I confess that in late 2002 I knew that the reasons for invading Iraq were bogus.

I confess that I e-mailed that knowlege to Downer, Hill, Abbott, Vanstone, (then AG) Williams and the Governor General.

I confess that in my submission to the Law Reform Commission on Sedition Laws, I accused the Prime Minister and Cabinet of war crimes. I accused Ruddock of creating the Sedition laws for the comfort of the perpetrators.

I confess that I would like to see them all in The Hague.

Guilty as charged - forward my guitar to Guantanamo.

Yours very sincerely -

Splendid work Chris Shaw - if I had a cap it would be duly doffed

The most unfortunate part about the religous war being inflicted upon the civilised world is that we will all be reduced to the same level of vicousness as the struggle progresses.
When one side in a conflict is prepared to slaughter indiscrimanently then the other will inevitably have to follow, or lose.
The war against islam will be the longest and bloodiest in human history so the sooner we all get real about what it is going to take to win, the better. Torture is nothing new, it happens in your local police station. Just because you hate G Bush doesn't mean you should be prepared to give away your freedoms and your children's futures.

(Hit! - aaargh!)

I confess that I don't buy the official conspiracy theory of 9-11. I think it could only have been done WITH, not despite the technological superiority of the US "security" apparatus.

(Gurgle, blub, sploosh - aaargh!)

I confess that I think we should follow the money trail back through the war profiteers to the financiers and oligarchs who stand to gain the most. Cheney and oil - those words just go 'round and 'round in my head.

(Snap, crackle, bzzzz - yelp!)

I confess that I think these are the same miserable sods who have dragged us into their dirty resource wars for decades.

(Thwack, slap - jeez!)

I confess that I think our politicians didn't have the balls to say no to the War-For-Profit gang. The thought crime crossed my mind that they may have joined willingly.

(Poke, fondle, jab - ooooh!)

I confess that I have had revolutionary thoughts that this time we are going to get the stinking globalist criminals. I allowed myself to imagine a world without their pervasive cancerous influence. I dreamed of a more enlightened world for my grandkids.

(Biffo, bosh, thud! - dribbles away into a whimpering, sobbing silence)

I confess that I don't buy the official conspiracy theory of 9-11. I think it could only have been done WITH, not despite the technological superiority of the US "security" apparatus.

I agree - and to get more proof get a copy [first edition] of "Others Unknown" ie the defence lawyer for McVeigh, stephen jones

the book is littered with evidence re one bin Laden using Oklahoma as a warm up for 9/11 and all was covered up in the trial

but AFTER 9/11 even Jones backed down [we have to assume under huge pressure] and did a second edition minus all the bin bits

I confess to thinking Chris Shaw is funny.

I confess to sharing the same concerns.

I confess to being so scared of torture that I will confess to just about anything.

Further, I confess to my preparedness to withdraw the above confessions and/or any confessions I may make in future.

This article is even more pertinent in the light of David Hick's "guilty" plea. Members of the rabid right would have been strident critics of "confessions" at show trials under communist/fascist/other totalitarian regimes, but are quick to accept similar outcomes under the Bush administration. No doubt Hicks was guilty of something eg gross stupidity, but his guilty plea is as tainted as a confession obtained under torture

Chris Shaw;- "i confess that I have had revolutionary thoughts that this time we are going to get the stinking Globalist criminals.

The revolutionaries throughout history while promising to save the masses from poverty usually ended up being just as bad as the greedy tyrants they got rid of. They usually set up an elistist dictatorial party of their fellow revolutionaries and lived in luxury while the people still lived in poverty, (for example communist parties)

They also murdered or incarcerated anyone who voiced any dissent and slaughtered masses of their own people (stalin being one example of this)

It was inconceivable (to many) that Osama was behind the world- trade-centre bombings, until we found his video tape laughing & bragging about it …

Its was inconceivable (to many) that the London bombers ( 1 & 2) could be guilty of such acts -until we found their videod last will & testimonies…

I confess it must be hard for some, cloistered as they are in middle class suburbia far from the front-lines -and brought up on pop morality - to conceive that some people could be so ruthless …

But I suggest anyone who has lived on the front-lines in Indonesia, Pakistan, Sthn Thailand, Iran ... & suffered at the hands of lunatics yelling ‘God is Great’ while slitting throats & exploding bombs,will not find it so unbelievable...

I CONFESS to being utterly amazed that with all this yapping going on by Chris that he is still alive, or that he has not been visited in the early morning by the Anti Terrorism police...

I CONFESS that I am utteRly amazed that Chris would see a bin ladin behind every rock and a Chaney under every green tree, yet he is still aloud to shoot his mouth off in a way that can only be described as fifth columnist bordering on treachery...

