perfect.co.uk / On Iraq, 7/7 and the truth
An interesting look at how Phoney Tony is partially backtracking over his denials of 7/7 being linked to his invasion of Iraq.
More lies and spin from the New Labour machine, but they are getting desperate now.
BBC NEWS | Politics | Peace tax group lose court case
The so-called “peace tax seven” wanted a judicial review of their demands for a special fund for their tax payments - so it is not used to fund wars.
Their barrister told the High Court they faced a choice of following their conscience or obeying the law.
But Mr Justice Collins said the group’s case was unarguable.
Have to say that I find the dismissal of this case extremely frustrating, as if anything, it would have at least brought about debate as to how our taxes are spent. I cannot believe how little responsibility a goverment has when it comes to allocating expenditure, how can it find billions of pounds to fund Trident missile submarines - which if fired would lead to a nuclear holocaust wiping out the human race - but cannot find the funds to radically overhaul the NHS. How strange that they can spend at huge deficit to fund the continued war in Iraq, yet they cannot borrow to fund public spending in the UK…
People like myself, on a modest (i.e. shit) salary have to face the reality that the income tax I paid in the last year would have been easily spent on just one planes bombing sortie in Iraq, something that I abhor. If Tony Blair came knocking on doors trying to get sponsership for HIS war, how many of us would have given him a penny?
Not me, I would have told him exactly what I thought of the lying, phoney, bastard.
However, he doesn’t have to, nor does any Prime Minister, they just spend OUR money, OUR taxes however they see fit - no debate, no common interest, just their own elite goals.
Hence we spend billions on a war in Iraq that actually leads to increased terrorism for the taxpaying citizen, but the NHS, roads, public services etc remain shit in this country.
Blair’s Bombs - by John Pilger
I have a great deal of respect for John Pilger, and feel that his words are the perfect cure for the poisenous bile spouted by the likes of Richard ‘half-nazi, half-neo-con, half-wit’ Littlejohn and Melanie ‘paint on a moustache and call me Hitler’ Phillips. Not only that, but he is also a keen admirer of the modern historian Mark Curtis, who also demonstrates through accurate historical research the idiocy of the drivel written by the above scum.
The Pentagon, acting under instructions from Vice President Dick Cheney’s office, has tasked the United States Strategic Command (STRATCOM) with drawing up a contingency plan to be employed in response to another 9/11-type terrorist attack on the United States. The plan includes a large-scale air assault on Iran employing both conventional and tactical nuclear weapons. Within Iran there are more than 450 major strategic targets, including numerous suspected nuclear-weapons-program development sites. Many of the targets are hardened or are deep underground and could not be taken out by conventional weapons, hence the nuclear option. As in the case of Iraq, the response is not conditional on Iran actually being involved in the act of terrorism directed against the United States. Several senior Air Force officers involved in the planning are reportedly appalled at the implications of what they are doing–that Iran is being set up for an unprovoked nuclear attack–but no one is prepared to damage his career by posing any objections.
Obviously the validity is hard to ascertain, but I certainly would not put it past the current American regime to carry this out.
Nobody’s Fault - by Charley Reese
Interesting few words over on Antiwar.com.
An alternative look at the London Bombings, and well referenced throughout…
Europhobia: Clapham Junction alert
Seems to be the best bet for up to date news on happenings in London, though who would have thought he would have to dedicate so many days to it?
Is this going to be a regular thing for Nosemonkey…?
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Man shot dead at tube station
The witness said one officer brought out a pistol in his left hand and “unloaded five shots into him”. He said the shooting happened “five yards” away from him.
Asked what condition the man was in, Mr Whitby said: “He’s dead … I’ve just seen a man shot dead, I was distraught.”
There was speculation the man may have been a would-be suicide bomber who had been followed by police. Mr Whitby said he did not see a bag, but the man had worn a bulky winter-style coat, and there may have been “something underneath it”.
