Fisk on the death of journalism:
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-we-are-now-in-the-firing-line-sadly-446522.html or http://bit.ly/bnqdXg or http://tinyurl.com/38h6k57
And here’s one on how surgingly swell things are for the British in Basra:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/serving-british-soldier-exposes-horror-of-war-in-crazy-basra-446395.html or http://bit.ly/bA4W72 or http://tinyurl.com/32duxzw
And, if you can find it, the farewell telegram from Sir Ivor Roberts as he left his job as Rome ambassador is quite interesting. Sir Ivor got in trouble back in 2004 for calling Bush “al-Qaeda’s best recruiting sergeant.” On September 24, The Observer’s Pendennis column reported that following his outspoken valedictory report (suggesting that British diplomacy is being subordinated to a management culture best typified by a Dilbertesque variant of Bingo in which the winner jumps up and yells “Bovine Excrement!”), the Foreign Office has abandoned the centuries-old tradition of allowing departing diplomats to speak their minds.
It’s a shame that no one tells the truth until they leave office. After nearly 4,000 dead American soldiers, 3,000 dead American civilians, and who knows how many dead Iraqis, Lebanese, and Palestinians, former CIA director George Tenet is finally telling at least some of the truth about how the Bush administration “sexed up” the case for a war long before 9-11. Wonder if Bush will ask Tenet to give back his Medal of Freedom?