The Devil's Double, Amsterdam Premiere, September 5th 2011

The Dutch Premiere of The Devil's Double, Amsterdam September 5th 2011. My special thanks to Corrino Media Group , Staccato and A-Film who organised the event, well done to all a great evening and the best premiere so far!

Vanaf 8 september in de bioscoop: The Devil's Double (NL)! Van James Bond regisseur Lee Tamahori komt deze knallende actiefilm over de dubbelganger van de zoon van Saddam Hussein! Ook wel de Scarface van het Midden Oosten genoemd dus deze film mag je niet missen!

Mooie vrouwen in gouden bikini's, de aanwezigheid van de internationale cast en regisseur, een stormloop op Tuschinski en meer dan genoeg BN'ertjes die deze film niet wilden missen: alle ingrediënten voor een geslaagde première waren aanwezig. Maar het meest bijzondere was toch wel dat de echte Latif Yahia acte de presence gaf met zijn familie. Inderdaad, de man die gedwongen werd de dubbelganger van Uday Hoessein te worden; een sadistische en totaal ontspoorde dictatorszoon. 

Abu Ghraib Prison

This site is to show the Horrific footage of American techniques at Abu Ghraib prison.
To throw light on the hypocrisy that is the West, "we shall not torture! - on our own soil" Under the veil of Liberation America went into Iraq to save the Iraqi people, instead they tortured, killed, maimed and defiled. But even through the occupation they did not "install" Democracy, but a weak and feeble government, an excuse for an Iraqi Parliament controlled on one side by Iran and the other by America. Iraq will never again be free or Liberated.

Abu Ghraib Prison Part 1

Abu Ghraib Prison Part 2

Abu Ghraib Prison Part 3

Abu Ghraib Prison Part 4

Abu Ghraib Prison Part 5

Abu Ghraib Prison Part 6

Abu Ghraib Prison Part 7

Abu Ghraib Prison Part 8

Hussein Wanted Soviets to Head Off U.S. in 1991

By: Michael R. Gordon
Published: January 19,2011

WASHINGTON — As the American-led ground offensive in the first war with Iraq got under way on Feb. 24, 1991, Saddam Hussein directed his frustration at an unlikely target: the Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev. Mr. Hussein had dispatched his foreign minister to Moscow in an 11th-hour bid to head off a ground war.

After prodding by Mr. Gorbachev, Mr. Hussein had offered to withdraw Iraqi troops from Kuwait in 21 days. But the United States appeared to be moving ahead with its land campaign.

“The situation is now is getting worse,” Mr. Hussein had written the previous night in an emotional letter to the Soviet leader. “Our nation and army are confused. We are asking ourselves which one is more significant: the Soviet Union’s proposal or the Americans’ threats?”

Speaking to trusted aides, Mr. Hussein was less diplomatic, denouncing Mr. Gorbachev as a “scoundrel” who lacked the will or influence to stay the first President George Bush’s hand. “He tricked us,” Mr. Hussein said. “I knew he would betray us!”

The disclosures about Mr. Hussein’s closed-door deliberations that first day of the Persian Gulf land war are documented in an extraordinary Iraqi archive, which includes 2,300 hours of recorded meetings and millions of pages of documents, that was captured by United States forces after the 2003 invasion.

On the 20th anniversary of Operation Desert Storm (the air campaign began on Jan. 17, 1991), three transcripts of Mr. Hussein’s fateful decisions are being released to coincide with a symposium in Texas on Thursday with Mr. Bush and members of his war cabinet. Only a small portion of the archive, stored in digital form at the National Defense University, has been declassified and opened to outside researchers. (A 2008 government report drew on the three Feb. 24 transcripts, but until now they have not been available in their entirety.)

The war’s history has been well documented, but the three transcripts provide gripping new details of what went on inside the Iraqi command, including Mr. Hussein’s anger at Mr. Gorbachev and his misinterpretation of the United States’ military actions.

With only fragments of information coming from the battlefield and a room full of subordinates eager to applaud the faintest glimmer of success, Mr. Hussein was convinced that the United States lacked the resolve to wage a grinding ground war, the transcripts show.

Even if the Americans suffered just one casualty for every four Iraqi casualties, he boldly predicted, the United States would falter. He lectured his aides that igniting Kuwait’s oil fields to hinder the allied warplanes was a valid military tactic that would not enrage the world. And he and his aides kept misreading the signals about whether the ground assault had even begun.

Studied along with a parallel archive of declassified transcripts at the George Bush Presidential Library at Texas A & M University, the captured Iraqi records depict Mr. Gorbachev as eager to engineer a solution that would protect the Soviet Union’s former Iraqi client and make the Soviets an equal partner with the United States in international diplomacy, but unwilling to jeopardize his relations with the Bush administration.

Mr. Bush emerges as a leader who sought to mollify Mr. Gorbachev even as the United States stuck to its demand for the unconditional withdrawal of Iraqi forces from Kuwait.

“It is your neighborhood, and some of them are your friends,” Mr. Bush told Mr. Gorbachev in a phone call on Feb. 22, 1991. “We recognize Soviet interests in the area. I want to get our forces out of there as soon as possible. I know how the Iranians and others feel.”

Jeffrey A. Engel, a professor at the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A & M, noted that the exchanges showed that “despite heated discussions at the height of war with Iraq, Bush and Gorbachev were fundamentally concerned with safeguarding the future of Soviet-American relations.”

Iraq’s invasion and occupation of Kuwait on Aug. 2, 1990, were followed by months of demands that Iraqi forces leave the Persian Gulf nation, resolutions in the United Nations Security Council and a buildup of military might by the Americans and their allies in the region.

