Malaysian Court Finds Bush and Blair Guilty of War Crimes in Iraq Invasion

George W. Bush (R) and Tony Blair (AFP Photo / Jim Watson) © AFP

Those who lobbied to have George W. Bush and Tony Blair tried for their role in the Iraq War have finally got their wish. Though the verdict of the court carries no legal weight, its supporters believe its symbolic value is beyond doubt.

Coming out on election day might not be doing Labour any good, either.

The court in Malaysia where the trial took place may not have the power to convict, but the verdict against the former British and American leaders was unanimous.  

“War criminals have to be dealt with – convict Bush and Blair as charged. A guilty verdict will serve as a notice to the world that war criminals may run but can never ultimately hide from truth and justice,” the statement from the Perdana Global Peace Foundation read.

The foundation was set up by former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed, who was always a staunch opponent of the war against the regime of Saddam Hussain in 2003. He previously branded Blair and Bush “child-killers”.

The tribunal, which consisted of a former federal judge and several academics, paid particular attention to the failure of the Western military to find a single weapon of mass destruction in Iraq. WMDs were cited by the Western coalition as a major reason for their military intervention. It also declared the war to be in contravention of the will of the United Nations.

“The evidence showed that the drums of war were being beaten long before the invasion. The accused in their own memoirs have admitted their intention to invade Iraq regardless of international law,” said the tribunal.

The tribunal has no powers of enforcement, and as yet there has been no response from Bush or Blair. But the Perdana Peace Foundation says it hopes to maintain pressure from the international community on the two leaders, both of whom have now retired from domestic politics.

Meanwhile, Donald Rumsfeld, the US Secretary of Defence during the Iraq War, is next on the list to have his case heard by the mock court.

VP Cheney ought to be next since it was he who appears to have altered the CIA report indicating there was no concrete evidence of WMDs in Iraq, to say the opposite. 

This was not a global policing action against WMDs; it was a Deep State action to keep the inventory of war moving and making billions of dollars for the war-mongers, and getting some control over Iraq's oil.

‘Islamophobia Allegations Politically Motivated’: Tory Vice-Chair Slammed for Remarks

Not to be outdone by accusations of antisemitism in the Labour Party, Britain's largest Muslim organization is decrying the Conservative Party for Islamophobia! This is an attempt to take the publicity away from antisemitism, an attempt to keep presenting Muslims as victims, and an attempt to increase Muslim influence in Westminster. 

There is little doubt that there are Islamophobes in the Tories, but they are several magnitudes of difference from the antisemites in the Labour Party. Badenoch is right!

London march organized by the group Stand Up to Racism as an expression of unity against racism, Islamophobia and anti-Semitism. © Global Look Press / Brais G. Rouco

Tory vice-chair Kemi Badenoch MP, has been heavily criticized for claiming that allegations of Islamophobia against Conservative Party members are “politically motivated.”

Badenoch, Tory MP for Saffron Walden, made the remarks during a Sky News interview on Sunday, after calls, including from Conservative peer Baroness Warsi and the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), for a full-blown inquiry into allegations of Islamophobia within the party.

The Tory vice-chair told Sky News' Sophy Ridge: “I don't think that the Muslim Council of Britain is an organisation that would look very favourably on the Conservative Party anyway so I think there is probably a political motive there.”

In response, Baroness Warsi tweeted that her party was in denial yet again on a social issue, insisting “we always find ourselves on the wrong side of history when it comes to the right of minorities.”

Sayeeda Warsi✔
@SayeedaWarsi
 The was a time we denied racism existed within our party, there was a time we denied homophobia was deep rooted- we now deny #Islamophobia 🤦🏽‍♀️
A lot @conservatives get right but sadly we always find ourselves on the wrong side of history when it comes to the right of minorities

Kemi Badenoch MP

Ridge on Sunday✔
@RidgeOnSunday
'There's probably a political motive there' - Conservative MP @KemiBadenoch dismisses the @MuslimCouncil of Britain's call for an inquiry into Islamophobia within the Tory party. #Ridge 

For more, head here: http://po.st/orxWY3 

Miqdaad Versi, a spokesperson for the MCB, voiced his disappointment at the Tory vice-chair’s attack on his organisation, while others claimed there would be outrage from the Tories 'if Labour had given the same response regarding anti-Semitism.'

