May 30 - The French were so concerned about probable terror attacks on the 1998 World Cup that they contemplated kidnapping Abu Hamza, according to a book by Sean OÂ’Neill and Daniel McGrory, The Suicide Factory, scheduled for release June 19.

The authors wrote about a portion of the book examining these worries in the Times Online article French plot to kidnap Abu Hamza and save the World Cup and, whatever we may think of the lofty posturing by French politicians, that country's security organizations indicate more accurately the seriousness with which the French regard terror threats and the ruthless steps they are willing to take to thwart them:

Jean Pierre Chevènement, France’s Minister of the Interior, had one worry in particular. It was March 1998. In a few months the football World Cup was to be held in France, and it was a huge security headache. Algerian terrorists of the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) had bombed the Paris Métro in 1995, and the architects of that atrocity — regarded in France as a deadly enemy — were still on the loose, living untroubled lives in London. The World Cup offered them an opportunity, and there were whispers in the intelligence world that something was being planned. It might take only a word from their spiritual guide Abu Hamza, an article in his newsletter, or a line in a communiqué pinned to the Finsbury Park mosque noticeboard to set the wheels in motion.

[...]

There had been panic in 1997 when a newsletter carried a GIA logo in which the letters were arranged in the shape of a triangle.

Was it a signal that terrorists were going to target the Eiffel Tower? In 1994 four GIA men had hijacked an Air France jet in Algiers and threatened to fly it to Paris and smash into the tower. The plane was stormed by French commandos at Marseilles and the terrorists killed.

France was on edge. Such was her anxiety about the World Cup that she demanded co-operation from her European neighbours. Where she deemed that collaboration was lacking, or less than enthusiastic, she was sending teams of agents abroad to gather intelligence on Islamist militants. Hassaine was part of the team in London, recruited by FranceÂ’s DGSE intelligence service, to be a spy inside Finsbury ParkÂ’s Algerian community and its mosque.

[...]

As far as the French were concerned, the British had entered into a Faustian pact with the extreme Islamist groups assembled in London. They were free to organise, propagandise and speak, as long as there was no threat and no trouble on British soil. Abu Hamza seemed to enjoy a friendly relationship with MI5 and Scotland YardÂ’s intelligence wing, the Special Branch. They called him regularly, invited him for meetings and were generally on cordial terms. (Emphasis added)

[...]

“But the French believed that this plot to attack the World Cup was real, that it was being drawn up in London and that Finsbury Park mosque was the capital of Londonistan. The names of many suspects were passed to the British – veteran terrorists arriving from around the world – but the British did nothing. They did not take it seriously, even when the French said that if anything were to happen they would declare publicly that they held the British responsible.”

In the event, France thwarted the threat to attack the tournament. The process of unravelling it began with the arrest of an Algerian terrorist in Belgium in March 1998. The man had been convicted in absentia by a French court in connection with the Paris Métro bombs in 1995, and was subsequently jailed by the Belgian courts for nine years for attempted murder, criminal association, sedition and forgery. In the three months before the World Cup began, more than a hundred North Africans were arrested in France, Switzerland, Italy, Britain, Belgium and Germany as suspected terrorists.

Of course those lessons we can learn from the many failures are valuable, but endless blame games tend to distract instead of focus us. One glaring case in point: how, exactly, did Farenheit 911 serve to secure the nation from terror attacks?

One thing this article does highlight is the urgent need for security agencies from different countries to work together. There is an interesting Cancon aspect to this because French security agencies had tried in vain to alert Canadian authorities about al Qaeda operative and Millennium Bomber (and Canadian refugee-applicant!) Ahmed Ressam, but those warnings were ignored -- and then he was caught by a U.S. border guard trying to enter the USA with a trunkload of explosives with the intent of bombing LAX.

Despite the well-earned reputation of French intelligence agencies, domestic security in that country remains troubled: the kids are at it again because, it is claimed, the French haven't addressed the root causes of last November's riots.

The French Parliament recently tried to relax labour laws in an effort to reduce the high unemployment of the nation's young -- especially the disproportionately higher numbers among the children of immigrants -- but the the labour unions and students forced a retreat. (Is it really so surprising that, when it comes to protecting their own comfortable incomes and job security, the French left-wing turns downright reactionary? /obligatory French bashing)

The French seem caught in their own Faustian deal, a state which, to larger and lesser extents, afflicts us all -- including the USA, where an irate American electorate demands border security but is only getting platitudes.

(A goal and an assist to Newsbeat1 because the latter link led me to the first link. How about them Oilers?)

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Oct. 25 - Last May British MP George Galloway scornfully challenged Sen. Norm Coleman to produce evidence that he had received oil vouchers from Saddam Hussein during the former's testimony before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations which at the time was investigating the U.N. Oil-for-Food Program. Well, the evidence been produced (Senate panel accuses British lawmaker) and the U.S. Department of Justice will be asked to consider charging Galloway with perjury and obstruction of congressional proceedings.

The British newspaper, the Daily Telegraph, proclaims Galloway's wife 'received £100,000 from Iraqis':

The Palestinian-born wife of George Galloway, the Respect MP, is accused today of receiving $149,980 (about £100,000) derived from the United Nations Iraqi oil-for-food programme.

A report by an investigative committee of the United States Senate says the money was sent to the personal account of Amineh Abu Zayyad in August 2000.

[...]

The report includes bank records showing a paper trail from Saddam's ministries to Mrs Galloway. It states that the Iraqis handed several lucrative oil-for-food contracts to the Jordanian businessman Fawaz Zureikat, an old friend of the Galloways. A month later, on Aug 3, 2000, Mr Zureikat allegedly paid $150,000 minus a bank commission of $20 from his Citibank account number 500190207 into Mrs Galloway's account at the Arab Bank in Amman.

The senate team also says that a $15,666 payment had been made on the same date to a Bank of Scotland account belonging to Mr Galloway's spokesman, Ron McKay. Last night Mr McKay said he had no recollection of the alleged payment.

[...]

Senate staff said at a press conference yesterday that they would send their report to Britain and Jordan for possible action against the Galloways and Mr Zureikat.