He said he then left the train where he saw 10 to 15 police officers armed with handguns and sub machine guns on the platform.
He said: “One of the police officers was holding a black automatic pistol in his left hand. They held it down to him and unloaded five shots into him. I saw it. He’s dead, five shots, he’s dead.”
Obviously all I can do is speculate as to the reason as to why a man was shot at such close range, seemingly surrounded as he was by armed police. Seems a bit excessive, unless the police had absolute proof that he was covered in semtex or something, in which case does that make it dangerous to shot someone?
The witness comment that the shooter almost looked down on the person before seemingly calmly unloading 5 bullets into him makes it sound more like an assasination than a police pursuit. Surely he could not have been that dangerous, and surely it would have been of far more value to arrest him, rather than shoot him dead. From that distance they could have easily wounded him in the legs to capture.
Something about this doesn’t seem right, to want someone dead rather than as a witness makes me very suspicious. Something is afoot, I just don’t know what…
The Australian: UK to increase power to ban
Charles Clarke:
“In the circumstances we now face, I decided that it is right to broaden the use of these powers to deal with those who foment terrorism or seek to provoke others to terrorist acts,” Mr Clarke said in a statement on the follow-up to the July 7 attacks.
“To this end, I intend to draw up a list of unacceptable behaviour which would fall within this, for example preaching, running websites, or writing articles which are intended to foment or provoke terrorism.”
So I guess that George Bush will be banned from visiting the UK now, in case he has any further intentions to lead Tony Blair and Britain into any further terrorist actions like Iraq…
Eyewitness reports
by Times Online and PA NewsWarren Street
The Tube station has been closed after reports of an explosion, possibly a nailbomb
Sosiane Mohellavi, 35, was travelling from Oxford Circus to Walthamstow when she was evacuated from a train at Warren Street: “I was sitting in the carriage reading a book and I smelt something burning, like wiring or tyres, and it just got more intense. Suddenly people panicked and started screaming and were walking on each other’s backs trying to get the hell out of there. I couldn’t move, I didn’t know what to do, whether to run or not. People ran and left their shoes and belongings when they smelt the burning,” she said.
Hackney
Police have sealed off Hackney Road after reports of a package on a number 26 bus
Keith Roberts, working in a shop in Hackney, told Sky news that he could see the bus from his window: “There is a bus parked opposite a shop. The bus driver was talking to one of the police. Then the bus was evacuated, the road closed and people have been evacuated from their houses.
“I’m about 100m away from the scene. Police are telling people to move away from their cars and houses and are evacuating the area. My shop is very near. I’m being told to get off the phone.”
Peter Bale, Editorial Director, Times Online: “Police have sealed of Hackney Road at Columbia Road, where there is a number 26 bus. There is no obvious damage to the bus. Police say they are investigating a suspect package on the number 26 bus. There is no evidence that anything has gone off and police are declining to say whether or not it has.”
Shepherd’s Bush
The tube station has been closed after reports that a man tried to blow himself up
Alvin Ho, a Shepherd’s Bush resident, has told Times reporter David Rose that the Hammersmith and City Line station is closed and Shepherd’s Bush Green has been sealed off with police tape. Hundreds of people are being held back by a cordon. The road, which is normally busy is eerily quiet, but the Central Line station, at the other side of the green, is still open.
Oval
After reports of an incident, police at Oval station have found no trace of any chemical agents, but there were however reports of a struggle.
A witness who was travelling through the station told Sky News: “There were three men struggling with a man on the carriage of the train. They were struggling with him and there was a woman and a baby crying.
“There was a man was sat besides her with a rucksack. The carriage opened and the man ran away, but they couldn’t catch up with him. As far as I’m aware that person has got away, but I was just trying to find a way out of the carriage and the station.”
Sounds like a few people must have been injured in the panic. Seems as if the stoic calm in response to the first attacks must have been due to shock, now the fear of bombings has led to panic being a far bigger issue than it was before.
