The Situation in Afghanistan is Improving.....

.....well, if you are into skag anyway. The BBC reports:

The UN says opium production in Afghanistan has soared to record levels, with an increase on last year of more than a third.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime report says the amount of opium produced there has doubled in the last two years.

It says Helmand province is now the biggest single drug-producing area in the world, surpassing whole countries such as Colombia.

Afghanistan now accounts for more than 93% of the world's opiates.

Aaaahhh, don't it make ya proud? I mean, under the Taleban, heroin production had been reduced by 95%. Once again we have turned the country around and it is leading the world. Shame on those who are intent to undermine the new, prosperous Afghanistan. This is a real success story, brought to you by the coalition.

Alastair Campbell Is A Big Fat Liar*

Interesting news from the latest edition of the New Statesman, news that barely seems to get a mention elsewhere. According to the New Statesman:

Alastair Campbell placed the September 2002 WMD dossier in the hands of the propaganda unit that later produced the plagiarised "dodgy dossier", the New Statesman can reveal.

According to the periodical, Conservative MP John Baron obtained the full text of a letter sent by the Cabinet office to the Hutton inquiry after it had been asked to hand over an early secret draft of the dossier. A previously censored four and a half lines of the letter reveals that Campbell placed the intelligence dossier in the hands of the Coalition Information Committee (CIC). The CIC is a propaganda unit set up by Campbell to promote UK involvement in US-led wars. Campbell has denied that the dossier existed on 9th September 2002.

The New Statesman concludes that:

The revelation that the dossier was from the outset in the ownership of Campbell’s propaganda unit is the final nail in the coffin of the government’s claims that it was produced by the JIC.

It is clear that the government misled both the Hutton inquiry and the Butler Review about the background of the dossier that formed the basis of Andrew Gilligan's accusations. Furthermore, it would appear that the early first draft of the dossier drawn up by John Williams, communications director at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, does not contain any reference to the infamous 45 minute claim that made the case for war. It would appear that, as Gilligan stated at the time, that the claim was inserted to 'sex-up' the dossier. Gilligan's report was, therefore, wholly accurate in its central assertion. An assertion that led to the government asserting its authority over the BBC in an unprecedented manner. An unprecedented event that was, nonetheless, supported by the very people who claim to be opposed to the ideology of the all-powerful state machine. Where were they when the state machine went into overdrive? Behind the lines of the government, where their natural loyalties lie. But, I digress.

After successfully utilising the FoI Act, Baron told the New Statesman:

“Britain went to war on a false premise, and this latest revelation underlines the fact that spin doctors were involved from the outset in the production of the dossier and the presentation of the case for war in Iraq – a war which, in its aftermath, is still costing British and Iraqi lives. I shall be asking further questions when parliament returns as to why the involvement of the CIC in the production of the dossier has been concealed.”

Perhaps it is time for the government to make an apology to the BBC, the British and Iraqi people and to finally admit that the premise on which our involvement was based, was nothing more than the invention of a vicious propagandist with blood on his hands. It comes to something when a Tory MP exposes this sordid truth.

*Allegedly

The Next Stage in 'War on Terror'?

Remember all the tough talk about the 'war on terror'? Remember when Bush said this:

"Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists."

This signified a shift in American foreign policy. From now on, any state that works with terrorists will be forced to face the consequences. Well, there is one state that, according to the CIA, has strong ties with terrorist organisations and has been involved in countless human rights abuses. I'm not talking about Iran, I'm talking about Colombia.

In the latest in a long line of revelations about the Colombian government, it has emerged that the CIA has 'obtained intelligence alleging that the head of Colombia's U.S.-backed army collaborated extensively with right-wing militias that Washington considers terrorist organizations'. According to the Los Angeles Times:

The intelligence about Montoya is contained in a report recently circulated within the CIA. It says that Montoya and a paramilitary group jointly planned and conducted a military operation in 2002 to eliminate Marxist guerrillas from poor areas around Medellin.

At least 14 people were killed during the operation, and opponents of Uribe allege that dozens more disappeared in its aftermath.

The intelligence report includes information from another Western intelligence service and indicates that U.S. officials have received similar reports from other reliable sources.

What complicates this matter further is that the US, alongside the UK, gives a vast amount of aid to Colombia ($700 million in the case of the US). In short, the American government is funding a terrorist organisation. A terrorist organisation that effectively runs Colombia. A terrorist organisation responsible for the deaths of thousands of Colombians. All the time receiving financial support by the American government, financial support that is unlikely to be cut off.

It would seem that under the authority of the Bush Doctrine only one course of action is possible. If those who support terrorists must be confronted, alongside the terrorists themselves, it would appear that there is only one logical conclusion to this situation. A 'coalition of the willing' must be assembled to invade Colombia and install democracy free from the influence of terrorists that threaten the stability of the region. Once that has been achieved, it is time to promote regime change in the states that continue to support the terrorists. A new kind of freedom, freedom from tyrannical regimes, can then spread across the globe. Now, all we need is someone to lead this 'coalition of the willing'. Anyone have any suggestions?