Miqdaad Versi✔
@miqdaad
"Don't shoot the messenger" - the MCB's previous message appears equally apt today.

Will Ms Badenoch also attack The Times, Observer, Lord Sheikh, Baroness Warsi & Conservative Muslim Forum for being politically motivated? http://www.mcb.org.uk/shooting-the-messenger-mcb-responds-to-sajid-javid-comments-on-bbc-andrew-marr/ …


Socialist Voice
@SocialistVoice
 WATCH: Tory MP Kemi Badenoch says accusations of Islamophobia and racism in the Conservative Party are ‘politically motivated’ 

Just imagine the Tories’ outrage if Labour gave that same ignorant response regarding antisemitism...pic.twitter.com/bYfWWpqAcM

The outrage here ignores the fact that Labour's antisemitism is infinitely more obvious than Tories Islamophobia. 

The MCB is the largest Muslim organisation in the UK with over 500 mosques, and educational and charitable associations affiliated to it. They have spearheaded calls for an inquiry and said it has evidenced multiple incidents of Islamophobic incidents being committed by Tory members.

Badenoch had earlier refuted claims that the Tory Party had an issue with Islamophobia within its ranks, saying she “completely” disagreed with Baroness Warsi’s assessment.

She said: “We take every single allegation of Islamophobia seriously and where we do find party members or people who hold positions in local government doing things, we suspend them, we investigate them…”

What Badenoch did not allude to is the fact that the Conservative Party code of conduct does not apply to ordinary grassroots Tory members. It is only applicable to “anyone who formally represents the Party as an elected or appointed official.” It calls into question whether the Tories have a disciplinary system robust enough to tackle allegations of racism or Islamophobia.

The Tory’s problems reflect that of their Labour rivals. Police announced last week that they have launched a criminal investigation into allegations of anti-Semitic hate crimes committed by Labour Party members, after receiving a dossier of alleged incidents by a complainant in September.

Labour Party Branch 'Voted Down Motion Condemning Pittsburgh Synagogue Attack'

In the face of an investigation by Met Police into antisemitism in the Labour Party,

local councils double down on antisemitism!

Members reject motion after saying there is too much focus on

'antisemitism this, antisemitism that'

Benjamin Kentish, Independent

A local Labour Party branch has refused to pass a motion condemning the antisemitic attack on a synagogue in Pittsburgh that left 11 people dead, according to a party activist.

Steve Cooke, the secretary of Norton West branch in the Stockton North constituency, said he was “aghast” that the motion was voted down after members claimed there was too much focus on “antisemitism this, antisemitism that”.

Members of the branch reportedly demanded that a reference to antisemitism be removed from the statement on the shooting last Saturday. The alleged attacker, who has far-right links, is said to have shouted “I just want to kill Jews” after opening fire on the congregation.

Bob Cook

The motion proposed by Mr Cooke said the murders “demonstrate the dangers posed by the growth in antisemitic sentiments and hate speech internationally” and expressed a commitment to “stand in solidarity with the Jewish community around the world and send our condolences to all those affected by the tragic events in Pittsburgh”.

But when put to a vote, only two members backed the motion and it was voted down.

Mr Cooke said the leader of Stockton-on-Tees council, Robert Cook, and another senior councillor, Steve Nelson, were among those who opposed it.

He wrote on Facebook: ”I am aghast to report that an emergency motion on the Pittsburgh synagogue attack which I took to my Labour Party branch meeting last night was voted down, with the leader of Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council and the cabinet member for community safety among its most vociferous opponents.

“I imagined that the emergency motion I had drafted to condemn the Pittsburgh murders, criticise antisemitic hate speech and present the Labour Party as leading the way in opposing such prejudices would be approved without controversy.

Steve Nelson

“When we got to the emergency motion, however, it was soon apparent that there would be resistance to the whole idea with the chair of the meeting, Cllr Steve Nelson, the cabinet member for community safety, the most implacably opposed.”

According to Mr Cooke, members at the meeting opposed the motion on the grounds that there was too much focus on “antisemitism this, antisemitism that”. They suggested the text on the synagogue attack should not specifically refer to antisemitism but should instead condemn all racism, which Mr Cooke said it already did.

