Entries Tagged with UK
August 14th, 2006
I guess I’m starting to feel like enough time has passed and enough information is starting to come out that I feel I can voice my opinion on this whole “terror in the skies” thing with some confidence.
First of all, I’d like to state that I’m so relieved that my friends and I are all back in the States or back in England where we belong from our wedding-related and Summer International travels. What a nightmare if any of us had been caught up in any of this, particularly those of us with OCD-type issue and those of us who run a little hot-headed.
Second, I’d like to express empathy to anyone who has been caught in the nightmare of having to travel on airlines in Britain and the U.S. or in or out of the two in the last four days. You have my sympathy. I’ve got a very vivid picture of what you’ve been experiencing propped up in my brain and I certainly feel your pain.
That said…O.K. I’m extremely cynical. I felt that the timing seemed really odd and that the new surprise restrictions for airlines on both sides of the pond were way overboard and ludicrous. I mean, c’mon…they were forcing people to pour out their drinks in common open trashcans because they might be explosive and some airports may be donating the confiscated potential explosives to the homeless or airport security employees or might sell them on eBay, which kind of suggests that those things really weren’t all that potentially explosive to begin with — which makes you wonder why big show of national guard and army guys and extra airport security forcing American and British citizens to give up their personal belongs in such a humiliating and bullied manner?
And really those were just minor clues that maybe Thelma and Daphne might have picked up on. Heck Scooby and Shaggy might have even got those.
The fact that the plan itself was a rerun of another terrorist plot that already hadn’t worked once before — Project Bojinka. In fact, part of the reason it hadn’t come off before is because it got too big…too many people involve, which appears to be part of the problem with this one.
And I’m not saying there wasn’t a terrorist plot. I believe there was. I just don’t think it was an imminent as everyone made it out to be last Thursday in the news.
And it’s starting to look like I was right according to NBC news.
LONDON - NBC News has learned that U.S. and British authorities had a significant disagreement over when to move in on the suspects in the alleged plot to bring down trans-Atlantic airliners bound for the United States.
British officials knowledgeable about the case said British police were planning to continue to run surveillance for at least another week to try to obtain more evidence, while American officials pressured them to arrest the suspects sooner. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the case.
Interesting how last Thursday and Friday officials were implying that the reason that they raised the alerts was because the terrorists were going to strike any day. They got everyone riled up on both sides of the pond, did some fear-mongering, etc. And yet…
In contrast to previous reports, one senior British official suggested an attack was not imminent, saying the suspects had not yet purchased any airline tickets. In fact, some did not even have passports.
Gosh, it took me like six weeks just to get my passport. How long does it take in England? I’m thinking it takes at least a little time, more than a few days, probably longer than the definition of “imminent”, you think?
So why the hurry, I wonder.
The sources did say, however, that police believe one U.K.-based suspect was ready to conduct a “dry run.” British authorities had wanted to let him go forward with part of the plan, but the Americans balked.
One? One little terrorist wanted to do a “dry run”. They couldn’t follow one terrorist? With no liquid explosives at that. I mean, I assume that’s what “dry” means.
At the White House, a top aide to President Bush denied the account.
Somehow I’m not surprised.
“There was unprecedented cooperation and coordination between the U.S., the U.K. and Pakistani officials throughout the case,” said Frances Townsend, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, “and we worked together to protect our citizens from harm while ensuring that we gathered as much info as possible to bring the plotters to justice. There was no disagreement between U.S. and U.K. officials.”
Another U.S. official, however, acknowledges there was disagreement over timing. Analysts say that in recent years, American security officials have become edgier than the British in such cases because of missed opportunities leading up to 9/11.
Aside from the timing issue, there was excellent cooperation between the British and the Americans, officials told NBC News.
One senior British official said the Americans also argued over the timing of the arrest of suspected ringleader Rashid Rauf in Pakistan, warning that if he was not taken into custody immediately, the United States would “render” him or pressure the Pakistani government to arrest him.