After the air campaign began in January, preparations for a possible ground attack in Iraq were stepped up. With the ground war just days away, Mr. Gorbachev mounted a peacemaking effort. Tariq Aziz, the Iraqi foreign minister, arrived in Moscow on Feb. 21. Later that day, Mr. Gorbachev told Mr. Bush in a phone call that he sensed a “serious shift” in Iraq’s position, according to a transcript in the Bush Library.

Iraq, Mr. Gorbachev said, was no longer demanding that resolution of the gulf crisis be linked to other issues in the Middle East. And although the Iraqis had initially demanded that they be given six weeks to leave Kuwait, the Soviets had insisted that the schedule be shortened to 21 days. That timetable still fell short of Mr. Bush’s demands that Mr. Hussein unconditionally remove his troops and pay reparations to Kuwait and that a plan be worked out to deal with Iraq’s poison gas, biological weapons and nuclear arms programs.

Mr. Gorbachev’s diplomatic efforts were undermined on Feb. 22 when the Kuwaiti oil well fires that Mr. Hussein had ordered set — and which he saw as a defensive measure — were described by Mr. Bush in his conversation with the Soviet leader as a “scorched-earth policy” and a reason to not delay military action. Mr. Bush said it should take the Iraqis no more than seven days to pull out of Kuwait, and he issued them an ultimatum to take action before noon the following day.

On Feb. 23, just minutes before the noon deadline, Mr. Bush and the Soviet leader spoke by telephone. Mr. Gorbachev argued that joint American-Soviet action through the United Nations would establish a model for dealing with other crises.

“George, let’s keep cool,” Mr. Gorbachev said. “Saddam wants to stall, but we are not simpletons.”

But Mr. Bush’s patience had been exhausted. “Mikhail,” he said, “I appreciate that spirit, but I don’t want to leave a false impression there is any more time.” If the Iraqis intended to comply with the withdrawal demand, he said, it would need to happen “in the next few minutes.”

In Baghdad the next morning, Mr. Hussein waited anxiously for word from his foreign minister, who had left Moscow. “When will Comrade Tariq arrive?” the Iraqi leader asked. Told that Mr. Aziz had yet to return to Baghdad, Mr. Hussein demanded: “What do you mean he has not arrived?” He read aloud a headline: “Tariq Aziz Arrives in Baghdad.”

As he waited for the minister to show up, Mr. Hussein instructed his subordinates to read a letter he had sent to Mr. Gorbachev the night before, asking the Soviet president why he was not doing more to oppose Mr. Bush’s decision to start the ground war. “We trusted you,” Mr. Hussein wrote.

The conspiracy-minded Iraqi leader seemed both baffled and angry.

“In typical fashion, he suspected that Iraq had been stabbed in the back, this time by disingenuous Soviet mediation efforts,” said David Palkki, the deputy director of the research center that houses the declassified Hussein archives.

Mr. Gorbachev’s reply was not reassuring. He wrote that Mr. Bush did not agree with the Soviet proposal, and that if Mr. Hussein wanted to avoid a ground war, he should immediately issue a statement saying that Iraq would withdraw its forces within 9 to 10 days, which was close to Mr. Bush’s seven-day timeline.

When Mr. Aziz finally arrived to see Mr. Hussein, the Iraqi leader greeted him with a laugh: “Are you up to surprises like Bush?”

To elude American warplanes, Mr. Aziz had returned via Jordan and traveled by road to Baghdad. Like two teenagers discussing the latest muscle car, Mr. Hussein and his foreign minister talked about how fast it was possible to drive on Iraq’s roads.

“We were going 220 on the highway,” Mr. Aziz said, referring to kilometers. That translates to more than 130 miles per hour.

Neither official put much hope in getting help from Iraq’s neighbors. One aide asked about Iran, whose eight-year war with Iraq had ended in 1988. “We are done dealing with the Iranians this time,” Mr. Aziz said. Added Mr. Hussein: “Like all new revolutions, they talk too much.”

With little accurate intelligence, Mr. Hussein and his command failed to grasp their adversary’s strategy. The Iraqis believed an American amphibious landing — a giant feint intended to distract Iraqi troops — was likely.

And Mr. Hussein initially mistook some probing actions by the American military as signs that a major attack had been mounted and contained. “If this is the initial shock,” Mr. Hussein said, “then the attack has failed.”

But as the day wore on, the seriousness of the predicament became more apparent. Frustrated at their inability to negotiate a compromise on their terms, the Iraqi officials speculated that casualties that the United States would suffer in a ground attack would lead Mr. Bush to soften his demands.

“Let us pray to God to grant us success to slaughter any number of them,” Mr. Aziz said. “That is what is going to help us get results.”

“Let them come to Karbala city,” Mr. Hussein said confidently. “It will become their cemetery.”

Many Arab officials have close CIA links: Assange

Top officials in several Arab countries have close links with the CIA, and many officials keep visiting US embassies in their respective countries voluntarily to establish links with this key US intelligence agency, says Julian Assange, founder of the whistle-blowing website, WikiLeaks.

“These officials are spies for the US in their countries,” Assange told Al Jazeera Arabic channel in an interview yesterday.

The interviewer, Ahmed Mansour, said at the start of the interview which was a continuation of last week’s interface, that Assange had even shown him the files that contained the names of some top Arab officials with alleged links with the CIA.

Assange or Mansour, however, didn’t disclose the names of these officials. The WikiLeaks founder said he feared he could be killed but added that there were 2,000 websites that were ready to publish the remaining files that are in possession of WikiLeaks after “he has been done away with”.

