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Those now in control in Iraq seem hellbent on exterminating all of their old enemies. The BBC reports today that Iraq’s deputy prime minister under Saddam Hussein, Tariq Aziz, has been sentenced by an Iraqi court to hang, for indeterminate crimes primarily against the Islamic Dawa party of Nouri al-Maliki.

Few can fail to remember the somewhat bizarre bumblings of this man just prior to the US/UK invasion of Iraq in 2003. He became almost a comic icon to many in the West, an Iraqi version of Captain Mainwaring from the BBC TV show, “Dad’s Army”.

At seventy-four, and after at least one stroke, he hardly deserves the punishment heaped on him by his vindictive enemies. Imprisoned in 2003, his family weren’t even allowed to visit for two years, and in 2005 the British newspaper, “The Observer” printed letters from him pleading for help.

It is imperative that there is intervention into our dire situation and treatment … We hope that you will help us. We have been in prison for a long time and we have been cut from our families. No contacts, no phones, no letters. Even the parcels sent to us by our families are not given to us. We need a fair treatment, a fair investigation and finally a fair trial. Please help us….^[1]

According to Al-Jazeera today:

…..the charges against Aziz are related to a crackdown on an uprising led by Shia Muslim parties in the early 1990s. Among them was the party of Nouri al-Maliki, the current prime minister, who at that time carried out an attempted coup against Saddam Hussein.”^[2]

Aziz’s lawyer, Badee’ Aref, stated that “sources inside the court told him three of the judges did not approve the sentence but were forced to sign it.”

After seven years of bloodshed and innumerable lost lives – both Iraqi and Westerner – it seems little has changed in Iraq. Maliki is determined, apparently, to become the next Iraqi dictator. To suggest democracy exists in that country is a farce. Seven months after the last election there is still no stable government in power.

Back in March 2010, just days prior to the Iraq election, Michael Hastings wrote in “The Daily Beast”:

I suspect we could be seeing Iraq’s final gasp of democracy this weekend, a last purple-fingered salute before the country slips back into a more familiar authoritarianism.”^[3]

He is about to be proven correct in his prediction.

Tariq Aziz will undoubtedly be executed. It’s almost a forgone conclusion. He has no influential friends left. Aziz was Saddam’s main man in the “Oil-for-Food” program. He knows the names of all the foreign diplomats and politicians involved in that corrupt scandal. He has never named them, even under interrogation.

Now, they know he never will.

^{[1] “The extraordinary pleas of Saddam’s right-hand man” Observer, May 29th 2005}

^{[2] “Tariq Aziz sentenced to death” Al-Jazeera, October 26th 2010}

^{[3] “Iraq’s Last Election?” The Daily Beast, March 3rd 2010}

Filed under: Democracy achieved

There’s a war going on across the pond. It’s a war that should be waged all over the Western world. Sadly, every nation – bar one – chooses to sit on the sidelines and watch.

The US media spends little time on matters outside of its borders, unless Americans are directly involved in some foreign crisis, so coverage of this war is a bit scanty in this nation, though ABC and MSNBC do have the story on their websites.

The war is being waged by France. It’s fighting itself. It’s a civil war, but one in which the working people of all Europe, and the Americas, should be taking part.

Some months ago, wealthy French president Nicolas Sarkozy suggested he was going to raise the retirement pension age of French workers from 65 years to 67 years. It was, as can be imagined, a deeply unpopular notion with French workers. This week, that suggestion is on the point of becoming reality, and the French are determined to prevent it.

A near-national strike has crippled the country, canceled half the flights out of Charles de Gaulle airport, closed fuel depots and gas stations, schools and universities, and brought three and a half million people out onto the streets; half a million in Paris alone.

From Philippe Marliere, writing for the Guardian newspaper:

The French are deeply unhappy with the way they have been governed, but their main grievance is about pension reform, which is seen as a cynical ploy to make ordinary people work more for inferior entitlements, while bailed-out bankers and the rich get tax rebates and continue to enjoy the high life. Over the past month, five national demonstrations have gathered together an estimated average of 3.5 million people per action day. The latest, on Saturday, was a big success and another is scheduled for today.

The movement is popular: 69% of the nation back the strikes and demonstrations; 73% want the government to withdraw the reform. And high school pupils have now joined the fray. Over 1,000 high schools are on strike as the youngsters take to the streets to protest against mass unemployment and the raising of the retirement age. The government has patronisingly labelled them as “manipulated kids”, but these comments have backfired and served only to galvanise the young, who have hardened their resistance and taken further interest in the reform. When interviewed by the media, pupils come across as articulate and knowledgable. Parents worry about their children’s future, so they will not stop them from striking.”

Today is day six of the action, and the day France’s Senate will vote on the reform bill. It is expected to pass.

French workers have never been shy about defending their social rights. After all, like social rights everywhere, they were hard won. The rich and powerful never make concessions to their workers without a struggle.

