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Tied up in the courts

1 July 2006

One of the great frustration of Thai politics is watching how the courts are used to fight out battles that should be kept in private; the latest suit to be launched by caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin is one billion baht lawsuit accusing the Democrat party and four of its high-ranking officials of slander and defamation.

Thaksin’s lawyer Noppadol Meewanna filed the suit in the Civil Court. The complaint names Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva, party secretary-general Suthep Thaugsuban, and MPs Korbsak Sabhavasu and Thanin Jaisamut.

The suit claims that the defendants made false statements during a March 17 speech which was delivered at a public gathering in Trang, the hometown of former Democrat party leader Chuan Leekpai.

Thaksin’s lawyers claim that Democrat MPs unfairly accused Thaksin of intentionally avoiding tax payments on the multibillion baht sale of Shin Corp to Singapore-based Temasek Holdings and of engaging in contract fraud. Surely not and unthinkable come to mind. Although just how much tax was in fact paid on this transaction?

The lawyers say that during the same event the defendants accused Thaksin of interfering with the functioning of independent organizations, destroying the parliamentary system of checks-and-balances, committing election fraud, ordering extra-judicial killings in the war on drugs and of backing the killings of anti-state authority protestors at Krue Se mosque in Tak Bai, Narathiwat province.

Noppadol says the litany of accusations have damaged Thaksin’s reputation and that a billion baht payment would be fair compensation for the damage he has suffered.

The Civil Court has scheduled a preliminary hearing for December 4. A trial date has been set for December 25.

Pattaya News update

30 June 2006

This site has not had a news update from Pattaya for many months: so here is what is happening in this grim town this week. It is raining. Pattaya is a grimy town in the rain !

Two major news items in Pattaya today; "Pineapple price falls through floor"; "Drain covers keep disappearing in Pattaya". So I guess the pineapples have even further to fall.

There are better stories:

Bomb bag: A suspect bomb bag turns out to be a dud bag.

On June 15th at 9.00am Pattaya Police were called to a house at 164/31 on Thappraya Road, Soi 5 bu the owner a Mr. Pagorm Jinanigorn regarding a suspicious suitcase that had been placed against the wall of his home.

Fearing the worst Police went to the scene and saw the offending and suspicious looking bag.

The first thought was that it could possibly be a bomb, so they cautiously strolled over and gave it a prod, with no result.

Obviously not satisfied with that tactic, one of the men then decided to give it a bit of a lift to find that its weight didn't correspond with that of an explosive device; so they decided to open it, with fingers firmly planted in each ear.

Still no bomb. In fact the suitcase was completely empty.

However, as it was a particularly handsome bag the authorities decided to donate it to the rescue squad, who no doubt will find good use for it.

Makes you proud to be a Brit??

29 June 2006

The British Embassy is clearly concerned about providing the best possible care and support of British citizens living in Thailand. To this end they recently issued the following spectacularly useless letter.

The simple translation is that at the Embassy we have out bottles of Bollinger to wash down the Tamiflu; and we first access to BA business class flights home. The rest of you miserable tax avoiding British dregs are on your own.

So now you know.

“British Embassy Bangkok
8 June 2006 Consular Section
1031 Wireless Road Bangkok 10330
Telephone: (662) 305-8333  FacsimiLe: (662) 255 6051

AVIAN INFLUENZA (BIRD FLU) Email: consular.bangkok@fco.gov.uk

I wrote to you in December 2005 with information about avian and pandemic flu. The UK Department of Health has now produced a pamphlet on pandemic flu that gives advice on how to reduce your risk of infection from an influenza virus. This can be viewed on their website: www.dh.gov.uk. That should be read together with an updated version of the Foreign Office (FCO) avian and pandemic flu fact sheet which can be accessed through this Embassy’s website: www.britishembassy.gov.uk/thailand

Although the number of cases of people contracting avian flu has increased, the perceived threat of a human influenza pandemic remains the same, as the virus continues to show an inability to pass between people. However, in an effort to ensure you are kept as fully informed on the subject as possible, you may welcome an update, in particular, about what your embassy will and will not be able to do in the event of a pandemic.

It is clear that, should a human flu pandemic occur, the virus would likely spread very rapidly, possibly affecting all countries within a matter of weeks. Given the likely disruption to transport, health services (including the NHS in the UK) and other local services, the level of consular assistance and the visa service which we can provide might be significantly reduced, not least because some of our own staff may be ill. In certain circumstances we may even have to close the embassy temporarily to prevent the spread of infection.

We have put in place a flu contingency plan for the embassy so that we can try to maintain a basic consular service during the crisis. Depending of the seriousness of any outbreak we would endeavour to continue providing regular updates on the embassy website. We will set up an emergency call centre to deal with your enquiries and will keep you informed of developments by e-mail and/or letter.

I would especially draw your attention to the section of the fact sheet headed “British Nationals living Overseas”. You will note that in the event of a pandemic, we have concluded that given the potential number of British nationals involved we will be unable to offer repatriation.

We would also not be able to offer any diagnosis or medical treatment. This, rightly, should be the duty of your usual healthcare provider. We suggest that you consider this and make the necessary arrangements, in particular your likely access to anti-viral drugs and the quality of medical care facilities in the event of a pandemic.

I suggest you visit the Department of Health website at www.dh.gov.uk/pandemicflu, which contains a range of information to help you consider your options in the event of a pandemic. Further information can be found on the World Health Organisation and Health Protection Agency websites. Please contact me if you have any further queries about pandemic flu planning.

You should also monitor the FCO and embassy websites for updates. We will communicate with you again when there are further developments.

Peter Karmy
HM Consul “
 

Q and A on Thailand's political woes

28 June 2006

What is going on?