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Battle of Britain Memorial Flight flies over The Mall as members of the Royal Family watched from the balconey of Buckingham Palace

July 11 - The lessons of the past are thought to contain advice for the present. To what extent our imperfect understanding of history can guide us now is still a subject for disagreement, but I think there is little room for debate on the impact a figure as the Queen can have when she appears publicly and openly days after a homeland attack in one war to celebrate the victorious end of an earlier war.

The Queen defied the threat of terrorist attack yesterday to ride down the Mall in an open-top Range Rover at the head of veterans of the Second World War.

Against the backdrop of the London bombings, she made her gesture in front of a crowd of 250,000 people as Britain celebrated the 60th anniversary of the end of the war.

Earlier, when referring to the attacks during a speech in Horse Guards, she invoked the courage of the wartime generation.

"It does not surprise me that, during the present difficult days for London, people turn to the example set by that generation of resilience, humour, sustained courage, often under conditions of great deprivation," she said.

"That example and those memories should be kept alive by younger generations as they in their turn strive to keep the peace in our troubled world."

Buckingham Palace said the use of the open-top Range Rover had been planned long before Thursday's Underground and bus bombings and it had been decided to keep to the arrangement.

"It was the same vehicle the Queen used for the Jubilee celebrations," a spokesman said.

After her procession along the Mall, with Prince Philip at her side and standard bearers of the Royal British Legion behind her, the Queen joined other members of the Royal Family on the Palace balcony in scenes reminiscent of 1945. [See here for one example.]

As is noted further down the article in a portion relating to the morning service at Westminster Abbey, What should have been a service of farewell to the dead of 60 years ago became a moment to remember the dead of the previous 72 hours. Those words remind remind us that whereas defeating fascism was the task of an earlier generation, the struggle with terrorism is our bookmark in the history books and it is our task to achieve victory.

The Daily Telegraph article about the services in Westminster Abbey and other links on yesterday's events are quite moving and there is also a link on that page for more photographs.

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July 9 - The hunt continues for Mohammed al-Gerbouzi:

A Moroccan granted British citizenship is being hunted by anti-terrorist forces investigating the London bombings.
As detectives warned the suspected Al Qaeda cell that blitzed the capital leaving more than 50 people dead was primed to strike again, a Europe-wide request for information on Mohammed al-Gerbouzi was circulated around police forces.

The request for details on the 45-year-old father of six, who has a British passport after being granted asylum in the mid-1990s, was sent by British police to European counterparts within hours of the three rush-hour Underground explosions and one bus bomb on Thursday.

He is already wanted for questioning in connection with the Casablanca and Madrid terror attacks, which investigators say have striking similarities to the London attacks.

Spanish investigators who led the probe into the Moroccan bombers that left 191 dead in the Madrid attacks are due to arrive in London to help British police in the inquiry into England's worst terrorist attack.

Detectives fear the terror cell of at least three bombers still at large from the Underground bombings have stockpiled enough explosives for another series of devastating attacks on the transport network.

[...]

Scotland Yard said they were keeping an open mind on a claim by a previously unheard of group called the Secret Organisation Group of Al Qaeda of Jihad Organisation in Europe that it carried out the attack.

Police believe the men may have met at King's Cross before going to place their deadly packages and officers are searching through hundreds of hours of CCTV footage. It is believed that the security camera on the top floor of the bus was not working properly, however.

A Brussels-based European police official confirmed yesterday that they had been asked for information on the whereabouts of Gerbouzi.

A former pupil of radical cleric Abu Qatada - said to be Osama Bin Laden's European ambassador - Gerbouzi is alleged by the Spanish authorities to have spoken to some of the Madrid bombers twice in the hours before they blew themselves up as police closed in.

Gerbouzi lived in England with his wife and six children. In April last year he is said to have vanished from his ground floor flat in Kilburn, North-West London.

Last night Gerbouzi's family said claims he is linked to the London bomb attacks were fantastical.

(Mail link via Neale News.)

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July 8 - The sturdy Londoners returned to work today, which I believe is British for "the terrorists can FOAD."

News reports are now placing the death toll at 50 for yesterday's terrorist attack in London, but it's expected to rise as many bodies have not yet been removed from King's Cross because the structural integrity of the subway tunnels has been too severely compromised.

The death toll from the Tavistock Square double-decker bus is 13.

It seems somehow wrong to feel relief that the death toll is comparatively low, but there it is.

Need it be added that a manhunt is underway? The claims of the "Secret Organization of al-Qaida's Jihad in Europe" have not yet been proven, but it seems to be a starting place.

It appears that at least two unexploded devices were found (police conducted "controlled detonations" of them) which confirms one of yesterday's rumours. Although news reports state that timers, not cell phones, were used to set off the explosives, the Met still says they are not sure how the bombs were detonated. Any involvements of suicide bombers remains unproven.

Also, the explosives were apparently aboard the trains, not buried in the tunnels as some speculated.

Yesterday, the ever-blithering CBC was trying to "puzzle out" what the goals of terrorists might have been. Winds of Change lists the goals Norm Geras identified which might help sort out that "puzzle" for the CBC.

With all the talk about the relatively small amount of explosives used, I suddenly remembered the joint British-Canadian operation in which 8 men in Britain and Mohammed Momin Khawaja in Ottawa were arrested in simultaneous raids and the seizing of nearly half a ton of ammonium nitrate in London in March, 2004. Khawaja, known as "the Enabler," is still in custody here and the information that led to his arrest remains under security seal. It is said that information is being protected so as not to compromise the criminal trials of his alleged accomplices which are to begin soon in Britain.

Of course I don't know if there is a connection, and I'm more or less speculating about whether there are even grounds to speculate, but MI5 reportedly learned from surveillance and the use of lip readers that the men discussed bombing targets in and around London.

Michelle Malkin has extensive coverage on the hunt for those who planned and carried out yesterday's attacks here, and it seems the search is centering around one Mohamed Guerbouzi who has already been implicated in other terror attacks, including the 2004 Madrid train bombing, yet lived openly in London this past decade. My jaw stayed on the floor as I read the entire post as well as one she posted earlier on how Britain has become the center of terrorists organizations.

Michael Yon writes that American soldiers in Iraq are angry about the attack, viewing it as Attacking Our Family.

I am no longer dismayed by the failure of so many in Toronto to have similar sentiments despite this country's British heritage, but I too need to be reminded sometimes that Toronto is only a small part of this vast country.