If things were as you schitzoids claim.. how come you are still able to speak freely about it ? AAah you say..its all PART of the grand conspiracy.. they give us all the trappings of freedom, but.. we are not free.. nope.. the truly free ones are those in Waziristan and Afghanistan, and London, and in Sydney and Melbourne Jails who (It is alledged) actually sought to blow the living hell out of us and our children... yep..they are the good guys (fighting Bush_and_Cheney of course).

I CONFESS that I am amazed by the observable fact that no matter HOW much evidence is provided by our free press, and free internet,it is still construed and seen by 'the clan' of Chris and company as some dark evil conpsiracy....

Ok.. the press is not so free... the evil capitalist lords run it.. not to mention 'those Jews' and of course all they do is based on those tried and tested 'protocals of zion'

The only thumping going on Chris is your loose brain rolling around that empty head :) and again.. I ask you... 'ALTERNATIVE' ? you don't have one, and any you have mentioned has not, does not and will not work, so.. all this woffle about 'us' being the bad guys is a waste of precious air.

Well, I'm very free, independant, happy, joyful. But even that is part of MY conspiracy :) "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, understanding, self control". Now.. I'll BET you can find an evil Cheney and a bin ladin connection even in our Lord.

rossco, the prisons are full of people who have taken guilty pleas on lesser charges to do less time and get out of prison earlier. Hicks plea isn't "tainted as being under torture" unless all pleas of guilty made for lesser crimes to obtain earlier release dates are to be considered under duress or torture. Hicks was JUST stupid like Ivan Milat was JUST stupid, like Phuong Ngo was JUST stupid.

Consider this scenario:
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is imprisoned -he's been involved in a the planning, if not the execution of a host of attacks (but not all attacks) . There is evidence from JI operatives caught in Singapore, Malaysia & Thailand which heavily implicate him. And similar from al-qaeda operatives caught in Pakistan & Afghanistan.He knows there is little prospect of him getting a light sentence .

But he’s smart -he knows the west better than some westerners know themselves. So what can he do -he can still try discredit the whole process, make it appear that he is so demoralised , he will confess to anything & everything (i.e. he is a victim -the real criminals are Bush & co). He confesses to it all .

The anti-Bush brigades swallow it hook, line & sinker.
And some trendy Hollywood director (eventually) makes a movie about his plight ( a la “The Road to Guantanamo" ).

It's not a matter of what these maniacs have or have not done, so much as how we, the civilised ones, go about finding the facts.

We've got acres of experience and technology under our western belts, from Sherlock Holmes to DNA, yet we figure the best way to solve these crimes is to torture people.

It doesn't matter whether it's David Hicks, Joan of Arc, Mahatma Gandhi or the nutter in question here. After all, if we'd had the sense to use our collective western detective skills we could also have figured out which of his confessions were false. And got him for perjury as well.

Hick's pleaded Not Stupid. The timing of his trial and release (end of 07?) is perfect for Howard, coincidence i'm not sure. Fat lot of good it'll do him, as Iraq implodes and Asias generously cheap credit turns out to be a case of "give a mob of fools enough rope and they'll hang themselves".

Subtle, BOAZ_David, working "those jews" and the protocols of zion into your smear of CS when he said nothing of the sort. There are many alternatives to Cheney-capitalism (syn.plutocracy), many pre-existing and some new, your ignorance of them betrays your narrowmindedness.

bottom line in the law is old addage

"justice must not only be done but seen to be done"

as My favourite judge Kirby J said with normal economy of words in Luton

"this is not it"

Chris Shaw Carisbrook 3464 Quote " I CONFESS THAT THESE ARE THE SAME MISERABLE SODS WHO HAVE DRAGGED US INTO THEIR DIRTY RESOURCE WARS FOR DECADES."Actually it is energy and the Middle East owns 65% of it.So Chris would be happy to pay five times for his fuel and the associated products that are transported daily to his abode at a miniscule cost?

The US is in the Middle East to keep the mad Mullahs divided so they don't form oil cartels and hold the rest of the world to ransom.Chris Shaw is apart of this US plot,unless he wants to live in abject poverty.To deny the origins of our sustenance and life blood Chris,is to be the absolute hypocrite.Without the US we are stuffed.

"The US is in the Middle East to keep the Mad Mullahs divided so they don't form oil cartels and hold the rest of the world to ransom".

What do you think OPEC is? And what do you think happend during the 1973 oil crisis? Also, which Mad Mullah's are you talking about? Our sparing partners in Iran, or our buddies ruling with an iron fist in Saudi Arabia?