“If I am killed or detained for a long time, there are 2,000 websites ready to publish the remaining files. We have protected these websites through very safe passwords,” said Assange.

Currently, his whistle-blowing website is exposing files in a ‘responsible’ manner, he claimed. “But if I am forced we could go to the extreme and expose each and every file that we have access to,” thundered the WikiLeaks founder. “We must protect our sources at whatever cost. This is our sincere concern.”

Some Arab countries even have torture houses where Washington regularly sends ‘suspects’ for ‘interrogation and torture’, he said.

WikiLeaks is receiving sensitive files from Afghanistan, Kenya, Russia and China, among other countries. For nine years the US and Nato forces have failed to silence people in Afghanistan because the people there are loyal and truthful. The US marines fighting in Afghanistan are not happy being there and don’t really know why they are there and fighting for what, said Assange.The US is trying to use latest technology to disrupt his website but in vain.

“Washington is also projecting me as a terrorist and wants to convince the world that I am another Osama bin Laden,” he said. According to Assange, he will be put on a trial for his various expose in a special court in London from January 11, 2011 and this court deals with terror-related cases.

“If the UK (where I am based right now) decides to hand me over to Sweden for alleged cases of sexual abuse, they (Stockholm) would hand me over to the US,” he said. Assange said he feared that the US might slap laws declaring him as a spy who had been acting against Washington. The Pentagon has set up a ‘war room’ manned by 120 officials and their job is just to disrupt and destroy WikiLeaks, he said.

“We have more files dealing with defense issues of Central Europe, but I or my staff didn’t have the time to go through all of them.” What is being published by the five media partners of WikiLeaks are publishing only those details which they think are interesting for their readers. There are some Arab officials who are ‘stealing’ oil of their countries.

“We need these media partners to focus more on this issue,” Assange said in this extensive, interesting and last version of his interface with Doha-based Aljazeera. US embassies around the world are very anxious about Israel, Iran, Labour unions, arms dealings (mainly selling of American arms), and spying through high-tech devices.

UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection

the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression

Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression

Joint Statement On Wikileaks

December 21, 2010 – In light of ongoing developments related to the release of diplomatic cables by the organization Wikileaks, and the publication of information contained in those cables by mainstream news organizations, the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression see fit to recall a number of international legal principles. The rapporteurs call upon States and other relevant actors to keep these principles in mind when responding to the aforementioned developments.

1. The right to access information held by public authorities is a fundamental human right subject to a strict regime of exceptions. The right to access to information protects the right of every person to access public information and to know what governments are doing on their behalf. It is a right that has received particular attention from the international community, given its importance to the consolidation, functioning and preservation of democratic regimes. Without the protection of this right, it is impossible for citizens to know the truth, demand accountability and fully exercise their right to political participation. National authorities should take active steps to ensure the principle of maximum transparency, address the culture of secrecy that still prevails in many countries and increase the amount of information subject to routine disclosure.

2. At the same time, the right of access to information should be subject to a narrowly tailored system of exceptions to protect overriding public and private interests such as national security and the rights and security of other persons. Secrecy laws should define national security precisely and indicate clearly the criteria which should be used in determining whether or not information can be declared secret. Exceptions to access to information on national security or other grounds should apply only where there is a risk of substantial harm to the protected interest and where that harm is greater than the overall public interest in having access to the information. In accordance with international standards, information regarding human rights violations should not be considered secret or classified.

3. Public authorities and their staff bear sole responsibility for protecting the confidentiality of legitimately classified information under their control. Other individuals, including journalists, media workers and civil society representatives, who receive and disseminate classified information because they believe it is in the public interest, should not be subject to liability unless they committed fraud or another crime to obtain the information. In addition, government "whistleblowers" releasing information on violations of the law, on wrongdoing by public bodies, on a serious threat to health, safety or the environment, or on a breach of human rights or humanitarian law should be protected against legal, administrative or employment-related sanctions if they act in good faith. Any attempt to impose subsequent liability on those who disseminate classified information should be grounded in previously established laws enforced by impartial and independent legal systems with full respect for due process guarantees, including the right to appeal.

4. Direct or indirect government interference in or pressure exerted upon any expression or information transmitted through any means of oral, written, artistic, visual or electronic communication must be prohibited by law when it is aimed at influencing content. Such illegitimate interference includes politically motivated legal cases brought against journalists and independent media, and blocking of websites and web domains on political grounds. Calls by public officials for illegitimate retributive action are not acceptable.

5. Filtering systems which are not end-user controlled – whether imposed by a government or commercial service provider – are a form of prior censorship and cannot be justified. Corporations that provide Internet services should make an effort to ensure that they respect the rights of their clients to use the Internet without arbitrary interference.

6. Self-regulatory mechanisms for journalists have played an important role in fostering greater awareness about how to report on and address difficult and controversial subjects. Special journalistic responsibility is called for when reporting information from confidential sources that may affect valuable interests such as fundamental rights or the security of other persons. Ethical codes for journalists should therefore provide for an evaluation of the public interest in obtaining such information. Such codes can also provide useful guidance for new forms of communication and for new media organizations, which should likewise voluntarily adopt ethical best practices to ensure that the information made available is accurate, fairly presented and does not cause substantial harm to legally protected interests such as human rights.

Catalina Botero Marino
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression

Frank LaRue
UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression

Dominic Cooper on Playing
Saddam's Hussein's Son Uday.

BY Bryan Alexander

Every actor has that role which would seemingly be impossible to understand. For British actor Dominic Cooper that would be playing Saddam Hussein's sadistic son Uday.

