* Blix: War against Iraq was a foregone conclusion months before the first shot was fired.

"In a scathing attack on Britain and the US, Mr Blix accused them of planning the war "well in advance" and of "fabricating" evidence against Iraq to justify their campaign.

Letting rip after months of frustration, he told the Spanish daily El Pais: "There is evidence that this war was planned well in advance. Sometimes this raises doubts about their attitude to the [weapons] inspections."



* For the third time within a month, an activist is attacked by Israeli troops - "Student peace worker suffers suspected brain damage in attack while protecting Palestinian family in Gaza Strip [...] He was wearing a fluorescent orange vest, and witnesses say that there had been no exchange of fire between the Israeli army and Palestinian gunmen that day."



* FAIR.org - Is Killing Part of Pentagon Press Policy? - The Pentagon has held up its practice of "embedding" journalists with military units as proof of a new media-friendly policy. On April 8, however, U.S. military forces launched what appeared to be deliberate attacks on independent journalists covering the war, killing three and injuring four others.



* Syria Part I: The Spectator hosts a commentary on Syria and Iran. Sickening justification and rhetoric for the next regime change.

"No one I know wants to wage war on Iran and Syria, but there is now a clear recognition that we must defend ourselves against them. They are an integral part of the terror network that produced 11 September. Left undisturbed they will kill us in Iraq and Afghanistan, and will mount new attacks on our homelands. We cannot give them time to organise these attacks, all the while developing the weapons we all properly dread."



* Syria Part II: Perle takes the WMD approach over Syria: more preemption?

" Richard Perle, one of the chief U.S. ideologists behind the war to oust Saddam Hussein, warned Friday that the United States would be compelled to act if it discovered that Iraqi weapons of mass destruction have been concealed in Syria.

Perle said that if the Bush administration were to learn that Syria had taken possession of such Iraqi weapons, "I'm quite sure that we would have to respond to that."

What's next? An inspection team to Syria?






This weeks 'Satan's Cock'



* Perle's recent statement in response to an NYT article about his involvement with Global Crossings.

"I deeply resent the accusation that I am using a public position (the DPB) for private gain. Whatever help I was to Global had to do with 30 years of experience in these matters, and nothing to do with the DPB."



* And today's don of the dead: Abbie Hoffman (November 30, 1936 – April 12, 1989)





"Revolution is not something fixed in ideology, nor is it something fashioned to a particular decade. It is a perpetual process embedded in the human spirit."