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So we see scenes of joy in the streets on the BBC: just what Blair needed to save his neck. Will this moment of euphoria last, or was it a temporary coup, a brief moment of triumph similar to that experienced by the anti-war movement on February 15th? Its claimed that those celebrating the invasion were mostly Kurds; some question whether incentives were handed to the crowd. What seems mostlikely is that a small minority joined what amounted to little more than a staged publicity stunt, and found it highly exciting. After all, who wouldn't? Regardless, the crowd didn't number into the tens of thousands in a city of 5 million. And those people in the North of Baghdad who were celebrating - they were chanting that "Saddam was the Enemy of God"....Bin Laden must be laughing out loud.

As the photograph below shows, the scenes of 'joy' that where shown when Saddam's statue was pulled down were hardly widespread. This photo is a long shot of the crowd and square where that event took place. Tony Blair claims that seeing the statue being toppled made him feel redeemed - did he realise that only about 200 people took part - at the behest of a Fox reporter who ran around trying to find a rope to pull the thing down with? No, the 'scenes of joy of liberation' were just a publicity stunt, useful for a few days.

The basis for the occupation will soon appear through the dust and debris of the invasion, and the glaringly obvious - that 'liberation' was a lie - will become apparent. People will start to question the motives of the invasion itself. A feeling of humiliation may creep in, seeing that a small minority of civilians (backed and encouraged by imperialist aggressors) have given some credence to the idea that Iraqi people wanted liberating through death, bombing, eventual exploitation. And all that after ten years of sanctions that ended up killing thousands and impoverishing the entire country. They will feel ashamed of these traitors, and many will feel ashamed of themselves. Britain and the United States helped install Saddam, and then they came and bombed the country to remove him. Even to the least politically conscious individual, the contradictions and hypocrisy of the actions of Blair and Bush will become impossible to ignore.

Even if some Iraqis are keen on the invaders - perhaps they were persecuted by his regime, or wanted power for themselves, and couldn't with the iron grip of Saddam prevening them - they will soon start asking some serious questions: Why has the US decided to impose the Dollar on the country? Why has the US ignored the war crimes and criminal regime of the Israeli Government? When will the Brits and Yanks get out of the country? Why are the US and UK working with Saddam's former henchmen, putting them back in power (like they did ex-Nazi's after WW2 in Europe); aren't they accessories to the enemy? Why are all the contracts for rebuilding going to companies from the invading countries? How many people died, and how many are going to die from unexploded munitions, jittery occupiers and Depleted Uranium? What kind of criminal system is going to be imposed when the US talks of executing Saddam in the States, and shipping countless freedom fighters to Camp X-Ray where they get tied up, drugged and psychologically tortured? Is the US level of incarceration (2 million in prison) going to be applied to this Middle-Eastern country as well? How about US and UK levels of inequality? Why the constant reference to installing a 'free market' - didn't supporters of the war laugh when anyone mentioned the word "imperialism"?

These people aren't stupid and they will soon start resisting the occupation, just as the Palestians do to the ethnic cleansing, apartheid and massacres carried out by the Israeli government and its supporters. This honeymoon period - if we can even call it that - won't last long. Blair and Bush must be brought to account, and the Iraqi people must rise up against their occupiers, throw them out, and create a grass- roots self-government, not another dictatorship that for the time being, is friendly to the West. The fact that Bush and Blair have no interest in seeing a real democracy in Iraq will quickly become apparent. After all, if we had real 'democracy'in the 'UK' we wouldn't have gone to war in the first place.

Cannabis Action in Worthing - The Battle for Legal Herb Continues...

There was a 6" x 6" photo of 11 of us stood on the steps of the Law Courts with the sign clearly displayed all smoking joints or bongs. Winston was the only one arrested and released within 2 hours, complete with his bong and hash with "No further action.. When we set off down to the police station for our on the hour smoke ins we do at the police station after arrests we found Winston calmly, (well, for him), sitting against the police station wall chugging away at Excalibur, his favourite bong.

There was around 30 people protesting as normal and the police did not start any action until after the press had gone, searching Ian, (one of our wheelchair bound customers and a Herb Connection member), Gordon, (another medi-user) and arresting Winston. (He refused to give up smoking his bong and tried to walk into the court building smoking it).

In court I asked if Chris could be my McKenzie friend and the court agreed so Chris climbed in to the dock with me. I had been charged with possession after walking into Buddy's just after the police had battered the door down to get in. I asked them what the hell they were doing in my shop and they showed me a copy of a search warrant for the cafe 2 doors away, No 12 Coronation Buildings, not 10 as our address is. Shirley, the cafe owner and one of our staunchest supporters is livid and is putting in a formal complaint. I signed the seizure sheets saying that this was an illegal search and accepted that all the cannabis in the shop was my personal, (around 15 bags with bit's in, it was before we had opened up and stocked up, total around 13 - 15 gms)

An operation involving 9 cops costing thousands to arrest and charge little O'l me, a medi user, for possession of less that 1/2 Oz. In court I stated my intention to ask for a Old Fashioned Committal in which I intend arguing there is no case to answer to as all evidence collected is inadmissible as it was as a result of an illegally executed search warrant. I told the magistrates in open court that the police may as well get a search warrant for the court building and bust us next time. The magistrate was fine and the case was adjourned until February 10th 2003 for the CPS to get their act together. On a positive note, a meeting has been arranged between Chris, Myself and a senior police officer tomorrow morning at 10.00 am and I will report on the meting ASAP afterwards.

High Regards, Phil L

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