Just Another Day In the UK and Iraq - 30 Sept 2004
At least 35 children now lie dead (BBC/Reuters reports) after a series of suicide car
bomb attacks in Baghdad yesterday (30 Sept 2004). American troops were reportedly 'giving out
sweets to local children' at the ribbon cutting ceremony at a water purification plant,
perhaps not the smartest thing for USA troops to do when there are people looking to kill
them all the time. Maybe 'ribbon cutting ceremonies' in a war zone, are cynical USA attempts
at normalising things, perhaps opportunities for a nice photo of USA troops with grateful
Iraqi kids holding hands out for sweets there own fathers (if there alive) perhaps cannot
afford. Whilst the innocent blood of children was flowing yet again into the dusty streets,
there relatives screamed with grief and anger and held up the broken bodies of there loved
ones. Iraq is getting worse by the day.
Click below for daily updated Iraq civilian body count.
On the same day, back in England, new labours party conference voted not to give a
date for pulling out of Iraq. The media reports that
'a deal was struck with unions
to back an alternative motion saying troops should stay as long as Iraq wants'.
This betrayal by the Unions will be remembered, the TGWU (led by a Judas Scouser, Tony Woodley),
Unison and Amicus were party to this betrayal. Tony Blair then appears on Radio Merseyside
and informs us that he'll
'speak to the hostage takers if they get in touch', but
'won't
negotiate'. Then he later informs us that he's actually got a bad heart and needs an operation
and will therefore presumably not be able to receive the phone call from Tawhid and
Jihad until he recovers. Convenient timing is it not? And sadly, given Blair's past
performances, who really trusts a word he says? If this was Cherie Blair in the orange
suit, you can bet Blair would be jumping through hoops to secure the release of the two
Iraqi female prisoners.
At least two USA soldiers also lay dead on Thursday the 30th of September in Iraq,
the USA soldiers are now up close to the enemy and there confidence and initial enthusiasm
for the war has waned considerably. The wounded soldiers, though many are horrifically
wounded, barely get a mention apart from in some small town American newspaper. Most of
these Americans are working class kids and men, forced by poverty like many working class
before, to fight for the rich and the interests of an elite few. A fatal mistake, as the
photos of the attacks indicated. The American working class really are pointing there
guns at the wrong people. Meanwhile, Iraqi resistance units, are planting bombs at will,
almost casually so. The Iraqis are making videos of these genuine attacks on the enemy;
these videos are then worked with by computer experts in the Iraqi resistance and
uploaded in the form of short movies to the internet, the latest battlefield in the
propaganda wars. Sad though it is to see another Yank blown up as part of the Oil
Expeditionary Force, perhaps the videos should be shown on TV instead of army
recruitment adverts showing men with all there limbs intact. Another senior
Iraqi policemen was killed also, that's the equivalent of seeing the Chief
Constable of Merseyside killed, but in Iraq its no real big thing right
now. Iraqi cops lives are cheap and they've filled up the morgues and
hospitals more than most. Countless other civilians, at least a dozen
or so have died, plus hundreds injured. We don't even get to see the
names of these people anymore, what's the point in putting lists of
a few dozen dead Iraqis in our daily tabloid papers everyday? Most
Iraqi deaths are not investigated and even mass murder scenes are
simply hosed down after the bodies are scraped up and the road
patched up. Iraqi lives are cheap.
Fallujah
Fallujah is again being hammered, U.S. forces claimed to have
'destroyed a building'
they said was
'being used by fighters loyal to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi' on the 30th of Sept.
It's a reckless campaign of bombing by the USA and civilians are being killed there still.
Tawhid and Jihad, and other resistance groups such as the Sadhr Army plus various fighters
are still continuing to make what attacks they can on American forces in Fallujah and
Sadhr City and Najaf and many other places which are intensive battle zones. Over
2000 people have died in Fallujah since America began to target the place after the
deaths of the 4 gun slinging private American mercenaries who were captured and
killed. The bodies of the mercenaries were hung on a bridge, a tactic the
Americans and British have used frequently in the past when engaged in fighting
wars or putting down the local natives.
American families and entire towns gathered not so long back to watch the lynching
of black people on bridges or trees or even the lampposts in the street. Some of the
lynched were burnt and dragged through American streets, not for the crime of being
invading soldiers or mercenaries; they were lynched just for being black people amongst
racist Americans. Some 40 years after public lynching stopped being a fashion, Americans
cheered at death once again, this time sitting in there armchairs when the first Iraqis
were killed in Gulf War 2. Unbelievably, or perhaps ironically, pizza sales were actually
reported to be at a record level when the USA
'shock and awe' bombing of Iraq was
highlighted on CNN, SKY and other USA dominated networks as a great American
achievement. Those early days of the War when Americans ate pizza calmly assured
of another easy victory, have now moved on to the point were the same Americans
are beginning to taste the bitter taste of defeat.