Adams invokes Churchill and calls for a leader to roar to remind the enemy that we have the heart of a lion and Younger Pitt invokes Michael Joseph Savage whose 1939 speech declared that Canada would back Britain to the hilt.

Salim Mansur warns that the World must unite to fight terrorists, and Peter Worthington's declares that We must not waver

The U.S. State Department flew the British flag at half-mast yesterday as an expression of our sympathy and solidarity. I believe this is the first time the flag of a foreign nation has ever flown from that mast, and I think it a beautiful gesture reminiscent of Queen Elizabeth II's request that the Palace Guard play the Star Spangled Banner on Sept. 11.

I am living proof that the phrase "too tired to be angry" is wrong. I am still cold with fury about the attacks, but I've had less than 4 hours sleep in the past 48 hours and have an irresistable impulse to throw my cat off my pillow and fall asleep while he glares at me. (I get my fun where I can.)

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July 7 - Many of those making public statements are using the word "atrocity" so I'm honouring their chosen description as well as their flag.

21:29 - I finally got some sleep, and am headed for work. Belmont Club's two posts offer typically excellent insights - with optimism.

15:55 - I watched BBC for as long as I could stand it. Found Darcey's solution more to my liking: Kill the sons a bitches.

14:15 - Flea has ongoing commentary on the London bombing, and links to a stout post at Silent Running (be sure and read the comments.)

Flea has issued a stern rebuke to Howard Moscoe and makes an astute observation at the end of the paragraph as to where sympathies for any fundamentalism that depends on hate leads. You think it inappropriate today? No, friends; it is exactly appropriate today. The enemy believes tolerance and diversity are the problems, but one of our most treasured values is that we judge others on the content of their characters. Let that remain our standard.

13:25 - Amazing. Londoners are crossing the bridges to begin their treks home or to whatever public transit is running. Never forget that just as Sept. 11 exposed the depth of evil it also revealed courage and resilience.

I feel as though I'm starting to breath again, and regaining some perspective.

One note: many of us know people on this side of the Atlantic who are going through their own hell as they try to contact loved ones in London. This is intensely personal for them and I'd feel instrusive linking under such circumstances, but you know who you read or know who might be in agony right now, right?

Murdoc pays tribute with an apropos Henry V quote, and just in case you thought he's lost his rapier, keep scrolling for Galloway's surrender.

Heh. Robert has his own thoughts on the "unity" this is supposed to bring us and pays his own special tribute to Fingerpointer Galloway.

13:04 - London police report 37 dead, but again, that doesn't seem to include the casualties from the double-decker bus. But it does appear that the death toll will be far lower than that in the previous attacks in NYC, Bali and Madrid.

Nice report on Fox from Sky-TV. The reporter, Alistair (something) mentioned that Londoners are expected to behave much as New Yorkers did on and after Sept. 11. (See Rudy Giuliani's remarks below for a wondrous synchonicity. We can take strength from one another.)

Whoa, London police have warned people to "run as fast as they can" from Victoria Station. Fox is reporting that a suspicious package has been found there.

I guess there will be a fair bit of that kind of "run now, wonder later." Doubtless a great many bags and packages were left as people were evacuated from the stations, but count me as someone who would prefer to respond to a false alarm than a victim of willful stupidity.

12:40 - NYC Mayor Bloomberg is stating solidarity with London as well as reassuring New Yorkers that they are taking all possible precautions there.

Sir Rudy Giuliani is in London (which is why I refer to him by his title) and, when interviewed earlier on Fox, he casually mentioned that, during the dark days following Sept. 11, New Yorkers took as role models the comportment of Londoners during the blitz of WWII. Very. Well. Done, Rudy.

11:27 - Toronto Transit Commissioner (TTC) board member and Toronto City Councillor Howard Moscoe is in serious need of ... strong words issued in his general direction.

The TTC is officially in vigilance mode. I watched the press conference on CP 24 during which the Mayor, TTC CEO (?) Ducharme were briefing the press and public about security measures that have been taken here in Toronto and Moscoe intruded with a smug "we don't have any troops to withdraw from Iraq so we should be okay" comment which kind of missed the mark as the "massacres in Afghanistan" were among the accusations issued by the "we are the al Qaeda wing of Europe and there's nothing you can do about it" website posting in which they also took credit for today's barbarous atrocity in London.

TTC Commissioner tried to return the focus of the press conference on track but Moscoe had to stick his ... foot in his mouth again; I'll give credit to Toronto Mayor David Miller for eventually intruding and, without directly confronting Moscoe, cutting in to reassure the Toronto transit-riding public that they were taking all proper precautions to ensure their safety.

So what's with this:

"I didn't see the advisory, but I think there's a pretty low probability of something like that happening here," said David Crombie, a Toronto businessman, as he exited King Street subway station. "Even if I had, it wouldn't have changed my habits."

PM Paul Martin officially offered his condolences and notes that thus far, no Canadians appear to be among the casualties. Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty is in London but not among the injured or dead.

Martin also confirmed that he has spoken to national security adviser William Elliott.

11:00 - Add "barbaric" to the words of choice. Fox also has a time line (I'm finding logon times to news meda getting longer - perhaps as the West Coast awakens?)

10:29 - The emergency services are holding a press conference. They report 33 fatalities, 21 dead in the second blast at King's Cross but no numbers available yet on the double-decker bus; the British fatality tracking system is down; approximately 1,500 police personnel are deployed but they aren't recalling police currently assigned to the G-8 nor those off-duty as they anticipate they will need them in their due rotation.

All passengers are reported as having been evacuated from the subway.

I'm impressed: thus far, no really stupid or editorialized questions such as our press is apt to indulge in.

10:17 - I'm starting a second post and again referring everyone to Robert, who is now posting from his home in North London. The most recent post concerns advice from the Met (London police) which is totally common sense but as the words sink in they take us back to Sept. 11.

I missed which location (update: it's Edgeware) but Fox is reporting that one of the bombing sites is in a predominantly Arab neighbourhood. In the same minute (inasmuch as time has telescoped) they also mention that a website states that top Egyptian envoy to Iraq Ihab al-Sherif has been killed claiming he was an apostate.

I expect nothing from CAIR or their little sibling in Canada, but the message to London Arabs seems fairly clear, and I doubt there will be too many who will dare modify their condemnation of the London atrocity with "but" (or should that be I hope there aren't?)