British security was concerned that Rauf be taken into custody “in circumstances where there was due process,” according to the official, so that he could be tried in British courts. Ultimately, this official says, Rauf was arrested over the objections of the British.
So…the U.S. threatened that if Britain didn’t do things our way, the U.S. would just run amok anyway and ruin the whole investigation by kidnapping the ringleader and making sure he couldn’t be prosecuted at all in a proper court of law. Aren’t we just the bullies? If we can’t have it our way, we’ll just ruin it for everyone.
As an interesting side note, PW sent an email saying, “The airports are a complete mess over here and everyone’s pissed off because Blair is on vacation and isn’t coming back; how are things over there?”
To which I replied, “Well, the airports are pretty much a complete mess over here and everyone’s pretty much pissed off because Bush is on vacation and isn’t coming back; so pretty much the same.”
Source: U.S., U.K. at odds over timing of arrests (emphasis mine)
Recommended Reading:
Tags: terrorism, UK, politics, liquid explosives, Scooby Doo, Project Bojinka, NBC, International flights
July 18th, 2006
Bet you thought I forgot about this…
So, the morning after the family picnic, English, PW, and I got up incredibly early — like so early people in the States probably hadn’t gone to bed yet. Our plan was to catch an extremely early train out of Woking to London Victoria Station where were would meet up with our tour for the day: Bards & Battles!
As you can see, at 6:00am on a Sunday morning, Woking’s train station is pretty dead.
However, somewhere between Woking and Victoria Station, we were joined by a very rowdy crew of World Cup revellers who’d been up early preparing for that day’s England game which was still some 8 hours away and they were already 3 sheets to the wind. Still they were quite spirited in their singing and I still can here them echoing in my mind…
There Were Ten German Bombers In The Air,
There Were Ten German Bombers In The Air,
There Were Ten German Bombers, Ten German Bombers,
Ten German Bombers In The Air.
And The RAF From England Shot One Down.
And The RAF From England Shot One Down.
And The RAF From England,
The RAF From England,
The RAF From England Shot One Down.
There Were Nine German Bombers In The Air…
They never did get down past four. They just kept restarting. The other song just involved repeating “En-ga-land!” over and over again.
Oh, and this one below is for Mom and SQ. 
Ironically, the whole time I was in the UK, they were the only ones who wore anything indicating “US” or US-related places. I had purposely designed my wardrobe that way after reading an article about how you should try not to draw attention to your nationality as an American while in other countries. Everywhere we went, however, they both seemed to wear US-tainted clothes.
OK, so back to the tour. 
While I will recommend Astral Tours (we did another of their tours too) to anyone looking for a good tour company in the UK, I cannot recommend whoever that tour guide was who drove the bus on our tour. Unfortunately, I don’t recall his name. Just beware of the tall skinny guy who appears to not want to be there.
Anyway, here are a few interesting facts I learned while in Oxford:
- Christopher Wren, Tolkein, and C. S. Lewis all went to Oxford University.
- The owl who plays Hedwig has his own limo.
- It used to be that you applied to three colleges in Oxford and if one of them picked you, you got in to Oxford, but now, you have one chance and one chance only. You apply to one college.
- Colleges are not specific to specialties. For example in each college, there might be 10 English majors, 5 engineers, 12 math majors, 6 political majors, etc. Whereas over here in the states, our colleges within our universities are specialty-specific.
- Did I mention that the owl in Harry Potter has his own limo?
- Their semmesters are extremely short compared to ours, which leaves a lot of time open for filming of movies, which apparently happens quite often.
- Apparently, also you can rent rooms in the colleges during non-semmester months for vacation.
Anyway, I’m trying out Andy’s Slideshow plugin for my Oxford pictures and it took me so long to figure out that I’m too tired to write up the rest of the day. ;) So, you’ll have to wait to find out about the Cotswolds and Shakespeare’s birthplace and how many steps there are in Warwick Castle…
Enjoy the slideshow…
Display Gallery...