Marliere again:

In France, strikes and demonstrations are seen as a civilised and effective way to enact one’s citizenship. Students are expected to join marches from an early age, receiving by the same token a “political education”. France’s youth have always scared governments because of their radical potential. Student demonstrations of late have been invariably popular because people know that the young have been badly hit by unemployment over the past 30 years.^[1]

It’s a measure of the corporate hold on Western media, that all outlets, including the BBC, have grossly misled their viewers over this issue. We’ve all been told that in France the pension age is 60, and Sarkozy wants it raised to 62. That’s totally untrue. The legal age at which a French person can retire is 60, but a full state pension can only be claimed from age 65. Sarkozy wants this raised to 67. (NOTE: Only today has the BBC website finally quoted the correct figures.)

France is grinding to a standstill, while the rest of European workers look on. The British are too lazy, too comatose from a surfeit of beer, to do more than slump in their chairs, drag on their fags, and criticize the latest offering from the TV soap operas.

The Germans are too fat, bloated by sausage and pickled with sauerkraut, to care what the French are fighting for on their behalf. And why should they? After all, the German economy is the best in Europe, isn’t it? Why should they care?

The answer is simple. They should care, along with the Brits, the Italians, and every other worker in Europe, because if Sarkozy and his fat-bellied political pigs can get away with this in France, it sends a message to every politician in Europe.

French workers fight the hardest of all for their rights. If the French workers lose this battle with the rich and powerful, it will prove an easy matter for any other European government to impose similar legislation, or worse, on its own workers. David Cameron, leader of the British Tory government has already made plans to drastically cut benefits to the poor and unemployed. Why are the streets of Britain still empty of protesters?

What’s happening in France should also ignite warning sparks in the heads of US workers. It won’t, of course. Americans will turn out in force to hear speeches from the lunatic fringe, hang teabags from their hats, but when it comes to actually standing up and demanding their rights, Americans are at the very bottom of the list.

They’d rather stay home and watch it on the widescreen TV.

The corporate masters of America learned a long time ago that cheap, artery-clogging, fast-food and sugar-laden fizzy drinks were all the average US-Joe required to keep him from complaining.

There’s a war being waged across the pond. It’s outcome will effect us all.

^{[1] “France’s future is fighting back” Guardian, October 19th 2010}

Filed under: With all thy might

If you’ve heard the name, Linda Norgrove, this week you’ll be one of few in America that has. The US media, usually so quick to report its military’s successes, hasn’t rushed to bring us this particular headline. Those that did labeled it as a US troop operation to rescue a British female aid worker kidnapped by the Taliban in Afghanistan. The woman was, unfortunately, killed by her captors during the ensuing firefight.

At least, that was the official version.

Linda was a British girl who lived on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland. She was kidnapped in Kunar province, along with some Afghan workers, on September 26th. The Afghans were later released, but her captors held onto Linda.

According to a Guardian report, a group of Afghan tribal elders were in place near the hut where Linda was being held, ready to negotiate her release, when the US military opened fire on the compound. One of the elders told the Guardian “there had been a complete lack of cooperation” between the Afghan group’s efforts and those of Nato, prior to the rescue attempt.^[1]

When all opposition was quelled and the troops found the girl, she was lying on the floor of the hut badly injured. She died a short while later.

“Killed by her kidnappers,” was how it was announced to the world.

The truth appears to be somewhat different.

Senior US and UK politicians were quick to pass any blame for Linda’s death onto the Taliban who kidnapped her, but the fact is, they didn’t kill her. The rescue attempt was bungled because a US soldier threw a grenade into the room where Linda was lying. It killed her.

US forces are known for their “gung-ho” attitude towards such missions. “Never mind who gets killed so long as it’s not me or my buddies,” is very much the attitude of mind prevalent among the US military.

As one British Foreign Office official remarked while questioning the use of US troops to rescue a British national:

“There is a gung-ho attitude in certain parts of Nato special forces elements which does not apply to the UK elements.”^[2]

When asked why British special forces were not deployed to lead the rescue, British prime minister David Cameron said “it would not have been right to have insisted that British forces lead the rescue bid.”

It would have been quite unorthodox to overrule and insist on a particular set of forces to carry out an operation against the advice of extremely talented and professional commanders on the ground,” he added.

Unfortunately, Mister Cameron, those ‘extremely talented and professional commanders on the ground’ got it wrong.

This story may not have hit the headlines in the United States, but it sure has made it to the top of the UK’s list.^[3]

^{[1] “‘We were ready to negotiate for Linda Norgrove when rescue bid began’ claim” Guardian, October 12th 2010}

^{[2] “Linda Norgrove: how the rescue operation was bungled” Telegraph, October 17th 2010}

^{[3] “Whitewash fear for Afghanistan kidnap inquiry as MPs express concern about chief investigator” Daily Mail, October 13th 2010}

Filed under: War games