@@ John Pilger questions the British version of sinister events in Basra @@
Arash
September 27, 2005
SINISTER EVENTS IN A CYNICAL WAR
John Pilger questions the British version of sinister events in Basra, Iraq, on 19
September, and fills in the gaps in news that has become 'like watching a satire' of
the war.
Here are questions that are not being asked about the latest twist of a cynical war.
Were explosives and a remote-control detonator found in the car of the two British
SAS special forces men "rescued" from prison in Basra on 19 September? If true, what
were they planning to do with them? Why did the British military authorities in Iraq
put out an unbelievable version of the circumstances that led up to armoured vehicles
smashing down the wall of a prison?
According to the head of Basra's Governing Council, which has co-operated with the
British, five civilians were killed by British soldiers. A judge says nine. How much
is an Iraqi life worth? Is there to be no honest accounting in Britain for this
sinister event, or do we simply accept Defence Secretary John Reid's
(http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page1388.asp) customary arrogance? "Iraqi law is
very clear", he said. "British personnel are immune from Iraqi legal process". He
omitted to say that this fake immunity was invented by Iraq?s occupiers.
Watching "embedded" journalists in Iraq and London, attempting to protect the British
line was like watching a satire of the whole atrocity in Iraq. First, there was
feigned shock that the Iraqi regime's "writ" did not run outside its American
fortifications in Baghdad and the "British trained" police in Basra might be
"infiltrated". An outraged Jeremy Paxman wanted to know how two of our boys - in
fact, highly suspicious foreigners dressed as Arabs and carrying a small armoury -
could possibly be arrested by police in a "democratic" society. "Aren't they supposed
to be on our side?" he demanded.
Although reported initially by the "Times" and the "Daily Mail", all mention of the
explosives allegedly found in the SAS men's unmarked Cressida vanished from the news.
Instead, the story was the danger the men faced if they were handed over to the
militia run by the "radical" cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. "Radical" is a gratuitous
embedded term; al-Sadr has actually co-operated with the British. What did he have to
say about the "rescue"? Quite a lot, none of which was reported in this country. His
spokesman, Sheikh Hassan al-Zarqani, said the SAS men, disguised as al-Sadr's
followers, were planning an attack on Basra ahead of an important religious festival.
"When the police tried to stop them," he said, "[they] opened fire on the police and
passers-by. After a car chase, they were arrested. What our police found in the car
was very disturbing - weapons, explosives and a remote control detonator. These are
the weapons of terrorists".
The episode illuminates the most enduring lie of the Anglo-American adventure. This
says the "coalition" is not to blame for the bloodbath in Iraq - which it is,
overwhelmingly - and that foreign terrorists orchestrated by al-Qaeda are the real
culprits. The conductor of the orchestra, goes this line, is Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a
Jordanian. The demonry of Al-Zarqawi is central to the Pentagon's "Strategic
Information Program" set up to shape news coverage of the occupation. It has been the
Americans' single unqualified success. Turn on any news in the U.S. and Britain, and
the embedded reporter standing inside an American (or British) fortress will repeat
unsubstantiated claims about al-Zarqawi.
Two impressions are the result: that Iraqis' right to resist an illegal invasion - a
right enshrined in international law - has been usurped and de-legitimised by callous
foreign terrorists, and that a civil war is under way between the Shias and the
Sunni. A member of the Iraqi National Assembly, Fatah al-Sheikh said this week,
"There is a huge campaign for the agents of the foreign occupiers to enter and plant
hatred between the sons of the Iraqi people and spread rumours in order to scare the
one from the other... The occupiers are trying to start religious incitement and if
it does not happen, then they will start an internal Shia incitement".
The Anglo-American goal of "federalism" for Iraq is part of an imperial strategy of
provoking divisions in a country where traditionally the communities have overlapped,
even inter-married. The Osama-like promotion of al-Zarqawi is integral to this. Like
the Scarlet Pimpernel, he is everywhere but nowhere. When the Americans crushed the
city of Fallujah last year, the justification for their atrocious behaviour was
"getting those guys loyal to al-Zarqawi". But the city's civil and religious
authorities denied he was ever there or had anything to do with the resistance.
"He is simply an invention". said the Imam of Baghdad's al-Kazimeya mosque.
"Al-Zarqawi was killed in the beginning of the war in the Kurdish north. His family
even held a ceremony after his death". Whether or not this is true, al-Zaqawi's
"foreign invasion" serves as Bush's and Blair's last veil for their "war on terror"
and botched attempt to control the world's second biggest source of oil.
On 23 September, the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, an
establishment body, published a report that accused the U.S. of "feeding the myth" of
foreign fighters in Iraqi who account for less than 10% of a resistance estimated at
30,000. Of the eight comprehensive studies into the number of Iraqi civilians killed
by the "coalition", four put the figure at more than 100,000.
Until the British army is withdrawn from where it has no right to be, and those
responsible for this monumental act of terrorism are indicted by the International
Criminal Court, Britain is shamed.
http://pilger.carlton.com/print/133483
Related:
Arab terrorists linked to Britain and Canada
http://groups.google.ca/group/soc.culture.iranian/msg/f0c687903a28bba8?hl=en
The stench of British
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Shell oil company was involved along with the British government in the Ahvas unrest
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Iran knows British are behind arab terrorists
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U.S. and terrorists form unholy alliance against Iran
http://groups.google.ca/group/soc.culture.iranian/msg/2a83df7129b31803?hl=en
Iranians Killed by Anglo-Israeli agents, terrorists arrested
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Al-Ahwazi's Al-Fiction
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Canada officially supports arab terrorists
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Photo of Brigadier Gordon Kerr of (British Intelligence Corps)
http://www.sundayherald.com/fru.shtml
Iraq issues arrest warrants for the British terrorists who planned to bomb Shia
mosque
http://groups.google.ca/group/soc.culture.iranian/msg/76dddc7299f5719b?hl=en
Big trouble for British occupation of Southern Iraq
http://groups.google.ca/group/soc.culture.iranian/msg/ab87d77e977c22b6?hl=en
British false-flag operations unmentioned in the corporate media
http://groups.google.ca/group/soc.culture.iranian/msg/6cb77cc539bf8323?hl=en
Basra "black op" echoes British SAS actions in the Northern Ireland
http://groups.google.ca/group/soc.culture.iranian/msg/146afc7425e1a310?hl=en
British terrorists exposed in Basra
http://groups.google.ca/group/soc.culture.iranian/msg/241558c76e9b134e?hl=en
An Explosive Story
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British false-flag operation blown wide open
http://groups.google.ca/group/soc.culture.iranian/msg/05ea09de724fda43?hl=en
JEW media shifts attention from British SAS screw-up to Iran
http://groups.google.ca/group/soc.culture.iranian/msg/b354d27e92f4f073?hl=en
"Green Slime" Brigadier Gordon Kerr (British Intelligence Corps)
http://groups.google.ca/group/soc.culture.iranian/msg/db9d09170484f68d?hl=en
Blame Iran
http://groups.google.ca/group/soc.culture.iranian/msg/c6187cc64b2a2623?hl=en
Times: British spies in Basra fighting smugglers???
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British disinformation & setting up Iran as bogeyman
http://groups.google.ca/group/soc.culture.iranian/msg/914aa58e9e922987?hl=en