Cooper portrayed the eldest son of the Iraqi leader for the upcoming film "The Devil's Double" and admits to PopcornBiz that he prepared for the part "with difficulty."

"The man was a monster, a psychopath," he says, speaking at the press day of his new film "Tamara Drewe."

"It was terrifying."

Looking into the damage the Iraqi heir-apparent caused in his own country was incredibly difficult. Uday and his younger brother Qusay had a reign of terror that went unchecked in their country.

"He was above the law," says Cooper. "There was nothing stopping him. He killed and raped and maimed."

"He was the most hideous man I have ever done any research on."

Yet somehow, Cooper had to find a way to identify with this character. At one point, he resorted to taking advice from the film's director, Lee Tamahori, about how this would be possible.

"I want to bring a certain amount of myself to the characters. Most actors do," says Cooper. "You want to make a connection to a certain part in you."

This was difficult with Uday Hussein.

"I needed help identifying with someone I ultimately hated," he adds. " And I had to understand the concept of why he was the man he was."

To make matters worse. Cooper had to play two characters. Both Uday and his sympathetic body double around whom the story is told.

"And there's a lot of pressure to get it right because he affected so many people's lives so horrendously," Cooper says.

In the end, he found his Uday, and he promises a chilling film.

"It's a harrowing story," says Cooper. "But ultimately it's a gangster film set in a lawless environment."

Bring George W Bush to Trial for Genocide.

Never has it happened that such a well known and respected prosecutor in America has taken such a stance against a President. Having had three bestselling books and winning all his cases Vincent Bugliosi is now set to do his utmost to get George W. Bush to stand trial for the atrocities that he committed not only in Iraq but against his own countrymen and women. Support him and let us finally see some justice in this world and let us see America as a beacon of Democracy as we once did.

Save our civilization from the New world Order.

Don't believe the lies, every vote counts and your expression of disappointment with your government will make a change. We are kept in an environment of fear to control us, ask yourself who benefits from our submission? Who gains from our fear and our readiness to relinquish the freedoms that we once fought so hard to attain but now hand over as if they were nothing of importance. You have the power use your voice, cast your vote, stand your ground. You can make a difference! Wake up! the power is in your hands!

( Forewarned is Forearmed )
By Latif Yahia

Death Squads 2003 Iraq

As Buddha sat under the tree pondering whether he should reveal the content of his enlightenment to the world, I sit at this computer debating whether or not I should give you all this next piece of Information.
I have tried to give this piece of information to the authorities but, as always, because I am not on their payroll and they don't like what I have to say, they ignore me and disparage my credibility.
The fact is that I don’t like this information any better that the next guy, but it's the truth and it's coming.

AL-Hakem in Iran 2002

Before I begin, I want you to understand something, yes I am called a Sunni, but my mother is Kurdish and my sister married a Shia, before the American invasion in 2003 we did not have segregation. I celebrated Christmas with my Christian friends, we would make Harisa (a Shia dish made around the time of the Ashur) for the Shia festivals and eat alongside them, and there was no problem. We all lived in symbiosis, each had a place and we all just got along. Yes Saddam Hussein was called a Sunni also, but do you really believe that every person in his government and army was Sunni also? There were Kurds, Shia, Christians in his government and he was an equal opportunities killer too, he cared little for your ethnicity, just for his chair.

Since 2003 in Iraq there are Death Squads, these groups of Iranian backed Shia militias have orders to kill all Sunni Arabs in Iraq, this in itself is horrific, but it is not just the slaughtering of innocent people that is happening. These Death Squads mutilate and desecrate the corpses of their victims, some are decapitated, others have their eyes gorged out, some are killed with power tools. Why the barbarity? It is the belief of these Shia that they must bring on the second coming, the Mehidi, that the more blood they spill the quicker the onset of the second coming will be.
So far the Sunnis that have been killed are Army Officers that served during the Iran/Iraq war, any educated people, doctors, engineers, teachers, professors or Judges.
To you and I this is an unbelievable ideology, but these people believe this is the only way as you and I believe the sky is blue and George Bush is an idiot.
Osama Bin Laden is renowned for being a fundamentalist Islamist but he pales in comparison to the Mehidi Militias. When I was in the Iran/ Iraq war I saw them first hand, we had heavy tanks and artillery, they had swords and their little blue keys to paradise, and they kept coming, and coming, and coming. Eight years we fought that war and millions of lives were lost, we were strong but they feared nothing and that made them nigh on invincible.