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July 7 - 13:40 - I wish I had thought to post this photo. Well done, Flea!

09:52 - Again, I'm quoting the entire article in full, this time from The Sun: Her Majesty shocked:

Her Majesty shocked
By TERRY LAND
Sun Online

THE Queen has spoken of her dismay at the terrorist attacks.

In an open message, she said: “The dreadful events in London this morning have deeply shocked us all.

“I know I speak for the whole nation in expressing my sympathy to all those affected and the relatives of the killed and injured.

“I have nothing but admiration for the emergency services as they go about their work.”

The Queen is currently at Windsor after travelling from the Gleneagles G8 summit where she last night hosted a dinner for political leaders.

Buckingham Palace has been sealed off in the wake of the terrorist blasts with armed police and army personnel on guard.

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July 7 - Updating as new reports come in.

09:41 - New Sisyphus asks one question I've been afraid to ask in John Bull: London Calling.

The deadly situation at King's Cross continues to be a concern. Fox reports people are being treated on the platform in a desperate effort to save lives. I was afraid to say this earlier, but one feature of attacks in Israel have been bombs timed to go off as rescue personnel arrive. So far it looks as though at least that particular atrocity didn't occur.

09:20 - Fox reports Sky news reports 45 dead, 1000 injuried with 150 of those seriously.

I'm not sure how much longer I can hold together. I feel as though I'm moving rapidly onto fury after scarcely a pause at shock and horror, and although I've been on this for over two hours it seems more like 2 minutes.

Is this how it is supposed to work? Sept. 11 left me in shock and then tears for several days. The attack in Bali had me scrambling across the internet as I tried so desperately just to get information (stupid CNN) that it was awhile before the true enormity of that attack became apparent.

The shock after the Madrid attack lasted for several hours, yet it's been scarce two hours since I first learned of the London attack and I am into fury and moving rapidly to livid.

Stupid murderous bastards. Do they realize that resolute people become even more implacable when such events remind us how very much is at stake? Or do they have so little respect for us that they assume we just need more "lessons?"

Fury checkpoint passed. Screw livid. On to cold rage.

09:00 - The Daily Mail Online is reporting 150 injuries and they too seem to be updating this page continuously. (Link via Neale News.)

Fox just reported 300 injured.

08:35 - President Bush just made a brief statement. I think he's genuinely angry about the attacks. He did say he's already been in contact with the Secretary of Homeland Security back in the U.S.

I switch over to CBC in case PM Martin was making a statement but they seem somewhat behind events as the newscaster invited everyone to stay tuned as they puzzled out who is responsible and what their goals were. (Um, to kill people?) CITY-TV reports that the TTC (Toronton Transit) has not issued a threat alert but have advised personnel to be cautious.

08:26 - The BBC website has a page on which they are covering events as they unfold, and it looks as though they are updating regularly. The most recent entry is that "people are still trapped at King's Cross Station, and efforts are being made to rescue them." That's f***ing chilling.

8:10 - Robert reports (and comments) on Blair's response to the attacks, and Fox just aired another Blair statement, this time from the G-8 conference with those attending standing behind him.

Fox commentators note that this attack might help remind them that the biggest challenge confronting us this century is terrorism, not global warming.

Instapundit has the expected excellent links, and adds that a reader notes that the trial of Abu Hamza - the "Hook" - opened yesterday.

08:01 - Fox confirms there were 7 bombs and they say al Arabiya reports that an al Qaeda associated group states they were responsibile for the attacks.

The first bomb in London went off at 8:42 a.m. These bastards just love to attack people who work.

07:25 - Fox TV is reporting rumours of more explosions on buses and a "suspicious" package has been retrieved. Expat Yank Robert is posting from London on the attacks, and after my initial relief that he's okay, I'm going to be following his reports. (His first post is here, for the archivists among us.)

The Fox website direct story link is here.

6:58 - Damn. Damn. Damn. Half-expecting it doesn't make it any the easier.

It took me awhile to get onto the Telegraph website 'Terrible injuries' after London explosions so I'm going to just quote the entire article:

All London underground services and roads into the City have been closed after what is thought to be a major terrorist attack on the Tube and bus network during the rush hour.

At least six Tube stations have been affected, including Aldgate East, Edgware Road, King's Cross, Liverpool Street, Moorgate, and Russell Square, Scotland Yard said.

Tube map (link opens to enlarged map)

[Circles represent left Edgware Road, top center King's Cross St. Pancras, bottom center Russell Square, top right Liverpool Street, bottom right Aldgate. Ed. Update: I'm quoting Jay here to give some idea of the location of the sixth bombing: "Add another one southwest of the more-or-less center circle, where the blue line intersects the black one, Leicester."]

Explosions have been reported on buses at Russell Square and Tavistock Square. Union bosses said there had been three bus explosions.

Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, said there had been "terrible injuries". He advised people not to make unnecessary journeys into London.

A doctor at Aldgate underground station said there had been 90 casualties. There were unconfirmed reports that a number of people had died on the bus in Russell Square.

A policeman at the scene said: "We believe there have been a number of fatalities and a number of people who are seriously injured."

Alun Duncan, shadow home secretary, blamed terrorists for the attacks. He said: "This is the ultimate nightmare coming into play.

"It is not for us to guess what their motives are."

One train passenger at Aldgate said: "People were screaming, we could not get out. There was so much dust, people were choking. I thought I was going to die of dust inhalation.

"One woman told us to get down. We got out of one of the doors that had busted open. There were bodies and pieces of train everywhere.

"There was a huge hole on the side of the carriage."

Sky producer, Bob Mills who was at Russell Square, said an explosion "definitely happened above ground".

He described the top of a bus being "completely destroyed".

BTP initially blamed power surges, but the National Grid, which supplies power to the Underground, later said there had been no problems with its system which could have contributed to the incidents.

Union officials said they had been told by at least one senior Tube manager that there had been at least one explosive device on the Underground.

The incidents come a day after London was awarded the 2012 Olympics and on the day the G8 summit begins in Gleneagles.

A Metronet spokesman said: "It looks as if we have a major incident. The whole system is being shut down."

Mainline train company First Great Western said its services into London's Paddington station were terminating at Reading in Berkshire because of the Underground crisis.

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June 4 - Thanks to Dave J. for pointing the way to EU Referendum, a site that is discussing the UK referendum on the EU Constitution.

