Okay let me clarify a few things first about my position on Iraq etc.1. I was opposed to the war in Iraq2. I believe the International Community now have a role in ensuring Iraq does not become a Failed Stateokay on with the post. I found this on Speigel Online via ToytownHow German Intelligence Helped Justify the US Invasion of IraqBy Erich Follath, John Goetz, Marcel Rosenbach and Holger StarkFive years ago, the US government presented what it said was proof that Iraq harbored biological weapons. The information came from a source developed by German intelligence -- and it turned out to be disastrously wrong. But to this day, Germany denies any responsibility.Full StoryAh we all remember this now dont we? Well it turns out the source is here in Germany (down south from me) and is still...
Come tomorrow, South Armagh will once again be free! Free from the sound of British jackboots marching on her streets, free from the watchtower rifle scope, free from from constant intimidation and harassment, free from sheet metal and bullet-proof eyesores…tomorrow South Armagh will be Free of British soldiers.
Source: Balrog, Ireland.com
Previously on AGH:
“Her Majesty’s Government’s Objective“
assembly elections, british military, british mod, british prime minister, british prime minister tony blair, british soldier, british soldiers, hypocrisy, iraq, northern ireland, peaceful society, troop numbers, troop withdrawal, troop...
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655,000 dead in Iraq. Is he bothered? Sorry, I had to say it.
Funny clip......
Much is being made of the recent announcement that British Prime Minister Tony Blair intends to begin withdrawing British troops from Iraq, paring the troop numbers down from 7,100 to 5,500 and possibly even down another 500 to 5,000 by the end of the summer.
Little is being made of the fact that we haven’t seen anything like a similar troop withdrawal from Northern Ireland even though such a withdrawal was promised long before the Iraqi one. There are currently 8,500 British troops still stationed in Northern Ireland. While there has been some progress in terms of dismantling armoured watch towers etc the British MoD is quite obviously dragging its heels on its long promised troop withdrawal from NI.
According to the British MoD: “The mission of the armed forces in Northern...
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Dia Duit!Well between the Govt. delaying the Civil Union Bill 2006 and the Polish President making homophobic remarks in Ireland (RTÉ) I'm really pissed off!The UK are to make an announcement on withdrawal of troops from Iraq (RTÉ) It is thought likely that Mr Blair will make any announcement in an oral statement to the House of Commons following his regular weekly appearance at Prime Minister's Questions. I hope he does pull 'em outAt 5:00pm this evening the Seanad will debate the Mental Capacity and Guardianship Bill 2007, please if you know a senator ask them to vote for it.The Civil Unions Bill 2006 also goes to a vote this evening after the continuation of the debate at 7:00p, tonight.Trocaire has launched an online neworking site called 'Just World'Thats all i can find for...
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I guess airstrikes do come in handy on the battlefield. Viewer discretion advised....
For my own information, interesting though.
Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group (CSG) (already in the region, expected to be rotated out from the Gulf in April)
USS Dwight D Eisenhower (Nimitz class)
USS Anzio (Ticonderoga class)
USS Ramage (Arleigh-Burke class)
USS Mason (Arleigh-Burke class)
USS Newport News (Los Angeles class submarine)
Bataan Expeditionary Group (sailing to the Arabian Sea, left Norfolk on January 4, appears to be replacing the 15th MEU, headed by the USS Boxer)
USS Bataan (Wasp-class amphibious assault ship)
USS Shreveport (Austin-class amphibious transport dock)
USS Oak Hill (Harpers Ferry-class dock landing ship)
USS Vella Gulf (Ticonderoga class)
USS Nitze (Arleigh-Burke class)
USS Underwood (Oliver Hazard Perry guided-missile frigate)
USS Scranton (Los Angeles class...
The brother was in Madrid the weekend before last on holidays. Sitting to breakfast one morning, a man approached and asked if he could join him. Turns out the man was the only Christian Iraqi as part of an Iraqi delegation visiting Spain to study their federal system. He was keen to talk to someone besides his Sunni/Shia counterparts, and showed a great interest in Ireland, and its own history of internal strife.