“We know that we have four explosions, or attempts at explosions, but it’s still pretty unclear as to what’s happened.
“There’s certainly a scene at Oval Underground station, there’s a scene at Warren Street Station, there’s a scene at Shepherd’s Bush which is on the Underground but is actually above ground, and there’s a scene on a Number 26 bus at Hackney, near Columbia Road which I think is near Bethnal Green.
“At the moment the casualty numbers appear to be very low in the explosions, the bombs appear to be smaller than on the last occasion.
“But we don’t know the implications of all this yet and we’re going to have to examine the scene very carefully.
“I’ve got a couple of messages that I really need to give. Firstly obviously the transport system is going to shut down for a short while, while we work out what’s happening.
“So it’s very important that Londoners stay where they are. The second announcement is we will make a second announcement about what the travel implications are, but what we don’t want is lots of people going into railway stations.
“The trains as far as I know are still running. But it’s just stay where you are, go about your normal business, again the plan is there, you’ve seen it happen before, it’s rehearsed, the emergency services are getting control of a very confused scene.
“Clearly this is a very serious incident and what I’m going to do now is I’m going off to Cobra to meet with the Home Secretary and others to see where we go from here.”
From the Guardian:
Eyewitness
——————————————————————————–
‘There was mass panic’People caught up in a series of incidents around London this afternoon offer their eyewitness acounts of events
Thursday July 21, 2005
Victoria Line passenger Ivan McCracken:
“I was in a middle carriage and the train was not far short of Warren Street station when suddenly the door between my carriage and the next one burst open and dozens of people started rushing through. Some were falling, there was mass panic.
“It was difficult to get the story from any of them what had happened but when I got to ground level there was an Italian young man comforting an Italian girl who told me he had seen what had happened.
From the Times:
London on major alert over feared copycat attacks
By Philippe Naughton, Times OnlineExactly two weeks after four suicide bombers wreaked havoc in the London rush hour, parts of the capital were brought to a standstill today by a spate of apparent copycat attacks on three Tube trains and a London bus.
Emergency services were called out to incidents at three stations, including a reported nailbomb attack at Warren Street station where one person was said to have been injured.
A British Transport Police spokeswoman said Warren Street, Shepherd’s Bush and Oval stations had all been evacuated. An explosion was also reported on a No 26 bus at Hackney in East London, blowing out the windows but not causing any injuries.
Large parts of London were cordoned off after the bombs, including University College Hospital, near Warren Street, where armed police reportedly chased a man - thought to be the bomber - into the building.
Soon afterwards, an internal memo was circulated among hospital staff asking them to be on the alert for a black or Asian man, 6ft 2ins in height, wearing a blue top with a hole in the back with wires protruding from it.
A press spokesman for the hospital confirmed that armed officers were inside. The incident is continuing.
Tony Blair cancelled his afternoon appointments on news of the incidents, although Scotland Yard said it was not immediately treating the incidents as of the same magnitude as the bombings on July 7.
Appearing outside New Scotland Yard, Sir Ian Blair, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, said the incidents were “clearly very serious” involving “four explosions - four attempts at explosions”.
He added: “At the moment the casualty numbers appear to be very low in the explosions, the bombs appear to be smaller than on the last occasions, but we don’t know the implications of this yet and we’ll have to examine the scene very closely.”
The incidents came two weeks to the day after four suicide bombers blew themselves up on three Tube trains and a London bus, killing 52 travellers and four bombers in a co-ordinated attack blamed on the al-Qaeda network.
Sir Ian appealed to Londoners to stay off the transport system, but to go about their normal business. Three Tube lines were halted immediately after the reports, but it was later announced that the Victoria line had reopened either side of Warren St station.
“It looks like it may be people messing around, copycat-type stuff,” Dr Shane Brighton, a terrorism expert at the Royal United Services Institute, told Reuters. “The absence of any clear evidence of substantial blasts means that this is on the face of it at the moment not a follow-up attack of the same proportion.”