Tags: UK, Woking, London, Victoria Station, World Cup, astral tours, Oxford, Harry Potter, Christopher Wren
July 13th, 2006
So, I’m sure you’re dying to know what was playing on my iPod while I was wandering around magical Edinburg or trying to sleep on the airplane over the Atlantic. What haunted my spirit as I peered at the Stone of Destiny or searched for 221b Baker Street?
More
Tags: iPod, iTunes, playlist, UK, vacation, Edinburgh, music
July 13th, 2006
- My Brookstone NAP Travel Pillow which was square. It’s not even on their website anymore. I had to buy one of the neck ones to replace it.
- My palm stylus.
- My brand new earphones I bought for the trip after Pugly chewed up the last ones.
- My umbrella, which I replaced with a mini-umbrella of the UK flag.
- Two pounds — kid you not.
Tags: UK, vacation, Brookstone
July 12th, 2006
Well, the first sign of any trouble occurred when I reached the Boston airport. Somewhere between the bus from Portland and security, I lost my nifty really soft travel pillow. Logan airport’s security and Lost and found were extremely unhelpful and rude and ended up giving me a long distance number to call, which I’ve since lost. Hard to believe that lost and found is a long distance phone number.
So, my first expense on the trip was at the Logan airport buying a new one at the Brookstone kiosk (and they wouldn’t give me a discount for loyalty either ).
Interestingly, the International terminal was the dreariest airport terminal I’d ever been in and had the least number of distractions I’d ever seen. (Little did I know, that this is apparently the norm overseas. Apparently only we Americans truly need to be entertained while waiting on the next plane.)
The seat in front of mine on the long flight over was broken and stuck in the laid back position. Fortunately, there was no one next to me to my right, so I moved over. Still, it annoyed me the whole time, especially when the man was offered a seat that wasn’t broken and after take off, he returned to the broken one. It also annoyed me that this family of five seemed to take over our section of the plane and kept changing seats and getting up and such. Only one or two of them had tickets for our area and they even comandeered my old seat. I don’t mind if you trade, but I do mind if you are inconsiderate of everyone else. Especially since it was a night flight.
I had some troubles with my legs spasming on the long flight over. There just wasn’t enough space to stretch them out and one of the stewards got snippy with me when I got up and brought my dinner trash to their work area. Apparently you’re supposed to just sit and wait for them to come get it but I really had to pee and there was no where to put the tray while I was getting up. You figure out the logistics.
Anyway, six hours after leaving Boston, I arrived in Dublin only to be herded to customs which went relatively smoothly. He basically asked me where I was going and why and stamped my passport and sent me on my way. Now, I don’t know if all foreign airports are like this or if it’s just in the UK but apparently once you get off of a plane, you have to go out to luggage claim — wave to your luggage as you go past it with an odd feeling that you may never see it again — and back through security…or at the very least some semblance of that. Going I had to do that scenario but coming back, they directed me to turn just before luggage claim back into the terminal arriving inside of an area just after security.
However, in Dublin, I got the distinct impression I was in some sort of narrow hall of a maze and that there would be cheese a the end…but I popped back out at security. I again had to be searched and again ended up in a fairly dreary terminal.
Mind you, it was now about 8am, London time and the middle of the night my time. I badly wanted some coffee and my great plan had been to arrive with no foreign currency because I’d been assured by my father that everyone accepts plastic.
He was wrong.
The coffee shop in the terminal in Dublin that has planes going to London does not accept plastic apparently. They will accept American dollars. $8 is not enough for a small cup of coffee and an apple turnover however.
Not only will the coffee seller give you a bad cup of coffee but he will also give you Euros as change. Both are worthless. The coffee will be undrinkable and the Euros will be unspendable in England.
I wish I had the apple turnover now.
Anyway, so the next flight seemed rather uneventful. In fact, thanks to the Lorazapam, I don’t recall any of it.
It’s also possible that the Lorazapam is to thank for my calmness in what happened next as PW said repeated over the next 24 hours that if it had been her, she would “totally have freaked”.