You can read more about plans for a federal system for Iraq here, and here, and a Joe Biden piece......
Dia Duit,The Govt is to publish the Children's Rights Amendment today (Breakingnews). Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has said he will only go ahead with the referendum if he gets all-party consensus on the wording.The 5 axle ban comes into effect in Dublin (RTÉ) AA Roadwatch says the introduction of a ban on five-axle trucks travelling through Dublin city centre has had an impact on M50 traffic this morning. The US Senate is try and find new avenues of limiting Bush's power in Iraq (France 24) Leading Democrats touted a proposal that would revoke the October 2002 authorization that allowed Bush to invade Iraq.Germany is the latest country to cancel footbal games over hooliganism (BBC)Germany has also jailed a Holocaust denier (Al Jazeera)A prominent far-right acvtivist has been sentenced to five...
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Senate Democrats failed to garner the 60 votes they needed to consider a nonbinding resolution opposing President Bush's plan to send more troops to Iraq.The vote was 56-34, with seven Republicans crossing the aisle to vote with senators who oppose the troop surge in Iraq.The Democrats have a razor thin 51-49 majority in the Senate so mustering 60 votes will require at least 9 Republicans to cross the floor, that is if all the Democrats turn up to vote.Some quotes from the debate (CNN)"We are policing a civil war in Iraq," Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, said before the vote. "American troops should not be in the middle of that war."This nonbinding resolution, as a practical matter, doesn't do anything, but was designed to try to disapprove of the new mission," Minority Leader Mitch...
Cork City is to get a new Central Library (Cork City Council) Wooo!RTÉ viewers choose our song for the Eurovision last night. Its a John Waters/ Tommy Moran composition called 'They can't stop the Spring'. The PD's continue their conference today (Breakingnews, RTÉ) Among the guest speakers are Liam Doran of the Irish Nurses Organisation and Anne-mie Neyts, President of the European Liberal Democrats.A Bosnian Court has sentenced a former Serb soldier to 34 years in jail for killing, enslaving and raping Muslim civilians during the country's 1992-1995 war (France 24)Proposed reforms of the Irish Criminal System are to be discussed by experts at an ICCL Forum (Breakingnews)Lesotho goes to the polls today in a tight race for power (CNN)$10 billion has been squandered by the U.S....
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The Democratic-controlled House issued a symbolic rejection of President Bush's decision to deploy more troops to Iraq on Friday, opening an an epic confrontation between Congress and commander in chief over an unpopular war that has taken the lives of more than 3,100 U.S. troops.The vote on the nonbinding measure was 246-182.Resolution criticized President Bush for his decision to send more troops to Iraq is a rare admonishment of a wartime commander-in-chief."The passage of this legislation signal a change in direction that will end the fighting and bring our troops home," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said before the vote when she endorsed the measure that takes issue with Bush's decision to send an additional 21,500 U.S. troops into battle.Full Story (CNN)I'm delighted! An I hope Rep....
Dia Duit An nuacht ar an maidin seo.The row over the cost of the Mahon Tribunal continues today (Breakingnews) with Judge Mahon saying the tribunal will only cost €300m, maybe less. Also Labour are getting in on the act (RTÉ) saying that the government are trying to delay the tribunal. Well d'uhRussian President Vladimir Putin has appointed a former rebel as President of Chechnya (France 24) Pity he wasn't elected.Serbia has rejected the UN plan for Kosovo (CNN). Surprise surprise. I can't see any Serbian parliament accepting independence, virtual or not, for Kosovo.North Koreans are celebrating Kim Jong-Il 65th birthday (France 24). Though state media in north korea seam to warning about a military threat from the US. I don't see how they can invade as the armed forces are stretched...
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For my own information, interesting though.
Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group (CSG) (already in the region)
USS Dwight D Eisenhower (Nimitz class)
USS Anzio (Ticonderoga class)
USS Ramage (Arleigh-Burke class)
USS Mason (Arleigh-Burke class)
USS Newport News (Los Angeles class submarine)
Bataan Expeditionary Group (sailing to the Gulf, left Norfolk Virginia on January 4)
USS Bataan (Wasp-class amphibious assault ship)
USS Shreveport (Austin-class amphibious transport dock)
USS Oak Hill (Harpers Ferry-class dock landing ship)
USS Vella Gulf (Ticonderoga class)
USS Nitze (Arleigh-Burke class)
USS Underwood (Oliver Hazard Perry guided-missile frigate)
USS Scranton (Los Angeles class submarine)
John C Stennis Carrier Strike Group (CSG) (sailing to the Gulf. Currently training in Guam,...
I guess airstrikes do come in handy on the battelfield. Viewer discretion advised....
I like the editorial from the IHT:
To understand this twisted tale, it is important to recall how Feith got into the creative writing business. Top administration officials, especially Cheney, had long been furious at the CIA for refusing to confirm the delusion about a grand Iraqi terrorist conspiracy, something the Republican right had nursed for years. Their frustration only grew after 9/11 and the CIA still refused to buy these theories.
Wolfowitz would feverishly sketch out charts showing how this Iraqi knew that Iraqi, who was connected through six more degrees of separation to terrorist attacks, all the way back to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
But the CIA kept saying there was no reliable intelligence about an Iraq-Qaeda link. So Feith was sent to review the reports and...
$12bn via The Story February 10th, 2007 at 12:20
Where did the $12bn go? Jon Stewart has the......
Raw Story has the report on Iraq intelligence.
Steve gives his initial reation.
TPM has a rection......
This time it’s a sea-knight. It appears to have been brought down by heavy......
Back in 2003 I speculated as to how or why an A10 pilot could mistake any Soviet-era vehicle for a British Scimitar.
Now that they video from the A10 has been put on the internet, it is clear that they mistake was even bigger. Not only did the pilot believe a Scimitar was a ZIL-157 truck, but there was a debate among the pilots about the orange marks on the four-vehicle convoy. Orange marks were used by the British they identify themselves as friendly. The A10 pilot carried out the attack regardless.
Here be the video, released by the Sun Newspaper:...
This is a graphic video. While it does not contain any gory images, it does show a US Apache helicopter being hit with a missile and eventually crashing. The two pilots were killed. It is an insurgent video, so it contains men shouting praise at the helicopter being shot down. It is pretty grainy though.
The reason I post is purely from the military/technology point of view. I have been fascinated with military helicopters for years, and the recent spate of helicopters being shot down in Iraq is a big change in tactics. The Apache is a helicopter built to survive intense fire. During the invasion in 2003, locals managed to turn back a flight of Apaches using only small arms fire, inflicting heavy but repairable damage. In the video you hear a heavy calibre machine gun firing at the...
I have been stewing over Dan Drezner’s mea culpa on his support for the war in Iraq back in 2003. He points to several other pundits who have been reviewing their pre-war positions, all started off by a Radar magazine article that examines the positions of four pundits before the war: Tom Friedman, Peter Beinart, Fareed Zakaria and Jeffrey Goldberg.
Other bloggers have weighed in, including Kevin and Eric Rauchway (Dan lists more).
The day before the war started I wrote an essay that attempted to put together all I had read in the year following September 11, and rather than being pro or anti, I just looked at what I thought was happening, with a view to understanding whether it might be the correct course of action. It is certainly interesting to go back and read your own writing...
Good morning (Im too tired to think as gaeilge let alone type it!)The news this morning!Shilpa has spoken out about being the victim of racism on Celeb Big Brother (BBC). I think racism is an abhorrent disease in todays society and the likes of Jade Goody should be treated with distain for their carry on!Senators, both Republican and Democratic parties, have opposed the increase of US troops in Iraq (BBC)Heres an article on my previous post (Entertainment Weekly)Labour seam to love confusing the electorate and the media! (Breakingnews)The European Parliament have elected the former leader of the EPP-ED grouping, Hans-Gert Poettering, as President of the Parliament (Al...