Dr Brighton added: “It may be an attempt by people to cause panic, maybe people with similar ideas or ideological sympathy with the people that did the recent bombings…The nature of the incidents doesn’t appear to be anything like as serious.”
Like July 7, three Tube stations and a bus appeared to be involved, and as on July 7 the targets appeared to describe a rough cross-shape on the map of London, with Warren St in the north, Oval in the south, Hackney in the east and Shepherd’s Bush in the west.
“Some were falling, there was mass panic. It was difficult to get the story from any of them what had happened but when I got to ground level there was an Italian young man comforting an Italian girl who told me he had seen what had happened.
“He said that a man was carrying a rucksack and the rucksack suddenly exploded. It was a minor explosion but enough to blow open the rucksack. The man then made an exclamation as if something had gone wrong. At that point everyone rushed from the carriage.”
Mr McCracken said he smelled smoke but did not see any injured passengers.
Other reports suggested that gunshots were fired as a man ran away from the scene at Warren Street.
Services on the Victoria, Northern and Hammersmith and City lines were suspended following the incidents. London fire brigade said there were reports of smoke coming from Oval station, which crews were investigating.
“I can confirm that emergency services are responding to reports of three incidents on the London Underground,” a Scotland Yard spokeswoman said. “They are Oval, Warren Street and Shepherd’s Bush.”
A London Ambulance spokesman said: “We are currently responding with other emergency services to incidents at Warren Street, Shepherd’s Bush and Oval. We were called to Oval at 12.38pm and sent three ambulance vehicles.
“We were called to Warren Street at 12.45pm and sent five vehicles. We will shortly confirm details of the incident at Shepherd’s Bush.”
From Guardian News:
Alert after serious incidents in London
· 3 tube stations and bus affected
· Nail bombing reported
· ‘Armed police enter hospital’Mark Oliver, James Sturcke and agencies
Thursday July 21, 2005Police seal off the area around Warren Street tube station after further incidents on London’s public transport system were reported. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA
Police and emergency services are responding to incidents at three London underground stations and on a bus.
There are unconfirmed reports of a nail bomb exploding at Warren Street tube station and one person has been injured there.There were no reports of other casualties at the scene of the other incidents at Oval and Shepherd’s Bush stations and on a No 26 bus at the junction of Hackney Road and Columbia Road in east London.
Television footage showed that the bus, which appeared to be intact, had been evacuated.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair appealed to Londoners to “stay where you are” in what he described as a “very serious incident”.
The incidents come two weeks to the day four suicide bombers attacked three tube stations and a bus in the capital, killing 52 people.
Today some witnesses said they heard gunshots at Warren Street and saw an assailant running from the scene, but Scotland Yard sources said it was unclear if the noise was from gunfire or detonating caps.
A passenger on a tube train about to arrive at Warren Street tube station described seeing smoke and dozens of panicking passengers running through the train. He said another passenger told him a rucksack had exploded.
“The train was not far short of Warren Street station when suddenly the doors between my carriage and the next one burst open and dozens of passengers started running through,” retired special constable Ivan McCracken told Sky News.
Police cordoned off most of Euston Road, near Warren Street, and officers with sniffer dogs combed the pavement and the surrounding area.
Rows of fire engines lined up outside University College hospital next to the station and there were unconfirmed reports that armed officers had entered the hospital.
British Transport police said all the affected tube stations were being evacuated.
Transport for London confirmed that four lines - the Hammersmith and City, Northern, Bakerloo and Victoria - had been suspended.
A spokesman said: “There is a code amber which means that the trains are being taken to the next station and passengers evacuated to above ground. Police are at all three stations.”
Overland services were running as normal and had not been affected, a Network Rail spokesman said
Sosiane Mohellavi, 35, was travelling from Oxford Circus to Walthamstow when she was evacuated from a train at Warren Street.