The truth of the matter is that only one piece of my luggage came out of the luggage belt and it was that small red one in the picture. In that bag was a designer spaghetti-strapped purple bridesmaid dress, two pairs of black flats, a corset, a silver shawl, a silver hand purse and very little else. (Thank goodness for having packed my meds in my backpack and thanks to peskyapostrope for the toothbrush tip!)
In my very drugged, tired state, I just walked up to the lost luggage claim guys and told them that my larger bag never made it. When they asked me what it looked like, I said, “Like this one but bigger.” I wrote down PW’s phone number and address and they said the bag would be delivered later that day. I really was just so tired I thanked them and walked toward the exit. Really I couldn’t be mad. It wasn’t like that incident with Delta at all where they’d just screwed up one thing after another all day long. Everything had pretty much been fine except that one of my bags hadn’t made it.
So, I stepped out of the doors that let me into London and there were PW and English and they were happy to see me and we all did the greating thing and I told them what happened and PW was amazed at how calm I was.
I will say this about Aer Lingus. As snippy as that one steward was, the lost luggage guy was very nice. He found my luggage (it has missed the rerouting in Dublin) and it had made it to London and got put on a delivery truck for PW’s house. He didn’t call to let me know though because he thought I looked so tired when I left that he was worried he might wake me up. That’s very thoughtful.
Anyway, I did get the rest of my luggage six hours later — I had tried to convince PW that if it hadn’t shown up, I could just wear the bridesmaid dress the whole trip, but bride that she was, she didn’t seem to go for that and insisted I wear some of her clothes. Oh well. I think that purple would have gone well at Stonehenge.
English’s family was anxious to meet me so there was a big BBQ at his parent’s house that night. I must say that I really enjoyed meeting them even if they kept appologizing for all of the family drama. I kept trying to assure them that family drama is what I’m used to, but I don’t think they understood. They seem like a lively bunch and I liked them all except for one of English’s brothers’-in-law who appears to be as PW termed it a real “leach”. Anyway, he’s a creep — more on that later, I think.
After dinner, PW, English, The Creep, the boy children, and I went down to a local English canal behind the houses to feed the ducks and then play with one of the boys’ new birthday presents, a remote control car. Here at least are some photos of the English canal, the only photos I took the first day:
I’ll stick a bit of English history in here so you don’t think I frittered my first day in England away waiting on my luggage. The way that the English got things about the countryside and into the side from its shores and ports was most easily done via water, not just by river but by these little man-made canals. The way that boats made there way down these narrow little canals was by mules, horses and donkeys, believe it or not. Yup, they were pulled on what is know as a tow-way as seen below. The animal would walk alongside the canal and pull the boat to its destination.
To be continued…
Tags: UK, Brookstone, Aer Lingus, Logan Airport, fibromyalgia
July 12th, 2006
Well, I’m home. I feel changed in some way by the experience. Someone asked me to pick one thing from my trip that I liked best but I can’t really pick just one thing in England or Edinburgh that I felt was more inspiring than anything else. I think I expected when I left to be most touched by Stonehenge but I was awestruck by the simple beauty of the seemingly unmarred landscape and the ancient architecture intermingling with hints of something seventies retro but rarely anything more harshly modern.
Anyway, more on that as I finish sorting through my photos…
I think for now I’ll just review my shoes.
So, I wore the Keen Venice H2 sandals pretty much from June 23rd through July 2nd except when I was in bed sleeping. They are definitely a hardy shoe and they had no problem on the wet cobblestones in Edinburgh — unfortunately, they didn’t seem to offer any kind of support against the uneven cobblestone streets of the older part of Edinburgh and after a whole day of walking around on those beautiful streets, my poor feet were cramping and my legs were in terrible shape. This was probably not helped by the fact that I had probably been really pushing myself since June 25th with tours and stuff.
Anyway, I think that considering everything that I did despite my “condition,” my feet and legs felt pretty good and would have felt worse a lot sooner in tennis shoes, even my designer New Balance walking shoes or Rebok cross trainers. I definitely recommend these shoes for this kind of travel and everyday wear.