The fact-finding committee of the Office of the Attorney-General has unanimously proposed to the Attorney-General the dissolution if five political parties for alleged election fraud under Article 66 of the Political Party Act.. The parties include Thailand's two heavyweights, the Thai Rak Thai and Democrat parties as well as three smaller parties.

What happens next?

If the AG objects then the matter returns to the Election Commission. If the AG does not object then the cases go to the Constitutional Court.

What can the Constitutional Court do?

If convicted it can dissolve the parties and ban the leaders and other executive members of the five parties from holding party executive posts for five years. They can still run for parliament and hold political office.

Why are the Democrats also charged.

The OAG's committee received a 1,500 page report from the Election Commission on Monday, and in less than 24 hours decided that charges should also be made against the Democrats.

Analysts argue that adding the Democrats to the list of political parties that the Constitution Court has been asked to dissolve is a bargaining chip to keep the ruling Thai Rak Thai party alive. They doubt the Constitution Court would hand down a ruling to dissolve all five parties, especially the Thai Rak Thai and Democrats, because of the political crisis such a decision would spawn.

What' is the Office of the Attorney-General (OAG) up to?

It has been a strange process. On Monday, the day before an announcement on the election-fraud allegations against Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai Party, Attorney-General Pachara Yutithamdamrong visited the prime minister at Government House, purportedly to receive instructions on the deep South.

Yesterday, the OAG committee concluded that along with Thai Rak Thai, the opposition Democrat Party and three small parties should also be indicted for election-law violations, punishable by party dissolution. The timing is interesting.

What will the Attorney- General do now?

The onus is now on Pachara.  He will probably send all five case to the Constitutional Court.

So what's next?

The proposed October 15 election will have to wait. The Constitution Court process will be lengthy.  The caretaker government is beginning to look like it has a permanence about it.

Would the Court dissolve both major parties?

It probably does not matter; the parties would simply morph into something else. But having made charges against both major parties the Court will probably throw out all the charges for lack of hard evidence.

The final election date will give politicians enough time to meet the 90-day party-membership requirement to contest the poll.

There may be a few sacrificial party leaders. Senior party officials can be judged to have violated election laws on their own. But do not expect such judgments to reach the real party leaders.

Eventually it will be concluded that no mistakes were made; no one really did anything wrong and we will go to another election where Thaksin will lead Thai Rak Thai to another sizeable win.

What's up with the EC?

The crippled and much-maligned commission has survived against all the odds, and has dragged the Democrats into the mud. But the three remaining commissioners have done all they need to to protect the Thai Rak Thai and should, for the good of the country, resign now.

Even the Bangkok Post, known for its polite editorials, said not long ago: “If (the three commissioners) still had any self-respect, dignity or conscience, they would realise their continued presence in office could only cause the country more damage.”  

How longer will we have to live with all this?

The main issue now is that the Constitutional Court has a pivotal role in sorting out Thailands' political mess. The King has given the Court this role. They must fulfill it. This is never easy in Thailand where it is usually easier to pass the problem to someone else.

I overheard someone at the Dusit Thani hotel (I could not help but overhear - he was a very loud suited American who clearly thought we should all hear his views) saying that no one cared about his political mess anyway. That business could continue irrespective of the political situation and that in two years no one would care whether Thaksin is in charge or not. Typical American. Sees everything in black or white. There are 20 million voters in Thailand who want Thaksin, Thai Rak Thai and their financial support. That is a powerful force if mobilised.

As for business, the real issue is Thailand's ability to attract investment, This is already damaged by continual allegations of corruption, and market sentiment will remain poor until new and legitimate elections are held. Then just maybe, there will be changes that lead to greater transparency and accountability.

Award yourself the CDM

26 June 2006

Many, many years ago Cadbury ran advertisements encouraging people to award themselves the CDM; which then used to mean the Cadbury's Dairy Milk chocolate bar. Now CDM should probably mean Cadbury Disaster Management.  Or more accurately the lack of such a plan.

It took Cadbury 5 months to make the problem public; Cadbury informed the FSA of the contamination on June 19, five months after it first detected salmonella in its products. The Company then announced on June 23 that it was withdrawing seven varieties of chocolate in the U.K., including Dairy Milk bars. The company said more than a million chocolate bars and Easter eggs recalled from shop shelves and warehouses will be buried at landfill sites across Britain.

Cadbury argues that it followed regulations at the time of detection.  The Sunday Times newspaper reported that the contamination only came to light when the government's Health Protection Agency investigated a leap in people contracting salmonella montevideo, a rare strain of the disease. The agency began to suspect chocolate because many of the patients were children, the newspaper said. 

The Health Protection Agency went back through its files and found chocolate samples sent by a private laboratory that turned out to have been hired by Cadbury, and molecular analyses revealed they contained the same montevideo strain.

Thousands of concerned people have been trying to contact Cadbury. Many customers, demanding to know why it had taken the company five months to disclose the danger, found it could take an hour to get through as the company was taken aback by the scale of the reaction.

Cadbury's lack of preparation and apparent disregard for the potential scale of public concern is little short of staggering. For a consumer foods company what is the biggest possible crisis that they could have to deal with? Heads will roll.

Under the Food Safety Act companies must withdraw food from the market when they have confirmed contamination, and must also tell the authorities.

But Cadbury executives yesterday defended their decision not to recall the products in January, when it was first known that a form of salmonella, known as a montevideo strain, had got into one of its chocolate production lines.

The company's European president, Matthew Shattock, said yesterday: 'Our responsibility is to look after the welfare of our consumers and I can reassure you that our products are perfectly safe to eat and we have no evidence that anyone has been ill from eating them.'

When asked why Cadbury did not contact the FSA immediately he said: 'We were contacted by the FSA and we spoke to them on Monday and it was at that point, in light of the awareness that we then gained of an increase in salmonella in the population, that we decided to conduct a precautionary recall."