“I was in the carriage and we smelt smoke - it was like something was burning. Everyone was panicked and people were screaming. We had to pull the alarm. I am still shaking. We pulled into Warren Street and were evacuated. It was horrible,” she told the Press Association.
A London Ambulance spokesman said: “We are currently responding with other emergency services to incidents at Warren Street, Shepherd’s Bush and Oval … at this time there are no reports of casualties at any of the scenes.”
The spokesman said they were called to Oval at 12.38pm and sent three ambulances; they were called to Warren Street at 12.45pm and sent five vehicles.
Downing Street said that, given the uncertainty surrounding events, the prime minister, Tony Blair, had cancelled a visit to a school in east London this afternoon. He had been due to meet security chiefs to discuss the July 7 attacks later today.
The Metropolitan police had warned of a risk of further attacks, following the July 7 bombings.
The London mayor, Ken Livingstone, cancelled a visit to the Family Assistance Centre set up to help victims of the July 7 blasts in light of the current tube incidents.
News from Guardian newsblog:
Alerts around London
By Neil McIntosh / Attack on London/ UK news 02:45pm1445 PA reports: “The whole of Shepherd’s Bush Green is cornered off between Holland Park and the Shepherd’s Bush Station”. There are suggestions there is a suspect package there.
1440 It is now becoming clear that there were three attempted bombings today - at Oval station, at Warren Street station, and on a 26 bus in Hackney. Speculation suggests the detonators on these devices went off, but the bombs themselves did not. Should this be the case, there are clearly going to be huge risks in disarming the devices. But in the bombs there is the potential for clues as to who, exactly, is behind this.
1431 Sir Ian Blair, Metropolitan Police commissioner, says there are four scenes of explosions, or attempts at explosions. He says “casualty numbers are very low” and the devices are smaller than last time. The tube is closed down “for a short while”, although mainline trains are running normally. The Cobra committee is about to meet.
1430 Newsblog reader Robert Andrews notes possibly the first moblogged pictures and video from one of the scenes.
1411 Police have now closed off University College Hospital, near Warren Street. This was the place where many of the injured from the July 7 attacks were treated. There were reports earlier that someone had run off after leaving a bag at Warren Street.
1400 An eyewitness has told Sky News that he was in the carriage next to the explosion at Warren Street. Someone dumped a large, black holdall or rucksack on the train and then ran off. Other passengers tried to stop him running away, but he escaped. Something in the bag went off, making a sound “like a Champagne cork popping”.
1351 It is now being reported that there was an attempted suicide bombing at Warren Street, but the bomb didn’t go off properly. Some windows were blown out of the number 26 bus at Hackney, it is reported, although images from a helicopter above the scene show little damage. Scotland Yard says it is not treating this as a major incident, yet - this does not appear to be on the same scale as July 7.
1345 The situation thus far: it’s unclear what the nature of these incidents is. But it is clear there have been several, scattered around London. In the last few minutes the tube has, just as it was two weeks ago to the day, been closed down. A London Ambulance spokesman has told PA they were called to Oval at 12.38pm and Warren Street at 12.45pm. There are no details of the alert at Shepherd’s Bush yet. There are no reports of casualties at any of the scenes.
Meanwhile, a bus in the east end of London, on Hackney Road, has been cordoned off, and the area evacuated.
1335 There have been reports of gunshots at Warren Street, but these may have been detonators going off, Scotland Yard is suggesting. There is another report of a nail bomb at Warren Street.
1333 Emergency services are now said to be responding to an incident on a bus in Hackney Road, in East London.
1328 PA reports: “A Scotland Yard spokeswoman said: ‘Emergency services personnel are responding to reports of incidents at three locations on the Underground - the Oval, Warren Street and Shepherd’s Bush.’ Police were also among those attending the three stations, she said.
She could not confirm reports that witnesses at Warren Street had seen smoke.” There are no reports of any injuries.1315 We’re getting new reports of a “series of incidents” on the tube network. Warren Street, Oval and Shepherd’s Bush tubes have all been evacuated, and emergency services are attending. Services on the Victoria, Northern and Hammersmith & City line have been suspended.