Except for the shoes that went with the bridal dress, if I wasn’t wearing the Keen sandals, I was wearing the Crocs. I called them my anime clogs. They were quite comfortable and they were excellent for rainy, sloshy days. I expected my feet to kind of sweat in them, but they didn’t. They did take some getting used to as they feel a bit cartoonish and big though they fit snugly. The little spikey things on the soles massage the bottoms of your feet while your walking which is nice and I like how easy it is to slip your feet out under the table while no one is looking. Really, I wore these more when we were just going about town doing pre-wedding stuff. I don’t think I would have done any heavy duty touristy things in them but I did see a lot of people on tours with them — then again, I saw lots of people with flip-flops on the tours, including one girl with a broken flip-flop, but that just seems so uncomfortable to me.
Anyway, I had a lovely time and I have a lot more to say, including some political things (bet you didn’t see that coming. ). I just need to organize my thoughts.
(Side note: Am wondering if I should make a category for shoes. :P)
Tags: UK, Keen Venice H2, Crocs, Stonehenge, shoes
June 7th, 2006
I found a couple of online checklists for travelers which appear to be pretty good and thought I’d share:
In the end, I ended up with this Travel Accessories All-In-One Adapter with Surge Protection thing for my laptop, which means I think that I can bring back the adaptors I bought at Radio Shack as it appears to do all of their functions too. You can as the link will reveal, find it at Amazon.com (and I’d be grateful if you’d buy it through that link), but I did find it hidden in the luggage section of Wal-Mart last night.
I bought two pairs of capris last night to wear on the trip and three tops that match the capris. After talking with PW, I’m planning on bringing those items, a pair of black dockers, a pair of blue jeans, one skirt, one cardigan, a couple of t-shirts, a set of PJs, the bridesmaid dress and my basic underwear and socks and necessary shoes (walking shoes, bridesmaid shoes, one pair of dress shoes). I kind of think that’s actually more than I’ll need. I’ll have access to PW’s washer and dryer, which apparently are tiny. She’s going to loan me a coat or “fleece” for when I go to Scotland. I refuse to wear shorts period. I might actually get away with one suitcase. I’ll have to see. The airline has weird measurement requirements.
Some other nifty things I bought to use on the trip are a Travelon ID and Boarding Pass Holder, EasyGo Neon Luggage Tags (set of 2) (since Delta ate my last set when they lost my luggage), a Rick Steves Silk Money Belt, a pair of neon luggage grips so I can find my luggage and my hands will be comfy dragging them through the airport, and Travel Space Bags (No Vacuum Needed! Set of 3).. Who knew you needed all of that stuff anyway? You need the money belt to protect yourself from the pickpockets and you need the luggage tags and the grips and the boarding pass stuff for obvious convenience reasons. It all adds up though. I better be going on this trip again.
I still need to confirm a sitter for the cats. The dress will be ready a week from tomorrow. Ug. So much to do. So much to do.
Tags: UK, England, trip planning
June 6th, 2006
No, not that kind of world power…
O.K. First, I gotta thank Big Dog. Last night I checked my HP power adapter that came with the laptop and it does read 110-220, so I’m good there. I don’t need a power converter, just a plug adapter since it’s a 3-prong.
Now, I’m trying to decide if I want to invest in the 
Kensington 33117 International Plug Adapter but Meg and Peter seem to be recommending this EuroSurge Volt Surge Protector 
from Voltage Valet. Meg says I should be able to get it at an Electronic Boutique or something at the mall. I’ll have to check, I guess. If I only need the plug adapter, the later is the better choice, I think. I wish I could find something suitable at Amazon.com or BestBuy or even Radio Shack. Why does this have to be so difficult? Why can’t there be a simple guide somewhere that’s easy to Google?
Anyway, I also have to thank SQ for sending me a link she found useful when she went to Austrailia last year on vacation: World Electric Guide — its a table that summarizes information on the electrical systems used in most countries around the world, including which adaptors you’re going to need, the voltage, and frequency. There’s also some notes on where which plugs are more prevailant. There are also links on the website to useful things like mobile phones on world travel and International dialing codes.