Of course, there are rules ...

The value of blogs for political debate away from the closed circles of the elites is becoming apparent in Europe. Nicholas has a very interesting post about a French blogger, who, in the words of the BBC, made the European elites feel "the sting of these online upstarts, the bloggers" by using the medium to articulate his opposition to the EU Constitution and whose essay was disseminated throughout France. He didn't single-handedly create the "Non" vote, of course, but I suspect that the enthusiastic reception of his writing indicates that in France too, the mainstream media is no longer speaking to or for the people.

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May 29 - Ben Macintyre writes tongue in cheek for the London Times on the Canadian-American and French-British rivalries in Everybody needs bad neighbours:

In our thoroughly globalised world, the US and Canada, France and Britain, cling anachronistically to their singular, ancient rivalries. Australia and New Zealand look further afield than each other for economic comparisons; Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan do not expend energy anxiously surveying their respective sex lives. But the English Channel and the US border with Canada remain the distorting, two-way mirrors through which these neighbours perceive themselves.

Americans and Canadians will, at the drop of a hat, bring up the War of 1812 and work backward to 1776 to present our list of grievances, but that list seems downright contemporary compared to two countries who can begin theirs in 1066.

Macintyre is looking at a bigger picture set in European terms and his conclusions are interesting but he doesn't address (or perhaps even know about) the impact of Adscam on Canadian thinking and sensibilities.

The family nature of U.S. and Canadian relations is one that we tend to rush past and it has been made easier by the wholesale re-write of history which de-emphasizes British rule and influence up here in order to side-step the end of French rule at the Plains of Abraham (Canada's Culloden, if you will) which brought a reluctant step-brother into the family.

The current scandel proves the point that we can re-write history but we can't undo it. Adscam is directly related to (if only because it formed the pretext for) anglo- and franco-Canadian relations, and many of us are re-examining our former attitudes to the cause of Quebec sovereignty and recognizing that the exposure of how basely that issue was manipulated by the Liberal Party in their pursuit of one-party rule justifies Quebec outrage and, further, may have irreparably damaged prospects for a truly united Canada.

The divide-and-conquer strategy of the Libranos is being exposed, and some are beginning to realize that the implications go far beyond Quebec and permeate the very weave of today's Canada.

Every time Bombardier is granted a contract there are grumblings in Ontario, but which profit most when the contracts are awarded to Quebec: Quebeckers or those who own Bombardier? It's past time to get deeply suspicious of the quasi-Socialist pretentions of the Libranos and look closer at who gains from these contracts. If it is done in the name of national, or family, unity, then why are the kids bickering?

Once the Libranos decided that they were the natural governing party of Canada and set about to do whatever they could to assert their rule they forgot the danger that the kids might get together and compare notes. Some are noticing that one family analogy which may fit is that of a parent who purposefully incites quarrels between the adult children in order keep them bitterly divided and, in the case of a wealthy family with sizeable assets, ensures they will continue to pander to the parent in order to get what they perceive to be their rightful shares.

But Quebec and the West have had enough and, within their own families, are seriously thinking of getting out of the family business and setting up their own. Ontario is the "good eldest child" -- compliant and obediently determined to uphold the patriarch's dominance (although it privately feels that it should get more for its loyalty than the parent is alloting) and is so invested in the family business that it tends to dismiss the mutterings of those who wonder if the price of unity is worth the cost of their dignity.

Like many parents, the Libranos shrug aside the signs of rebellion, thinking that "kids will be kids," and forgetting that the blind love of children for the parent is replaced by a more critical view once the kids grow up. Should the judgement be that the parental unit makes decisions more for its own benefit than that of the family as a whole then the justification for maintaining family unity is lost.

They played a good hand when they projected Paul Martin in the role of the sympathetic "other" parent and, by seeming to overthrew Chretien's iron rule, he gained some traction by apologizing to the kids for taking them and their contributions for granted and promising to address their concerns and to treat them with more respect, fix the democratic deficit, and distribute more of the profits from the family business.

But then the family quarrel was aired in the Commons, and the Libranos retained power by marrying both the NDP and Belinda Stronach and pre-emptively gave a larger share of the profits to the kids. Martin thus, to all appearances, retained control as this placated some of them, but there is a limit to how often that strategy can be successfully employed.

He will likely take the opportunity at the next family gathering (which would be the next election) to praise the children profusely and humbly, and this will work only to the extent that the kids are denied a thorough understanding of the business accounts for the family in part because foundations which receive federal money are not accountable for how they spend that money.

There is another who wishes to be made head of the family, and some of the siblings use their distrust or dislike of Harper as a pretext for their continued support for the Libranos, but I am genuinely perplexed that, by inference, Joe Clark is somehow be seen as more likeable and charismatic than Harper.

[In contrast, President Bush has many qualities I admire but even I wouldn't call him charismatic. My support for him stems from support for his policies, so his personal appeal is not even a factor. The same can be said for Australian PM Howard.]

I also fail to see how anyone can pretend that Paul Martin has personal appeal, and I am stunned that people still worry about the "hidden agenda" of the Conservative Party when, should the allegations at the Gomery Inquiry be proven, it would seem that it is the Libranos who had the hidden agenda and it was to enrich themselves and their friends at public expense rather than anything that resembled governance.

Oddly enough, it may be the experience of living under Liberal despotism that causes fears about the Conservatives; people may believe that the CPC is as capable of forcing unpopular legislation through Parliament as the Liberals.

I hope the Conservatives use the next period to craft and state their policies. Their failure to do so is probably due more to being a new party and needing to have those kind of discussions among their members but Eastern voters are not likely to buy another pig in a poke.

Canadians are facing a dilemma of another sort though when the media projects the value of personal appeal over policies. Is it possible to maintain illusions once the blinkers are off? The polls seem to say yes, and that is the challenge for both the Libranos and the opposition parties - everywhere except Quebec, that is. They, at least, had the grace to feel insulted by the bribery, and rightly wonder how much the rest of the family truly values them when the others don't share in that outrage.

And that's the real pity.

(Links via Neale News.)

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May 17 - At first I thought this was a joke: Europe unites in hatred of French.

