How America really got into Iraq

Im currently reading ‘Inside the Global Jihad‘ by author Omar Nasiri (not his real name) In it he discusses what he experienced during his time inside various Al Qaeda training camps. It’s a fascinating account of events as we’ve never known them before. One chapter in particular has really hit home with me.

Each of the camps Nasiri attended was run by a central figure, one in particular was a man named Ibn Sheikh. Nasir claims that following capture Ibn Sheikh purposefully misled his American interrogators and as a result deceitfully pointed them towards Iraq as harbouring links with Al Qaeda.

It’s claimed that Ibn Sheikh did this as a strategic move to destabilise an Iraq he saw as, if fallen would become a key to their plans in destabilising the region.

Quoting from the text pg’s. 230-231

“He was captured early on when the Americans invaded Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks, and he was flown to Egypt where he was tortured by the CIA. There he told his interrogators that Saddam Hussein had given Al Qaeda information about building chemical weapons. It was Ibn Sheikh’s information that George W. Bush and Colin Powell were alluding to when they said they had proof Saddam Hussein was connected to Al Qaeda. They used what Ibn Sheikh told them to justify the invasion of Iraq.

Later, Ibn Sheikh said that the story about Saddam Hussein was not true. In fact, the CIA had known Ibn Sheikh’s story was not reliable long before Colin Powell referred to it in his famous speech in front of the UN. But by the time this fact emerged, it didn’t matter anymore. America was already at war.

Many say that Ibn Sheikh lied to his captors out of desperation, because he was being tortured so brutally. I know that isn’t true. He had prepared himself for interogation … he knew what to do and didn’t crack under the pressure. He handled his interogators with the same skill that he used to handle his gun. Ke knew what his interogators wanted, and he was happy to give it to them. He wanted Saddam toppled even more than the Americans did. As he had told us at Kaldan, Iraq was the next great Jihad.

Somewhere in a secret torture chamber , the Sheikh had won his battle.”

Why do I cease to be surprised at every unfolding fallacy in this whole tragedy?

I can’t comprehed how we as a society have got to the point where such injustice occurs all around us & at such a large levels and we do nothing about it.

I must be the crazy one.

What is Web 2.0 to you?

Greetings everyone and thanks for dropping in. I haven’t posted in a while so today I’m going to get something down just for the sake of committing something to ‘paper.’ I’m going to work on this post a little more and hopefully polish it into a pearl of perfection later.

Disclaimer: I’m going to use a lot of what other, smarter people have said to make me look, well… smart.

Today I’m talking about a concept I’m always on about, more an idea really, called Web 2.0. Now because it’s a difficult concept to explain I’m going to let Wikipedia do the talking for me. Then I’m going to use one of Web 2.0’s biggest stars YouTube to drive the nail home. Hopefully when you’re finished absorbing you’ll have a better idea of what Web 2.o is. Unfortunately for you to really understand its significance you’ll have to explore it further yourself.

So to begin I present to you Web 2.0 – Wiki Style

Web 2.0, a phrase coined by O’Reilly Media in 2004, refers to a perceived or proposed second generation of Web-based services—such as social networking sites, wikis, communication tools, and folksonomies—that emphasize online collaboration and sharing among users. O’Reilly Media, in collaboration with MediaLive International, used the phrase as a title for a series of conferences, and since 2004 some technicians and marketers have adopted the catch-phrase. Its exact meaning remains open to debate, and some experts, notably Tim Berners Lee, have questioned whether the term has meaning. – Wikipedia

so far the most compact quote we have on the topic is this…

“Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform. Chief among those rules is this: Build applications that harness network effects to get better the more people use them. (This is what I’ve elsewhere called ‘harnessing collective intelligence.’)“. – Wikipedia

and finally a fantastic Youtube video summing it all up in a very concise and visual way. Get it?

Halo 3 Mash Up

A recent trend has emerged whereby lonely internet types have begun overlaying unique songs to video game trailers. This was initially brought to the fore by a composite of a Gears of War video played to the tune of Mad World of Donnie Darko acclaim.

While that video was alright Mad World is way too obvious a song clearly disqualifying it as an entry for this weeks overly dramatic video moment!

So have a look at this instead because it’s pure Genius! Halo 3 meets Instant Karma by John Lennon.

Aussies win back the Ashes

Just incase you missed the 3rd day of the most recent Ashes encounter. The Aussies dealt a crushing blow to an improving but ultimately impotent English side. The way I saw the whole series breaking down was as follows.

England came here with almost no superstars. When you weigh this up against the Aussies it was always going to be a whitewash. For instance batsman Michael Clarke had struggled to get back into the Australian side during the series whereas England would have gladly chucked their beloved Queen to the dingos if it wold have meant having a quality player like him to spare.

This left a few of the big name poms like Flintoff and Pietersen to burden all the pressure which is a big ask playing away from home. Flintoff made some suspect field placings and the coach was basically a nob. But to top it off your run of the mill Australian bureaucracy did everything in their power to silence the ever raging Barmy Army! They wouldn’t let the trumpet player play at the first two tests. How are you supposed to bring down the walls of Jericho without your trusted drunken trumpeteer?

Anyway as you know & par for the course on this blog I hate uploading videos with my posts – they’re just far too easy. So it’s with relucatance I do this but one name stands out from the WACA test Adam Gilchrist. Wow! He’s one of my all time favourite sportsman as I believe his modesty, integrity & undeniable talent are a package matched only by a few.

He tore the English a new one – It was history in the making – Take a look.