Mr Cooke said previous motions on Islamophobia and anti-migrant rhetoric had not been met with similar demands that they be made less specific and instead refer to all forms of racism. 

He suggested Mr Nelson had accused him of trying to “bring the party into disrepute by associating us with antisemitism” and had claimed the row over anti-Jewish abuse in Labour was “just a game being played”.

The motion on the Pittsburgh attack and attempts to educate members about antisemitism were part of this, the councillor is reported to have said.

The executive of Stockton North Labour Party had previously voted down Mr Cooke’s attempts to have antisemitism training delivered to members. 

Recounting his conversation with Mr Nelson, Mr Cooke wrote on Facebook: ”’Are you seriously going to vote down a motion condemning the Pittsburgh killings?, I asked. ‘Is this for real?’

“’Yes, I am’, replied comrade Nelson whilst physically pushing away the sheet of paper with the motion on it.”

He said Robert Cook, leader of Stockton-on-Tees council, “said nothing to support us” and had voted against the motion condemning the synagogue attack.

Mr Cook and Mr Nelson have been contacted for comment. 

Antisemitism OK in Labour Party?

Earlier in the week another Labour branch amended a proposed motion on the Pittsburgh attack to remove a pledge to oppose antisemitism.

Members of the Southend West party removed a line that vowed to “recognise that antisemitism exists in society and affirm our belief that all forms of antisemitism must be eradicated”.

A call for Labour to ”lead the way in opposing antisemitism and fighting racism in all levels of society” was also dropped.

It comes as the Metropolitan Police said it was investigating possible antisemitic hate crimes committed by Labour members, after a dossier of cases was passed to its commissioner, Cressida Dick.

Ms Dick said: “We have been assessing some material that was passed to me, in a radio studio of all things, about two months ago and we are now investigating some of that material because it appears there may have been crime committed.”

U.K. Police Investigate Alleged Anti-Semitic Hate Crimes in Labour Party

Is there an election around the corner?

The Associated Press 

London's Metropolitan Police said its chief, Commissioner Cressida Dick, was handed a folder of paperwork in September that included alleged evidence of anti-Semitic hate crimes within the opposition Labour party. (Facundo Arrizabalaga/EPA-EFE)

British police have launched a criminal investigation into allegations of anti-Semitic hate crimes within the opposition Labour Party.

The Metropolitan Police said Friday that it is acting on a dossier of information given to London police chief Cressida Dick. A police spokesperson says it was handed to her following an interview on LBC Radio.

LBC had in its possession an internal Labour Party dossier that detailed 45 cases that involved social media postings by party members, including one posting that read: "We shall rid the Jews who are a cancer on us all."

The police statement said the person making the complaint "alleged that the documentation included evidence of anti-Semitic hate crimes. The contents have been examined by specialist officers. A criminal investigation has commenced into some of the allegations within the documentation."

Dick told BBC Radio there is evidence a crime may have been committed based on the material given to her.

"If somebody passes us material which they say amounts to a crime, we have a duty to look at that and not just dismiss it," she said.

Dossier received 2 months ago

Police did not provide details about the possible hate crimes detailed in the dossier.

Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has been dogged for years by complaints about anti-Semitism within party ranks. He has said the party deplores all forms of racism.

The year before Corbyn became leader of the Labour Party, he attended a wreath-laying service in Tunis, honouring Palestinians - The Palestinians who murdered 11 Israeli athletes in the 1972 Olympics. Somehow, these terrorists were heroes in Corbyn's eyes. What does that say about his attitude toward Jews? Did he lay a wreath for the 11 murdered athletes?

Corbyn has also been harshly criticized for comments made in 2016 during the release of an independent inquiry into anti-Semitism in the party ranks.

The U.K.'s main opposition party leader said that "Our Jewish friends are no more responsible for the actions of Israel or the [Benjamin] Netanyahu government than our Muslim friends are for those of various self-styled Islamic states or organizations."

Labour Party officials say the party has not been contacted by police but is ready to co-operate.

The party released a statement saying it had "a robust system for investigating complaints of alleged breaches of Labour Party rules by its members."

"Where someone feels they have been a victim of crime, they should report it to the police in the usual way," a Labour statement said.