Pollsters asked Europeans to list five words that describe the French and the answers were not very complimentary:

Why the French are the worst company on the planet, a wry take on France by two of its citizens, dredges up all the usual evidence against them. They are crazy drivers, strangers to customer service, obsessed by sex and food and devoid of a sense of humour.

But it doesn't stop there, boasting a breakdown, nation by nation, of what in the French irritates them.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Britons described them as "chauvinists, stubborn, nannied and humourless". ..

For the Germans, the French are "pretentious, offhand and frivolous". The Dutch describe them as "agitated, talkative and shallow." The Spanish see them as "cold, distant, vain and impolite" and the Portuguese as "preaching". In Italy they comes across as "snobs, arrogant, flesh-loving, righteous and self-obsessed" and the Greeks find them "not very with it, egocentric bons vivants".

Interestingly, the Swedes consider them "disobedient, immoral, disorganised, neo-colonialist and dirty".

The French were also asked about other people:

Another section of the study deals with how the French see the rest of Europe.

"Believe it or not, the English and the French use almost exactly the same adjectives to describe each other - bar the word 'insular'," Mr Coldong said. "So the feelings are mutual."

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May 16 - The British media are noticing what is going on here (Your Majesty, this trip could get political.)

The Daily Telegraph notes that the Queen's trip here could be delayed if

... her private secretary, Sir Robin Janvrin, answers his phone between now and then to an apologetic Canadian prime minister delivering the news: "It's all off." For Canada is in political meltdown.

The Liberal government is teetering on the brink of collapse and, should prime minister Paul Martin fall before the Queen is airborne his advice could be to stay at home.

His demise will automatically trigger a general election, and Canada in the middle of an election campaign is no place for a Queen who has avoided political hot potatoes throughout her 53-year reign.

Mr Martin has so far staved off a vote of confidence over allegations that the Liberal government gave millions of dollars in contracts to firms in Quebec, with many of those firms, allegedly, then paying kickbacks to the Liberal Party.

But, under pressure from Conservatives, he is being forced to hold one on Thursday when parliament gathers to vote on his federal budget. That is two days into the Queen's nine-day tour of Saskatchewan and Alberta.

If he is still standing by the time she touches down, the prediction is he will lose the May 19 vote.

Thus the man who greets the Queen as her prime minister at the bottom of the runway steps at Regina may no longer be her prime minister two days later.

(And yes, the facts as reported are somewhat off.)

And, for all you Constitutionalists, Pixy Misa compares today's situation in Canada to a 1975 incident in Australia in which the Governor-General recognized and performed his duty.

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May 14 - (retro-posting) It was worth waiting for:

A longtime ally of French President Jacques Chirac and a leading British critic of the Iraq war received huge contracts to resell Iraqi oil from Saddam Hussein under the U.N. oil-for-food program, Senate investigators have found.

In findings being released today, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs permanent subcommittee on investigations charges that former French Interior Minister Charles Pasqua and British Member of Parliament George Galloway each received the right to market more than 10 million barrels of cut-rate oil from dictator Saddam's Oil Ministry between 1999 and 2003.

Senate investigators, who will air their findings in a hearing next week, based the new report on internal Iraqi documents, Oil Ministry correspondence and interviews with top Saddam-era officials such as detained Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan.

Subcommittee Chairman Norm Coleman, Minnesota Republican, said the findings "paint a disturbing picture of the dark underside of the oil-for-food program." (Emphasis added)

The allegations against Pasqua and Galloway, both outspoken opponents of U.N. sanctions against Iraq in the 1990s, have been made before, including in a report last October by U.S. arms inspector Charles Duelfer.

But Coleman's report provided several new details. It also included information from interviews with former high-ranking officials now in U.S. custody, including former Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz and former Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan.

Among the claims: New evidence suggests that a children's leukemia charity founded by Galloway was in fact used to conceal oil payments.

[...]

The report includes what Coleman said was a copy of a contract from Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organization that mentions Mariam's Appeal, a fund Galloway established in 1998 to help a 4-year-old Iraqi girl suffering from leukemia, Mariam Hamze.

It says the fund may have been used to conceal the transfer of 3 million barrels of oil.

By the way, the Washington Times incorrectly states that Galloway quit the Labour Party; Fox correctly reports that he was expelled.

The transfer of oil to Charles Pasqua was handled by his aide, Bernard Guillet, and there was some wrangling over which bank should deliver the oil allocations.

Guillet has troubles of his own; he is under investigation for influence-peddling and receiving misappropriated funds.

Galloway denies the allegations and last month, the Daily Telegraph was granted permission to to appeal (it's unclear whether they are appealing the ruling or the amount awarded to Galloway, although I believe it is the former.)

The Bethnal Green and Bow MP, who was re-elected to parliament last week running for his own Respect party, described the Senate committee as a "lickspittle Republican committee, acting on the wishes of George Bush".

He said: "Let me repeat. I have never traded in a barrel of oil, or any vouchers for it. I have never seen a barrel of oil apart from the one the Sun newspaper deposited in my front garden.

"And no one has acted on my behalf, trading in oil - Middle Eastern, olive, patchouli or any other - or in vouchers, whatever they are.

"Isn't it strange and contrary to natural justice you might think that I have written and emailed repeatedly asking for the opportunity to appear before the committee to provide evidence and rebut their assumptions and they have yet to respond, while apparently making a judgement."

(This is actually from May 12 - I'm doing some retro-posting to catch up.)

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Apr. 15 - David Bay Chalmers Jr. of Bayoil U.S.A. was charged yesterday in Iraq Oil Sales by Hussein Aides.:

In an indictment, federal authorities in New York said David Bay Chalmers Jr., a Houston oil businessman, and his company, Bayoil U.S.A., made millions of dollars in illegal kickbacks to the Iraqi government while trading oil under the $65 billion aid program.

Separate charges were brought against Tongsun Park, a millionaire South Korean businessman, for acting as an unregistered lobbyist for Iraq in behind-the-scenes negotiations in the United States to set up and shape the United Nations program. The criminal complaint said Mr. Park received at least $2 million in secret payments from Mr. Hussein's government for serving as a liaison between Iraqi and United Nations officials.

Mr. Park was at the center of a lobbying scandal in the 1970's, when he was accused of paying bribes to lawmakers in Washington to secure support for loans to South Korea.

[...]