Tags: electricity, travel, UK, England
June 5th, 2006
Me to HP tech support: I’m going on a trip in a few weeks to the UK and I would like to be sure that when I go that I have the correct equipment to be able to plug in my HP laptop while I’m there. Is the current power supply that came with the notebook enough or do I need to purchase some converter?
Tech Support (with Indian accent): So is the problem that when you turn it on, you are not seeing anything at all?
I’m not making this up. This is exactly how the conversation went with the HP tech support. I still do not know what I need to do to use my HP Pavillion safely while in the UK at the end of the month. I tried searching their website. I was at one point told I could buy at travel kit for some $200 but no one could tell me what it would do for me — and besides, that was out of stock anyway.
Eventually I hung up while on hold for over 20 minutes after being on the phone for over an hour — 20 minutes of that was spent trying to wade through their phone system to find a human being on the other end.
All that means is now I still have to call back and do it all over again. 
Tags: HP, UK, travel, England, outsourcing
May 9th, 2006
British government scientific advisers informed health ministers yesterday that patients undergoing routine dental work for root canal issues may have been exposed to the human form of BSE (commonly known as Mad Cow Disease or vCJD) because instruments had previously been used on patients a;ready unwittingly carrying the incurable disease. Approximately 3 million such treatments are done every year in England and Wales and the health ministers were instructed to consider banning the reuse of the equipement needed due to “hypothetical but plausible scenarios.”
Seac, the independent expert committee on BSE and variant CJD, claims that sufficient decontamination is difficult to achieve for the dental instruments used to examine the pulp in teeth cavities. Currently, approximately six instruments are used for each procedure and they can be reused up to ten times. Seac recommends disposable, single use repleacements to eliminate this risk.
Seac, in a statement posted on its website yesterday, stressed there were still “no definite or suspected cases of vCJD transmission” but said prions were more resistant to disinfection and sterilisation than other infectious agents and there was no data on vCJD infectivity in dental pulp.
The Department of Health said last night that it would consider Seac’s “precautionary” advice “and then begin discussions with the relevant bodies … there is a small but hypothetical risk that vCJD could be transmitted through [these] procedures. This is a complex area and Seac will review new evidence as it emerges.” [“Advisers warn of vCJD risk to dental patients” (SocietyGuardian.co.uk)]
Tags: Mad Cow Disease, UK, vCJD, BSE
May 9th, 2006
Well, while I know many find it surprising, it’s no secret that I do not believe in extraterestrials, though I’m prepared to seriously eat my words should some show up some day in my lifetime. 
Anyway, apparently there was a confidential 4-year study done by the Ministry of Defence in the UK on Unidentified Flying Objects completed back in 2000 and stamped “Secret: UK Eyes Only.” The study was entiled “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena in the UK” and tackles the long-running question by UFO-spotters: “Is anyone out there?”
The 400-page answer is “no.”
But what about all of those “close encounters?
“Evidence suggests that meteors and their well-known effects and, possibly some other less-known effects are responsible for some unidentified aerial phenomena,” concludes the report.
Meteors may have been responsible for some UFO sightings
|
“Considerable evidence exists to support the thesis that the events are almost certainly attributable to physical, electrical and magnetic phenomena in the atmosphere, mesosphere and ionosphere.
“They appear to originate due to more than one set of weather and electrically charged conditions, and are observed so infrequently as to make them unique to the majority of observers.”
People who claim to have had a “close encounter” are often difficult to persuade that they did not really see what they thought they saw. The report offers a possible medical explanation.
“The close proximity of plasma related fields can adversely affect a vehicle or person,” states the report. [“UFO study finds no sign of aliens” (BBC News)]
“Local fields of this type have been medically proven to cause responses in the temporal lobes of the human brain. These result in the observer sustaining (and later describing and retaining) his or her own vivid, but mainly incorrect, description of what is experienced.”