Over Two Weeks in Captivity
Ken Bigley has now been in captivity by Tawhid and Jihad, somewhere in Iraq, for just over
two weeks. A video appeared on Aljazzerra TV (1500hrs BST 29 Sept) the BBC reported it
promptly. Ken is shown this time in a cage, similar in size to the ones used at Camp
X-ray/Guantanàmo Bay in Cuba were the alleged al Qaeda captives are being held. The
manager of Guantanàmo Bay resigned because he did not want to be party to torturing kids.
Ken is again dressed in an orange prison suit, this symbol which the entire Arab/Muslim
world recognises, and now us also. He is also chained around his neck and his hands
and feet, just like Guantanàmo Bay. This video was released as Blair and the rest
of the new labourites gathered in Brighton. Ken pleaded again for Blair to help and
stated that
"Tony Blair is lying. He doesn't care about me. I'm just one person".
He also said his captors did not want to kill him. The fact he is alive after 14
days goes some way towards proving this to be so. He obviously looks dishevelled
but not ill treated physically. The cage is hopefully a 'prop' for the video
camera and is meant to show us what is happening to Muslims in Guantanàmo Bay.
A Tawhid and Jihad banner is displayed above and behind the cage.
Hope
Whilst Ken was basically written off and betrayed by cynical British politicians,
we have seen the cause become one which has reached around the World. A plea for Kens
life came from Yasser Arafat the Palestinian leader, despite Palestine's own problems.
This culminates in yesterday's news with the latest video and news that Kens family have
received which they feel are not only assurances that Ken is alive, but also hope that
his release is very much a possibility within our grasp. IF we see Ken released, it will
be one of the most important acts of diplomacy and mercy we have so far seen. The news
that the two Italian women aid workers are free, plus 4 Egyptians and two Iraqis
workers, is more proof that some lines are being drawn.
British Blood For Iraqi Oil
Sadly, but perhaps inevitably, more British or English blood has been spilt
and two more soldiers have been sacrificed yesterday (29 Sept 2004) in Blair's futile
and illegal war. This is a War which he drew up in private with America, hoodwinking
and lying to the entire UK. We grieve for those lives but understand, as would any
soldier, that those with guns will be targeted. This does not make the pain any less
for the families of those lads. But I am sure that there comrades and the local Wirral
family of Cpl Marc Taylor, (Spud) will understand that he at least chose to fight,
whilst Ken Bigley was a simple worker. Marc was due to celebrate his 28th birthday
this week. His wife is expecting Marcs child next April. Her pain will be shared by
thousands of Iraqi women who have been widowed or seen there lovers taken by the
unceasing and never ending sacrifices demanded by this bloody and brutal war. Do
we imagine Muslim women or men don't fall in love perhaps? Do we imagine that
there emotions when a loved one dies are somehow less than ours? The families
of British soldiers will often want to feel there lives were not in vain, but
the sad truth of the matter is that Marc should have been celebrating his
birthday this week, not being flown home in some flag draped coffin in
a war which the UN declared illegal and which was started on a false
premise. Marc is a hero in as much as he sacrificed his life to help
a comrade in arms, but the people he was shooting at over there are
seen as heroes also and are fighting in there own Country.
Blair 'kind of' Apologises
Sept 30th in the UK sees Blair, before his
'heart incident' kind of apologising
for the lack of weapons of mass destruction, yet tells us he does not regret taking
Saddam Hussein's regime away. As Hansard will show (Hansard is the daily House of
Commons report on things said by our MP's in the Commons) Blair acknowledged that
a war to simply change a regime was NOT the purpose of the war, and this reason
alone would be very much illegal under all international conventions and laws.
