This article of mine appears in The First Post.
So, Tony Blair has been awarded a $1 million prize for "his exceptional leadership and steadfast determination in helping to engineer agreements and forge lasting solutions to areas in conflict".
Some will argue that Blair should be on trial for war crimes, not receiving prizes. Others will say that the award, made by the Dan David Foundation of Tel Aviv, is a huge own goal for Israel because it sinks the country's international standing even lower after its actions in Gaza.
But they are missing the point.
The award - along with many of the other riches which have come Blair's way since he left Downing Street - is the payback for doing 'the right thing' by way of the US and Israel while he was in office.
The £2m-plus annual fee from JP Morgan Chase... the $250,000 for a 45-minute speech on the US lecture circuit... the all-expenses paid jaunts to Jerusalem as the Quartet's (ineffectual) Middle East envoy... it all serves as a reminder to members of the western political elite of the enormous financial rewards that will come their way if they toe the line.
It makes no difference that the $1m from Dan David will go to the former Prime Minister's 'Faith Foundation'; it is still heading for the overall Blair kitty.
Over the past six years, there has been much debate as to why Blair led Britain into a disastrous and illegal war with Iraq. Some say it was due to a passionate belief in spreading democracy. Others maintain that he genuinely believed that Iraq possessed WMD. But the simple, unavoidable truth is that Anthony Charles Linton Blair is now a far richer man than he would have been had he followed the example of French President Jacques Chirac and opposed the war.
For Chirac there have been no offers from JP Morgan Chase, no US lecture tours and absolutely no prospect of a Dan David leadership prize. John Howard, the former Australian Prime Minister who, like Blair, supported the Iraq war, has fared rather better: he too has been booked to impart his 'wisdom' on the US lecture circuit.
We know that money has always been a major motivator for the Blairs, as it is for most politicians everywhere. The number of genuinely principled politicians - the Tony Benns and Enoch Powells of this world, who are prepared to put their beliefs before their careers and long-term financial security - is very small indeed. And Washington and Tel Aviv know this.
The message from both the US and Israel to Britain's political elite could not be clearer: if you continue to follow the 'right' foreign policy and take your country into wars which we desire - such as Iraq - you can look forward to a very comfortable retirement.
Today it's Blair who’s reaping the financial benefits for his Atlanticism and his pro-Zionism; tomorrow it will be David Cameron, who also supported the Iraq war and who stayed silent as Israel bombarded Gaza.
After the disaster in Iraq, many Britons would love to see a reorientation of our country's foreign policy. But they are likely to be disappointed until other countries can offer our opportunistic and unprincipled leaders the lucrative pension plans that the US and Israel can afford.
UPDATE: Here's some more interesting news about the oh-so-principled former British Prime Minister from today's Sunday Times.
TONY BLAIR is cashing in on his experience as Britain’s longest-serving Labour prime minister by setting up a “commercial partnership” that offers clients political and economic advice.
The business venture, Tony Blair Associates, has been disclosed by the official watchdog that scrutinises paid employment undertaken by former ministers.
The advisory committee on business appointments said in a statement on its website this weekend: “Tony Blair has established Tony Blair Associates which will allow him to provide, in partnership with others, strategic advice on a commercial and pro-bono [free] basis, on political and economic trends and governmental reform.”
Mike Warburton, a senior tax partner at the accountants Grant Thornton, said that if Tony Blair Associates had been set up as a simple partnership rather than as a limited company, it would not have to make public its income and profit.
33 comments:
Killers of children in Gaza has awarded killer of children in Iraq a (one-of-us) prize.
I signed the petition to prosecute Blair, I invite everyone who is ( not-one-of-them) and who oppose burning children alive by phosphurus bombs to do the same at the following link:
http://blairfoundation.wordpress.com/
I would be more comfortable if you had not singled out an Israeli payment to hang this on out of the very large amount of money indeed he has received from so many sources. If only the Parliamentary register of members interests extended past leaving the House (or indeed applied to retired top civil servants who also do very well).
There have also been numerous politicians in receipt of large amounts of money from arabs, probably much larger though obviously it is difficult to tell. Mark Thatcher, for example, became Britain's 350th richest person with no visible source of income apart from introduction fees from Saudis. This is a serious & widespread problem.