It is easy for us to sit back and look at these Mullahs and think that they are stupid or think only for their religion. These men think far in advance, while we are thinking about where we might go on holiday this year, they are thinking about how they might have to fund their army or militias in twenty years time.
In the '80's during the Iran/Iraq war, Iran sent out to the West refugees, not all of these refugees were that, in fact some of these so called refugees were actually Iranian Intelligence. They were given asylum here in the West and they lived quietly, working away and building their companies and businesses. They were given extra money by the Iranian government to buy buildings invest in the stock market etc. It is hard to estimate how much they have actually accumulated over the past twenty or so years, but certainly enough for their task ahead.
Iraqi's in general do not believe in suicide bombings, not that they don't believe in the reason behind it, just they wouldn't sacrifice themselves in that way, yes they might fight with guns at least they would have a 50/50 chance of survival, but to actually blow themselves up? No. The Iranians do.
In the past six months these Death Squads have been filtering out of Iraq through Iran with the help of the Iranian government. Why? For several reasons, they have enemies in the West that they would like exterminated, people who have in the past done or said something about the Iranian Mullahs or government. Members of the Iranian opposition, journalists that have done stories that may have put Iran in a bad light, the reasons vary but the list is there and there are over a hundred names on it.
They come to the west and apply for asylum as Iraqi Sunnis, once they have been granted asylum they start their search for the names on the list, so far these Death Squads have reached Jordan, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Yemen and Syria in the middle-East. In the West they are in the USA, Canada, Australia, Austria, UK, France, Sweden, Norway, Germany, Ireland and Cyprus.
I do not wish to cause a panic; these murderers are not here for you or your family, unless you're on the list. What is frightening is the bigger picture; Iran at this moment in time is pumping money into every Shia enclave around the world making them more powerful, why? To bring the Persian Empire back to the world. As odd as it may sound they have not forgotten or forgiven those involved in the fall of the Persian Empire and they want revenge no matter how long it may take. When the time comes they will liquefy their assets here in the west, and enable their suicide bombers and then we will know the truth of their power in the world.
At this moment in time Iran has the Jaish Al- Quds ( the Army of Jerusalem) it is 1 million strong, within it there is The Martyrs Brigade, they are 120,000 and 50% of them are here in the West they speak Arabic fluently with an Iraqi accent and have claimed asylum as Iraqi Sunnis.
The purpose of this Army is to remove Israel from the map and to return Jerusalem and the Holy land to the Muslims.

At this time it may look like America is sounding it's war drums against Iran, this is nothing but smoke and mirrors to continue the "war on Terror", America will not hit Iran at least not in the near future, they have business together albeit under the table. Like 9/11 and the Madrid bombings our governments knew of the threat but decided to ignore the warnings or to do anything about it, I am issuing you the warning so that you know.

In Iraq it is not in America's interest to try to change anything, I will give you an example, before the Invasion in 2003 there was an Iranian called Bayan jabr Solach he called himself Iraqi opposition and sat in Syria for 25 years. He was a member of the Iranian backed Al- Dahwa party, when the Americans invaded he put himself forward as advisor to Al-Badr for his militia, the Americans gave him an Iraqi name Bayan Al-Zubaidi and made him Minister of homeland security. He then proceeded to kick out all of the Sunnis in his Ministry and replace them with people from the Al-Badr militia; he also employed 1,500 Al-Badr devotees in the Iraqi police force, giving them all high ranking positions.

Bayan jabr Solach 2005 in Iraq

Each Iraqi official has two American advisors that are constantly by their side, when Al-Zubaidi formed his death squads these American Advisors took the news to the American government, the Foreign Minister, the CIA and the Pentagon, they believed that Al-Zubaidi would be removed from the Iraqi Interim government, unfortunately they were told it was none of their business and were removed from their positions. Their names are; Mark Karm and the other Rick Clay, they were rewarded for their honesty and honour by being suspended from their jobs and recalled to America.
After the Elections in Iraq AL-Zubaidi was made finance Minister and repeated the process of ethnically cleansing the Sunnis from his new Ministry. In addition he opened the 10th floor of his Ministry as a place of torture and murder.
He also completely forgot his 25 years in Syria and now condemns the Syrians for letting the "terrorists" through their borders.
On a different note he also holds both British and American citizenship.

To be continued…

New Iraq

this video shows how the death squads and Militias supported by Iran are brutal in the exercise of their agenda +18 film

Wake up World!

By Latif Yahia

www.latifyahia.com

This video proves that we were all fooled and foolish to believe the propaganda pushed upon us from 2001 until this day. Nothing has "Changed for good" or bad. It is easy to forget or be bored by listening to the reasons that we were given for War, but if we do not learn from our mistakes we are doomed to repeat them. The next wars will not be for oil, but water, watch out Canada!
Listen and remember. We now know that all the reasons that we were given for war were lies, Regime change in Iraq was the only reason for the Invasion in 2003, as Saddam was tried and hanged for his crimes against Iraq so now should the perpetrators of the lies be brought to account, it is not just the lives of the Iraqi people that have been irrevocably changed, but the lives of many Americans, Britons and all the other Nations led by America on this fools errand. It is not enough to say"oh well, we're there now, we must continue and support our troops" If your government really were concerned about your troops they would have kept to their own rule "Never to put a single soldier in harms way without good cause".

Dominic Cooper on 'difficult' role of Saddam's son

By Tim Masters
Entertainment correspondent, BBC News

Dominic Cooper plays both Uday Hussein and his body double

Actor Dominic Cooper has spoken of the challenge of playing Saddam Hussein's son in Iraq thriller The Devil's Double.
The Mama Mia star has a dual role in the film, playing both Uday Hussein and Latif Yahia - a man who was forced to be his body double.
The film, directed by Lee Tamahori, finished shooting in Malta last month.
"It's quite a horrible part," admitted Cooper, who was speaking at this week's National Movie Awards.
"It was a difficult challenge, trying to understand who this guy was and why he did such unbelievably terrible things, and then to play this innocent guy who he forced at gunpoint to be his body double."
The film is based on Latif Yahia's biographical novel of the same name. Yahia was made to undergo plastic surgery to his teeth and chin to make him look more like Uday.
When the Gulf War started in 1991, he was sent out to the front line in order to give the impression that Uday was with the troops.
Cooper said of his role: "I do have to wear some prosthetics to change my face."
The film also stars French actress Ludivine Sagnier as Sarrab, Uday's concubine.
Tamahori's past projects include his Maori story Once Were Warriors (1994) and James Bond film Die Another Day (2002).

