As torture is now de rigueur in our advanced 21 st century civilisation and as our dear leader has stated that much valuable information stems from it this poem is dedicated to that concept.
The usual sick assassins teach all torture as a norm
And so this grovelling satrapy perforce must now conform,
Gas, chemicals, bombs: Britain has used them all before in Iraq
Jonathan Glancey
Saturday April 19, 2003
The Guardian
No one, least of all the British, should be surprised at the state of anarchy in Iraq. We have been here before. We know the territory, its long and miasmic history, the all-but-impossible diplomatic balance to be struck between the cultures and ambitions of Arabs, Kurds, Shia and Sunni, of Assyrians, Turks, Americans, French, Russians and of our own desire to keep an economic and strategic presence there.Laid waste, a chaotic post-invasion Iraq may now well be policed by old and new imperial masters promising liberty, democracy and unwanted exiled leaders, in return for oil, trade and submission. Only the last of these promises is certain. The peoples of Iraq, even those who have cheered passing troops, have every reason to mistrust foreign invaders. They have been lied to far too often, bombed and slaughtered promiscuously.
Royal Society spells out dangers of depleted uranium
Paul Brown, environment correspondent
Thursday April 17, 2003
The Guardian
Hundreds of tonnes of depleted uranium used by Britain and the United States in Iraq should be removed to protect the civilian population, the Royal Society said yesterday, contradicting Pentagon claims it was not necessary.The society’s statement fuels the controversy over the use of depleted uranium (DU), which is an effective tank destroyer and bunker buster but is believed by many scientists to cause cancers and other severe illnesses.
The society, Britain’s premier scientific institution, was incensed because the Pentagon had claimed it had the backing of the society in saying DU was not dangerous.