'No role' for hate crimes in party

Labour's deputy leader Tom Watson said the allegations were "thoroughly depressing — although, sadly, I'm not surprised."

"If people have committed hate crimes, then they need to be dealt with by the full force of the law. There's no role for them in the Labour Party," he told BBC Radio.

A report in February by the Community Security Trust, a charity that provides security advice to the country's Jewish communities, said anti-Jewish sentiment was becoming more commonplace in Britain.

It said publicity about alleged anti-Jewish sentiment in the Labour Party had been partly to blame for a record number of anti-Semitic incidents in Britain last year. 

Is ‘Deep State’ Trying to Block Corbyn Govt? Labour Leader’s Adviser Fears Top Secret Conspiracy

Of course they are! Deep State cannot afford to have a UK PM who is not onboard with demonizing Russia. It would wreck their plans to sell Europe kazillions of dollars of weapons systems and continue to build their NATO Empire.

Demonizing Russia also gives the USA the moral authority to punish China and India, etc., with sanctions

for buying Russian advanced weapons systems. Never mind competing with Russia;

never mind free enterprise; it's buy from US or else. 

Jeremy Corbyn arrives to address a gathering of supporters demonstrating in Parliament Square. June 27, 2016.

© Toby Melville / Reuters

Jeremy Corbyn’s top adviser has questioned whether the ‘deep state’ is maneuvering to block any possibility of a Labour government under his leadership, because the establishment deplores his approach to foreign policy.

Corbyn adviser Andrew Murray has not, to date, been granted a parliamentary security pass, and asks in an article he’s penned in the centre-left publication, the New Statesman, whether such a move is a “political stunt” committed by the “deep state,” in an attempt to prevent a Corbyn administration ever coming into power.

Murray has questioned whether the Mail on Sunday revelations he’s been refused “Commons security clearance” in addition to being “banned from entering Ukraine,” is all just a “curiously-timed episode.”

The Labour adviser writes: “We are often told that the days of secret state political chicanery are long past and we must hope so. But sometimes you have to wonder – this curiously timed episode seems less rooted in a Kiev security scare than in a political stunt closer to home.”

The former chair of Stop the War and current chief of staff to Unite general secretary Len McCluskey, references the Mail on Sunday, which claims a Ukrainian secret service officer told them Murray’s Ukraine ban is because he’s “part of Putin’s global propaganda network.”

Which means, he doesn't adhere to the NATO/DeepState propaganda network. This is unforgivable!

Murray denies such a claim, suggesting the ban is in retaliation to a speech he “made more than four years ago protesting the takeover of Ukraine by ultra-nationalists.”

That's when the Orange Revolution, with help from western powers, overthrew a legally elected government because they were friendly to Russia. They were replaced with a NATO-friendly un-elected government that was and is hostile to Russia. Western/NATO involvement was in contravention to unwritten agreements between Russian President Gorbachev and NATO powers.

It’s Corbyn’s attitude to foreign affairs that Murray says the “deep state” cannot live with, claiming a prospective Labour government would put an end to acting aggressively on the world stage.

He says: “The powers-that-be can perhaps live with a renationalised water industry but not, it seems, with any challenge to their aggressive capacities, repeatedly deployed in disastrous wars, and their decaying Cold War world view.”

Tom Watson, Labour’s deputy leader, has told BBC Radio 4s ‘Today Programme’ that Murray’s “deep state” interference claims are “highly unlikely,” and called  for Corbyn’s adviser to produce the evidence, “otherwise it’s just fake news.”

Watson said: “I genuinely don’t know why he has reached that conclusion and presumably he has more knowledge of that than me.”

Murray signs off his article with an apparent dig at the British intelligence services, stating: “Britain could soon have an anti-war government. Vet that, comrades.”

Tories Accuse Left-Wing Students of ‘Voting Twice’ in General Election

What? No Russian link? Or is Corbyn the Russian link? Aha!

Senior Tories are accusing left-wing youngsters of breaking the law during the general election, with claims they cast their vote twice.

The government has signaled it will be reviewing electoral rules amid reports of students boasting on social media about casting their vote twice – once in their home constituency and again in their university town.

Under the current system, people are allowed to register to vote in two different places, but it is a criminal offence to vote twice.