Latif Yahia interviewed by Stephen Sackur BBC HARDtalk THE DEVIL'S DOUBLE part 1

Ireland; financial meltdown.

By; Latif Yahia

www.latifyahia.com

As my adopted homeland (that would be Ireland, and I have adopted it, it as yet has to adopt me) braces itself against the latest round of closures and redundancies, I’m taking a minute or two to look back at the good times and remind everyone that I was the harbinger of doom. Yes, it’s true that I did not say this publicly, but I did say it to several of my friends who in 2006-2007 looked at me and said “Yeah, right!”

Back then I knew Ireland would go into meltdown and said so, I think it was a heady mix of finding out that our properties were now like our personal banks and the banks treating us like we had our own personal banks that lulled us into a false sense of ‘Bill Gates-ness’, well that and the fact that we were all enjoying it so much and were encouraged to.

The Celtic tiger was roaring and we roared along with him in our BMWs, three holidays a year, new extension on the house and maybe even a bit of cosmetic surgery, because if your going to have a Bill Gates lifestyle, well, you have to look the part don’t you? We didn’t quite manage the private jet, but if we had been given just another year we might have worked our way to a two-seater helicopter to park on the front lawn.

So, with so much happiness and dreams being fulfilled why was I the harbinger of doom? Well, I have been around a while, I have seen life from the streets (I was homeless on the streets of Dublin for 21 days in 2000) to the dizzying heights of the super-rich, I have what you might call ‘A bigger picture viewer’.

Ireland’s boom was built on construction and foreign investment but we failed to keep ourselves competitive in the labour market and lost sight of our historical and cultural strengths. The hospitality industry was all but handed over to the immigrant population, I have no problems with immigrants I, as you all know am an Immigrant to Ireland. Suddenly, the Irish decided that there were certain sectors that they were too ‘posh?’ to work in, farming was another area that took a blow, imported meat was of course cheaper and had that all alluring ‘Imported’ tag. Let me tell you, I have eaten meat all over the world and I have never tasted beef and lamb as good as the Irish produce. So why, oh why, just because ye all got a few euros in your pockets did you give up on what was already the best the world had to offer in favour of something inferior to your own product because it had an ‘imported’ = ‘exotic therefore better’ sticker on it?

Latif Yahia and EX Irish prime minister Bertie Ahern

Our house if famous among family and friends for our ‘roast beef dinner’ and I am proud to say that our loved ones travel on average for two hours just to sit down with us and a big piece of homegrown beef, I don’t think that a piece flown in from 2,000 miles away would have the same flavour somehow do you?

I rest my case.

Buy Irish, it tastes better, it’s better for your country and community and soon enough the ash cloud will make sure it’s the only produce you can afford, or get for that matter.

But what really killed the Irish Economy? America.

No really, it did.

Sometime in the height of our happiness, a certain Minister (you know who you are) decided that it would be a “f**king terrific idea” to take all the extra cash that we had and invest it in America. Ireland invested billions, on the presumption that the dollar would never crash or we would at least have enough warning to pull out as much as possible. WRONG! Before the crash I had spoken with a few “high level” politicians that I know and told them of my fears, I was told that I was ‘Crazy’ and that “America owns half the world, it’s not going to crash”.

The dollar did indeed crash and took more than half of our investment with it, and because Ireland models it’s banking and business structure on the American model more than others what was happening with American housing started happening here too. Banks started going bust, mortgage lenders were up to their necks in it, people of a certain age that had paid off their mortgages, now found that their ‘personal banks’ were bankrupt! What has happened, has forced much of our youth to emigrate once again, but this time it is not just their families that they are leaving behind, this time they are leaving behind massive debt, debts that have in some cases been left to their aging parents, people who were once secure are now in very precarious situations having ‘guaranteed’ mortgages for their offspring, only to find that they no longer can pay and it now rests on the parents shoulders, people who in their 50’s and 60’s should be looking forward to their retirement are now looking at ways of increasing their incomes to make the repayments.

And don’t even get me started on NAMA.

Let us not be fooled, if Ireland goes the same way as Greece, which is a possibility, Europe will not bail us out. They have already said it and we have no reason to believe that they ‘were just fooling around’.

From my perspective; and of course you are all free to disagree if you wish. Ireland just has the name of being European but is actually a wannabe state of America, Ireland takes what it wants from Europe but when America says jump Ireland says “how high? And would you like ketchup with that?” I could give you examples ‘Shannon” being the prime, but today I am not writing for a political debate but an economic one, even though the two are linked to the core. It has been said that ‘you get the government that you deserve’ people, are we all really that stupid? Ireland needs new representation and I don’t just mean a change from Fianna Fail to Fianna Gael! I mean new blood, new ideas and new faces, this is a very different country to the one I encountered in 1997, the Irish people I met on the streets were kind, happy and helpful and that was before they had one hundred euros in their back pockets and room for a pony.

Understand this, America does not have ‘friends’ when things go bad in the American economy they have no qualms about pulling out of external locations to maintain profits. It is business, big business and already we have heard that American companies have left Ireland and set up in Poland or Romania, because the labour is cheaper. We gave them the ten years tax free incentives and built them state of the art premises, but the ten years is up and it is ‘more profitable’ to relocate than to remain.

I can only hope, that Ireland will rise like a phoenix from the ashes, we should now look at our talents and attributes. We have a fertile and beautiful land, an educated and skilled population.

We can be self sufficient if the government would do what is right as opposed to what is easy. I give you the gas field offshore as example, if Ireland had developed the gas field as opposed to selling the rights we could have secured our future financially and been more self reliant for our energy needs.