Surely this is an argument to get out of the Middle East, and either play nice, or start to ween ourselves off the black stuff? It's going to run our sooner or later (more likely sooner), and as they say, there's no time like the present!

Apologies to those posting on the article. I'll try to keep my posts on topic in future.

ChrisC, the west is going biofuel. The Brazilians have proven that a country can be energy dependent and many are taking up the practice of home brewing fuels from agricultural sources. The trouble here is that folks like you will demand that we now support the Middle East to the same extent we have Palestine for the last 60 years. You will be first to claim we OWE them now that we no longer require their oil that went to support their inflated affluent cultural kingdoms.
The hand writing is on the wall as more and more countries ween themselves off of Arabian Oil. Which is why there is so much passive-aggressive movement politically coming out from these areas now. Saudi Arabia verbally attacking America and Iran kidnapping UK Marines in Iraqi waters, the demand behind the Arab Palestinian/Israeli peace plan, etc.
In twenty or fifty years these countries will be as they were before oil became the new gold standard. Obscure Islamic enclaves living in poverty. Except they will all have nuclear weapons to use to black mail the world for economic support.

Chris we are not going to ween ourselves off the oil stuff over night.If the Middle East unites under Islam then they can determine the price of energy to the entire planet.The Mad Mullahs would not be too understandering if they can have total power.

The US is doing all the dirty work for the rest of the world in securing oil at competitive market prices.

The reality is this,what is the price of poverty that we daily see on our screens from places like Africa?Do we have the courage to live like them?Without the oil we are stuffed.

LIAM I was not suggesting Chris said those things, I was using them as a means of showing how silly some of his conspiracy theories are.
They were in quotation marks for what I thought were obvious reasons, as in.. they are often referred to by conspiracy theorists. As soon as I said 'free press' I knew the reaction would be WHAT ? hah ! etc etc..and any discussion of the media/hollywood, usually ends up at 'those Jews' etc...

Chris sees the West as all bad, but has nothing to offer in its place. I've asked him before, so one needs to highlight the silliness of just attacking everything on our own side of the international political divide as Chris does.

He claims we are all after 'stuff' but if you read his posts you would be forgiven for thinking he only means US.. and THE USA but surreeeeely not those Middle Easterners..no..not them, they are nice friendly people who have no history whatsoever of wanting 'stuff', including other peoples 'stuff'.

Chris waxes eloquent about how bad 'we' are.. with little mention of the point that our actions are often a 're'-action to other forces.

So, while Chris might be sincere, I believe he is sincerely misguided, and those who support his whacky views are simply using him as a tool in their own struggle to damage the Howard government in any way possible. Not realizing of course that the electorate does have a brain, and can see the strengths and weaknesses of Howard and can make up its own mind.

The true evil of the 'Left' came out when Tony Snow, White house spokesman was diagnosed with cancer and many of them came out wishing he was dead...quickly...the quicker the better.

BOAZ_David: so you've read someone refer to 'those jews' & protocols & conspiracy, and CS mentions conspiracy, therefore he's a believer in protocols? RightThink triumphs again, hurrah for the new dark age of smears and innuendo ("..come wave your pretty flags.." sing The Herd).

You attack him for not having a ready made set of perfect soutions, but i've never seen you express any reservations about the megadeath funded by our taxes in two countries (650,000+ in Iraq according to reputable & peer reviewed methodology). If thats the kind of solution you prefer then i too have nothing to offer you, but stop pretending there are no solutions, we all know there are plenty:
-the rule of law (not just for those who can afford more lawyers),
-representative government (for 20+ years surveys show a majority of aussies want end to woodchipping of State forests)
-transparent political lobbying and funding (just made less so by Prime Miniature)
-an end to the monumental market failures of externalised costs (eg. lead, GHG emissions, asbestos, persistant organic pollutants, ...).
No solutions? Not if you're amoral, dependant upon a corporate teat and lack the courage to change.

Arjay. Am I an old hypocrite? Absolutely!

- but I am only just beginning the realise the extent of my lifelong hypocrisy. It would be awfully hypocritical of me not to admit to the sheer uber-hypocriticality of this thing I laughingly call my life.

- and what price my grandkid's future, if they are to have one at all?

*

In the meantime, rummagers into all things 9-11 might be interested in this little gem:

http://z10.invisionfree.com/Loose_Change_Forum/index.php?showtopic=6566

Enjoy!

Using the old military lingo - we might suggest, no names, no pack drill.

But we have the liberty to suggest that all those commentaries backing Unipolar Big League America, are:

1. Those definitely playing safe because they believe the US has permanent possession of all the Ace Cards, nothing much about morality.

