From the BBC

The politics of missile defence
By Jonathan Marcus
BBC diplomatic correspondent
The UK and US have held high level talks on the
 possibility of putting ballistic missile interceptors on
British soil. The location of facilities continues to stir
debate.

Its advocates believe that the deployment of anti-missile defences is an essential
response to the spread of ever-longer range ballistic missiles to a variety of unstable
regimes.
The system's critics charge that the whole idea is simply "a Maginot Line" in the sky; a reference to the cumbersome system of forts and fixed defences that were skirted by German troops at the start of World War II.

Form the Guardian

Gesture politics: young Blair revealed in full


Lee Glendinning
Friday March 2, 2007
The Guardian
 
Disconcerting photos from days gone by can often come back to haunt us. But this one, for a long period, remained at most, a mildly interesting snapshot of the prime minister's younger years.

From the waist up - that is.

Gus: be fair... who hasn't done a rude gesture at an annoying bastard... ?  But then again, does this picture indicate a contempt for the future constituents of little britain?

British forces will officially begin their withdrawal from Iraq on Tuesday as the UK's top general in the south of the country hands over to a US general.

Major General Andy Salmon will transfer authority for what will become Multi-National Division South to US Major General Michael Oates.

Most of Britain's 4,000 troops will leave by 31 May, the official end-of-combat date.

About 400 will stay after that, either in HQ roles or to train the Iraq Navy.

'Heads held high'

Major General Salmon says much has been achieved over the past six years.

He told the BBC: "We've helped deliver security, we've set the conditions for social and economic development and I think we can leave with our heads held high".

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Bravo. Self-pat on the back...

If I remember correctly, immediately after the 9/11 tragedy (no matter who organised it) Osama bin Laden denied having planned it but commended those who did?

Additionally, again by memory alone, didn't the infamous US black ops have an opportunity to, "take out" Osama and chose not to do so? Convenience?

And again, I seem to remember that the US claimed on two occasions to have killed that blighter.

Using the tried and true US policy of "this is who the western world must hate this year" and also using the concentration of that hatred on Al Qaeda (which people didn't quite take to) it must have been more convenient to keep Osama alive as a "living" symbol for the propaganda machine - something like Hitler?

Never trust the Americans.

NE OUBLIE.

Spot on, Ernest...

And, dear readers, if you have a bit of time on your hands read Virgil Legacy line of blogs (unfortunately the main long comment fell-off when YD moved from one internet provider to another) on this site and especially the "Age of Deceit" part one-two and three plus the beginning of chapter one...

As well, peruse over the war score line of blogs especially of dot and lines and meditation...

In regard to the great porkie of the war in Iraq go to Potted Iraq... There were also three long blogs on this site about the selling of the war on the way the lies were constructed for us (66 per cent plus of the populace) to swallow. There is a remnant lurking somewhere but I can't find it... The rest disappeared in smoke during "moving" providers... and my own filing system of these particular educating pieces are still caught in crashed hard disks of three generations of computer... Still trying to retrieve...