The authorities not only charged that Bayoil made illegal payments to secure Iraqi oil, but also that it conspired to artificially lower the price Iraq received, depriving the Iraqi people of money for sorely needed items. The charges also disclosed new information about an alleged plan to pay senior United Nations officials to influence the course of the program.

Catherine M. Recker, a lawyer for Mr. Chalmers, said the Bayoil defendants and the company would plead not guilty and "vigorously dispute" the criminal charges.

According to federal authorities and the complaint against Mr. Park, he was a partner in the lobbying effort with Samir Vincent, an Iraqi-American businessman who pleaded guilty in January to illegal lobbying for Iraq.

Mr. Vincent, who is cooperating with federal investigators, said Iraqi officials signed agreements in 1996 to pay him and Mr. Park $15 million for their lobbying, the complaint says.

One of their tasks was "to take care of" a high-ranking United Nations official, which Mr. Vincent understood to mean to pay bribes, the complaint says. The authorities did not identify or bring charges against the United Nations official. (Emphasis added)

[...]

David N. Kelley, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, in Manhattan, said the complaint alleges that Mr. Park intended to bribe the official, but does not show that the official received any bribe.

The complaint also charges that Mr. Park met with a second unnamed senior United Nations official, once in a restaurant in Manhattan. After that, Mr. Park said he invested $1 million he had been paid by Iraq in a Canadian company belonging to the son of the second United Nations official, the complaint says.

Mr. Kelley declined to say whether the officials were still actively serving at the world organization. He said, however, that the investigation was "broad and large" and that his office would "wring the towel dry" in pursuing United Nations officials. (Emphasis added.)

A federal grand jury in Manhattan charged that David B. Chalmers Jr., founder of Houston-based Bayoil USA Inc. and Bayoil Supply & Trading Limited; Ludmil Dionissiev, a Bulgarian citizen who lives in Houston; and John Irving, a British oil trader, funneled millions of dollars in kickbacks through a foreign front company to an Iraqi-controlled bank account in the United Arab Emirates. If convicted, the three men could each be sentenced to as long as 62 years in prison, $1 million in fines, and the seizure of at least $100 million in personal and corporate assets.

The federal complaint against Park charges that he received a total of $2 million in cash from Iraq, including a fee to "take care" of an unnamed U.N. official. It also states that Park invested $1 million in Iraqi money in a Canadian company owned by the son of another unknown, "high-ranking" U.N. official. Park could face as long as five years in prison and a fine of as much as $250,000 or twice the value of profits he earned as a result of his alleged activities. (Emphasis added.)

The Telegraph (UK) has a fairly terse article on the arrests.

Thus far I've only found coverage of the arrests in The Globe and Mail which covers the arrest but as of 5:41 a.m. didn't report the allegations of a Canadian connection but does report that U.N. officials may be connected to these arrests:

The reference in the complaint against Mr. Park to two mystery high-ranking UN officials sparked widespread speculation in UN corridors of possible names.

Mr. Kelley, pressed repeatedly by reporters at a news conference to say whether U.N. officials had actually received money tied to Mr. Park, would say only that that issue was not part of the indictment.

The U.N. is claiming that the Americans and British were perfectly aware of the violations of the sanctions but refused to order their ships in the Persian Gulf to stop oil tankers heading for Turkish and Jordanian ports with illicit Iraqi oil. I have read reports that trucks loaded with illegally purchased oil from Iraq went to Turkey and Jordan (that became common knowledge after Operation Iraqi Freedom and the public learned just how corrupt OFF - or Oil for Palaces - really was) but I don't understand why oil headed for Jordan or Turkey would use rather lengthy sea lanes when they border Iraq and could drive it in.

Maybe Annan was thinking of Syria, a member of the U.N. Security Council, but, again, the oil was not transported by sea but by pipeline, two of which were turned off when U.S. troops got to them. Maybe he just forgot.

11:30 - Glenn Reynolds has lots of links on the arrests.

Apr. 16 - 10:05: FoxNews has no additional information on U.N. Official No. 1 and Official No. 2.

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Mar. 16 - Robert at Expat Yank is continuing his excellent coverage of the IRA and Sinn Fein while they court Irish-Americans. Just keep scrolling.

I am of partial Irish inheritance, and had a sentimental attachment to the struggle for Irish freedom, but I understood quite clearly that our tolerance of the IRA had been wrong and that we couldn't allow for Irish terrorism if we were to honourably combat Islamic, Basque, and Columbian terrorists.

No "Yes, but" on this one.

19:03 Judi McLeod reports that Toronto Mayor David Miller attended a fund-raising dinner for Sinn Fein in 2002 (Miller was a city councillor at the time) but the heart of her article is a tribute to the courage of Robert McCartney's sisters, who have taken on Sinn Fein's continued ties with the IRA in their pursuit of justice for their brother.

CNN covers their visit with senators here.

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Mar. 15 - All I wanted to do was link to Ex-pat Yank's coverage of the Robert McCartney killing and the exposure of Sinn Fein as hoodlums (more here, here, here, here, here, here and especially here and I find he's become famous!

He was quoted at Slate! And doing what bloggers are becoming known for doing best - fact checking.

In a post on the recent fatwa issued by Spanish clerics on bin Laden, The Next Salman Rushdie By David Wallace-Wells, Robert's post which questioned the number of Muslims in Spain is quoted.

From Slate:

Expat Yank Robert Tumminello takes issue with news stories that estimate there are 1 million Spanish Muslims. "Hmm, but less than a year ago," he says, the Boston Globe counted only 500,000 Muslims in Spain, and guessed there were perhaps only 200,000 more living there illegally. "Quite a growing population," he murmurs.

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Feb. 21 - I must really need some sleep (or perhaps wading through two feet of snow to get home has brought out my inner wacky.) Whatever the case, the main webpage for today's Telegraph features some, er, unusual headings:

Confused Spaniards vote for EU Constitution

Primates Show Anger

Girl's name for third Beckham boy

Bush likes gays and smoked pot (Heh. Not a surprise!)

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Oct. 14 - Terror suspects jailed in Britain losing their minds

LONDON (AP) - Foreign terrorist suspects detained indefinitely without trial in Britain have suffered severe and possibly irreparable damage to their mental health, a group of psychiatrists who examined the men reported Wednesday.