A great asset in these times. If I was to project further, maybe this financial crisis could have been lessened by the independence that having our own extra income would have afforded us.

Let’s look at what we have and work with it, not against it, every week I see what the people at the farmers market produce, I know that I am surrounded by intelligent and talented friends and family, Ireland has changed let’s take new ideas and talents brought to Ireland by Immigrants and make use of them. If Ireland is to get through this and emerge stronger and happier then we have to stop laying blame and start thinking about making this the country we can all be proud of no matter what our background. I look forward to the day that I see someone who represents me as an Immigrant in the government, the Gardai or Civil service, then, I will know that Ireland loves me as much as I love it. We the Immigrants are not the problem but we can be part of the solution.

I was once told by a politician that I would never be granted citizenship in Ireland because a small contingent believed that I may set up my own political party, I don’t believe that the fear is that I would set up the party, I believe the fear is that people might just listen to me.

Would it be such a bad thing? Well, that’s for you to decide. Whether or not I would set up a political party is a moot point as I am not a citizen, but I guarantee you if I was an Irish citizen I would do my utmost to bring business to this country and to make sure that that business utilized the existing resources and unique talents that Ireland has to offer. But, I think Brian cowan is just going to have to do it without me.

Dominic Cooper, Ludivine Sagnier

see 'Double'

Belgian-backed film based on Saddam Hussein novel

By Stuart Kemp

LONDON -- Lee Tamahori's action drama "The Devil's Double" has enlisted Dominic Cooper and Ludivine Sagnier to star in the Belgium-backed production.

Cooper will play the dual roles of Saddam Hussein's son, Uday Hussein and Latif Yahia, his body double in the movie based on Latif Yahia's biographical novel of the same name. Sagnier plays Sarrab, Uday's concubine and secret lover to Latif.

Belgian production company Corsan is making the project from a screenplay penned by Michael Thomas. Produced by Paul Breuls, Michael John Fedun, Catherine Vandeleene and Emjay Rechsteiner, the project is exec produced by Harris Tulchin.

Tamahori has become a go-to action director after bursting on the scene in 1994 with his Maori tale "Once Were Warriors," and now boasts a resume which includes Bond outing "Die Another Day" and "XXX2: The State of the Union." The project, currently shooting in Malta, will be repped for international by Corsan World Sales at the upcoming European Film Market in Berlin.

Ludivine Sagnier joins Tamahori’s The Devil’s Double as shoot begins

Ludivine Sagnier and Latif Yahia

By Andreas Wiseman

Principal photography on Lee Tamahori’s The Devil’s Double has begun in Malta.

Belgian producers Corsan have confirmed that French actress Ludivine Sagnier has joined the cast of the thriller, which tells the true story of the body double for Saddam Hussein’s son Uday. Dominic Cooper also stars.

Corsan World Sales is selling international rights to the film and Paradigm Motion Picture Finance Group is representing domestic rights.

Cooper will play the dual roles of Saddam Hussein’s son, Uday Hussein and Latif Yahia, his body double and Sagnier will play Sarrab, Uday’s concubine and secret lover to Latif.

Paul Breuls, Michael John Fedun, Catherine Vandeleene and Emjay Rechsteiner are producing while Harris Tulchin is executive producer.

Michael Thomas adapted the screenplay from Yahia’s biographical novel of the same name.

The Belgian producers have assembled a strong production team including Centurion director of photography Sam McCurdy and costume designer Anna Sheppard, a two-time Oscar nominee. The nine week shoot is due to wrap on April 10.

Corsan is also currently in pre-production on Roland Joffe’s new feature, Singularity, which will shoot in India this summer.

My theory on Iraq and Iraqis.

Having viewed many videos of atrocities committed against Iraqi civilians before, during the invasion and until now, I have been caused to reflect on Iraq, the country and it’s people.

Why is it that Iraq has suffered so much under the hands of dictators, invaders and enemies. It would be too easy to say that the oil in Iraq was the reason, but I think we need to go back further.

Iraq is credited with being the cradle of civilization, the birthplace of Law, then why is it that this country is now the exact opposite of it’s once illuminated self?

I have a theory, Iraq throughout history has been fought over, the fertile land of the delta of the Euphrates and the Tigris rivers, the Garden of Eden, people have always wanted to posses it. Those people were usually warlords or heads of tribes, and here is the theory: Iraqis all share a specific genetic disposition, they all want power, it is an endless circle those without power want it, those with power use it.

In general Iraq has always been led by a ‘Ruler’, King, Dictator, Sheikh or Sultan, always one persons rule, so when a populace are then faced with democracy what do they do? They do what they always do, gather in their tribes and the head of each tribe fights to become the ‘Ruler’

Best regards,

Latif Yahia

Latif Yahia interviewed on BBC HARDtalk

The first part of what I consider to be the best interview that I have ever given in the past 19 years. I consider Stephen Sackur from BBC's HARDtalk to be one of the toughest interviewers ( hence the name of the show ). A challenge and a pleasure in equal amounts. 2/12/2009 London
http://www.latifyahia.com

Latif Yahia interviewed on BBC HARDtalk part 1

Latif Yahia interviewed on BBC HARDtalk part 2

Latif Yahia interviewed on BBC HARDtalk part 3

HARDtalk 2009 - the good, the bad and the bizarre

By Stephen Sackur
Presenter, BBC HARDtalk

The HARDtalk studio is dark. The two leather chairs on our simple set are empty. This year's interrogations are over and it's time to remember the good, the bad and the downright bizarre from HARDtalk 2009.