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The green-eyed monster mourning the loss of Saddam.
Mr. Clark,
Might you bother to look but, notwithstanding your comment, the fact is and always was that the Israeli government argued vehemently with the US government against a war in Iraq. Even the infamous Mearsheimer has admitted that Israel was not keen on a war with Iraq. Here is a colloquy from National Public Radio's Boston University station show On Point:
Ashbrook: The argument’s been made that Iran is Israel’s greater fear, so if the Israel Lobby were so powerful, why would the US have gone into Iraq? That’s not the number one Israeli concern. Is there a contradiction then John, in you having described Iraq as the result of Israeli lobby influence?
Mearsheimer: No, Tom. It’s quite clear that in early 2002 – now remember we went into Iraq in March 2003. In early 2002 when the Israelis caught wind of the fact that we were seriously thinking about doing Iraq, that they came to Washington and told us that they would prefer that we do Iran first. The Israelis very clearly thought that Iran was a greater threat than Iraq. It’s not that they were uninterested in having us effect regime change in Iraq and Syria, it’s just that they preferred Iran.
But once they came to understand that Iraq would be the first operation, and we would subsequently deal with Iran and Syria, they embraced the idea of attacking Iraq, although they continually reminded us that we had to do Iran and Syria afterwards.
So what you see from early 2002 up until the war starts in March 2003 is that the Israelis are pushing us very hard, harder than other country outside the United States, to go to war against Saddam Hussein.
Removing the cant, what is really argued by Mearshiemer is that the cost to Israel of receiving US support was Israel's support for the Iraq war, notwithstanding Israel's concern that Iran, not Iraq, was a mortal threat to Israel.
I should add that Mearsheimer has it only half right. Which is to say, the Israelis presented detailed evidence that Iraq was not likely to be building WMD. Such was reported at the time in Israeli papers but overlooked. In any event, that is why toppling Saddam was not Israel's real ambition and it is why Israel was obsessed with Iran, which the Israelis believed and still believe - whether or not correctly - is headed not only toward building WMD but toward using such weapons or using the cover of having such weapons in its efforts to eradicate Israel.
So, the provision of an award from an Israeli group for pursuing a policy which Israel did not design and which Israel did not lobby for, as an indictment against Mr. Blair is a bit rich. But, it does show your continuing bias against Israel, believing any propaganda you might employ.
This is not a defense of the Iraq war. It is a statement that your theory is one built on bias, not facts.
Enoch Powell may well have been principled. The question is: were those principles the right ones?
I can buy the idea of socialists seeing Heathites as allies of convenience, but I find it hard to accept as such someone with Powell's dangerously essentialist views on race and culture, who was also an early advocate of many Thatcherite economic ideas. He may have been opposed to the death penalty (unlike Neil) and libertarian on issues such as homosexuality (on which Neil is cagey at best) but that doesn't redeem him. The sad thing is that Neil probably agrees with Powell's views on immigration more than his aforementioned libertarian leanings.
Hi Robin:
Good to hear from you.
"Enoch Powell may well have been principled. The question is: were those principles the right ones"
Answer, no- except his principles regarding foreign policy and the fact that British Armed forces should only be used for defence of the realm- and also his belief in respecting national sovereignty.
I'm not advocating Powell as an 'ally of convenience', only saying that he was that rara avis- a politician who, like Tony Benn, put his principles before career advancement and financial gain.
btw I don't agree with Powell's views on immigration. I am opposed, on socialist grounds, to unrestricted large-scale immigration because it is part of the neoliberal globalist package- and is in the interests of global capital, not people. That's a long way from the Enoch Powell position.
This isn't an Israeli prize. It's awarded in part by the French government. Did you research this at all?
'anonymous'
"This isn't an Israeli prize".
Yeh, right.
The Dan David Prize is endowed by the Dan David Foundation and headquartered at Tel Aviv University.
Dan David is a Romanian born Israeli billionaire, who, his biography states, “joined a Zioinst youth movement at the age of 16“. A Haaretz article says: “Living his life between Tel Aviv, Rome and London, he insists that he's Israeli and conducted the entire interview in Hebrew“
The first founding Director of the Dan David Prize was Professor Gad Barzilai, a former professor at Tel Aviv University and co-founder and Co-Chair of the Israeli Association of Law and Society.