You can't invade and occupy a Country just because you think the regime is not
quite good enough, only the people themselves can oust the leaders and political
system. Blair was also privy to the USA's plans long before he sold the war to
the British people. Blair's 'apology' regarding there being no weapons of mass
destruction is yet another smokescreen, as Blair himself knew his spin-doctors
and himself had 'sexed up' the actual crucial intelligence reports which formed
the only real evidence for the war. In Effect, the whole Nation has been plunged
into an ongoing World War which is seeing more and more trouble spots particularly
in Iraq and the Middle East in general. America, as we speak, is facing perhaps the
biggest threat to its own people and the ongoing situation in Iraq is adding fuel
to the fire. We have seen dozens of suicide bombers in Iraq. The first was an
Iraqi women, some may not have read much into that, but you can be sure every
man in Iraq did, and that thousands of them are actually HAPPY to be offered
a chance to die if they can kill a few American or British soldiers or even
US and UK citizens. There are a lot of very angry Iraqis who have seen
relative killed by the US/UK alliance and they want to kill us, in effect
we've created a threat which was not there anyway. A terror attack on the
UK is a foregone conclusion if UK Troops remain in Iraq. America,
underneath the obvious concerns they have for the upcoming elections
at home and in Iraq, are bracing themselves for attacks at home.
Man of Straw
Meanwhile, as the Worlds leaders try to secure Kens release, Jack Straw,
after initially wiping his hands of the matter, and uttering the USA line on
'not negotiating with hostage takers', turns up in Zimbabwe, a place were
white people have been in effect terrorised by armed mobs of vicious thugs
trained by the Government. Our Jack, then managed to press the flesh of the
regions No 1 bad guy, Africas very own little Hitler figure, a man who has
backed a campaign of Terrorism against white farmers for no other reason
than the farmers are white. In England he'd be jailed and ridiculed as an
ignorant little racist, rightfully so. Mugabe has watched his own people
starve whilst accumulating a fortune secreted away in foreign accounts, just
like most of the Worlds corrupt politicians. Straws recent quote regarding
Ken Bigley stated "We can't get into a situation of bargaining with terrorists
because this would put many more people's lives at risk, not only in Iraq but
around the world," No doubt the Straw/Mugabe handshake is in itself a signal
for Mugabe to continue his
'good' work in Zimbabwe. I've seen the photos of
this
'work'. These images, like those of the Iraqi children slain in
Fallujah, are testament to the utter failure of our politicians.
Straw himself, on his latest comments regarding Ken tells us
"We will continue to do all we can to secure his release". Nice
of Straw to now use the term
'we' as if he has somehow been
involved in the process all along.
Smoking Gun Proof that Hostage takers get deals off the British Government
Jack Straws instance on that fact new labour don't talk to hostage takers is blown
apart when you connect this statement to the events at Heathrow in the year 2000 in
which Afghans hijacked an airliner and held passengers hostage using guns they had
somehow smuggled onto the flight. Those hostage takers were actually securing British
Citizenship for other passengers on the plane who were there relatives. 37 of the
passengers belonged to one family alone. This demand for citizenship and asylum
for there relatives, using kidnapping and threats, has in effect been met in full. All of
the planes passengers now live here, and are 'British Citizens'. Nine of the
Afghan gunmen who hijacked that airliner four years ago and forced the pilot at gunpoint to eventually
fly to London, have been told they can stay in Britain with their wives and children.
Never Trust A Tory
Conservative leader Michael Howard said the following to BBC Radio 4's Today
programme on the 24th Sept 2004…..
"Kenneth Bigley and his family must be going through the throes of such despair.
I hope they will find it in their hearts to forgive me for what I am about to say,
which is that the government is right that we can't give in to people who behave
in this barbaric fashion."
It's up to Kens family at some point to see if they forgive him, but like most
Scousers they will have seen this coming from the Tories who are a minor opposition
party for the rich and middle class bigots. Howard is a Tory, someone who always
supports the rich oppressing and even terrorising the poor, and his party is a party
of idiots who need to realise the British Empire is over. The only Scousers this Tory
chose to ever speak out publicly for were alleged arms dealers/gangsters. Say no more.
Come to think of it, didn't
Maggie Thatcher once say, and I quote….
"Murder is a crime. Carrying explosives is a crime. Maiming is a crime.
It must stay a crime in the ordinary sense of the word. Murder is murder is murder.
It is not, and never can be, a political crime. So there is no question of political
status."
Not long afterwards Thatcher watched 10 Irish men including an elected MP Bobby Sands,
slowly starve to death, because they chose to fight for political status as Irish
Resistance Fighters. The IRA, whatever you think about them, were not common criminals
but this is just what we were told they were. Most common criminals fight for one cause
- themselves. Although Maggie Thatcher (a curse be upon her) called the IRA a bunch of
murderous criminals and thugs, it is ironic and fitting now that we see Gerry Adams and
Sinn Fein with full political status. We now have Sinn Fein MP's in our Parliament
whilst Maggie Thatcher has long since been destroyed by her own Party of murderous
criminals. Gerry Adams recently made a plea on
Aljazerra TV for Kens life. In a
further twist of poetic justice, Thatcher's racist bigot of a son was recently
arrested for alleged arms dealing and trying to start a 'coup' in Africa. We
bet the British Government is working on the sly to get him released, we
also bet Maggie Thatcher would deal with terrorists if her son had been
handed down a death sentence and was displayed to the World in a cage
wearing the orange prison suit under the Tawhid and Jihad banner.
