The Daily Bomber- the latest discoveries

The Daily Bomber is pleased to reveal that our intrepid reporter 'Neo' Con Coction has made more damning discoveries during his trawl around bombed-out ministries in Baghdad. Documents have come into our possession which clearly show that Tony Benn, Seumas Milne, John Pilger and Peter Wilby and indeed all other eloquent, charismatic and popular figures in the anti-war movement, were in the pay of Saddam's evil Baathist regime. Benn, our documents reveal received a full year's free supply of tea bags and Mars bars, courtesy of the Iraqi Ministry of Food and Agriculture. Milne was offered free holidays in Basra in return for writing his fiery anti-war pieces for The Guardian, while Pilger received a life-time supply of green short-sleeved shirts in recognition for his efforts to prevent Shock and Awe. Wilby meanwhile received a ten year season ticket to watch his beloved Leicester rugby union team as a quid pro quo for penning his hard-hitting New Statesman editorials. Commenting on the discoveries, Lady Amiel-Black Warmonger of the Henry Jackson Society said 'This is what we and our pro-liberation allies at Bomber Harry's Place said all along: that opposition to the war was motivated purely by commercial self-interest. As I said myself to Dick Cheney, whose Haliburton company is doing such a fine job in rebuilding Iraq-isn't it disgusting that people allow their own financial interests to affect their judgement on issues of war and peace'.

The 'Debate' That Wasn't

So how was it for you? For me, the most significant aspect of the whole charade of the 'Two Davids' head-to-head, was not what the Tory leadership hopefuls discussed, but what they didn't.
No mention of the war in Iraq or our country' s complete foreign policy subservience to war-mongering, Empire-builders in Washington.
How happy Messrs Perle, Wolfowitz and Cheney must be when they see two British neo-cons slog it out for the leadership of Britain's main opposition party. How can the war lobby possibly lose when they have the front benches of both our major parties in their pockets? New Labour bombers, or Tory bombers?
That's what 'democracy' in Britain has effectively come down to.

Was 'Matey' the Greatest?

Bob Taylor from London has written in regarding the death of Best Mate. Bob's view, which he uses Timeform ratings to support, is that 'Matey', though a 'wonderful and much loved star', nevertheless lags behind four other Gold Cup winners, and does not deserve to be labelled 'arguably the best chaser in Britain since the legendary Arkle'. What do you think? Is Best Mate the greatest chaser we have seen since the 1960s? Or have we allowed the tragic and untimely circumstances of his death to cloud our judgement?
I would certainly rate the very versatile Desert Orchid above Best Mate- but I'm not sure about Master Oats....

email from Bob Taylor, London:
As regards yesterday's column, regarding the tragic and untimely death of Best Mate. National Hunt Racing in Britain and Ireland has indeed lost a wonderful and much loved star. However, I fear the emotions of the moment may have, understandably, clouded your judgement ("arguably the best chaser in Britain and Ireland since the>legendary Arkle").If I can quote Timeform Ratings, as my source, their ratings of Gold Cup winners, is as follows:
Arkle(3) 212
Desert Orchid 187
Borough Hill Lad 184
Master Oats 183
Best Mate(3) 182
Captain Christy 182
Kicking King 182

It's All Business....

Under President Milosevic, Zastava was the last independent car manufacturer in the Balkans.
In 1999, workers formed a human cordon to protect their factory- but that still didn't stop the NATO bombers from carrying out their 'humanitarian mission' to destroy the socially-owned enterprise. Six years on, and Zastava is now teaming up with the U.S. industrial-military complex. What a surprise! 'Wars, conflict, it's all business', sighs Monsieur Verdoux, the eponymous anti-hero of Chaplin's 1947 classic. When one considers developments at Zastava, the privatisation of the lucrative Trepca mining complex in Kosovo, and the way U.S. multinationals have asset-stripped Iraq- how could any sane, objective individual possibly disagree?



ZASTAVA: Serbian weapons maker signs agreement with US company
Xinhua
October 21, 2005
Serbian weapons maker Zastava Oruzje on Tuesday signed the first commercial agreement with a US company for the sale of its products on the US market during the forthcoming year.
The agreement, worth 3.2 million US dollars, was signed in Kragujevac, a major city located 140 km southeast of Belgrade, where Zastava Oruzje is based, the official Tanjug news agency reported.
According to the agreement with US arms manufacturer Remington,24,000 carbine and small-calibre units will be placed on the US market, but the carbines will be delivered without butts and with the label, "Remington-Zastava."
The agreement also includes the marketing of Zastava's sports weapons, the joint development of new models of weapons, exchange of experiences, and the introduction of technical and technological innovations.
Trade Attache at the US embassy in Belgrade, Maria Andrew, said that she was very proud that one of the oldest American companies was cooperating with an enterprise from Serbia-Montenegro.
Zastava Oruzje was founded 152 years ago, and Remington 189 years ago and the two companies should set an example to other companies both in Serbia-Montenegro and the US, Andrew said.
Serbian Minister of Capital Investments Velimir Ilic said thathe was very satisfied the Kragujevac plant signed its first contract with a foreign partner, especially as the partner is a USproducer of weapons.
"It is very important that we have created a platform of safety and stability at Zastava Oruzje, so that now our plant can appear on the market with the largest producers of weapons in theworld," Ilic said.

New reinforcements for Iraq? Here's some suggestions

Here's a revised, updated version of a piece I wrote last year for The New Statesman, on the case for sending a brigade of pro-war writers and journalists out to patrol the streets of Iraq.
Surely those who were so keen for the conflict to occur can have no problems with doing 'their bit for the war effort? I realise of course that positions need to be found for David Aaronovitch, Nick Cohen and the bloggers at Harry's Place at the front. Any suggestions?