The board’s current chairman is Prof Zvi Galil, President of Tel Aviv University- other board members include Professor Itimar Rabinovitch, a former Israeli Ambassador to the US, and Professor Joshua Jornter, also of Tel Aviv University.
(incidentally also on the board there’s also that wonderful man Henry Kissinger and
a former senior partner of Goldman Sachs).
The award will be presented to Mr Blair at Tel Aviv University in May.
So you’re right ‘anonymous‘: the Dan David awards have absolutely nothing to do with Israel.
Bwah ha ha ha ha! Brilliant, Neil. I loved the irony of holding Chirac up as a leading example of the 'principled politician,' even though he was an unrepentant crook who only opposed the Iraq war because he and his administration was knee deep in 'under the table' deals with Saddam.
CHIRAC! Of all people to have picked!
Bwah ha ha ha ha ha!
Indeed so, Neil. My comment may have sounded rather harsh, but there are many different forms of "anti-immigration" which should not be lumped together as they usually are.
Blair is bought and paid for. That some one occupying the highest office in the land can start wars, ignore slaughter (where was he during the Gaza massacre?) and walk off with his loot afterwards is barbaric. Neil is right to point this out.
I can't believe there's not a general outcry in the media at the corruption and calls to change the rules. He started an illegal war. He stood by while a massacre occurred. He is now receiving payment from those who profited. This is WRONG.
at first, i thought it was a spoof site. chas nukey-burke who crops up here, now and then. whatever a "oy va goy" is, it looks like it's suffering from severe identity crisis., deffinately, chronic aresekissingitis
http://www.oyvagoy.com/
Matt
The Israel Lobby both desired and coerced the invasion of Iraq. I strongly recommend a book called, Transparent Cabal, by Stephen. J. Sneigoski. James Bamford has written two very good books relaying how Israeli infiltration of US Intelligence agencies, including the the NSA.
These are two letters, signed by the filthy Neo-Conservative Zionists, calling for the removal ( as they did in Defence of the Realm - A Clean Break) before and after 9/11. They also helpfully construct how the "war on terror" should be pursued.
http://www.newamericancentury.org/Bushletter.htm
http://www.newamericancentury.org/Bushletter-040302.htm
Blair sold himself, his country and the lives of our young soldiers.
Nicki
Remove Our Grandmother's Name from the Wall at Yad Vashem
By MICHAEL NEUMANN
and OSHA NEUMANN
Following the example of Jean-Moise Braitberg, we ask that our grandmother's name be removed from the wall at Yad Vashem. Her name is Gertrud Neumann. Your records state that she was born in Kattowitz on June 6, 1875 and died in Theresienstadt.
M. Braitberg delivers his request with excellent reasons and eloquent personal testimony. His words are inspiring, but they give you – and those who stand with you - too much credit. I will instead be brief. Please take this as an expression of my disgust and contempt for your state and all it represents.
Our grandmother was a victim of that very ideal of ethnic sovereignty in whose cause Israel has shed so much blood for so long. I was among the many Jews who thought nothing of embracing that ideal, despite the sufferings it had inflicted on our own race. It took thousands of Palestinian lives before, finally, I realized how foolish we had been.
Our complicity was despicable. I do not believe that the Jewish people, in whose name you have committed so many crimes with such outrageous complacency, can ever rid itself of the shame you have brought upon us. Nazi propaganda, for all its calumnies, never disgraced and corrupted the Jews; you have succeeded in this. You haven't the courage to take responsibility for your own sadistic acts: with unparalleled insolence, you set yourself up as spokesmen for an entire race, as if our very existence endorsed your conduct. And you blacken our names not only by your acts, but by the lies, the coy evasions, the smirking arrogance and the infantile self-righteousness with which you embroider our history.
In the end, you will give the Palestinians some scrap of a state. You will never pay for your crimes and you will continue to preen yourself, to bask in your illusions of moral ascendancy. But between now and the end, you will kill and kill and kill, gaining nothing by your spoilt-brat brutality. In life, our grandmother suffered enough. Stop making her a party to this horror in her death.
