Posts Tagged ‘iraq’

War talk

Written By: - Date published: 9:38 am, April 8th, 2013 - 125 comments

Key has put his foot in it again with talk of war against North Korea. Life was so much simpler when he was in opposition…

Iraq war a “success”

Written By: - Date published: 8:20 am, December 16th, 2011 - 36 comments

So the war in Iraq is “officially” over. The end of a shameful chapter.

Iraq war profiteers

Written By: - Date published: 11:40 am, August 9th, 2010 - 15 comments

I regard the invasion of Iraq as one of the most shameful events in America’s history. The made up cover story about “weapons of mass destruction” was quickly shown to be a lie. It was always about the oil. And for too many of those on the ground it was always about lining their pockets with billions of dollars worth of slush money.

The Nats on Iraq

Written By: - Date published: 11:55 am, November 5th, 2008 - 34 comments

The Nats have had two responses to English’s “pull the trigger” comments revealed last night: first the taping itself was branded a “dirty trick” and now we have Key claiming on Sunrise this morning that the comments may have been taken out of context. Well here’s a view of his own, straight from Hansard, with […]

Choosing a Righter Future

Written By: - Date published: 2:25 pm, September 2nd, 2008 - 19 comments

A couple more National Party billboards I whipped up in my lunch break. You know, when the original is so godawful it takes all the fun out of the parody. Step it up could you, National? Even Ansell’s better than this… (Click on the images for larger versions or here for more submitted by readers.)

Matt McCarten from the Herald on Sunday

Written By: - Date published: 12:23 pm, June 16th, 2008 - 15 comments

Worth a read: Remember when George Bush’s administration promised the world that the invasion of Iraq would be over in a few weeks? We were assured that the Iraqis would throw flowers at their liberators, the war would make a tidy profit and petrol prices would plummet. Next time you fill up your car think […]

Mission Accomplished

Written By: - Date published: 11:54 am, May 1st, 2008 - 33 comments

Today is the fifth anniversary of Bush’s infamous “Mission Accomplished” speech in which he stated that “Major combat operations in Iraq have ended”. To mark the date Moveon.org have released the following ad, intended to remind the public that as McCain himself said, “no one has supported President Bush on Iraq more” than he has. […]

Bush’s war – online documentary on Iraq

Written By: - Date published: 5:01 pm, April 10th, 2008 - 7 comments

This recent article in the NYTimes illustrates how the way we inform ourselves is changing, and that it’s increasing access to some serious topics. ‘Bush’s War,’ was produced for the fifth anniversary of the United States’ invasion of Iraq, and is avaiable to watch, online, for free.  It has set a viewing record, with more than 1.5 million […]

Five years of hell

Written By: - Date published: 3:10 pm, March 20th, 2008 - 94 comments

It is five years since the US and allies invaded Iraq, and the war is far from over. Every day, there is fighting and people continue to die. Four million Iraqi children have lived their whole lives during war. World-famous economist Joseph Sitglitz estimates the war has cost the world US$6 trillion – the annual […]

Hitting a nerve

Written By: - Date published: 6:53 pm, March 5th, 2008 - 22 comments

In this afternoon’s debate Gerry Brownlee tried to have the word “slippery” ruled unparliamentary in relation to John Key. Proof, if any were needed, that Cullen had hit a nerve perhaps? Also interesting to see John Key leading off General Debate in the House – the Nats have done this before when Key’s been in […]

The cost of the war in Iraq

Written By: - Date published: 5:09 am, November 14th, 2007 - 5 comments

From the BBC: “The US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are costing nearly double the amount previously thought, according to a report set to be released by Congress”. The Washington post has the full story: The economic costs to the United States of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan so far total approximately $1.5 trillion, […]

Mashup

Written By: - Date published: 10:37 am, October 24th, 2007 - 19 comments

We love remixes (well all except those German house ones of classic 80’s pop). Imagine our delight when we found this in out inbox this morning – tempered only, of course, by the fact the Iraq war is still on. (Hat tip: youknowwhoyouare)