Of course, in the five months that has lapsed since Cadbury first discovered the problem, which arose from a leaking water water pipe at its Herefordshire factory, some 500,000 bars of the potentially contaminated chocolate have already been eaten.

Cadbury has a lot of work to do to rebuild public trust. An early announcement of the problem would have been the responsible action and would look rather less like a cover-up. This is a food business. Trust and public confidence are paramount.

Is Mr. T coming or going ?

24 June 2006

The Nation newspaper reports rather optimistically that Thaksin Shinawatra, the caretaker prime minister, has expressed an intention to step down.

The newspaper reports that he has said "If I were to leave, I would be happy to do so for the peace and reconciliation of the country."

It seems a long time ago since the day, two days after the April 2 snap election and an audience with His Majesty the King, when Thaksin announced that he would not assume the top job until the new Cabinet was formed and a new prime minister picked. But his "break" was a tactical move and he refused to resign outright because he want to remain in a caretaker capacity. His April 4 announcement came in spite of the fact Thai Rak Thai reportedly won at least 15 million votes in the poll, later nullified by the Constitution Court.

Thaksin appointed Deputy Prime Minister Chidchai Vanasatidya to be prime minister, after weeks of rallies and a huge protest vote against him in Bangkok and in the South. More than a month later, however, Thaksin had an apparent change of heart. He went back to work at Government House, saying that the country needed him to look after the economy. And he wanted to ensure that preparations for the 60-year jubilee celebration for His Majesty the King would proceed in order. Is this the beginnings of a comeback? Or was it that he wanted to be up front meeting and greeting the world's monarchs at the 60th anniversary celebrations?

Recent events could trouble Thaksin. After weeks of stalling and huge controversy, the Election Commission finally advised the Attorney General yesterday that the Thai Rak Thai Party had hired small political parties to run in the April 2 election. If the case reaches the Constitution Court, Thaksin's party could be dissolved, if it is found guilty. This appears very unlikely.

While the EC has set October 15 as the date for the next election, it is so discredited that one Thai Rak Thai member said there was still no certainty on when a new ballot would be held. He said politicians were doing little except waiting for the outcome of court cases to clear the political deadlock.

Thaksin can win the next election. But can he govern this highly divided society that he's created?

The Nation responds to "The Economist"

Questions that 'The Economist' has to answer (from The Nation 20 June 2006).

I guess The Economist and I can bore each other to death now. After calling Thaksin Shinawatra's downfall, or semi-downfall if you will, a "blow to democracy", the magazine has adamantly repeated its stand in yet another eye-popping editorial. Again, Thailand's political turmoil was blamed on "just a few thousand" undemocratic protesters.

 Again, the ruin of checks and balances was not acknowledged. And as usual, if The Economist ever suspected there might be some truth in the charges by the "mobs" in regard to massive graft, it never showed.

All we've heard is it's the protesters' fault: "Thais are paying a heavy price for the opposition's dismissal of April's election result." "[Thailand] has taken a big step backwards." "Once you start allowing demonstrators who number in thousands to throw out politicians who have been elected by millions, the fabric of any democracy is bound to fray, let alone one that has existed for only 14 years and still lies under the shadow of crown and gun."

With all due respect, corruption - the important word that has gone missing in recent Economist editorials - started it all. The Economist has the right to call the demonstrators democracy's worst enemy, but we beg to differ. To the Thais who took to the streets and in the process endured international condemnation for being "undemocratic", the real enemy of democracy is the abuse of faith and power for personal gain.

When a popularly elected leader thinks he can do anything and place himself above the law, using the votes he got as a political shield, then the fabric of any democracy is bound to fray, let alone one that has struggled against such corrupt powers that be for so long. Democracy gives us the right to rise against corruption. It gives us the right to boycott any election we fear could reinforce the evil in our political system. And our Constitution, the fundamental part of our democracy, gives us the right to protest and resist peacefully as long as we want.

Our Constitution prohibits conflicts of interest and is very specific about that. It aims at strengthening checks and balances and promoting the role of citizenship. It encourages free speech. It seeks to empower a previously feeble system as well as the Thai public to fight that formidable enemy: corruption.

Who has been our Constitution's biggest enemy all along? Before branding the demonstrators a destructive mob and portraying Thaksin as a victim, perhaps The Economist should have addressed that question. Once a Constitution is breached and its enshrined spirit ignored, the fabric of any democracy is bound to fray.

When Thaksin and his wife were found to have stashed Bt10 billion worth of shares in his servants' accounts, this Constitution was screaming, "STOP HIM!" But whereas The Economist at that time sounded a major warning over his "insuperable conflicts of interest" and his "alarmingly undemocratic instincts", Thais forgave him, because - just as The Economist of today would have been pleased about - he had won a landslide election victory. Thais tolerated his contempt for human rights and other democratic principles and massive graft scandals for the same reason: he had been endorsed by so many of the electorate.

After sounding the alarm in 2001, The Economist changed its tone last year. "We owe Thaksin Shinawatra an apology," it said in an editorial just as he was cruising to another landslide poll win. It praised his populist policies and gave him a lot of credit for the resurgent economy.

But the magazine ended it with a noble punch-line: "Successful democracies require checks and balances, and the biggest worries about Mr Thaksin all relate to the absence of them." What happened to that ideology? With all the people who mattered in Thailand - outside the government, of course - lamenting the destruction of checks and balances over here, what happened to The Economist?

What if Tony Blair owned England's largest telecom firm? What if he hid some shares in his servants' stock accounts and a mysterious offshore firm for no good reason? What if those shares enabled him to evade taxes or exposed him to charges of stock manipulation? What if other British had to pay taxes for similar share transfers, but he didn't? What if parliament couldn't censure him? Questions like this go on and on where Thaksin is concerned, but the ultimate question to The Economist is: "Would you tolerate it?"