Michael Neumann
http://www.counterpunch.org/neumann02202009.html
===================
Brian
If this thread is to be turned into yet another Hate Week by Brian & the other Nazis here may i point out that for his one post there are millions of Israelis who believe the opposite. The differnce between Israel, as a free society, & the didctatorships he loves is that Islraelis are free to denounce their government. If he were to find a singlt healthy person currently living in Gaza willing & able to publicly say that Hamas' genocide of Israelis was wrong (as well as being immensely destructive to Gaza) it would provide infinitely more support for his claims than his current reposting.
I even have hopes that, at some time soon. somebody, perhaps only 1 person, in the entire anti-Jewish movement will feel able to say that they personally oppose the racial genocide practiced by their obscene Nazi leaders. I grant this may be optimistic.
This animal, called Craig, has added another lie to his list.
We still remember his obscene shameless lies on this post which includes:
1. Israelis didn’t use phosphorus bombs in Gaza. ( although Israel admitted it).
2. Cluster bombs claimed victims from bystanders in Gaza. ( although they were dropped on open areas)
3. And now the honourable resistance group Hamas is committing genocide against killers of women and children.
Oh yes, as long as an animal called Craig said it, we should believe it.
Get a life you Nazi slut.
Yep we are seeing this thread degenerate into a Nazi rant as well.
Dan knows perfectly well that I didn't lie on either 1 or 2. He is clearly not quite bright enough to recognise that saying Israel quite deliberately DIDN'T kill civilians with cluster bombs makes a mockery of his continuous lies about Israel attempting genocide.
As for Hamas being "honourable resistance" - this obscenity simply proves that Dan believes the genocide of Jews & the use of women & children as human shields represents his conception of honour. I regret to say that this does not lower my opinion of this creature.
It is obvious that every single opponent of Israel on here who has the most remote trace of personal honour or decency will dissociate themselves from such obscenity - I regret that experience suggests the number of anti-Israelis who understand such concepts will probably be zero.
Neil Clark you seem to be practicing double standards. You edited my first post to remove my opinion of your concentrating on the Israeli connection to politicians getting such money when they clearly give a tiny fraction of the total. I did not object to such editing because (A) I accepted I had been angry & (B) I thought you might be acting to stop this being simply another confrontation over Israel where insults substitute for facts. If so disgusting personal insults from racist, genocidal, child raping, cannibalistic Nazi filth like Dan, about whom I have gone to some lengths never to speak ill, whose remarks are 100 times worse than anything I said of you & 10,000 times less supported by facts should also have been edited.
Israel terrorist army ordered soldiers to kill themselves, in case they have been taken hostages.
http://tinyurl.com/cl526e
Craig,
You are safe, don’t be frightened and get your pants wet.
The order applies to soldiers involved directly in killing children in Gaza, not the army of compulsive liars on the net like yourself.
Neil Craig, the right wing zionist managed to ignore my post, meanwhile:
...may i point out that for his one post there are millions of Israelis who believe the opposite'
millions???
You must mean Israels willing executioners...as weve seen in the Gaza massacre.
'The differnce between Israel, as a free society, & the didctatorships he loves is that Islraelis are free to denounce their government.'
not if youre an arab israeli...and youre not free to question the jewishness of the jewish state, as Neil knows full well.
'I even have hopes that, at some time soon. somebody, perhaps only 1 person, in the entire anti-Jewish movement will feel able to say that they personally oppose the racial genocide practiced by their obscene Nazi leaders. I grant this may be optimistic.'
Im waiting for you to denounce Israels massacre of Gazans, and their campaign of genocide.....but i dont think this wind-up zionist waterboy will disappoint me.
and he ignores the Neumanns demand for their grandmothers name to be removed from that wretched wall.
Brian
neil craig: there's no 'double standards'. I routinely allow all your comments. You say:
You edited my first post to remove my opinion of your concentrating on the Israeli connection to politicians getting such money when they clearly give a tiny fraction of the total.
No, I edited your earlier post because you claimed that my article on Tony Blair was 'another anti-Jewish attack' which was absurd and insulting. The article is not an 'anti-Jewish attack' (and there have been no other 'anti-Jewish attacks' in any case). Nor will there ever be on this blog-I deplore all forms of racism.