Blairs Dilemma
The arrogance of Thatcher herself dictated that the 10 Irish men starved to
death despite appeals by most of the worlds civilised Countries and religious leaders
to show mercy. Now we see Blair, Thatcher's flag bearer, in a similar kind of situation
but with the life of just one man in his hands. Yet only after it looked like Ken could
be saved did he try to join in half heartedly with the worldwide campaign to free him.
The Countries supposed leader sits on the fence for over two weeks whilst the rest of
us have appealed, pleaded, negotiated, begged, cried, prayed and articulated a case for
Ken to live. Blair is busy wondering if Bush will give him an angry telling off phone
call if he speaks out. Over one million people in the UK marched against the war,
it's difficult to find anyone from Liverpool with a good word for
'little Bush'
as Saddam referred to George Bush. At least Saddam Hussein fought in a war and didn't
shirk duty and faced death. Bush avoided Vietnam - Blair would be a liability
in battle. He wouldn't put himself on the line for his Country. I seriously
doubt he could stomach even watching the execution videos of the two Americans
or the Egyptian, Korean or Nepalese videos. Our local politicians should view
the videos, so they can see the cruel reality of there war. They voted for
it so should have the guts to see the price others have paid.
In a twist of fate, it turns out that Ken himself is an Irish citizen by blood
ties. His mother is Irish. This means that Ireland's politicians are obliged to do all
they can also. The Irish have a strong sense of honour. Ken is as much a son of
Ireland as he is of Liverpool. This is another vital move and added weight to the
combined efforts of all those concerned.
Labour party politicians who seem to think they don't talk to terrorists are
liars or have a very distorted view of there own recent history. With every occupation
comes resistance and right now, like it not, the UK Armed Forces are part of an illegal
occupation. We WILL have to talk to some of the Iraqis fighting us sooner or later and
the sooner the better. Every time we kill one, we leave the relatives no choice but to
vow revenge. It's called honour. New Labour knows full well that the occupation in Iraq
is seriously endangering the British people, and we are playing with fire.
The only reason Ken is alive right now is down to a sophisticated series of
moves initiated by Ken's family which have snowballed into a remarkable display
of solidarity from all over the world. Straw wrote Ken off, and so did Blair.
Scouse Muslims
The biggest turn out in Liverpool showing solidarity with Ken has been from
Liverpools Muslim community. Toxteths Mosque had some 2000 local Muslims turn out.
This is proof the Muslims in Liverpool care about Ken, you can be sure many will have
shed tears for both sides in this conflict. So have many Scousers. Muslims stood together
in a show of real solidarity, the call from Ken to the Muslims and to the Asian communities
also was answered and Kens words on a those grainy videos have reached more hearts than
a million empty words from the British politicians.
One Life
It is a cruel fate to see one life held in the balance, almost like the
days of the Roman Amphitheatre were the crowd's sympathy would give a thumbs
up or down to the victim or victims. Like the Roman Emperors of old, one man,
a poor man from Jordan, now apparently stands poised to either give or take
life by his interpretation of the words and collective actions of others. We
can only hope he takes notice of the people and not our leaders. If Tawhid
and Jihad don't take any notice of the people, they would be no different
than our own leaders.
Once again we ask anyone out there to do what they can, add your voice to the
growing chorus, speak out and force your MP to take action. Ken Bigley could just
as well be your father, granddad, uncle or brother. He could be your husband, your
mate or work colleague, your neighbour or the bloke you know from the local pub.
Ken isn't a hero, he's not a saint, he's just an ordinary working man caught up
in an impossible situation.
You are No-one
Whatever the outcome we now know our politicians would certainly sacrifice
our lives to please America. In this respect we are all Ken Bigley. His plight
would be that of ours. To our leaders we are nothing. Perhaps that point in
itself sums up the Kirkby Times message to fellow working class people as
regards what our leaders think of us. I'm nothing. You're nothing. Ken Bigley
is nothing. We are all nothing, to our leaders at least. But there are millions
of us and millions of 'no-ones' amount to more than the sum of our individual
worth and strength. Sooner or later the politicians will find that the people
they dismiss as nothing will rise up.
Free Ken Bigley
Free Ken Bigley
Free Ken Bigley
Free Ken Bigley
Free Ken Bigley