If the answer to those questions from such advanced democracy advocates like The Economist is "Yes", then sorry. To democratically ill-educated Thais - you all but call us so - the answer is a painful but uncompromising "No!"

Tulsathit Taptim

Dreams

22 June 2006

I am alone in my home. I am in my pajamas walking around the apartment. I walk to the second bedroom and out onto the balcony. But instead of being in a high floor apartment I am at ground level.

In front of me there are kids playing ball in a concrete playing field. There is no balcony. I can just walk out. I cant go back as the apartment is not here; just little side lanes in a concrete city square. I am carrying two umbrellas and one golf club, an iron. I have my pajamas on but also what looks like a dressing gown. There is a signpost. I am in New Westminster City Center in BC Canada.

Strangely in my dressing gown pockets I fond my wallet (everything appears to still be there) and my mobile phone.

I  try to call my ex wife. I don't know where I am living; I simply cannot remember. I ask her the address of my home; she sounds irritated. She gives me the building and road number. I do not recognise it and ask where it is and the nearest main road. I want to try and explain everything to her. She does not reply. 'Are you still there?' I ask; she says nothing though I can hear her working in the background.

Then I woke up; it is 10.30am today. This was so amazingly vivid. I was convinced it was actually happening. Does it mean anything?

United 93

20 June 2006

September 11 will be the fifth anniversary of the terrifying events of 9/11. If anyone doubts why the war on terror exists they need only see the movie "United 93". Freedom has come at a price. Generations have fought to be free of tyranny, oppression and slavery. Generations have fought to build a way of life that is based upon values that make sense in our western, industrialized, liberal, democratic and open world.

Yet 9/11 shattered that. Maybe we had become too complacent. Maybe we took for granted that it was our way of life that others would aspire to rather than despise.

But the world changed that day; it changed for the forty passengers and crew of United 93. They had to fight back. What other option was there? They left their homes and families that bright, sunny morning for a routine cross country flight to San Francisco. Their day ended in terror and sacrifice as they saved a certain suicide attack on Washington DC.

It is a remarkable film to watch; based and scripted around telephone calls made from the flight and wit the co-operation of the families involved it is a deeply personal movie. It is also a movie that asks a lot of questions about the world we live in and our respective values.

I cannot imagine how anyone could watch that movie without tears. Some are for sadness, some are for fear, and some of them are for relief, that at least my little part of the world and the people that I care about, are safe today, and god-willing, will be safe tomorrow and all the days after that.

Government confirms airport opening date

20 June 2006

The caretaker government yesterday confirmed that the new Suvarnabhumi International Airport will open for commercial operations on September 28, replacing Don Muang as Bangkok’s sole international airport.

The decision was announced by Transport Minister Pongsak Raktapongpaisal yesterday after a meeting between caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and parties involved with the new airport project.

Five domestic airlines – Thai AirAsia, Nok Air, Orient Thai’s One-Two-Go, Bangkok Airways and PB Air – will be taking part in a major test of Suvarnabhumi on July 29, when they will operate from the airport for the first time.

Airports of Thailand (AoT) has been conducting two integrated systems tests a week, said Somchai Sawasdeepon, Suvarnabhumi airport general director.

“All involved agencies confirmed with the prime minister that everything is going well and we will be ready for the opening on September 28,” said Somchai yesterday.

For airlines taking part in the test, special transport has been laid on for passengers, said Chaisak Angkasuwan, director-general of the Civil Aviation Department, adding that passengers on the day would receive special AoT certificates.

As an incentive for low-cost carriers to take part in the test, there will be no service charges or landing fees at Suvarnabhumi airport and airports such as Chiang Mai, Phuket and Hat Yai.

“I think many people will want to fly to the new airport,” Chaisak said.

AoT said it will invite domestic and international airlines to Suvarnabhumi to talk about moving operations from Don Muang after July 29, if the tests are successful.

When Suvarnabhumi officially opens on September 28, Don Muang will close to all but charter operators. Its long-term fate is yet to be decided.

Airbus debacle

17 June 2006

I have always been a fan of Airbus; the competition was good for the American company, Boeing, which had for too long been the world's dominant airline manufacturer.

But there is too much bad news coming out of Airbus; and it looks as though there has been some executive pocket lining at the expense of the airlines and the shareholders.

The Americans are of course enjoying watching Airbus squirm; Boeing has, after all, had its own fair share of recent scandals.

But think on this; the French co-chief executive of Airbus, Noel Forgeard, sold shares in March which earned him €2.5m (£1.7m) just before its flagship A380 superjumbo started to suffer from technical problems which were reported last week. Mr Forgeard has said that he sold shares in EADS, Airbus' majority shareholder, before he knew of the problems. It is hard to imagine the co-Chief of any company not being up-to-date on the status of his Company's biggest project and biggest risk. In addition three of Forgeard's children each sold 1.4 million euros worth of company stock, and six other managers also sold stock. Smart kids.

Securities regulators in Germany and France are investigating this sale. A sale that smacks at a minimum of opportunism. Given the sheer scale of the A380 project it is frankly ridiculous that Forgeard could even consider the sale (or purchase) of WADS shares.

On Tuesday last week EADS said that wiring problems were causing delays in the production of the A380. The news sent shares of EADS down 26 per cent the following day.  Airbus said in a statement that it has informed clients that deliveries of the A380 are to be delayed by six to seven months. Airbus said it is still on track to win certification for the aircraft and deliver the first unit at the end of 2006. However, only a maximum of nine A380 aircraft can be delivered in 2007, Airbus said.

Compared to the initial targets, there will be shortfalls in delivery of five to nine aircraft in 2008 and around five aircraft in 2009, it added. This will clearly impact the business and growth plans of Singapore AIr, Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways. Emirates had expected its first  A380 this year but will not see its first delivery until October 2007.