Neil
no where else to post this but here.
A scary thought:
'American policymakers, consumed as they are by the possibility that some homicidal maniac will acquire access to nuclear weapons – Saddam Hussein, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Osama bin Laden – should ask themselves what will happen if Lieberman gets his hands on them. After all, here is a man who called for bombing Tehran – and the Aswan dam! – about to become foreign minister of Israel. Is anybody paying attention?'
http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=14301
supporters of zion better be paying attention.
Brian
No where else to post this but here:
Scary:
'American policymakers, consumed as they are by the possibility that some homicidal maniac will acquire access to nuclear weapons – Saddam Hussein, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Osama bin Laden – should ask themselves what will happen if Lieberman gets his hands on them. After all, here is a man who called for bombing Tehran – and the Aswan dam! – about to become foreign minister of Israel. Is anybody paying attention?'
http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=14301
i hope supporters of zionism are paying attention!
Brian
Dan perhaps you could explain how the Israeli soldiers fearing that they, who are legally entitled to be treated as prisoners of war, correctly fear being tortured & murdered by your "honourable" genocidal Hamas monsters. Presumably you will say that the fact that one German officer murdered 300 American prisoners in cold blood proves that Rooseveldt was a war criminal & your friend Hitler wasn't.
Neil Clark: if you are indeed editing out posts which are "absurd & insulting" may I suggest that you must know Dan's remarks "right wing zionist", "This animal, called Craig, has added another lie" & "part of the army of compulsive liars on the net like yourself" are both.
If you do not consider the words of this obscene genocidal Nazi to be both absurd & insulting I would challenge you to show ANYTHING I have written on this or another thread which has been proven a lie. There may be matters of opinion on which we disagree but that is not lying.
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Neil craig;
Its not IF you lied, but IF you will ever STOP lying.
look at your last post, you are suggesting Israeli soldiers are frightened of being tortured/murdered!!!
And this is to answer my post about orders given to them to kill themselves & each other in case they have been taken hostages.
See how you concoct a whole psychological scenario and falsified reasons to justify orders given to soldier to kill each other!!!!
You never said it's opinion but a proven fact & needed my comment on....
You justification is a lie.
Just stop lying for a week, until we forget you are a liar... you can fresh start again.
By the way, I'm more than happy for Neil Clark to edit or delete my comments.
"look at your last post, you are suggesting Israeli soldiers are frightened of being tortured/murdered!!! "
Which is exactly what happened to the 2 soldiers kidnapped by Hezbollah & presumably to the one still officially being held by Hamas.
Obviously every single member of the anti-Israeli movememt who is, on some way motivated by a concern for human rights rather than Nazism initially spent as much time denouncing the obscene scum who did that as they do Israel.
How many of them that is can be clearly seen here.
Craig;
Here you go again. You keep dreaming of scinarios to purify Zionist entity ugly face…
The orders was given to by Israeli commanders to the soldiers to prevent hostage taking at any costs, even if it means donating a grenade and killing themselves; Orders was also given to bomb any car known to be carrying Israeli POW away…. Even if it means killing Israeli soldiers along with Hamas….
It’s quite clear Israel don’t want another prisoner to be taken by Hamas, political gains are more important than Israeli life in my opinion. How could any state kill its own prisoners of war??????
Hamas did claim to have taken two hostages and in both cases Israel bombed them and killed the it’s own soldiers who where captured, they still have the remains of one of these soldiers…. There was a report about this on Aljazeera last week and they filmed where soldiers took place… etc…
http://tinyurl.com/cl526e
Regarding Hizbullah, the two soldiers were killed when their car was bombed, Hizbullah never took them alive.
Before I accuse you of lying, provide evidence that Hizbullah took soldiers alive and killed them later.
Lastly, It’s Israel who is known to have killed prisoners of war, and hostages after capturing them alive,
Here is one of these cases filmed….
http://tinyurl.com/dg3yej
Let us see you condemn this one of the hundreds of Israel terrorist crimes….
I Won’t be holding my breath..