The experts, who met eight men held under Britain's anti-terrorist laws, said all displayed similar symptoms of depression, anxiety, self-harm and thoughts of suicide. "All of the men I saw were extremely desperate," said Ian Robbins, a clinical psychologist at St. George's Hospital in London. (My bolding.)

"All had considered suicide and had attempted self-harm, either through cutting themselves or in one case by trying to hang himself."

In their report, the seven psychiatrists and one psychologist concluded mental health damage "is inevitable under a regime which consists of indefinite detention."

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July 5 - Article in the Sun (UK) about the stirring bayonet charge by British sodliers in Iraq (Army's fearless five:

THE staggering heroism of five British soldiers as they helped rout more than a HUNDRED Iraqi rebels is revealed for the first time today by The Sun.

The men came to the rescue of ambushed comrades — saving their lives with the Army’s first bayonet charge since the Falklands War 22 years ago.

After a bloody battle which raged for four hours at least 28 of the enemy lay dead. Fleeing cohorts are thought to have dragged away at least the same number of bodies.

Just two of Our Boys were slightly wounded. Last night the brave troops — members of the same regiment as the private tipped for a Victoria Cross — told of the desperate fight.

Private Anthony Rushforth, 23, said: “We were pumped up on adrenaline — proper angry. It’s only afterwards you think, ‘Jesus, I actually did that’.”

The terrifying bayonet charge by the members of the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment — nicknamed The Tigers — saw trench after trench taken from the enemy.

It was led by Sgt Major Dave Falconer, 36. He said of his men: “I am very proud of them.”

The other heroes were Sgt Chris Broome, 35, and privates John-Claude Fowler, 19 and Matthew Tatawaqa, 23. The men, from C Company, raced to the rescue in Warrior armoured vehicles after an ambush by rebels loyal to rogue ShiÂ’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

Two Land Rovers transporting Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders had been pinned down by heavy fire south of Al Amarah, 150 miles from Basra.

As the Warriors arrived, they too were targeted by machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and small arms.

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July 5 - Canadian Sampson believes he was freed as part of Saudi-U.S. terror deal:

OTTAWA (CP) - The tale of Bill Sampson, a Canadian jailed fort (sic) 31 months and accused of terrorism and murder in Saudi Arabia, has taken another bizarre twist with a claim that he finally won his freedom last year in a prisoner exchange brokered by the United States.

In return for the release of Sampson and other westerners held in Riyadh, the Americans agreed to send five Saudi terror suspects they had captured back to their homeland, the New York Times reported Sunday. The Canadian government had no immediate comment, other than to say it was looking into the matter.

Sampson, in a telephone interview from Penrith, Britain, where he now makes his home, said he's convinced the story is correct.

"It confirms information that I have found from different sources myself over the last nine months," he said.

[...]

"It's my information that the Saudis themselves broached the idea of an exchange," said Sampson.

"We were used from the very, very outset as hostages, and this had been deliberate from the start, to use us as a means of leverage against western governments."

The Times, quoting anonymous U.S. and British officials, said the prisoner exchange that finally freed Sampson was engineered by Robert Jordan, the American ambassador to Saudi Arabia.

The deal was controversial in Washington, where some officials thought the U.S. was taking too big a risk by releasing potentially dangerous terrorist suspects from Guantanamo, said the newspaper.

But the Americans reportedly went ahead because they wanted to help British Prime Minister Tony Blair, a loyal ally in the war then shaping up in Iraq.

Blair's government had been trying to win the release of six Britons held along with Sampson, who is a dual Canadian-British citizen. Also held was Belgian Raf Schveyns.

All were arrested following a series of bombings in Riyadh that westerners claimed were the work of al-Qaida terrorists and the Saudis claimed were part of a turf war among western bootleggers involved in the illicit alcohol trade.

All eight westerners were finally set free in August 2003, three months after the five Guantanamo prisoners were sent home to Saudi Arabia.

Sampson said the Belgian documents, obtained and shown to him by Schveyns following their release, indicate that diplomats in Riyadh were worried about the three-month time lag.

05:12: CNN is carrying the story. The Saudis say the report is "pure fantasy" and US National Security Spokesman Sean McCormack said there was "no recollection here of any linkage between these two actions."

Sen. Charles Schumer (N.Y.-D) is very worried about the release of the Gitmo prisoners and thinks there was undue influence by the Saudis, but his comments had nothing to do with the upcoming presidential campaign because CNN doesn't connect the two.

[Read on to see what kind of "influence" was being exerted, and I apologize to Canadians and the British for the indifferent CNN coverage]

The Daily Telegraph (UK) takes an entirely different slant:

United States officials yesterday accused Saudi Arabia of demanding - and receiving - the release of Saudi terrorist suspects from Guantanamo Bay as the secret price for last year's diplomatic deal to release six Britons accused of a deadly bombing campaign.

The allegations, levelled by senior American officials in the New York Times, cast new light on what was already one of the murkiest episodes in Saudi-British relations.

The six Britons and one British-born Canadian returned home last August after a bizarre two-year ordeal that saw them accused of plotting a string of bombings that ended in the death of a fellow Briton in late 2000.

Though western residents and diplomats insisted that the bombings were the work of Islamic militants, Saudi authorities claimed that the bombs were the result of a feud between foreign bootleggers, illegally selling alcohol within the expatriate community.

The seven confessed to a variety of "crimes", but later retracted their confessions. They have since launched a High Court legal action naming high-ranking Saudi leaders, saying they were tortured into false confessions as Saudi authorities tried to cover up the existence of al-Qa'eda terrorists in the kingdom.

Two men, Sandy Mitchell and a Canadian, William Sampson, were sentenced to public beheading, four were sentenced to 12-year jail terms and the seventh was detained for 10 months but not charged. They were all granted clemency last summer and were released three weeks later after signing a letter apologising to King Fahd and thanking his subjects for their hospitality. (Emphasis added.)

When they arrived in Britain, credit was given to British Government pressure and to the Prince of Wales, who made a private plea for clemency to the de facto Saudi ruler, Crown Prince Abdullah.

[...]

One American source described as knowledgeable about the negotiations told the New York Times: "This presented itself as a way for the United States to help its friends, both the Brits and the Saudis. It's what diplomacy is all about."

A spokesman for the Foreign Office in London declined to confirm or deny US involvement in brokering the three-way deal, saying: "We worked very hard to secure the release of the men, and were relieved when they were released."

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