Only a small number of copies of the report were originally produced and the identity of the man who wrote it has been protected. Interestingly the report itself has only just been made public for the first time due to The Freedom of Information Act.
Tags: UFOs, UK, Ministry of Defence
August 28th, 2005
Well, it seems like more and more Congressional Republicans have been breaking away from the straight party vote — Maine’s Olympia Snowe comes to mind; she’s repeatedly shown she can make up her own mind no matter how her party if voting.
Anyway, now Iowa Congressman Jim Leach, a member of the House International Relations Committee, is taking things a step further from the party line. He’s co-sponsoring California Congresswoman Barbara Lee’s (D) Resolution of Inquiry into Bush Administration communications with the U.K. about Iraq. So far only Democrats have been involved in requesting an investigation and cosponsoring the Resolution (H. Res 375). The Resolution apparently must be brought to a vote in the House International Relations Committee by September 16th, or Lee is permitted to demand a vote of the full House.
- H. Res. 375
- Requesting the President and directing the Secretary of State to transmit to the House of Representatives not later than 14 days after the date of the adoption of this resolution all information in the possession of the President and the Secretary of State relating to communication with officials of the United Kingdom between January 1, 2002, and October 16, 2002, relating to the policy of the United States with respect to Iraq. [“H. Res. 375: Requesting the President and directing the Secretary of State to transmit to the House of…” (GovTrack.us)]
The International Relations Committee has 27 Republican members and 23 Democratic members. Thus far 10 of the Democrats have co-sponsored the Resolution. If the other 13 vote for it as well, then along with Leach, one more Republican vote will be needed for a tie, or two more for passage.
Leach has questioned Bush’s war policies for years and was one of five Republicans in May to vote for Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey’s amendment requiring an exit strategy. Another of those five, Congressman Ron Paul of Texas, also serves on the International Relations Committee. [“Republican Congressman Breaks Ranks, Joins Demand for Documents on Downing Street Memos” (Political Affairs Magazine)]
It’s nice to know that not all our our Congressmen have sold their souls to the party line. I like to think our Congressmen, whatever the party, will act in the best interest of their constituents and the American public and not just follow blindly along as party leaders instruct them to do. I mean, if I expect the average person to vote intelligently and not just vote the way someone told them to, I should expect my political representatives to do the same — do their own research and vote based on their own opinion and what they think is right.
As for the resolution, personally, I believe we deserve to know the truth and if the White House has nothing to hide, what would it hurt to hand over the information asked for? After all, I’ve been told that if I have nothing to hide, I shouldn’t care if the FBI can look at my library records. It seems only fair.
Be sure to contact your Congressional representatives and ask them to support the Resolution! You can even do it via web. (I got a nice letter from one of my Senators regarding my email on The Patriot Act.)
Tags: Republicans, Olympia Snowe, HR375, Iraq, UK, Democrats, Jim Leach
August 24th, 2005
Earlier, I posted about Ex-Sgt. Nadim Abou Rabeh’s version of Saddam’s capture and how he claims the army re-enacted the capture to alter the details a bit.
Now, I’ve been made aware of yet another discrepency in the televised “truths” we’ve come to rely on in the War in Iraq. Apparently, the version of the Jessica Lynch capture and rescue that we’ve been told isn’t the only version.
In an article in mid-May of this year, The Guardian printed an article about Jessica Lynch’s rescue that suggests that facts of her situation were embellished to provide the American public with a patriotic effort to rally around.
The two version makes one wonder how much of what we’re being told is truth and how much is being fabricated or at least manipulated. More and more I wonder who we can trust to give us the truth and the facts. Certainly the American media itself seems to be behaving as if it’s been intimidated into tiptoeing on the eggshells the Bush Administration seems to have scattered about.
The story the U.S. saw:
Releasing its five-minute film to the networks, the Pentagon claimed that Lynch had stab and bullet wounds, and that she had been slapped about on her hospital bed and interrogated. It was only thanks to a courageous Iraqi lawyer, Mohammed Odeh al-Rehaief, that she was saved. According to the Pentagon, Al-Rehaief risked his life to alert the Americans that Lynch was being held.