2009 saw the first walk-out in the middle of a HARDtalk interview

It was the year we took the show on the road as never before. From interviews recorded deep inside the Arctic Circle, to a New York Bank vault and a Congolese forest.

And it was the year of the unpredictable guest. From the media manipulator who stormed out of the studio before the interview was done, to the fashionista who confessed to wearing no knickers (I felt no need to demand further evidence).

Shivering guests

Of all the big stories in our HARDtalk year, perhaps the most frequently revisited was climate change, and what to do about it.

For two weeks in the summer I travelled round Greenland, mixing our usual challenging interviews with reportage from the field.

As the ice melts people living in the Arctic Circle will need fewer huskies Greenland's warmer future

So it was that I found myself quizzing Australia's environment minister Penny Wong and India's climate envoy Shyam Saran high above Baffin Bay with icebergs for a backdrop.

In my four years on HARDtalk I've seen the occasional guest give an involuntary shiver of trepidation - but never before have I quizzed guests shivering with cold.

The debate itself was heated, even if the guest themselves were not.

The failure of the rich nations and the developing world to strike a comprehensive and binding agreement in Copenhagen was foreshadowed in this and several other HARDtalk interviews with key players in the climate debate.

And amid the political arguments Greenland gave me some unexpected insights into the impacts of global warming.

I've been called a hard-bitten journalist more than once in my life - in western Greenland the description was all too accurate

Melting glaciers I'd expected, but what about the Greenlanders who are growing their own vegetables in the unprecedented summer warmth? And the clouds of voracious mosquitoes that can now be found deep inside the Arctic Circle?

I've been called a hard-bitten journalist more than once in my life - in western Greenland the description was all too accurate.

Hubris and greed

The struggling global economy was another staple on the HARDtalk menu throughout 2009.

Perhaps most memorable was my interview with Lawrence MacDonald, a former vice-president of the ill-fated Lehman's Brothers investment bank.

We wanted an evocative and moody location - and we found it in a subterranean bank vault with mighty steel doors underneath Wall Street itself.

Stephen's exchange with Noam Chomsky came in for some criticism

It used to house depositors' cash, now it is an exclusive gentleman's dining club for Wall Street's remaining gazillionaires.

Mr MacDonald told me the compelling story of a company overwhelmed by hubris and greed. And what is this contrite banker doing now? Running a boutique investment fund for high-worth investors, of course.

Wall Street may be chastened, but it is unclear what has really changed. After a highly charged and (I hope) entertaining exchange with Steve Forbes, the millionaire publisher and defender of liberal economics, I was presented with a small gift.

It was a silk tie embossed with Mr Forbes' favourite self-description: "The Capitalist Tool."

Empty chair

By way of extreme contrast my HARDtalk year also took me to eastern Congo - perhaps the most war ravaged region on the planet over recent years.

The most upsetting interviews of the assignment were with two teenage girls - children still - who courageously chose to tell me how they were systematically raped by Congolese gunmen.

They spoke out, they said, in order that the world would know what is still happening in their country.

Sometimes in HARDtalk we push guests closer to their limits than perhaps we realise

The UN has its biggest peacekeeping force stationed in DR Congo, but there is precious little peace to keep.

And the UN has found itself on the same side as some highly questionable characters - including the warlord "Bosco" Ntaganda, who is wanted for war crimes, but now serves as a commander in the Congolese government's armed forces.

We believed we had arranged an exclusive HARDtalk interview with General Bosco in his headquarters. We set up the cameras, prepared the microphones and waited.

And waited. Bosco never showed up. It was the first time HARDtalk aired an interview with an empty chair.

PR guru Max Clifford walked out when the questioning turned to Jade Goody

That was not the only spot of guest trouble we had in 2009. For the first time in my HARDtalk career I experienced a walk-out in the middle of an interview.

The guest in question was Max Clifford, Britain's foremost celebrity publicist and agent. One of his highest profile clients last year was Jade Goody, a woman made famous for her appearances on reality television.

Goody was diagnosed with terminal cancer and spent her last weeks in a blaze of Clifford-controlled publicity which earned her children a great deal of money.

When I asked Max Clifford about his involvement with Ms Goody he was clearly unhappy. When I asked a follow-up question he stormed off the set.

As we had only recorded one-third of a full HARDtalk interview this was a programme that could never be aired.

Needless to say it led to a major inquest in the HARDtalk office. Did I cross a line? Was I gratuitously offensive? I really do not think so, but it was a reminder that sometimes in HARDtalk we push guests closer to their limits than perhaps we realise.

Memorable image

HARDtalk sees encounters with presidents and prime ministers every year, but it is often the more unexpected interviews which prompt the biggest viewer response. And this year was no exception.

Vivienne Westwood described collecting a royal honour... wearing no knickers!

My exchange with Noam Chomsky about the Obama presidency and American foreign policy drew much comment - much of it highly critical of my "aggressive and arrogant" questioning of the 81-year-old professor.

Another huge response greeted the interview with Latif Yahia, the Iraqi man co-opted to be Uday Hussein's body double in the darkest days of the Saddam dictatorship.

How could such an experience leave Yahia defending Saddam and wishing his rule had never ended? Classic HARDtalk territory…

And finally I'll leave you with an image which has stayed with me since I interviewed the wonderfully idiosyncratic British fashion designer Vivienne Westwood last year.

She confessed to me that when she went to Buckingham Palace to receive an honour from the Queen she had neglected to put on any knickers.

She only remembered when she was surrounded by photographers when the ceremony was over. "I couldn't understand why they were taking their pictures from such a low angle," she told me.

And then she remembered. And now so will I.