England pulls the Official Secrets Act against the press.

This story has found legs after the UK pulled a Patriot act on the press. Why isn't Karen Hughes flying over there and doing her job for once? What does she do anyway except get Middle Eastern women mad at her?

Brad Blog has this London story up. A new blog has been created.

Mark Kleiman says that:.."the apparent plot to bomb Al-Jazeera has apparently seriously annoyed the ruling family in Qatar. Not only is Qatar an ally of the U.S., but it has one of the less objectionable regimes in that part of the world: not at all democratic, but not kleptocratic, either, and with a strong liberalizing tendency. (Women were allowed to vote in elections for local councils last year.)...read on"

(Update)- Boris Johnson is a member of the Conservative Party in Britian, a member of Parliament, He says he'll print the memo.

The Moderate Voice has a right/left round up...

Mike's Blog Round Up

This one was rescued from the memory hole by Simbaud over at King of Zembla. Last February, following remarks which questioned the high mortality rate of journalists covering the GWOT, Eason Jordan resigned as head of CNN. As has been the case with legions of other perceived critics of the Monarchy, he and the network caved under BUSHCO pressure. Does the emerging story of the Preznit's desire to bomb Al-Jazeera mean Jordan can have his job back?

THE NEWS BLOG: Darth Cheney's first Iraq adventure.

Shakespeare's Sister: another Dem War Hawk bites the dust.

INTEL DUMP: U.S. v. Padilla -- a case tainted by torture

Fanatical Apathy: Designing Women. And Men
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Fanatical Apathy: Designing Women. And Men

CNNN (not US) asks people On the Streets of America who they would bomb next.

Download | play -Wmp Bittorrent-WMP

Download | play -QT- Bittorrent-QT

Every time I hear him say that we're bringing the fight to them so we're not fighting them here, I wonder when these terrorists will finally give him a "bring it on" reaction. That rhetoric helps no one and the rationale behind the Fly paper theory is asinine.

As Duncan noted: "An explosive device was found in a passenger's carryon bag as the man passed through a checkpoint, and federal agents arrested him, the FBI said Thursday. Officials have found no apparent connection between Charles Alfred Dreyling Jr. and any terrorist group or activity, said Agent Gary Johnson, an FBI spokesman.... yeah, no terrorist activity except, you know, bringing a fucking bomb on a plane."

DARWIN, Australia A U.S. Marine Corps fighter jet dropped a bomb and damaged a building in an accident at a remote military range in northern Australia, the government said Friday.... read on

Ok I know what you're thinking... The city is named Darwin and with the battle between the Circus Clowns and reality it sure looks odd. Fear not-because nobody from Kansas was involved, and the Flying Spaghetti Monster was not seen either.

Fafblog!

Last week, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Richard B. Myers, in a statement opposing the release of videotapes and photographs of torture at Abu Ghraib, said that the information should not be released for the purposes of national security. The release of such images, Myers said, could damage the war effort by instigating "riots, violence and attacks by insurgents."

Indeed, the Medium Lobster could not agree more: while some in the petty name of "truth," "accountability" and "basic humanity" might want to open this material to the world, outrage over yet another American atrocity would just fuel more violence. Oh, ACLU, don't you have enough blood on your hands? Which is why the Medium Lobster also believes the time is long overdue to classify the Iraq War.

Given the number of riots, the amount of violence, and the attacks by insurgents that appear to have erupted since the dawn of the war, it's clear that something has to be done to stop news of the conflict from getting out to crazed terrorists, who, becoming so excitable about the prospect of American torture, might well become livid if they learned of the US's involvement in preventively invading a muslim country and killing thousands there in a massively botched occupation. Indeed, in retrospect it was a mistake to have been so public about the war to begin with. Perhaps the Pentagon could have let a couple bombers and tanks into the country at night periodically to bomb a palace or shell a neighborhood. If anyone noticed a few demolished buildings, or a few thousand dead people, one could always blame it on a some bad apples, sort of fraternity air raid hijinks.Fafblog!

Last week, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Richard B. Myers, in a statement opposing the release of videotapes and photographs of torture at Abu Ghraib, said that the information should not be released for the purposes of national security. The release of such images, Myers said, could damage the war effort by instigating "riots, violence and attacks by insurgents."

Indeed, the Medium Lobster could not agree more: while some in the petty name of "truth," "accountability" and "basic humanity" might want to open this material to the world, outrage over yet another American atrocity would just fuel more violence. Oh, ACLU, don't you have enough blood on your hands? Which is why the Medium Lobster also believes the time is long overdue to classify the Iraq War.

