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391

For Your Information / Re: Beware The Obama Hype; What "Change" In America Really Means

« on: November 16, 2008, 04:59:48 PM »

While I was pleased Mr Obama won (and retain (some) faith in possibilities of elections - as methods of delivering real political 'change' etc) it is timely to start raise questions about the 'hype'.

Plus ... whatever good intentions the new president might have - and he has at least been consistent in opposing Iraq war - he will be under pressure to continue the warmongering by the military corporations, etc.

Following story buried away in Mail On Sunday (front page was rather bizarre and anachronistic Labour Party / CND 'red spy scandal' story!) is small indicator that perhaps little has really 'changed' behind the scenes:

http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1086222/Tony-Blairs-Iraq-adviser-wins-50-000-U-S-defence-job.html

Tony Blair's Iraq adviser wins £50,000 U.S. defence job

By Simon Walters

Last updated at 4:26 PM on 16th November 2008

The man who acted as go-between for Tony Blair and George Bush in the run-up to the Iraq War has been given a senior post worth an estimated £50,000 a year with U.S.-owned arms company Lockheed.
Sir David Manning, Britain's former ambassador in Washington, has also joined a shadowy UK intelligence firm set up by former spies.
The appointments were confirmed yesterday by the Cabinet Office, which vets mandarins and politicians who take up lucrative jobs in the private sector.
 Vital link: Sir David Manning and George Bush in Washington DC in 2005 (picture)
The Cabinet Office also disclosed that Sir David had been told under anti-sleaze rules that he is banned from lobbying the British Government for a year - a routine move to prevent civil-service figures using Whitehall secrets to make money.
Sir David was Mr Blair's foreign affairs and defence adviser. He stepped down as the UK's envoy in Washington two years ago.
He played a key role in planning the Iraq War, and secret memos published after the conflict revealed how he knew Mr Blair had promised to go to war with Mr Bush a year before the conflict.
Sir David has become a non-executive director of Lockheed's subsidiary, Lockheed UK. He will also act as personal adviser to the firm's chief executive, Ian Stopps.
A company spokesman said: 'He has joined because of his distinguished career and experience in diplomacy as well as in government.'
Lockheed is one of the most powerful defence firms in the world. It is proud of its role in the Iraq War and published an 'Operation Iraqi Freedom' brochure that described how its 'stealthy F-117 Nighthawk opened the Allied operation with a strike aimed at Saddam Hussein's leadership'.
The company earns large sums from the Ministry of Defence.
In June, a Lockheed-led consortium won a £635million contract to train RAF and Army pilots.
In the same month, RAF pilots test-flew a new 'Stealth Fighter Bomber' at Lockheed's Texas plant.

392

South Tyneside Stop the War / 'Greens slam callous Miliband'

« on: October 28, 2008, 03:14:50 PM »

Greens slam callous Miliband

South Tyneside Green Party has labelled South Shields MP David Miliband as callous, after the part he played in ensuring that a 40-year injustice continues.

During the 1960s and 70s, the British Government evicted the people of the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean. The main island, Diego Garcia, was handed over to the United States government to be used as a military base.  US military personnel nicknamed it 'Fantasy Island' for its natural beauty.

Thousands of people, known as Chagossians, were dumped on the streets of Mauritius and have since fought in the courts to try and get their home back, winning the right to return in the High Court in 2006.

However, after a legal appeal to the Lords sponsored by Foreign Secretary David Miliband, the Law Lords ruled 3 to 2 that the Chagossians should remain in exile.

Green Party parliamentary candidate for South Shields Shirley Ford expressed her disgust at the ruling.

"David Miliband joins a long line of Foreign Secretaries who have worked to deny the Chagossian people their right to return to their home.

"He has admitted that the US base on Diego Garcia has been used for CIA 'extraordinary rendition flights'.  The treatment of the Chagossians illustrates that this government is craven to US interests, all under the excuse of the 'war on terror'.

"Recently we saw Mr Miliband replacing £50 which had been stolen from a charity tin.  Now we see him treating the victims of theft of their homeland with callous contempt.  'Ethical foreign policy' is clearly a distant memory for this morally bankrupt government.

"South Shields has a warm spirit and a big heart.  Mr Miliband had a chance to do something right for the Chagossians and let them return home.  He has failed the Chagossians, and the spirit of South Shields."