Just after midnight, Army Rangers and Navy Seals stormed the Nassiriya hospital. Their “daring” assault on enemy territory was captured by the military’s night-vision camera. They were said to have come under fire, but they made it to Lynch and whisked her away by helicopter. That was the message beamed back to viewers within hours of the rescue. [“The Truth About Jessica” (The Guardian, May 15, 2005)]
And the U.K.’s version of what happened:
The doctors in Nassiriya say they provided the best treatment they could for Lynch in the midst of war. She was assigned the only specialist bed in the hospital, and one of only two nurses on the floor. “I was like a mother to her and she was like a daughter,”says Khalida Shinah.
“We gave her three bottles of blood, two of them from the medical staff because there was no blood at this time,”said Dr Harith al-Houssona, who looked after her throughout her ordeal. “I examined her, I saw she had a broken arm, a broken thigh and a dislocated ankle. Then I did another examination. There was no [sign of] shooting, no bullet inside her body, no stab wound - only RTA, road traffic accident,” he recalled. “They want to distort the picture. I don’t know why they think there is some benefit in saying she has a bullet injury.”
The doctors told us that the day before the special forces swooped on the hospital the Iraqi military had fled. Hassam Hamoud, a waiter at a local restaurant, said he saw the American advance party land in the town. He said the team’s Arabic interpreter asked him where the hospital was. “He asked: ‘Are there any Fedayeen over there?’ and I said, ‘No’.” All the same, the next day “America’s finest warriors” descended on the building.
“We heard the noise of helicopters,” says Dr Anmar Uday. He says that they must have known there would be no resistance. “We were surprised. Why do this? There was no military, there were no soldiers in the hospital.
“It was like a Hollywood film. They cried, ‘Go, go, go’, with guns and blanks and the sound of explosions. They made a show - an action movie like Sylvester Stallone or Jackie Chan, with jumping and shouting, breaking down doors.” All the time with the camera rolling. The Americans took no chances, restraining doctors and a patient who was handcuffed to a bed frame.
There was one more twist. Two days before the snatch squad arrived, Al-Houssona had arranged to deliver Jessica to the Americans in an ambulance. “I told her I will try and help you escape to the American Army but I will do this very secretly because I could lose my life.” He put her in an ambulance and instructed the driver to go to the American checkpoint. When he was approaching it, the Americans opened fire. They fled just in time back to the hospital. The Americans had almost killed their prize catch.
A military cameraman had shot footage of the rescue. It was a race against time for the video to be edited. The video presentation was ready a few hours after the first brief announcement. When it was shown, General Vincent Brooks, the US spokesman in Doha, declared: “Some brave souls put their lives on the line to make this happen, loyal to a creed that they know that they’ll never leave a fallen comrade.”
None of the details that the doctors provided Correspondent with made it to the video or to any subsequent explanations or clarifications by US authorities. I asked the Pentagon spokesman in Washington, Bryan Whitman, to release the full tape of the rescue, rather than its edited version, to clear up any discrepancies. He declined. Whitman would not talk about what kind of Iraqi resistance the American forces faced. Nor would he comment on the injuries Lynch actually sustained. “I understand there is some conflicting information out there and in due time the full story will be told, I’m sure,” he told me. [“The Truth About Jessica” (The Guardian, May 15, 2005)]
Having read the U.K.’s version, don’t you feel like maybe the whole Jessica Lynch thing was way overblown? Feels like they brought a cannon to kill an ant. Reminds me a little of Wag the Dog. There’s just so many conflicting stories out there these days; so many mistruths.
Oh, and one more thing… Jessica Lynch doesn’t recall any of it.
Trouble is that doctors now say she has no recollection of the whole episode and probably never will. Her memory loss means that “researchers” have been called in to fill in the gaps. [“The Truth About Jessica” (The Guardian, May 15, 2005)]
Hat tip to Monkeypup.
Tags: Jessica Lynch, Conspiracy Theories, Iraq, lie, UK