I smell a very large French rat.

Meanwhile before the Americans get too smug Business Week magazine is reporting that the Boeing 787 itself faces delays. Boeing says that because it is pushing state-of-the-art technology, some glitches can be expected. The company plans to begin flight testing the 787 next year.

Let battle (re-) commence

17 June 2006

The King's diamond jubilee celebrations are barely over and the mud slinging has started. We will soon be back to the pre-April2 2006 political mess that was Thailand and the warnings and counsel of the King.

Make no mistake, Prime Minister Thaksin is back in charge. The apparent resignation was temporary. Just how temporary are the memories of the people of Thailand.

Taking his lead from the Singaporean approach of dealing with political opposition Thaksin appears to have the opposition parties tied up in legal knots. There is a real cost here, financial, time and credibility.

On Wednesday, Thaksin’s lawyers filed criminal and civil lawsuits against the Democrat party and three daily newspapers for likening the premier to a mythical creature that feasts on human innards and feces. The lawsuits, which seek a total of 800 million baht from the main Democrat opposition party, as well as Matichon, Khao Sod and Daily News, follow criminal defamation lawsuits filed two weeks ago against 11 defendants who claimed the premier and ruling party members concocted a plan in Finland to push the country away from a constitutional monarchy....the so-called Finland Declaration.

Thana Benjathikul, one of Thaksin’s lawyers told local media that a civil defamation case was likely to be brought soon against those who exposed the alleged “Finland Declaration,” including Manager Media founder Sondhi Limthongkul, former Bangkok Senator Chirmsak Pinthong and academic Chai-anan Samudavanija. Thana admitted that the lawsuits filed on Wednesday were delayed due to the celebrations for His Majesty the King’s Diamond Jubilee, but denied that they represented a renewed effort to crack down on criticism in the press.

Politically, the lawsuits appear the first salvo in a strike back at Thaksin’s opponents after they managed, however briefly, to remove the premier from official duties. Many in the Thai Rak Thai party saw the anti-Thaksin campaign as an orchestrated plot by newspapers to oust the government.

Activists said the latest lawsuits were also notable because they list Daily News as a co-defendant. The daily was viewed as a government mouthpiece only six months ago.

Although newspapers enjoyed the brief respite from criminal defamation suits, free-press advocates are not surprised to see them pop up again. Now they wonder how many more will follow as all parties gear up for an election later in the year.

 

Angkor Wat; preserving the past at the cost of the present

13 June 2006

It is fashionable to  be enrapt by Angkor Wat. It is clear that the ruins are those of a one great civilization. That makes the current mess that is Cambodia all the more depressing. It makes the lack of fair government all the more obvious and it shows again the failings of a communist utopia.

There is abject poverty. Barefoot children, some following older siblings, are everywhere. School is for those who can afford it.  Women sell fruit and other goods at roadside stands and small markets.  Bizarrely women sit outside the local temple with bathroom scales ready to weigh you. Men languish in hammocks, prostrate from the heat.  And it is hot, especially at this time of year.

Yet, amidst its dirt roads and street commerce there are a bizarre assortment of glitzy four and five star hotels. Many cater for Asian tourists in group tours and are along the main road in from the airport. Others are nearer the old river and the (dreadful) central market. It is disturbing:  While  Cambodians struggle for subsistence survival, tourists feast on at the buffet trough, shop in upscale craft outlets, and enjoy chauffeured air-conditioned cars.

The counter argument is that without the tourists the people would  have even less. Angkor Wat is basically this nation's only asset and tourism is its only growth industry. There is no doubt that the growth if tourism in Siem Reap has created many new jobs; but much of the wealth remains in foreign ownership and is not Cambodian.

The reality. My guide's English was self taught. He supports his non working wife and two children on the $10 he earns daily when he has "clients."  Yet he was booked through the hotel at $30 a day. An interesting mark up. The hotel gets some; the tour guide agency gets some.  He was going to use yesterday's fee to pay off a loan that he had taken to cover another loan that he had given on behalf of his wife.

It costs $40 for a two or there day pass to see the Angkor ruins. With some one and a half million visitors a year to Angkor where is that US60 million a year going to ? Add to that the S20 visa fee to enter the country and the $25 departure tax to get out. Corruption is rife in modern Cambodia.  Health care is virtually non-existent; mothers carry baby children around the city asking for milk money. As you get out of the little three wheel tuk tuk you will be swarmed upon by people looking for handouts. Mothers, children and Cambodia's army or war caused cripples.

There are plenty of experts who come to Siem Reap, the access town for Angkor Wat. They come for UNESCO or other NGOs; and they stay at the best hotels; and they ensure that there work will continue by trickling down just enough work for the local people to survive. NO NGO wants to be out of work as a result of the success of their own efforts. A friend describes this to me as the "noble savage" theory; he is correct; somehow there are first world people who seem to think that the life of the third world villager is somehow ennobling. The fact that the family has no drinkable water, no electricity, no source of income and no way out of its life of toil are offset by the simplicity of their lives and surroundings and the honestly of their existence. Nonsense, it just shows how wide the gap has gotten between those who have and those who do not.

The people are friendly and welcoming; they smile. The children selling bangles, cards, books, drinks and scarves at every temple have their lines worked out in every language. You no buy from me I will cry. I need money or I cannot go to school. I had great fun with twins at Ta Phrom where we worked our way through international capitals. They could both say buy three for one dollar in half a dozen languages. They were engaging and curious. But their education will stop at 8th grade and their chances of escaping the poverty trap are  minimal.