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Earliest Morning Briefing yet, Thinking of shortening it down to MB but i might be infringing on trademarks :PAn nuacht ar an maidin seo!Feic ar mo dheireadh post le nuacht agus na bhuaiteora ag an Golden Globes areir! (Wow look at my Irish!! Tell me if im wrong pleaseLooks like we'll be a having a referendum in March (BreakingNews) I could have sworn someone had said no referendum before the election! eh typical government! Castro could be on is way out (BreakingNews) 3 failed operations and an intenstinal infection ouch!Bird Flu has hit Japan (BBC) That aint good! Will it be our version of the Spanish Flu?Criticism has been growing over more executions in Iraq (BBC). Well im against Capital Punishment anyway so y'all know where i stand on this!New plans for the Greencore site in Mallow...
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As ever his reports and photos are fascinating. His latest dispatch is from al-Anbar province is a great read, regardless of your political persuasion....
Maidin Maith againn!!!An nuacht ar an maidin seo!Well the bastards (Bus Eireann) put up their fairs today and i didnt even know! really pissed off!!! Had the exact change ready and it had gone up. I last got a bus on firday and they had no signs up!Any back on the newsBreakingnews reports on the confusion been made by Pat Rabbitte on wheather or not he would enter a coalition with FF.RTÉ reports on more hangings in Iraq. When will they learn that will only make things worse.EU Parliament now have 785 MEP's with Bulgaria and Romania MEP's attending for the first time! (BBC)Some interesting debates are taking place on Right Wing World (hat tip: Sam) on various issues including the United Nations, the EU Constitution and...
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Cisco Systems are sueing apple over the use of the word iPhone which Cisco claim they have trademeakeed it. (BBC)Debris has been found belonging to the missing Indonesian airlibne, which has been missing since January 1st (BBC)The Oil crisis between Belarus and Russia has been sorted! phew! (BBC)Cocaine has been found on 100% of Irish banknotes! wooo! we're all drugusers!!!! :P (BBC)Vietnam has become the 150th member of the World Trade Organisation, showing its commitment to world trade. (CNN)Britain will send no more troops to Iraq (CNN), unlikeAmerica who plans to send even more as bush says there are 'not enough' troops...
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Why didn’t they let him rot in prison for the rest of his life? I can’t imagine that conditions in an Iraqi prison are anything to write home about and he wouldn’t have been popular with most other prisoners. Instead they hang him and he becomes a martyr. Nothing good will come of taking another life. No right thinking person could support what he did to the Iraqi people but things are definitely going to get worse now that he’s dead.
More coverage including a video of Saddam walking up to the noose, surrounding by black-masked men in what looks like a spartan concrete bunker on Hotair and Google blogsearch.
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Sam over at Pull Out The Pin believes that the execution of Saddam was the right thing to do. Me I don't think so. I blogged before on Capital Punishment and im still opposed to it. CNN reported that Saddam faced the execution with fear in his face, what is the point in that? Seriously like? Nothing gives us the right to end someone elses life so why does a fledgling 'democratic' state have that right. To me the death penalty is only used by tyrannical regimes to instil fear into a populace.I don't see the point.Irish Political ReactionFine Gael Foreign Affairs Spokesman, Bernard Allen TD, said:"While we don't agree with execution and capital punishment, we must recognise that Saddam Hussein was a dreadful despot with the blood of tens of thousands of people on his hands and was guilty of...
I recently posted about what will happen to Slovenia, Bulgaria and Romania on the 1st of January 2007, but that's not all that will happen.The EU institutions will be able to work in Irish from now on, that includes Irish MEP's addressing the EU Parliament as Gaeilge and the EU publishing more documents in Irish.Also on the 1st of January ASBO's will be introduced in Ireland, these arent been welcomed by all though. Youth groups are opposed to them as there is no oversight on them, which is an issue.One thing for certain, it looks like Saddam wont be alive to see in the new...