[LESS INFO] 6 VIEWS | ADDED 21:53:59 01/31/10
* Iraqi sanctions o Politicians say Saddam is mad as a hatter but when did they decide, when they sold him the gas or when he used it. o I think you'll find his madness is linked to the price of oil. o CIA sponsor dissident groups to unseat him o Myth of the smart bomb. Why did they destroy 600 schools in the 1st Iraq war o Clinton, at the height of his Lewinski impeachment he ordered the bombing of Baghdad with operation Desert Fox. o People died because somebody sucked his cock o Sanctions are crucial thing. Nothing gets in to Iraq without an export license + Ping pong balls + Pencils + Pencil sharpeners + Notepads + Medical texts + Sanitary towels - some of them have got wings you see o Unicef estimate a quarter to half a million children under 5 have died as the result of sanctions. o Met Voices in the Wilderness people who go sanction busting. Top people, Christians but lovely o Exported medicines, toys etc. Have been fined over 200,000 dollars for importing an Iraqi water bottle and a stamp o Went to Washington to talk to them and decided to visit some senators, congressmen etc. about it o Went to whitehouse. The whitehouse is really odd, for a start it's off-cream. o When we go in get stopped by security while all the crew are let through, thinking he wouldn't get in. o Suddenly a voice shouts "Fucking Hell, it's Mark Thomas". It's 3 English lads. "You're not fucking with them are ya?" They ask. "Will you keep it down" says Mark. o 0-10 scale of evil, where would Saddam come, Mark asked David Leavy, Whitehouse National Security Council Spokesperson. He says he's at the higher end. o Evidence of black market dealing in the goods being supplied in return for oil. Evidence that Saddam is building a Hotel with an amusement park including a Ferris Wheel. o Weird that he's got a Ferris wheel but jut as wierd that they are using it as a propaganda tool. o Mark puts the child mortality figures to David Leavy who says that is Saddam's fault not the sanctions. o Taking beanie babies out to Iraq without a license. Mr Leavy cuts short the interview fairly soon. o Head across town and suddenly get an angry call from David Leavy saying "It is not appropriate to use a Beanie Baby in an interview!". o Go to see Congressman Robert Menendez (Democrat, New Jersey - House International Relations Committee) with a video of sanction busting in Iraq with some cancer medicine for a young boy, which is in violation of US law. o Part 2 - There's a British Law "Intent to conspire to Export without an Export License". What does this mean? If I want to take something to Iraq and I think about it am I intending to? o Got a bag of medicines and a ticket to Oman(Amman?) in Jordan. o Phoned up Crimestoppers and shops himself o Suggest he goes to Scotland Yard they send him to the DTI o Goes to DTI, they send him to Customs and Excise who take him in. o Bit Sweeney like characters and shops himself. The law is only used retrospectively when someone has attempted to leave the country. o Mark asks why people who have been caught haven't been prosecuted. They say it's up to the Attorney General. o Cut to outside Attorney General's office with Mark handcuffed to a cage and phones him, speaks to Rupert Cazalet, Private Secretary to the Attorney General. o Tries to present evidence. Police turn up and advise him he can be arrested for chaining himself to the railing and can he move. o Asks if there is a policy not to prosecute due to fear of the publicity. o They claim Customs haven't handed them any papers. o Packing up the gear and he phones back and says they have had reports but no prosecution. Decision because it wasn't felt that it was needed. o He says Mark sounded like a Nazi. Is that actionable? o So where exactly is the point when you will be prosecuted. o Mark goes on the Big Breakfast show 8:30am, 23rd September 1999. o Going to try and take a teddy bear to a little girl in hospital in Baghdad. o Phones up customs and excise. Some confusion over who would issue a license for the bear until they realise it's not a real bear. o Then speaks to Mark Thompson, Customs and Excise at 9:45 am who suggests they check with French customs when they get there. o Next day they phone the DTI to ask if it is OK for them to get stuff to Amman for pick up by someone from Iraq. o Bloke there says "this is only provisional, but if it is known that any item is going to Iraq, from the UK, an application must be made for a UK export license beforehand." Which contradicts the Customs and Excise advice. o Absurd behaviour over the export of a Teddy Bear. o We have to lift the sanctions on Iraq and make sure they don't sell him any guns. o Kathy Kelly from Voices in the Wilderness video over titles with a harrowing story about the death of a child.
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