Angkor Wat is one of the manmade wonders of the world.  The temples, scattered over nearly 200 miles and dating back to the 12th century, are mysterious and their history is remarkable. It is a privilege and a pleasure to see them.  They have of course been stripped over the years. For each well meaning archeologist there was another who was a treasure hunter and some of the greatest artifacts from Angkor languish in museums around the world or in private collections.  

So here is a question for the modern world. Is it better to spend on the preservation of these relics or should we apply this funding and today’s technology to massive poverty reduction in Cambodia or to ending childhood mortality from preventable causes? 

For the moment the answer appears to be to continue to extract every possible dollar from Angkor. The latest idea from the kingdom's Apsara Authority, which manages Cambodia's premier tourist attraction, is to have all tourists where temple friendly shoes and Apsara has signed a contract with an unnamed firm to provide them. 

Apsara are unclear how the shoes would reduce wear on the stone temples and have not said when the programme would begin or how much they would cost visitors.

The special shoes would mark the second proposed fee increase at Angkor in recent months.

Apsara in May announced a three-dollar entrance fee increase, ostensibly to help cover costs of a free guidebook for tourists, but the hike was rescinded, in part due to criticism from travel agencies.

But greed will cost Angkor. As more tourists come; as the airport is enlarged; as new eyesore hotels appear; then the wear and tear on the temples will continue at a fast pace. Parts of the temples will be fenced in or even fenced off. New steps will need to be installed at many places. Access to some places will be limited to a certain amount of visitors a day. This already started to Banteay Srei (a small temple some 25 or so kilometres from Angkor) and will spread.

There are many reminders of a glorious past...there is little that is comforting about the present.
 

A sea of yellow for the 60th anniversary

9 June 2005

United like never before the people of Thailand are paying tribute in astonishing numbers to His Majesty the King. Hundreds of thousands of Thais crowded the roads near the royal palace in Bangkok on Friday to glimpse their revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej during a speech for celebrations marking his 60th year on the throne.

Throughout the speech the city was at a near standstill as pedestrians, almost all wearing yellow, stopped to watch television screens.

There is another rehearsal for the Royal Barge procession tonight and fireworks.

The celebrations will continue until next Tuesday.

This is a modern king who teaches traditional values. His aura of wisdom, tolerance, concern for the poor, humility and justice are a ready contrast to the self serving nature of Thai politics and daily allegations of corruption.

An increasingly complex, modern, urban Thai society does rely heavily on one man's wisdom and on an ancient philosophy of kingship. The king himself made clear in his recent intervention after the 2 April electoral farce that the development of institutions based on laws and procedures is to be valued and relied upon. That may be one of his greatest legacies.

Another opening date for Bangkok airport

8 June  2006

Suvarnabhumi Airport set to open on Sept 28; THAI Airways top management confirms date;

Fortunately they did not say Sept 28 of which year! The official Thai news agency reported today that Bangkok's new Suvarnabhumi Airport is now set to open for commercial purposes on September 28, the Transport Ministry announced here on Wednesday. It is quite hard to know how they keep a straight face while making these announcements. Maybe a few domestic Thai flights can transfer on that day; but a fully operational international passenger and cargo airport. Most unlikely.

The opening date of the Suvarnabhumi International Airport was set recently by the government committee on management and development of the new airport, Deputies Transport Minister Gen.Chainant Charoensiri and Mr. Phumtham Wechayachai told a press conference after a meeting here Wednesday with the board of directors of Thai Airways International Public Company Limited (THAI), the national flag carrier.  Gen. Chainant oversees AOT, while Mr. Phumtham supervises THAI.

They also announced that yet another new committee comprising of representatives of all parties concerned, including Airports of Thailand Public Co., Ltd. (AOT), the Customs Department, the Immigration Bureau, THAI and other international airlines, would be set up to oversee the relocation of Bangkok's international airport from the Don Muang Airport to the Suvarnabhumi Airport.

AOT has in its wisdom outsourced almost all the functions of the new airport but they have outsourced them into multiple small contracts. The air bridge operators will not be the same contractors as the cleaners or the air conditioning maintenance team. Many of these contracts have still to be awarded. This can be a laborious process in Thailand and may be little connected with a company's capabilities.

On June 17 Caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra will chair a meeting of all the parties concerned to review all projects and plans involving the Suvarnabhumi Airport. 

It may not be a coincidence that the government is pushing hard for a September opening ahead of the next election, currently scheduled for October 15, 2006.

What everyone has forgotten is that it was on September 29 last year that the airport was last declared open:The new date is the sixth anniversary of the bestowing of its auspicious name, Suvarnabhumi (meaning "golden land") by His Majesty the King on September 29, 2000.

My money is still on December 2006 for a full transfer of operations.

Sources of hope

7 June 2006

We find inspiration in the strangest of places and in the deepest recesses. Sometimes it comes from the qualities of the people that lead us. Sometimes it comes from family and friends. In Thailand this week a nation will pay tribute to a modest man of massive influence; a man whose presence single-handedly provides unity to the kingdom of Thailand.

Then there is my baby brother; you can read his story below. Would I have fought like he did? Would I have turned adversity to personal victory? Would I be able to junk the bad memories? I really do not know. Over a very bad weekend last weekend I went to bed on the Sunday night thinking that it really did not matter too much whether or not I woke up in the morning. Yet I did. And it was a new day; and the crap of the previous day had for the most part disappeared.

Maybe the answer is that once you have found whatever it is that gives you faith, inspiration, hope, a reason to be, to excel; then grab it and don't let it go.

Last night's rains have gone; today is bright and sunny. Life is about transitions; for every ending there is a new beginning. It is making the best of those new opportunities that gives us hope and that defines the next ending.

