The British are coming! The British are coming!

[Senior citizen]

And this time we will strew flowers and welcome them.

Here's the way I see things going down:

The British parliamentary inquiry into the lies to justify an illegal war will proceed and will be successful. Tony Blair will resign and those who backed him will have no credibility. All those in the British government who colluded with Bush will be tried for war crimes in the World Court and will be found guilty.

Meanwhile back here, the pukes will have blocked any inquiry and the MSM will not carry British proceedings, so we'll have to keep up online.

Once all British troops have been withdrawn from Iraq, the Canadians and Australians will follow suit. No, I haven't forgotten Poland, and I really don't care what they do. Once the other major powers have withdrawn their troops, and those of their leaders who colluded have been convicted of crimes against humanity in the World Court, the entire world will be united against us (with the possible exception of Poland, the Phillipines, Israel, and a few others wholly dependant upon our handouts) and the pukes will either shoot themselves or else they'll declare WWIII.

There will eventually be such loss of confidence in government here that we will be able to hold fair elections and we'll vote to rejoin the Commonwealth. And the next time fascists try to take over the world, they won't be us, we'll be on the right side to begin with, and nobody will have to coax us to defend freedom against tyranny. Sometimes people have to learn the hard way, and I hope we have.

[evlbstrd]

1. No fuckin' way I'm going Commonwealth.

I'm an Irish-American.

[Senior citizen]

2. Since when does that make you a fascist?

This experiment has failed. We have been unable to keep this country from being taken over by a fascist dictatorship. Did you see the photo of John Conyers standing outside the bars of the White House grounds, attempting to hand his petition to an aide? Is that the kind of government you want?

We can't get impeachment proceedings because the pukes control Congress. And the White House. And the judiciary. No checks and balances, all power in BFEE hands.

So Ireland is welcome to side with Poland, Israel, the Phillipines, and similar countries. Parliament works. The British recognize the World Court. Oh, I know -- Ireland probably still hasn't legalized abortion yet, right? Are you on the side of the pukes who are trying to get it banned again here also?

When I was young, Catholics and Protestants were able to keep their bloodshed overseas and somehow managed to live as Americans when they came here. Like I said, this experiment has failed. Before BFEE tried to institute a theocracy as part of their facist corporatocracy, Americans, whether they were Jews, Moslems, Hindus, Sikhs, Catholics, Protestants, Baptists, Quakers, and many others, managed to live here in peace.

I'm on the side of freedom. Freedom of religion. Freedom of speech. Freedom of choice. Freedom of the press. Freedom to petition government for redress of grievances. And a lot of other freedoms. I know there are people for whom the only important freedom is the freedom to bear arms, but I'm not one of them.

[evlbstrd]

4. Because I don't want to join the Commonwealth I'm a fascist?

Quite a leap, there. I love your passion, but, that's not a realistic alternative.

[backwoodsmurder]

3. nitpicking

there are no canadian troops in iraq, just afganistan.

[tenshi816]

5. Queen Elizabeth II is the symbolic head of the Commonwealth

I can't see the US joining any organization headed by a monarch, symbolic or not.

I hate to say it, but the DSM isn't even in the news in the UK right now, not much anyway. I know very few people who even know what the DSM is, and the story broke here. I can't figure it out. I've seen no real outrage at all, and it leaves me scratching my head in confusion wondering why.

I even checked the Times website this morning to see what their latest was on the story (on the basis that since they published the original article, they'd be keeping up). The last Times article was on 9th June, entitled "Downing Street minutes that lasted for months" - and it was only about how the story is picking up steam in the States and on the Web. Today's BBC offering is "Congressmen probe Iraq war memo", but says nothing about a parliamentary inquiry.

As much as I loathe Tony Blair (smug, smarmy hypocritical bastard that he is), I can't see him going easily.

I do like the way you think though.

[julianer]

7. That's right

It hasn't even had much impact in the left wing press in the UK.

I think it's because left and right here agree that the war is a disaster and no one is really defending it. We ALL know the truth about the war and Blair's lies - this is merely confirmation.

Blair wants to keep it as quiet as possible and we are concentrating on Make Poverty History, the Euro constitution referendums and the G8. Particularly MPH and the G8. Should see a million people in Edinburgh early next month protesting against these monsters and their robberies.

Things are happening behind the scenes though - Military Families against the War are pursuing legal action against Blair and the case is being presented to the ICC in the Hague.

[tenshi816]

8. Yes, I've read about what MFAW are doing

and wish them the best of luck with their legal action.

What do you think will happen as far as Britain getting out of the war is concerned? Can you see it happening any time soon? Like you, I agree that both sides of the political aisle are in agreement about it being a complete disaster, but aren't doing anything about it because they can't actually decide what they should do (whereas it's painfully obvious to the average citizen).

I don't know about you, but in my community, among the people I deal with on a day-to-day basis, it's almost as if they no longer even notice that the war is still going on. We had a flurry of antiwar sentiment locally a little while back because a boy from this area was killed (I'm in Ilkley, West Yorkshire) - but it went away almost as soon as it came.

Do you think Blair will resign? I can't help but think that ol' Tone is sorely regretting getting Britain involved, but can't think of a way to extricate the UK from the mess without upsetting his Master. I know some people think he will resign soon, but I can't see him leaving without a fight. He enjoys being PM too much and that wretched creature he's married to enjoys the perks of being the PM's wife far too much as well. In any event, even if Blair does resign, it doesn't necessarily mean his successor (presumably Brown) will immediately give the order to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq.

Are you going to Edinburgh on 2nd July? My 13-year old son (my little activist in the making, I'm so proud!) and I are looking into it but finding it hard to obtain affordable-yet-decent lodging.

[julianer]

10. I'm hoping to get there

but haven't found any transport yet. I'm 6'5" so the back of a mini is not for me!

I hope to sort it out tomorrow when we have an activity.

About Blair, I don't know. I haven't heard anything about a parliamentary enquiry into it all and I just hope the MFAW thing is working away in the background. I don't think he'll resign though, except on his own terms. Too much pride. Also I don't know what the procedure would be to get rid of him formally. In effect he is the monarch and can make the rules up as he goes along.

IMHO the only thing that will get the troops out is political pressure, which is going to have to come from below given the spineless vacuity of the average Labour backbencher. I don't think people have forgotten or are any less angry about the war, and that has to find expression (again) someday soon. Anything could spark it, including Gleneagles.

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. Hmmm Canada has no troops there

for starters

Poland already announced a withdrawal


Good idea to find them facts

even if overall you are mostly correct on Parlaiment, I am not sure they will turn Blair and CO to the World Court, but time will tell

[1932]

9. Did you know that the UK immediately turned over Basra to Iraq control?

When the UK arrived in Basra they found an extremely organized political system run by Shiites (whom Iran had been covertly supporting for years) ready to fill the vacuum created by removing Hussein's government.

The US was very angry at the British for not occupying Basra and for giving control to Iraq.