Sweden catches the Key desease

Written By: - Date published: 3:38 pm, October 19th, 2007 - 6 comments

I know there is occasionally talk in New Zealand about “becoming the Sweden of the South Pacific” but this may just have us thinking again. A website under the name ‘The Local – Sweden’s News in English’ headlines ‘No conflict in Iraq,’ says Swedish court. Apparently Sweden’s Migration Court has turned down calls from a […]

The war is not over for the children

Written By: - Date published: 5:18 pm, October 11th, 2007 - 26 comments

For people visiting www.thewariniraqisnotover.com, I am tempted to add another requirement for those feeling genuinely outraged at John Key’s statement on the war in Iraq. Make a donation to the Save the Children Fund and demonstrate some practical support for the bad state of affairs in that sad country. In May 2003, the Save the […]

Key doesn’t deserve the moral high ground

Written By: - Date published: 11:13 am, October 11th, 2007 - 10 comments

No surprise to hear Key in the House yesterday relying on his research unit – Fran O’Sullivan – to try and weasel his way out of his “the war in Iraq is over” comment. As posted previously here on The Standard, ministers’ comments made back in 2003 were made in a very different context – […]

Petition: John Key should apologise

Written By: - Date published: 4:09 pm, October 10th, 2007 - 15 comments

Like many listeners, we were stunned to hear this from a man who wants to lead New Zealand. Key has since claimed both that he is technically right and that his comment has been taken out of context. But we’re not buying his excuses. We believe that he should unreservedly apologise to the people of […]

UK police allow anti-war march to Parliament

Written By: - Date published: 10:14 am, October 9th, 2007 - Comments Off on UK police allow anti-war march to Parliament

Great photo of Tony Benn and Brian Haw from the anti-war march held in today in London (via The Guardian). Fantastic that a compromise between police and protesters was reached and the march was able to end in Parliament Square. Pictures below from Reuters.

Iraq is over & it should never have started.

Written By: - Date published: 8:27 pm, October 8th, 2007 - Comments Off on Iraq is over & it should never have started.

I recently encountered an old ‘friend’ I’d not seen in a while. “Mugg he murmured. What a fiasco those Yanks are in over there in Iraq.” “Dead right I responded. The trouble is [mate] it’s the entire world that’s in the crap now!” And he agreed with a solemn nod. Then I couldn’t resist it. […]

Thousands expected at UK anti-war march

Written By: - Date published: 1:47 pm, October 8th, 2007 - Comments Off on Thousands expected at UK anti-war march

Sounds like John Key’s good news hasn’t filtered through to the UK yet. The Guardian reports that “Thousands of anti-war protesters will mount a peaceful challenge to a ban on marches outside parliament today, unless there is a last-minute compromise with the police”. The organisers at the Stop the War Coalition were originally told by […]

Measuring the death-toll in Iraq

Written By: - Date published: 12:21 pm, October 8th, 2007 - 2 comments

Perhaps spurred on by General Petraeus’ claim to Congress last month that civilian deaths in Iraq were down 45% since December last year, the debate about the official civilian death toll in Iraq seems to have intensified. Several groups – including MoveOn.org who recently ran the ad pictured – have accused the military of publishing […]

John Key’s global humiliation

Written By: - Date published: 12:51 pm, October 4th, 2007 - 1 comment

Too late – John’s humiliation is now global. Here’s the UK Guardian’s blog. “New Zealand’s opposition leader, John Key, the head of the centre right National Party, has an interesting take on the Iraq war, one perhaps not seen since George Bush stood on the USS Abraham Lincoln with a Mission Accomplished banner behind him. […]

Cheney shoots himself in the face

Written By: - Date published: 6:15 pm, August 22nd, 2007 - Comments Off on Cheney shoots himself in the face

Seems John Key’s not the only politician who’s had his previous statements on Iraq come back to bite him recently. Here’s Dick Cheney in 1994 explaining why the invasion and occupation of Iraq would not be the smartest course of action and would quickly become, in his own words, “a quagmire”. Interestingly, even in 2000 […]

Get your story straight John

Written By: - Date published: 3:04 pm, August 15th, 2007 - 8 comments

“New Zealand troops should be alongside their British and United States allies as they continue their invasion of Iraq” … “Blood is thicker than water… we have to look to the future, and that isn’t with some Franco-German coalition” (Rodney Times, 2003) But then the flip-flop… Iraq is “too far away” to have an opinion […]