Nine Lives...One Left 

by Timothy Scott

7 June 2006

Originally published on www.inspiredtorun.co.uk

When I left the John Radcliffe hospital in Oxford it was July 2003.   I was terrified of what the future held for me.  I had gone to A&E in November 2002, and had been quickly diagnosed with pancreatitis caused by a gallstone blocking a bile duct.  I was in hospital from November to January 2003 and home in February.  I went back at the start of March 2003 to have my gallbladder removed.  This caused the pancreatitis to flare up and cause many complications, which were life-threatening.  For example enzymes, produced by the pancreas, escaped and started to digest parts they would not normally get to.  When I woke one night vomiting blood I just thought that a blood drip I was having was coming out again.  No!  Enzymes had eaten the wall of the splenic artery.  This involved a transfusion of more than 60 units of blood and I thank everybody who goes to the trouble of giving blood!

What could I do?  Not very much apart from trust everybody to do their best for me and to use the skills they had learned, some through years of experience and others just starting on their own career.  All of them superb and unforgetable; too many to name and probably every department in the hospital - they will know who I mean!

My wife Caren and our three boys, Joe, Ellis and Sean watched with the rest of my family, friends and colleagues.  I had started a new job at Windles three weeks before being taken ill.  They gave me their full support and a job when I was ready to return.

From March 2003 to July 2003 I was on a Nil By Mouth order!  So I had lost a few stone.  I was fed by fluids dripped into my duodenum, below the stomach so that the stomach could heal itself.  My stomach had been cut through to reach and repair the splenic artery.  I lay in bed and was scared that I would never walk again.  Physiotherapists, my wife and family, nurses, a very special health care assistant, stoma nurses and a friend who used to put lines into me for blood and drugs all helped me to believe that it was possible.  A tilt-table was brought into my room and I was put upright for the first time in months.  Scared? Yes but also "quietly determined" - or "stubborn" as my wife prefers to call it.

Gradually I started to move again.  Sitting on the edge of the bed would be a great achievement, then standing, then walking in a zimmer frame.  Nervously my confidence grew and the distances increased.  I dressed in a dinner jacket and went out with my wife and friends to a charity dinner in Oxford.  I was still Nil By Mouth so it was an odd place to be, but I felt great joy and relief to be out and about doing something that I had taken for granted.  I had got to the age of 42 with very few health concerns.  I was pleased to get back to the hospital for sleep and security but I knew I was going to be well.

My first marathon in 2005 was 5:33:48;  I had enjoyed listening to "Don't Fear The Reaper" on the PA in the Red Start zone.

My second marathon in 2006 was 5:12:33; if I carry on improving like this I will set a record when I am 54.  What made me very happy was spending some time in the Leonard Cheshire reception.  My consultant chose Leonard Cheshire as the charity I should run for because of the great work they do for diasabled people in the UK and around the world.  At one time in hospital after I'd had a cardiac arrest, my wife was told that if I lived I may never live at home again or work again.  I have learned not to take anything for granted.

I had previously watched the man in the deep sea diving gear.  I knew that I could beat his time and I was pleased this year to be walking back to my car and noticed a Dalek making his way along the Embankment!

Running has given me strength and great recovery powers.  All my training has been at the Vale of White Horse Leisure and Tennis Centre on a treadmill.  The trainers think I am a bit nuts! I have enjoyed the comfort of watching monitors, like in hospital, telling me that I am going a little further, sometimes a little faster each time.  And the staff, like the John Radcliffe team, superb in their reassurance and belief that I cold achieve my goal.

And it is easy to think I had a bad time.  I did.  But I arrive at the London Marathon, talk to runners or just read some of the t-shirts and look at the photos of loved ones.  Then I can understand how fortunate I have been.

Caren thinks I am unusual because I do not worry much.  After all that - why should I?  As I trained for the marathon this year I have watched my father die from cancer after a malignant melanoma was removed in 1990.  The cancer only showed itself again last year, and chemo gave him his last months with a better quality of life.

This year I also had  a mole removed and this  has tested as a malignant melanoma.  The day after the London Marathon I went into hospital to have more cut from around the removed mole and a lymph node removed.  These are being tested to see if there are further signs of cancer; I am looking forward to good news next week!

It would have been easy to say "no" to the marathon and hold my place for next year.  But I needed to do it to prove something to myself.  I am not sure what it proves but it helps me to think that I am OK.

In all of this the most difficult thing has been to understand my mind.  I was so close to being brain damaged, and it has only been over two years' recovery that I have gradually understood how ill I was.  Standing up and driving a car will fool most people that you are well and able to do your sales job.  Bit by bit I have put my mind back together, like a jigsaw puzzle.  In the puzzle there are bits I do not want to put back in, so I leave them out.  I make the pieces that I do want back in take up more space and change shape.  Many things that connect now to the past have helped; concerts, films, family and friends, Dr. Who on the TV and Daleks by the Thames.  It all makes wonderful sense and I hope I can keep on running.

When I left hospital my consultant (on morphine he was promoted to God) said: "you have used 8 lives, make the most of your 9th."

The King's 60th anniversary

7 June 2006

Until Bangkok I had never lived anywhere where one person is so universally revered and admired. This weekend sees the celebrations of the diamond (60th) anniversary of His Majesty the King's accession to the throne. This is a country where the royal and national anthems are separate and where it is the royal anthem that is played at the start of all public events, even including the movie cinemas.

For the first time in many months the politicians and  those who want power have to take a back stage while the nation and visiting dignitaries pay their respects. Born in 1927 the monarch has overseen the emergence of a modern Thailand built as far as possible on traditional values.

The King was honoured by the international community last month when United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan visited Thailand to present a Human Development Lifetime Achievement Award on May 26 to commemorate his well-known dedication to the welfare of the Thai people, particularly the poor and downtrodden.

King Bhumibol has initiated more than 2,000 development projects, many of them involving irrigation but all of them devoted to the concept of promoting economic self-sufficiency, now a popular theme among United Nations economists.

