From My Thumb

Americans are so divided about the Iraq War that they have assigned themselves into two camps: 1) Because they are so empathetic towards their men on the ground, they support George Bush who sent them there.
2) The empathy remains within the second group but this group accuses Bush of taking the men into a No-Win Civil war and a disaster.

I'm inclined to go with the second group for the following reasons:

* As the surge of troops enter Iraq and Afghanistan, so the surge of civil war and insurgency will increase. Here's a quote from Colin Harrison in his book Afterburn (Vietnam War): " We fight for ten, twenty, fifty year," the Vietcong commander said," Your government want war over quickly. No know Ho Chi Min. We lose ten men for every one of you, we win." This quote was taken from a fiction book but it is true (as was proved in 1975), because it spells out the determination of the invaded against the invader.
* The United Kingdom intends to reduce its troop levels by 2500 men in Iraq by year end. Many mixed messages herefrom: The USA says "hurrah", we're winning in Basra. Well done Tony. The UK says we're reducing troops because we've achieved many of our objectives.
The truth? It's all bullshit. The UK is reducing troops due to public pressure and the bolstering up of Tony's legacy. The UK is reducing troops because we're not sure George Bush has the right answers.

And he doesn't. Bush is in a swamp with so many crocodiles that his only saving is getting onto dry land and running like hell. But he is too damn stubborn to see that, so he stays in the swamp.

George Bush is a fool and a war-monger. Leave him to commit to a twenty year war. The UK must get out NOW.

Is it legal for an impersonator to trick a minister in a fake call?
I don't care.
Is it Okay for a minister to speak about colleagues on the phone? Surely those private conversations should be held in, YES, PRIVATE.
Is it so absurd that Margaret Beckett did not think of professional conduct? Yes it is absurd. After all, there are bugs everywhere not just Rory Bremner.

Mrs Beckett, the first female Foreign Secretary, should have been more circumspect.

On the other hand this might have been expected to happen to a woman who is, to put it bluntly, not exactly au fait with foreign affairs. The lady smiles but says little but Blairspeak. Does the lady know there is a world out there?

Perhaps Mrs Beckett should go back to her book on caravanning.

The only difference between Steve McLaren (England manager), and a flasher in a raincoat is that Steve does everything on the sly. A flasher shows his intentions immediately.

Two stories caught my eye recently: 1) Steve has been filtering the thoughts of the England team on a Beckham return, and,more recently, 2)Steve is unsure whether to include Beckham in the team but the boy is in top form. What can he do?

What he should do is stop being an absolute arsehole and forget his little jealous grudge against Beckham, and include him in the squad.

McLaren has, since the World Cup, borne a very obvious grudge against the "Wonderboy" and it is pure jealousy. I have blogged about this before and I am not going to repeat the reasons except to say that if this man is "worried" then it's because he made a balls-up before and if he makes another he should be kicked out farther than Sweden.

Beckham will always be bigger than little Steve and Mac should get used to it.

Two items on Sky News caught my eye recently.Firstly, there are plans afoot to turn off streetlights in some cities after midnight.Far as I know people are still drinking way after midnight and walking the streets and trying to get home. I also know that crime is worse in the wee small hours. They are going to trial it, I believe, at the end of the year. I say bin it!

Secondly, gun crime will be clamped down upon. Good, I say. How I say? Apparently the age limit for possession of guns will drop to 18 years from 21 years. Sentences will be handed down to anyone over 18 who possesses or smuggles guns. Now the problem: Where is dear Dr John Reid going to put these new felons? In a hotel? His prisons are full to overflowing already.

I know I bang this drum continually but if Dear Dr John would just deport the thousands of illegal immigrant prisoners we have in our jails, perhaps we might have some space for more important thugs.Visit a prison or two (as I have, oh yes), and you'll find this out very quickly. They are all there: From Somalia, Angola, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Eritrea et al et al.

Oh no, we can't do that, they say. Many of these people would be tortured or killed if they were returned home. That is crap.What is this? Britain, or Peter Pan's fairyland?

And even if some were not very welcome in their home countries, is that our fault? Personally I'd put them all on a plane and spend five seconds waiting for the door to close. Goodnight, goodbye, good luck and piss off back to Sodwanaland.

A Big Conference is needed!

Two things happened in Britain this week that have convinced me that the present "New Labour" government is flawed and in need of advice.

Okay, I might not be qualified to give them advice but who is? Let's look at the facts:

*UNICEF says Britain is a bad place to bring up children.They have concluded that British children are being neglected. It is a shocking disclosure about the World's fourth richest nation. It is a tragedy.
* Gun crime is getting out of hand. Three youngsters gunned down in three weeks in South London.So, okay, the young lads may not have been entire innocents, but it is still a shocking statistic.

I'm going to be kind to Blair's New Labour government and say it is not entirely your fault and it isn't. You have just not solved the problem.

The problem arose years ago when Britain (whether under Labour or Tory), opened up its shores to immigrants from: (fill in the space).

Enoch Powell, a man condemned for his warnings of race takeover, was right. Britain has become a mish mash of immigrant takeover. His prophecies were right. And so today, Britain is semi -white black, muslim, on the NHS, on the dole, on disability and every other penny gathering scam that can be thought of.And gun crazy.

Sure, I'm racist--you say (I'm not actually), sure I'm biased (really, look at the facts):

I'm going to be very blunt but I don't care:

1. Most crimes in Britain are caused by immigrant communities in Immigrant enclaves in Birmingham, Manchester, London and the Yorkshire cities.
2. One third of Britons (many immigrants), are on welfare of some sort or other.However, there are many first second and third generation immigrants who shake their heads just like me.
3. There are so many illegal immigrant criminals in Britain that John Reid can't keep up. The prisons are full because of them, welfare is exhausted because of them, the NHS is broke because of them.
4. As for whites: There are so many "Onslows" taking benefits and scrounging off the state that you wonder whether anyone in Britain does a full days work.

I am very serious when I say that Britain has become a welfare state to such an extent that 2/3 rds are supporting lazy, conniving, vandalising and thieving individuals who are intent on enjoying their benefits but making it hard for others to live normal lives.

I don't think Anyone has an answer. That's the tragedy of Britain today.

Here is a short quiz:

Which of the three events below is most worthy of media attention?

- John Prescott does Tracey Temple over government issue desk.
- Tony Blair covers up Cash for Honours probe by being nice.
- David Cameron smokes joint at Eton.

Give us a break. The press must be short of news nowadays. We forget that Cameron's era is a lot different to John Profumo's. Could we perhaps get our priorities in order....chaps?

Tony Blair is in hot water. He has a "Cash for honours" scandal surrounding him and he assures us it will be over soon. Fine, thank you Prime Minister. But "Cash for honours", scandal or not,it pales in the light of a policy that has seen British soldiers go into a country like Iraq that is riven by civil war and is likely to get worse.

You see, we Brits may have understood the arabs in the thirties, forties and fifties but we certainly don't understand them now. And, even if we did, we are under-manned, under-equipped and out of our depth. Problem number one is that we are supporting a short-sighted American President who thinks he can solve the World's problems (in Iraq and elsewhere). Problem two is that we keep hanging on even though we are beaten by sheer numbers of extremists who will keep pouring into Iraq and Afghanistan until hell freezes over. Dubya and Blair need to heed an old saying that came out of the Vietnam war, and which I quote roughly,:
" We will fight for ten or fifty years....we lose ten men for every one of you. We still win."

No, scandal will not bring labour down, our involvement in Iraq will.