Intro

2004-11-07

Things seem to have been going steadily downhill since the 2001 attack on the World Trade Center gave birth to a so called War on Terrorism, providing ideal cover for George W. Bush to pursue a pre-existing plan to Invade Iraq. Although Bush was unable to secure UN support for his scheme and the invasion was opposed by the overwhelming majority of the world's population he went ahead anyway and Tony Blair was quick to lend support. Harpers Magazine have an excellent Iraq page.

In the run up to the invasion I went to all the big anti-war demonstrations in London and got involved with various anti-war groups but it soon became clear that Blair had made up his mind to ignore public opinion at any cost.

• A Letter to the Prime Minister
• UH Staff and Students Against the War
• Bush Visits the Queen
• War on Terrorism
• Increase the Peace

Have you ever watched David Lynch's film "Dune" about a precious resource which can only be obtained from a dry desert planet called Arrakis? Here is Princess Irulan's opening monologue from the film.

• On 2004-06-28, two days ahead of schedule, US administrator Paul Bremer handed back the keys to a devastated Iraq and did a runner.
• On 2004-08-27, George Bush acknowledged for the first time that he made a "miscalculation" of what conditions would be in post-war Iraq.
• On 2004-09-16, Kofi Annan told the BBC that the US-led invasion was illegal.
• On 2004-11-07 the US installed "government" of Iraq declared a 60 day state of emergency in response to escalating violence.