Instahoglets 19th May 06

Some punchposts, some snark, and thee...

As calls from both Tony Blair and the UN to close the place go ignored, inmates at Gitmo are fighting with guards over the right to die. "The military says there have been 39 suicide attempts in the camp since 2002, and hunger strikes have been common as detainees protest against their continued detention without trial."

Iran has been quick to say it is now enriching its own uranium after experts said original samples had been prepared from better quality Chinese feedstock. Dr. Jeffrey Lewis, the Arms Control Wonk, also notes that Iran's centrifuges aren't as good as they were being made out to be. Which just goes to show how much of this program, in Iranian eyes, is about show and pride and how much of the panic about Iranian advancement in their program is driven by neocon hawks who are looking for excuses to unleash the bombers.

If you would like to talk about rogue states then how about our ally, Pakistan? The British military and the Afghan government are beginning to wonder just how much of an ally:

Colonel Chris Vernon, [British] chief of staff for southern Afghanistan, said the Taliban leadership was coordinating its campaign from the western Pakistani city of Quetta, near the Afghan border. "The thinking piece of the Taliban is out of Quetta in Pakistan. It's the major headquarters," he told the Guardian. "They use it to run a series of networks in Afghanistan."

The Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, echoed these comments by accusing Pakistan of arming the insurgents. "Pakistani intelligence gives military training to people and then sends them to Afghanistan with logistics," the Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press news agency quoted him as saying.

The highest ranking officer in the U.S. Air Force and his predecessor are under FBI investigation for steering a $50 million contract to an old colleague's company. Gen. Michael Moseley and Gen. John Jumper helped to steer a Thunderbird contract to a friend, retired Air Force Gen. Hal Hornburg - once head of Air Combat Command - it is alleged.

The U.S. has proposed a new nuclear treaty which it says would help prevent production of bomb-making materials. The Arms Control Wonk describes the treaty as "the most most transparently cynical proposal since Caligula made a Senator of his horse." - in other words this treaty is going nowhere, it is just yet another excuse to bang the war drums over Iran.

Talking of which, the story that is driving the chickenhawks batshit today concerns a report that a new law in Iran would require Jews, Christians and other non-Muslims to wear color coded badges. The parallels with Hitler's Final Solution are being paraded everywhere...but the story may well be made up from whole cloth. That is, fake. I'm not as confident as some about Amir Taheri's credibility. Look closely at his report and you will see he is a member of Benador Associates, a well known neocon propaganda organ. They have done more to lead the American nation into senseless wars than most already and this seems to me like their latest effort. I've written about both Taheri and Benador before.

Update The National Post has run a sort-of retraction of the "special clothing for Jews" report. They weasel it a lot but quote tons of experts both inside and outside Iran who all say that, basically, Taheri was talking out of his ass. Nothing unusual there then.