2. The more interested, however, could have feelings of superiority, knowing they are backed by elitist groups which in turn are backed by a wise, but somewhat elitist God.

3. These elitists groups include the Trilateralists and Bilderbergers, George W Bush and Tony Blair having connections, besides the master of double dealing, Henry Kissinger.

4. The above connections have politically grown from the
CFR - Council of Foreign Relations - colonialist love-child of Cecil Rhodes, Anglophilic Zionist, whom our present Anglophilic nations, America, Britain and our Aussie Land are rather blindly following backed by a population, many not really having a clue what the Middle East problems are all about.

5. It just happens that most social scientists and political philosophers do know what is really going on, yet called fruitcakes, left-wing loonies, or even bleeding hearts by far too many of a so-called learned group such as ours.

I agree it will be a long war, but not necessarily last for generations. It will depend on America's resolve to rout the jihadists and their state sponsors by using remorselessly the means of war against them while they are still weak, and not to allow them to become stronger and hence prolong the war at a huge cost of lives and materiel.

How to shorten the war see Blueprint For Victory In Iraq--http://power-politics1.blogspot.com

I think the West is totally stupid and the 'Other' mob have sussed them out completely.
That explains a mass immigration from failed countries into the West where the immigrants, instead of showing gratitude, get up and accuse the alms givers of every miserable thing under the sun. The givers then deeply apologise to the takers and give even more for even less thanks.
So Mahommad Hicks knows that when he returns ,he will be welcomed like a conquering hero. A ticket parade may not be possible but you can't have everything. Presumably the givers will keep him in comfort for ever and a day.

Dear Liam,
well done, at least you are providing some solutions.
But first to Chris.
His link which speaks of 'US-GERMAN JOINT VENTURE' being the patron of Mohammad Atta is as full of holes as the sieve I used for my mee goreng. In fact the link is plain stupid. Why ? It see's what is wants to see.. in Biblical interpretation we don't call this 'exegesis' (obtaining the facts and drawing conclusions) we call that story ISOgesis.. imposing an already pre-hatched meaning ON the story.
Did the US and German governments have some kind of student exchange thing going on ? Wellll shock horror probably, just like umpteen ka-zillion others between countries throughout the world !
Does Mohammad Atta's presense there say anymore than he might be a good student ? Of course not.
Does it take into account that he became a Muslim radical WHILE in Germany ? and so the froth and bubble goes on.

The bigger problem is, that this kind of wild conspiracy thing is so fanatical, next it will have us believing Al Qaeda is on the CIA payroll.

Liam.. 'Rule of Law' usually degenerates into Lawyers running the show. Jesus had some harsh words for Lawyers

"Woe to you lawyers as well! For you weigh men down with burdens hard to bear, while you yourselves will not even touch the burdens with one of your fingers"

Rule of Law, Feminism,Socialism, are all subject to 'human nature' and so far...I've not seen much encouragement to believe Lawyers are any different today than they were in Jesus day.

I suggest an alternative solution "unless a man is born again, he will not see the kingdom of heaven." ..said Jesus. New birth is quite applicable to earthly life also. Its the only thing I know which turns Lawyers from "raking in the cash while the seeker of justice mortgages his house" or .. takes 40% of the settlement they "worked so hard to achieve" (excuse me while I .....)

650,000 ...killed by..? (300 last week on one day..by Iraqis/AlQaeda)

Actually Mickijo Hicks is like a spoilt child who continually returns home to plunder his parent's future and the parents stupidly keep giving,thinking that the care and trust will be returned in kind.

Unless we all experience the hardship involved in achieving wealth/values,it is soon wasted by following generations.Unfortunately experience cannot be transferred and people keep on making the same old mistakes.

Now that this thread has quietened down a bit, I'll sneak in a personal communication.

Dave-B, I seem to remember that we have may have something in common - a love of electronics. I just wanted you to know that before the Lying Rodent and the Smirking Chimp, I enjoyed something that felt like a normal life. This was what I did for fun (small PDFs):

http://www.cgfar.com/vk3cjs/EzAo40.pdf

http://www.cgfar.com/vk3cjs/6mPreamp.pdf

Do let me know what you think. Are we so different after all?

I still occasionally think that I might wake up again in 2000, to find out that the last seven years were just a bad dream. Of course it turns out that the last 30 years has been a bad dream - I just didn't know I was dreamin'.

It would be nice to feel so innocent again.

Yes Arjay and the media of this country are nearly falling over themselves to get the best deal with Hicks.
Great example for young ones, don't bother getting a good education, just join up with some terrorist mob, shoot a bit [such fun] then if you survive, you are on easy street for life.The Australian Press will lick you all over.