There was a film on al Jazeera was there. Oh well must be true then :-)
As for "Regarding Hizbullah, the two soldiers were killed when their car was bombed, Hizbullah never took them alive" - they weren't actually captured in a car they were captured on the border - you seem to be conflating 2 mutually incompatible lies fromm Hezbollah that they were never captured alive & that they were killed later by Israel;i bombing. Both clearly represent the very highest standard of honesty of which the anti-Jewish movement is capable, both cannot be remotely true, both contradict what Hezbollah said before & both contradict Israeli forensics.
Now before I comment onn your link can you prove that it is at least 10,000 times closer to honest than the very highest standard of honesty to which any of the obscene genocidal Nazi filth making up the anti-Jewish movement, ioncluding yourself, aspires?
craig;
Provide evidence that Hizbullah captured the soldiers alive!!???
I know you are a liar but now you prove you are a stupid one.
The soldiers were in a Jeep, which was bombed, and two bodies dragged from the wreckage.
Stop lying. stop being a pig for Israel.
Ban once again you prove that, as well as being a genocidal racist lying piece of filth who every single member of the anti-Jewish movement who possesse the most minute trace of human decency has denounced here* you are also stupid.
"The militant Islamic group Hezbollah said Friday two captured Israeli soldiers are being treated humanely"
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2007/04/06/israeli-soldiers.html?ref=rss
Now apologise you disgusting Nazi.
*I am perfectly well aware that not a single anti-Semite in that movement has made the slightest move to dissociate themselves from such Nazis which does indeed prove how obscene & wholly dishonest the entire movement is.
Craig;
The report you liked to, is part of the propaganda prior to the exchange, and never said they were alive, dead bodies also should be handled humanly, unlike Israel who leave it’s victim in Gaza for dogs.
For your information, Hizbullah has never confirmed the condition of soldiers, and considered this information part of the deal…
Israel knew, before the exchange, they were dead after they examined the bombed Jeep, here is what the Daily telegraph said about this:
((An Israeli military report previously used forensic analysis of the capture site to conclude there was a high likelihood both were dead. ))
Here is an extract from the Jerusalem Post paper on this incident after the exchange.
((“Following two years of uncertainty and a day after a long and multi-staged prisoner swap at the Rosh Hanikra border crossing”.
“Officials said an initial examination of the bodies…………. revealed that both soldiers were killed during the assault on their border patrol two years ago”))
I have added this lie to your list of stinking, filthy, stupid, (Lies for Israel) and you don’t need to apologize for being an animal, it’s your nature.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1215330982807
So no apology then Dan you obscene Nazi.
I'm not quite sure if you are denying that Hezbollah said they had the men as prisoners & were being "treated humanely" or merely that the fact they quoted what they Hezbollah proves CBC to be an Israeli propaganda front.
If the formwer you are simply lying. If the latter let us see you saying that nobody should eever, under any circumstances report what Hezbollah or Hamas say because only honest people, who by definition are Israeli shills would ever act as if anything these organisations said could ever be held to their account.
I note that Neil says he censored my earlier post because I had alleged an anti-Jewish attack & "(and there have been no other 'anti-Jewish attacks' in any case)"
Readers can make up their own minds whether the obscene Nazi Dan here or in his disgusting remark about the Jews being Christ killers has been in any way anti-Jewish.
Craig;
You are the most stupid person I have ever heard of.
can't you see Hizbullah is leaking information for political purpuses?
Since when you believe Hizbullah more than your israeli friends?
Israel itself said they have been killed during the assault on their petrol, here is another extract
One of them (uffered a lethal wound to the chest from a rocket-propelled grenade and Regev appeared to have been shot in the head, perhaps when trying to escape their burning IDF Hummer)..
Yere is the url again to shut you up
http://tinyurl.com/dkov3n
Even wikipedia having the information above, the daily telegraph, everyone except you.
Where did you get the thing about their torture from you F****n piece of filth? why don't you synchronize your lies with your terrorist zionists ?
Animals will be ashamed to learn you are one of them. I will be taunting all dogs for having you one of their breed.
What will be your next lie? You may say you are human being, I bet you would
Mot heard of much have you Nazi.
Dan the Dog Taunterer's position is that nobody should ever believe anything Hizbollah, or indeed Hamas, ever say because they are lying scum. That's from a supporter!
Fair enough.
I see why he is attracted to them.
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