War on Terror
A Visit To The Green Zone
I freely admit to being a frequent critic of the US government on policy and procedure – with ample reason – but I have to say my dealings with the citiizen services section at the US Embassy in London over the past week or so have been a model of efficiency and pleasantness. They couldn’t have been more helpful and produced an emergency passport within 2 hours. By comparison the UK passport agency is a Kafkesque nightmare of stupid beurocracy, made ten timesworse by uneducated, rude and untrained staff and a rapacious charging policy.
Mind you, we had to go through what looked like the Norrh/South Korean border zone to get that exemplary service: roads leading into Grosvenor Square are closed, there are tank traps and steel barriers and armoured police with submachine guns at regular intervals and ID required at numerous checkpoints. If that’s not enough to intimidate, there’s the big fuckoff cameras on poles every couple of feet that swivel to watch you as you negotiate the maze of barriers and checkpoints.. I have no doubt there are armed police on the roof and on surrounding buildings too.
I wonder how much thiis must cost – and more to the point, who’s paying?
On my sporadic visits to the embassy over the past twenty years or so (the last time was 1996) the only apparent security has come from from the spit and polished, buzz-cut US marines in full dress uniform on guard at the imposing front doors, with a few desultory British plods lounging about outside for show. No doubt there was much more security than that, but it wasn’t so dramatically in-your-face as today. Then the public face of the US to its host countries was ebulliently confident, if not hubristically arrogant – it was the confidence of knowing it was the big kid on the block and could deal with any threat, even though there were arguably more threats from more terrorist groups then than there are now. There was no need to put up barriers and gun turrets: what the embassy said was ‘We are America. Come and have a go if you think you’re hard enough”.
But not any more, because they did come and have a go, largely as a result of that hubristic arrogance.
What the US embassy says externally (now that it more resembles a fragment of disintegrating Death Star, with all its bristliing antennae and visible armour) rather than power and confidence, is “We’re scared shitless and we don’t care who knows it”.
But I’m glad to say that the Americans inside themselves were, as always, cordial and efficient -and, as always, I wondered how people who are so cordial, pleasant and efficient can have produced such a fucked up government as this one.
Timing Is Everything
I can’t believe I only realised yesterday when Martin pointed it out that next Tuesday, the day I have to be at the US embassy in Grosvenor Square, is actually September 11.
No wonder that appointment was so easy to get.
I Predict A ‘Riot’
Another form of protest is making Sydney police look like idiots – no protest at all.
Here’s that list of predicted APEC rioters in full:
As of yesterday afternoon, APEC-related arrests in Sydney have encompassed 11 members of a comedy troupe, a man who squirted tomato sauce on a pro-US banner and another individual who apparently used bad language.
There’s a peaceful protest planned for today and I’m willing to put good money on it that something kicks off suddenly about 4pm .au time as the thousands of frustrated riot police who were promised a bloody good hippy-kicking by their superiors realise that if they want a riot. they’ll have to start one themselves.
How else will they get a chance to play with their nifty new paramilitary anti-personnel weapons?
(BTW, That’s a fine collection of overeating, beerguzzling jowls they’ve got there. Are they a badge of petty fascist rank or something?)
Security Theatre Cast Fails To Show
It’s just so embarassing when you throw a party to impress the boss and the entertainment lets you down.
Melbourne blogger Jeremy at An Onymous Lefty gives us a glimpse of the Australian Prime Minister John Howard’s thoughts, as riots yet again fail to develop in Sydney and the city is kept under lockdown for nothing:
Where the bloody hell are you?
I don’t understand it. Why haven’t there been any violent protests by the violent hippies being violently violent yet? I’m COUNTING ON THEM. Sure, George has given me his glowing support, but I’m beginning to think that doesn’t count for all that much with Australians any more. It’s as if they think he’s going to lose office next year and that his successor won’t give a tinker’s cuss who was George’s bestest friend in the whole southern hemisphere.
Basically, without SOMETHING we can beat up into a bit of “violence”, the entire working population of Sydney’s going to turn on us for the massively over-the-top authoritarian police state stuff that we’ve been justifying on the basis of “violence” that I’m beginning to fear isn’t actually coming. I’d thought there’d have to be at least half-a-dozen long-haired layabouts who could be counted on to throw something at police, but we haven’t even had that.
Where ARE you protesters? All we’ve had are a couple of peaceful kids. I don’t understand it. Why would you be waiting for the weekend? As far as I understand it, you’re all filthy ferals without jobs who are always up for a bit of the old senseless ultra-violence. That’s the story we’ve been telling, anyway. Either I’m wrong about that, or you should be here right now, violently being violent with violence.
Heh.