The UN, US and Iraq IV

36-member Assembly to replace council[/size]

Baghdad, Iraq Press, November 19, 2003 - A 36-member National Assembly is to replace the current interim Governing Council before the United States officially hands power over to a transitional government, it has emerged.

The assembly will be an elected body of two representatives from each of the country's 18 provinces.

Each province will hold elections to choose its two representatives to the Assembly which will form the government and prepare for the writing of a constitution and elections before the end of 2005.

But the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority will hand over power officially to the new government in June 2004 ...

Battle the MoD lost: papers reveal failed bid to sway opinion on Iraq
David Hencke and Andy Rowell
Wednesday November 19, 2003
The Guardian

Last month Britain made the people of Iraq more secure from terrorism than at any time since the fall of Saddam Hussein. And millions of Iraqis are grateful for having the best public services - from schools to clean water and power - they have had since the first Gulf war.

These were headlines that Geoff Hoon, the defence secretary, hoped would appear in British newspapers during "Big October", the code name for a media offensive aimed to convert the UK public to supporting the outcome of the Iraq war.

But now, after daily reports of terrorist attacks on the Americans and last week's killing of 17 Italian policemen, the men and women from the Ministry of Defence are blaming "negative attitudes by news editors" for the failure of the headlines to materialise.

The ministry's strategy - drawn up at a meeting in London on September 16 - has been revealed after the leaking of confidential papers from a media seminar which have been seen by the Guardian.

The Iraq Troop Contributing Nations seminar - also attended by representatives from the Czech Republic, Denmark, Italy, Lithuania, Holland, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal and Romania - was aimed at creating a strategy to counteract potential unrest during the holy month of Ramadan. The documents say: "The MoD sees Ramadan as a major potential period of instability in Iraq and a time when Iraqis will assess the effectiveness of the coalition partners' authority. Information operations are seen as a tool to help keep the situation manageable."

It goes on to say that "the MoD's main target is the UK public and media while [the main target] of the Basra headquarters for British troops is the Iraqi people".

The two main issues to push in the British media were: "Security in Iraq - try to push the perception that Iraq is becoming more secure" and "utilities and reconstruction - try to demonstrate that service and utilities are as good as if not better than before the war".

A spokesman for the MoD yesterday reeled off pages of statistics which he said showed that things were getting better. He said one third of people in Basra were now connected to sewage and 80% to mains water, more electricity was being generated in Basra than before the war and hospitals now had their own independent generators.

The spokesman said: "These are not being reported because of the negative attitude of news editors who find front page reports about deaths more newsworthy. Only one paper, the Economist, has taken an interest."

However Menzies Campbell, Liberal Democrat deputy leader, said yesterday: "A media campaign can only be successful if it is connected to reality. The search for weapons of mass destruction has yielded nothing and the Iraq security situation has deteriorated."

I, too, am devilishly amused by the whole "dog" caper. It was quite clear to me, from the beginning, what Setanta meant. So the dust-up was a bit baffling. And then Gautam tut-tutted so beautifully -- you may not be Brit-born, G., but you are Brit-bred.

Does Mr. HInteler know that the Guardian is a left wing paper?

does Mr. Hinteler think we are stupid?

Does Mr. Hinteler assume that we would get Pro-Soviet propaganda from the Nazi Voelkischer Beobachter or that we would recieve Pro-Nazi material from Pravda during World War II.

Why does Mr. Hinteler assume we would get an unbaised message from the left wing Guardian.

My friend in England says the Guardian is good only to line the bottom of his bird cage.

The Brits are schizoid

I don't have a problem with the end of the monarchy either, but I'd prefer a kind of Danish or Dutch generation followed by gentle demise.

What do you think would happen if GWB were killed in London tomorrow? (say, by a muslim who might conceivably have a grudge against him)

Or, if his helicopter were brought down by a SAM missile over Durham on Friday? (It could happen, the IRA have been selling arms, provided by Lybia and the folks of Boston, to British criminals)

What then?

Meanwhile, back to the Royal Cornflakes

My inside information is that George and Laura spent a comfortable night in the Belgium suite, although Laura commented the canopy above the bed was a bit "tacky". Royal staff were concerned Mr Bush looked a little drowsy and offered something to combat the affects of jet lag. Laura said on the contrary, he was unusually chirpy this morning.

Condi and Colin had to shack up together in the servants quarters, until the US Ambassador was called and explained that blacks now have equal rights in the US.

Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth had her usual breakfast of Earl Grey tea, toast honey and marmalade. Their Royal Lownesses the Countessa of Corgis finished off the marmalade. Prince Phillip ordered a cooked breakfast Cumberland sausage, English back bacon, eggs and tomatoes. He complimented on the tomatoes until he found they were Spanish. There was some distress that the Racing Post was not in its proper position on top of the newspapers. A footman, Mr Alan Kyder who was in fact a journalist for the popular tabloid Aljazeera has been dismissed and will be shot at 11.00 am precisely.

George Dubya said:-

God told me to strike at al-Qaida and I struck them; then he instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did; and now I am determined to solve the problem in the Middle East. If you help me I will act.