vindicates Blair's most severe critics. Tony Blair's remaining defenders say he was motivated in Iraq by a hatred of terrorism and tyranny and had no regard whatsoever for getting access to oil. Yet at the very same time the New£abour government was plotting in Libya to hand the worst terrorist in British history to a tyrant in exchange for oil. It's proof that oil and corporate power were a much bigger factor in driving foreign policy than the public rhetoric of opposing tyranny or terror.

David Cameron refuses to open an investigation. He says he will release all the relevant documents – but the Cabinet Office has quietly declared that Blair's permission will be needed before any records are shown to the public. For the families of all the innocent people slaughtered in Lockerbie, this has been a cold-water education in what their governments really value. Cohen, remembering her murdered 20 year-old daughter Theodora, says: "Western governments seem to be run by one thing now – the great God money."

There's a revealing postscript to this story. Last month, Blair went to Libya on behalf of the many mega-corporations who now employ him. He was greeted by Gaddaffi himself – who tortures dissidents and terrorises his population –"like a brother", according to the Libyan press. There has even been speculation that, now they need a CEO, Tony Blair will go to work for BP. In so many ways, it seems, he always has.

Iraq Casualties - A State of Ignorance

A new report has been published on the pathetic efforts of the UK Government to keep a handle on the scale of civilian casualties and carnage in Iraq. Link to the full report here

Just Another Day In Iraq

He says he can pinpoint the root of his problems back to an incident in Basra in the first month of the Iraq invasion, seven years ago. "We were told to hit and clear an enemy building," says Dale. "The tanks opened up on the building and we went in, firing, throwing grenades in every room. We thought there was no one firing back because of the weight of fire. But when we got in there, it wasn't an enemy building, it was just a normal family. There were about seven of them in total. Dead children lying all over the floor." It was 27 March, 2003, his 33rd birthday.

As platoon sergeant he had to clear the casualties: "I really struggled hard with it. We were always told that we had to go in gently, not to injure any civilians. Me and the corporal got together afterwards and we knew what we'd done was wrong. But you tried not to talk about it."

My conclusion is that this victim of the Iraq debacle still doesn't understand his own part in it. Full story here.

Blair 'Legacy' Crumbling By The Day

Poor old Tone. He is even execrated for winning awards as per my previous post and the chorus of derision in just about every Sunday newspaper in the UK yesterday. Now it emerges he is costing us taxpayers £250K a year for his personal security. I'll tell you what - he won't be very secure, 250K or not, if he ever comes along my street.