Despite what the Prime Minister says, the chances of Britain sending further reinforcements to Iraq must be high. So who should go? I propose a new division, made up of those journalists and writers who were so keen that we go to war and who so faithfully echoed the propaganda of the warmongers in Washington and Westminster.
The first laptop bombardier should be William Shawcross who, in the lead-up to invasion, could be seen perched on every television sofa in the country explaining why Iraq posed such a deadly threat. The author of such gems as "Why Saddam will never disarm" was not long ago photographed at a swish London party held by his brother-in-law, Sir Rocco Forte. Surely, Shawcross would be better employed helping the British forces search for those weapons of mass destruction which, he assured us, Iraq possessed.
Next up, Andrew Roberts--cheerleader of the fanatically pro-American Atlantic Partnership and a man who advocated using nuclear weapons against Yugoslavia in 1999. Being one of Britain's "most talented historians", he argued that we could equate Iraq, a developing world country--with its Dad's Army and non-existent air force--with Nazi Germany at its peak.
Then there's Tim Hames, tireless advocate of the pre-emptive strike. When Saddam Hussein was captured in December 2003, Hames proclaimed "the war is over". If that is the case, then Hames could have no possible worries about a spot of military service in Najaf. The ubiquitous neo-conservative scribbler Stephen Pollard can accompany him. In 2002, Pollard wanted to send George Galloway a one-way ticket to Baghdad. Now that Iraq has been "liberated", and Pollard's beloved US is in control, it is surely time to send the ticket to Pollard. Patrolling the streets of Fallujah has to be more exciting than trying to flog a biography of David Blunkett.
Our recruitment procedure should not discriminate on grounds of sex or age. The Daily Mail's resident moralist Melanie Phillips, who condemns teenaged youths smashing up bus shelters, but not coalition forces smashing up Iraq, would have to be found a position. Ditto Anne McElvoy of the London Evening Standard, who believes the war, which has cost at least 100,000 lives, to have been "both morally and practically right". And we must not forget to post call-up papers to the Sunday Times’ Janet Daley, who labelled the moral case against war "at best naive, at worst idiotic". Daley believed the existence of WMDs to have been established by Blair's dossier. Nice call, Janet.
Leading the laptop bombardiers' youth brigade, we can have the Independent's boy wonder Johann Hari. "Sometimes, the only way to spread peace is at the barrel of a gun," Hari declared in the lead-up to the war. Well, Johann, now is the perfect opportunity for you to do some spreading.
Finally, let's not forget the Sunday Telegraph's "Neo" Con Coughlin, who regaled us with tales of Iraqi superguns and Saddam Hussein's plans to take over the planet. The author of 'Saddam: the secret life' was agitated lest the Iraqi leader's acquiescence to UN inspections "could stop regime change for good". In the end, he had no grounds for concern.
Alas, in real life, these people will continue to draw their lucrative salaries, sign their book contracts and attend their parties in London, unperturbed by the increasingly perilous developments of a conflict they could not wait to see started. That is just one of the many injustices of the war in Iraq.

Copyright Neil Clark/ New Statesman, Ltd.

A sad day at the races

'We would have had a revolution in Britain a long time ago had it not been for horseracing', bemoaned Harry Pollitt, leader of the British Communist Party until 1956. But would a revolution which denied us the wonder of horse-racing, really be one worth having? Racing, and in particular National Hunt racing is a compelling and exciting sport which enriches so many people's lives. But all those who love jump racing, as I do, know that there is a downside- the terrible downside we saw today at Exeter when the three-times Gold Cup winner Best Mate, arguably the best chaser in Britain and Ireland since the legendary Arkle-
collapsed and died in front of the grandstands. The thoughts of all fans of the sport will tonight be with the connections of this magnificient animal, whose courage and honesty shone through in all his races.

Rich Pickings of a 'Humanitarian' War

Anyone out there still believe that Yugoslavia was bombed in 1999 for 'humanitarian' reasons?


From: Associated Press

Kosovo's Nickel Plant Sold for $40 Million
-The privatization of Feronikeli is the most important
sell-off of socially owned enterprises, a term used
for enterprises owned by the workers and managers
under a system set up under communist-era Yugoslavia.
PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro - A nickel plant in
Kosovo was sold Friday for euro33 million, or about
US$40 million, authorities said.
Officials from the Kosovo Trust Agency, dealing with
privatization in Kosovo, signed a contract with
Alferon/IMR, part of Eurasian Natural Resources group,
which is among the world's largest private mining and
metals groups, a U.N. statement said.
The company has offered a business plan including at
least 1,000 jobs and an additional investment of
euro20 million (about US$24 million) within the first
three years, it said.
The Feronikeli plant in central Kosovo was badly
damaged during NATO bombing of Serb forces in the
disputed province in 1999. It is one of the major
plants in the economically depressed province.
Kosovo is the poorest region in the Western Balkans
with an annual gross domestic product per capita of
around euro1,000 (US$1,300) and a jobless rate of at
least 50 percent, according to European Union data.
The privatization of Feronikeli is the most important
sell-off of socially owned enterprises, a term used
for enterprises owned by the workers and managers
under a system set up under communist-era Yugoslavia.
The process of privatization is complex, in part
because it is unclear whether Kosovo will become
independent or remain part of Serbia-Montenegro, the
successor state of Yugoslavia.
Serbia's authorities have fiercely opposed the process
of privatization.
....