Given the number of riots, the amount of violence, and the attacks by insurgents that appear to have erupted since the dawn of the war, it's clear that something has to be done to stop news of the conflict from getting out to crazed terrorists, who, becoming so excitable about the prospect of American torture, might well become livid if they learned of the US's involvement in preventively invading a muslim country and killing thousands there in a massively botched occupation. Indeed, in retrospect it was a mistake to have been so public about the war to begin with. Perhaps the Pentagon could have let a couple bombers and tanks into the country at night periodically to bomb a palace or shell a neighborhood. If anyone noticed a few demolished buildings, or a few thousand dead people, one could always blame it on a some bad apples, sort of fraternity air raid hijinks.
In any case, what's done is done. The Medium Lobster recommends in the strongest possible terms that no mention be made ever again of the war, its disastrous progress, its inept and incompetent leadership, or the mystifying reasons for which it was launched, ever again - for the sake of national security.",0]);D(["ce"]);D(["ms","aa20"]);//-->

In any case, what's done is done. The Medium Lobster recommends in the strongest possible terms that no mention be made ever again of the war, its disastrous progress, its inept and incompetent leadership, or the mystifying reasons for which it was launched, ever again - for the sake of national security.

Bombings price of Iraq

The Respect MP, whose Bethnal Green and Bow constituency includes the site of at least one of the bomb attacks, said the attacks were "despicable". But he told MPs it was the US-led coalition's actions in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo which had inflamed hatred of the West in the Muslim world. In response, minister Adam Ingram accused Mr Galloway of "dipping his poisonous tongue in a pool of blood". The armed forces minister added that Mr Galloway's comments were "disgraceful"....read on

I don't agree with Galloway on Afghanistan because we had to take the Taliban and "Osama Bin Who" out. Both were not done correctly, however I do concur that "the bombings had not come out of the "clear blue sky."

"The truth of the matter is, a fully loaded airplane with jet fuel, a commercial airliner, has the capacity to kill 3,000 people. A bomb in a subway car may kill 30 people. When you start to think about your priorities, you're going to think about making sure you don't have a catastrophic thing first," Chertoff said.

If we fully funneled our resources into DHS, we might not have to substitute one for the other. I understand that it's virtually impossible to guard against every type of threat, but the focus on invading Iraq instead of protecting ourselves at home has seriously weakened us to the point where we have to choose the less of two evils.

Bill's Big Diamond Blog

In the midst of the all-Rove discussions this weekend, a little reality seeps through. Passing through the blogosphere, I stopped by Riverbend to see if she had weighed in recently from Baghdad. She had. Riverbend reported sadly that another blogger, Khalid Jarrar, author of Tell Me a Secret, had been abducted by “the new Iraqi mukhabarat.”

It’s one thing to read the numbers and the see the faceless stories from Iraq. It’s another to be touched by someone’s words and then to know they’ve been taken off, to God knows where, perhaps to rot in jail, perhaps to worse. You get a glimpse of what someone cares about and what their daily existence is like, then see they’ve offended the authorities your own government has set up. By doing what? By simply writing about their life, or turning the wrong corner at the wrong time on the wrong day. Who knows?

Khalid is a blogger I’ve read off and on. His brother Raed is a prolific blogger and both of them have been good sources of information about daily life in occupied Baghdad since the invasion. Khalid had most recently been in Amman, Jordan. He had finished exams at university in Baghdad and had reported about a mortar blowing up one of his fellow students this May (he had suffered from some student laziness and missed class that day). Before that, there was a car bomb 100 meters away from his family’s home. And before that…well, you get the picture. Go, read his blog.

Khalid had recently posted about using real names in his blog and about transparency, a post that makes me now worry for him. Naturally, he’s been critical of the madness around him.
He is now somewhere in an Iraqi prison. His family is thankful to know he isn’t dead. His brother Raed writes today, “my brother is spending his 6th night in jail. He's just one of the thousands of people in Iraq who disappeared and ended up in one of the many jails and prisons around the country without a clear reason.”

Make Judy Talk    The Talent Show is a prolific blogger and both of them have been good sources of information about daily life in occupied Baghdad since the invasion. Khalid had most recently been in Amman, Jordan. He had finished exams at university in Baghdad and had reported about a mortar blowing up one of his fellow students this May (he had suffered from some student laziness and missed class that day). Before that, there was a car bomb 100 meters away from his family’s home. And before that…well, you get the picture. Go, read his blog.

Khalid had recently posted about using real names in his blog and about transparency, a post that makes me now worry for him. Naturally, he’s been critical of the madness around him.
He is now somewhere in an Iraqi prison. His family is thankful to know he isn’t dead. His brother Raed writes today, “my brother is spending his 6th night in jail. He's just one of the thousands of people in Iraq who disappeared and ended up in one of the many jails and prisons around the country without a clear reason.”

The Other Bomb Drops

via The Nation via intoxination: More evidence supporting the Downing Street Memo and the bombing of Iraq before the war .

"At the time, the Bush Administration publicly played down the extent of the air strikes, claiming the United States was just defending the so-called no-fly zones. But new information that has come out in response to the Downing Street memo reveals that, by this time, the war was already a foregone conclusion and attacks were no less than the undeclared beginning of the invasion of Iraq."