2004

Scales of Justice; Lord Hutton finally releases his Inquiry report into the circumstances surrounding Dr David Kelly's death. Blair, Campbell, Hoon and everybody else in government circles are all completely exonerated. The BBC takes the full brunt of the criticism, causing Chairman Gavin Davies, reporter Andrew Gilligan and, most controversially, Director General Greg Dyke to resign in the run-up to the renewal of the BBC Charter. It is almost universally regarded as a whitewash. Hutton seems to have disregarded the evidence and tipped the scales of justice in favour of the government - another establishment lapdog after all.
Presidential Briefings; The US National Commissionon Terrorist Attacks on the United States ("9-11 Commission") resumes its sitting today after Saturday's release of that fateful Presidential Briefing titled "Bin Laden determined to attack in US" from 6 August 2001. It claimed that Al-Qaeda cells were active on US territory, and that such people might hijack airliners. Bush was "fishing and clearing brush" while on vacation at his Crawford, Texas ranch when he received his daily briefing, and the conclusions were seemingly ignored, Bush claiming the information to be not specific enough. It seems the blame will be shifted neatly on to the FBI and CIA.
Yellow Brick Road Map; Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon visits the White House and seeks approval from Bush for his Big Idea. He plans to effectively tear up the middle-east "Road Map", declaring that the Palestinians are not credible partners in any peace process. Israel will hang on to the great swathes of the West Bank annexed by the "security fence". He also seeks to negate the Palestinian refugees' "right to return" to Israeli territory; instead buying them off by transferring the poorly irrigated Gaza strip to them. Dubya acknowledges the "demographic realities" of Israel's extended occupation of these areas, and supports the idea wholeheartedly. I just couldn't resist the Wizard of Oz metaphor with the road map and Arafat's extended search for "home"
Bush Tarzan; Blair heads off for a jolly to New York (to see the sidelined Kofi Annan to put together a plan for the restructuring of Iraq involving the UN) and then to Washington to hang around the King of the Jungle himself. Bush keeps promising everything is swinging along just dandy in the middle east, but could he be heading for a smack in the teeth in the poll ratings due to his policies in Iraq. Would Blair want to be associated too closely with a soon-to-be-ex-President? Poor old Kofi just has to sit and wait for the wind to change.
Trophy Room; It is revealed that Dubya keeps Saddam Hussein's personal handgun, found in his possession when he was captured, in his "Iraq Trophy Room" in the Whitehouse.
Jeux Sans Frontières; The face-off in Najaf continues. The rebel cleric Moqtada al-Sadr sits in the Holy Shrine with his band of loyal "freedom-fighters" armed to the teeth, while the American forces amass outside the walls, aware of the political implications of attacking a holy site. This posturing of inflated archetypal "super-egos" reminded me of the late, unlamented 1970's TV farce "Jeux Sans Frontieres" where ordinary sized people dressed in oversized foam models and battered hell out of eachother.
Liberty Dubya; Bush arrives in traditionally Democrat-supporting New York amidst a tumult of popular protest on the streets. He salutes liberty, but will Liberty return the compliment? Will his entanglement with Lady Liberty strangle him this November?
Bush Missile Dysfunction; Bush's creative reading of pre-war Iraq from the CIA got him all fired up and ready for night-time emissions in 2002. The 9/11/ Commission Report in 2004, giving a negative appraisal of his use of intelligence on Iraq, was probably not such an aphrodisiac for the Priapic Pres' in 2004.