Iraq and Afghanistan
Blair has declared that British troops will spend at least four more years in Iraq. The Iraqi Government has asked for foreign troops to leave as soon as possible. The move by the Iranian government to price its oil in euros brings closer the possibility of an air strike against them. Such a strike would lead to the deaths of all the British troops in Basra. The Italians are to withdraw their troops at the end of the year.
In Afghanistan there is certain amount of gung-ho among the British Army officers because they are allowed to open fire at almost anything that moves. However the US/UK intervention has directly and predictably led to massive growth in opium production. It is estimated that over 80% of heroin sold on the streets of Britain comes from Afghanistan. This is a direct result of Blair's intervention.
A survey by the BBC's Six O'clock News showed that three-quarters of people felt the sale and use of illegal drugs was a problem in their area. Vernon Coaker, the Drugs Minister, repeatedly refused to answer questions about the survey on BBC News 24. He just kept on repeating the mantra that things were getting better, when as far as everyone else was concerned things were getting worse. The BBC should ban anyone who uses this old "stuck needle" technique until they learn to treat the public with more respect.
Some people like the Euston group have tried to move the 'political debate' onwards from the illegal invasions and occupations. Mike Marqusee has brilliantly demolished them in a Guardian article here.
They repeat the canard about the Left supporting Saddam Hussein, when in fact the Left opposed arming him in the Iraq/Iran war. Not a single British business has been brought to court by Ann Clwyd's Blair government for these crimes. Not a single investigation has been launched.
It is not only British Army officers that are gung-ho. There are now 20,000 armed mercenaries in Iraq masquerading as security operatives. Many are based in the UK. There is no supervision or legal basis for such growth of private armies.
Blair can go to Iraq and speak as though everything is getting better as the carnage grows on the streets. His son stopped working for an American politician because she opposes the invasion. He immediately got a $50,000 scholarship to study at Harvard. He is neither academically gifted nor poor.
York and Leeds Greens
Mark Hill, a Green Party Councillor in York, recently got in touch over an item in Umbrella 75 (Summer 2004) asking if we could remove it. I had pointed out that Mark had removed a piece on his website about never going into a coalition with the Tories shortly after his colleagues entered one in Leeds. The Umbrella is still there and Mark has still not explained why he dropped his article.
In fact on social issues the Leeds Greens are to the right of the Tories but are not quite as right-wing as the Liberal Democrats. Harris, the Leeds Lib Dem leader, must welcome Ming's swing towards his positions.
Prescott
Prescott is regularly presented as a working-class buffoon by the media. However anyone who actually dealt with him says he is a lot sharper than Blair or Brown. His image was used to destroy him over his affair with his diary secretary. However, attempts to hold him to account for wasting public money over conducting private business while being paid by us to work have failed.
Others have not been so lucky. The police officer who made the complaint against Prescott quoted the case of a Manchester police officer who was disciplined for conducting an affair while being paid!