Sky News is reporting a minor explosion on one tube at 1254. An eyewitness claims one passenger’s backpack blew apart, but did not cause further damage. There was panic on the train, but passengers were able to disembark.
I’ll add more updates here as and when I can, as this site is probably far quicker than the heavily visited news sites.
Tube cleared after minor blasts
Minor explosions using detonators only have sparked the evacuation of three Tube stations and the closure of three lines, a BBC correspondent has said.
Police cordoned off large areas around Warren Street, Oval and one of the Shepherd’s Bush Tube stations.A route 26 bus in Hackney Road in Bethnal Green had its windows blown out by a blast. There were no injuries.
Police in London say they are not treating the situation as “a major incident yet”.
One person was injured at Warren Street. There were reports the injured person may have been holding a rucksack containing the detonator.
Police said armed officers had been deployed to University College Hospital after an incident.
The whole of the Northern Line has been suspended, along with the Victoria Line and the Hammersmith and City line.
A number of other stations were closed including Westminster tube station, Waterloo station and King’s Cross Thameslink. There were also reports that St Paul’s tube and Oxford Circus tube station were closed.
Tony Blair cancelled events in the afternoon and will be attending a meeting of the Cobra committee along with Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.
The BBC’s Andrew Winstanley said devices had been found but appeared to have been dummies, containing no explosives.
London Underground went to an amber alert with trains taken to the next station and evacuated.
An eyewitness at Oval station said there had been a small bang, and a man had then run off when the Tube reached the station.
Police have set up cordons round the stations
A spokesman for Stagecoach said the driver of the number 26 bus travelling through Shoreditch had heard a bang on upper deck, gone upstairs and seen the windows were blown out.
The bus driver was very shaken but said to be fine.
At Shepherd’s Bush Hammersmith and City line station, police told reporters that a man had threatened to blow himself up and then ran off.
Sosiane Mohellavi, 35, was travelling from Oxford Circus to Walthamstow when she was evacuated from a train at Warren Street.
“I was in the carriage and we smelt smoke - it was like something was burning.
“Everyone was panicked and people were screaming. We had to pull the alarm. I am still shaking.”
The BBC’s Rory Barnett said there had been no smoke on the platform at Warren St.
Liz Edwards, who works near Warren Street Underground station, said the area was full of activity.
“There are police, fire engines and ambulances all around there. A guy from our office had just come back from the station and said the police were aggressively keeping people away from the station and that you could not get anywhere near it.”
From the BBC:
Emergency services have been called to three Tube stations after “incidents”, Scotland Yard said.
Police confirmed they had been called to Warren Street, Oval and Shepherd’s Bush stations.
There have been reports of smoke coming from two of the stations and all three have been evacuated.
The whole of the Northern Line has been suspended, along with the Victoria Line and the Hammersmith and City. There are no reports of any casualties.
Police also confirmed that emergency service personnel have responded to reports of an incident on a route 26 bus in Hackney Road.
A spokesman for London Underground said the nature of the incidents was unknown.
One hospital, near Warren St station, has started its emergency plan.
Sosiane Mohellavi, 35, was travelling from Oxford Circus to Walthamstow when she was evacuated from a train at Warren Street.
“I was in the carriage and we smelt smoke - it was like something was burning.
“Everyone was panicked and people were screaming. We had to pull the alarm. I am still shaking.”
But a BBC reporter outside Warren St station said there was no sign of smoke outside.
From Sky News:
INCIDENTS REPORTED NEAR TUBE STATIONS
There have been unconfirmed reports of an apparently minor explosion on the London Underground.
There are no reports of casualties.
A series of incidents have been reported near Warren Street, Oval and Shepherd’s Bush stations on the London Underground.
The stations have been evacuated.
Train passenger Ivan McCracken told Sky News he spoke to an Italian man who witnessed an explosion.
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