The Tories suffered a blow in the general election, losing their 17-seat working majority, forcing leader Theresa May to sign a deal with Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to help prop up a minority administration. 

It is thought that an unusually high turnout among young voters gave May’s Labour opponents a significant boost. Now senior Tories are suggesting Labour benefitted from voter fraud. 

Former Tory leadership contender Andrea Leadsom told MPs there is a need to investigate any potential abuse of the democratic system.

Leadsom was responding to Wellingborough MP Peter Bone, who claimed left-leaning students had announced on social media they had voted twice in the June 8 election.

“It has been brought to my attention that people can be registered to vote in a general election in two places.

“I am registered in London and in my constituency,” Bone said, according to the Daily Express.

“However, a number of students are bragging on social media that they voted not only where they live, but where they go to university. That is an abuse, so could we have a statement from the Cabinet Office on that matter next week?”

Bone also said an investigation is needed to verify whether groups such as Momentum, a grassroots Labour campaign, could be behind students’ double voting.

Responding to Bone, Leadsom said: “We must get to the bottom of people deliberately voting twice, which I understand is illegal. 

“We need to investigate that and ensure that parliamentary democracy, for which this country has been famous—this is indeed the mother of all Parliaments—upholds the rights of one person and one vote.”

The accusation against young voters, however, was first raised by former UKIP leader Nigel Farage.

In an interview with US media, Farage said voters had been so attracted by Labour’s “Marxist” policies that they voted for its leader twice.

Farage said the reason why so many people are flocking to Labour is that they are yet to understand the implications of Marxism. He claimed they had been lured by Jeremy Corbyn’s socialist promises, such as the scrapping of university tuition fees.

“Marxism is very appealing if you’ve never been exposed to it before or seen what history has done with it,” said Farage.

“Corbyn went around saying to our students ‘look, I will wipe away all your tuition fees, I will promise you a land where there’ll be money for this, and money for that, and it’ll all be absolutely lovely’ and young people were very attracted by it.”

Number of Hate Crimes Against Jews in Britain has Reached Shocking High

Number of hate crimes against Jews soars as report says anti-semitism is at the 'core' of far-Left beliefs 

By MARTIN BECKFORD, HOME AFFAIRS EDITOR FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY

The number of hate crimes against Jews in Britain has reached a shocking new high, campaigners warn today.

An alarming new report shows that police forces recorded almost 1,000 anti-Semitic offences in 2015 – a 25 per cent rise on the previous year.

Violent attacks on Jews soared by 50 per cent and yet there was a worrying decline in the number of cases where suspects were charged.


The findings come as the Labour Party is gripped by anti-Semitism allegations, some of which are levied at Ken Livingstone, pictured

Campaigners fear the worrying trend is being driven by Islamists, neo-Nazis and far-Left activists and students, who use social media to share sickening images similar to those seen in Nazi Germany.

As I have been saying: anti-Semitism will increase proportionately with the increase in the Muslim population.

In one shocking case, a mob shouting ‘Kill the Jews’ stormed a synagogue in Stamford Hill, North London, smashing windows and attacking worshippers.

The report says that there has been a ‘growth in anti-Semitism as a core part of far-Left’ ideology. The findings come as the Labour Party is gripped by anti-Semitism allegations: MP Naz Shah and former London Mayor Ken Livingstone have both been suspended in the past week, and an internal investigation has been set up by beleaguered party leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Last night, Gideon Falter, chairman of the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism, which published the report, said: ‘This data should alarm those responsible for enforcing the law. They are failing British Jews badly.

MP Naz Shah, pictured, and former London Mayor Ken Livingstone have both been suspended in the past week, and an internal investigation has been set up by beleaguered party leader Jeremy Corbyn

‘If the situation continues to deteriorate, the Jewish community will be faced with the kind of rampant anti-Semitism seen in other European countries, which has left Jews feeling fearful and abandoned, and many of them convinced that they have no choice but to emigrate.’

He added: ‘Britain’s fight against anti-Semitism and extremism cannot be allowed to fail.’

The charity asked every force in Britain how many anti-Semitic incidents and crimes they had recorded in each month of 2014 and 2015, as well as the number that involved violence, and the proportion that led to prosecutions.

Only 13.6 per cent of incidents led to charges in 2015.