"As the world's 'Development King,' Your Majesty has reached out to the poorest and most vulnerable people of Thailand regardless of their status, ethnicity or religion, listened to their problems, and empowered them to take their lives in their own hands," Annan said in an apt summery of the King's lifework.

The King is a jazz-loving yachtsman who speaks four foreign languages fluently. He is the counter balance to the avarice of politicians; to the corporate behemoths; to the invasions of modern life. The king has always looked out for the disadvantaged - whether it is the hill tribes of the northern forests or the people of the predominantly Muslim south in what is otherwise a Buddhist-dominated country. All this has been done with humility. While traditional bureaucrats try to shield him from his subjects, King Bhumibol has constantly tried to break down the barriers, most notably when he ordered any criticism of him to be encouraged rather than punished with imprisonment.

His influence extends, albeit carefully, into politics. He defused the country's latest political crisis by calling on the judiciary to do their duty in deciding on the legitimacy on the country's April 2 snap election, which was turned into a farcical one-party affair after it was boycotted by opposition parties.

The king, in an audience granted the judges, stressed that he had no constitutional power to interfere in the 'mess,' while the judiciary did. They have since followed his guidance and Thailand appears to be heading towards some sort of political normalcy, albeit slowly. It may well be that the King understands democracy better than some of Thailand's political leaders.

There is an excellent web site for the 60th anniversary celebrations. Follow this link.

Meanwhile the Times of London gave this tribute:

"MONARCHIES around the world may be struggling to retain the love and allegiance of their people, but not in Thailand. Kings, queens and princes of many nationalities will fly to Bangkok this week to join King Bhumibol Adulyadej in celebrating 60 years on the throne.

For the Thai people, the world’s longest-reigning monarch remains the most revered figure in their lives, save for Lord Buddha himself.

Thailand’s strict laws forbidding criticism of the King are hardly necessary. An accomplished jazz musician, yachtsman, artist and author, the 79-year-old monarch also devotes great energy to helping his country’s poor and has repeatedly used his immense moral authority to save his country from turmoil.

King Bhumibol, the great-grandson of King Mongkut, of The King and I fame, was born in Massachusetts in 1927. He was thrust upon the throne in 1946 after his brother, Ananda, was murdered in the palace in Bangkok with his own pearl-handled revolver.

The new King departed for Switzerland to study political science, and during the early years of his rule his influence was curtailed by the military dictator Plaek Pibulsongkram.

But when students demonstrated for democracy in 1973, and the Army opened fire on them, the King earned his subjects’ devotion by opening his palace as a refuge to them.

In 1992, when troops again fired on pro-democracy students, he summoned the leaders of the coup and the pro-democracy movement to his palace to warn them of the harm being done to the country. Pictures of both men crawling on their knees in front of the monarch were flashed around the world. General Suchinda Kraprayoon, the coup leader, resigned and democracy was restored.

King Bhumibol intervened again this year as the People’s Alliance for Democracy demonstrated against the alleged corruption and cronyism of Thaksin Shinawatra, the billionaire Prime Minister. He summoned Mr Thaksin, who duly announced that he would not be running again for office. “My main reason is because this year is an auspicious year for the King, and I want all Thais to unite,” he announced.

Mr Thaksin’s party called a snap election, which was boycotted by opposition groups as they had no time to prepare. Again the King stepped in. In a televised speech he called on the courts to sort the matter out. The election was declared void and a new one will take place in October.

After each incident the country’s leaders have thanked the King for his advice, albeit through gritted teeth. Indeed, Mr Thaksin will be master of ceremonies for the celebrations taking place over the next ten days. These have already started in Bangkok with exhibitions of the King’s work.

Over the next week the celebrations will continue with candlelight ceremonies and fireworks displays around Bangkok’s golden-spired temples. Millions of Thais will don armbands with the message “Long live the King”. The climax will be a well-wishing ceremony in the Ananta Sarnakorn throne hall and a massive and colourful barge procession along the Chao Phraya river.

The finale will be a royal banquet for the world’s royalty and final well-wishing ceremony. This will be attended by the heads or representatives of the royal families of Denmark, Sweden, Spain, Lichtenstein, Luxembourg, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, Mon- aco, Brunei, Bhutan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Japan, Jordan, Malaysia, Nepal, Cambodia, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Samoa, Tonga, Swaziland, Lesotho, and Morocco. Britain will be represented by the Duke of York."

The Royal Barges

7 June 2006

The Royal Barge procession will take place on 12 June 2006 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the King's accession to the Thai throne.  Last night was a full dress rehearsal and it is a spectacular sight.

The barges

The costumes

The technique

The stunning "Suphannahongsa"

By night

Girl, interrupted; Wie didn't make U.S. Open this year, but it's coming

Put a pin in this page and note it for future reference; Michelle Wie is making golf watchable.  There are plenty of snipers who complain that she has not won anything that matters; that she should learn to win on the ladies tour. But the ladies tour, with their heads stuck somewhere that the sun doesn't shine, exclude her from all but six tournaments a year. So she beats up the men. She brings in the crowds and that must be good for golf. Now if she could only sink a few putts !

Michael Bamberger; Sports Illustrated. 5 June 2006 wrote:

In the history of American golf, nothing is as Old Guard as U.S. Open sectional qualifying -- two rounds in one day, often played on sly courses designed by imported Scotsmen that are guarded by clubhouses with creaking steps and suspect plumbing. On Monday alone, there were 10 qualifying events across the country, with a total of 577 golfers playing for 56 spots in the field of the U.S. Open. As June final exams go, it's about as tough as it gets.

Among those 577 golfers -- including Mark O'Meara and Tom Lehman and other winners of major championships -- there was only one woman, Michelle Wie, a Hawaiian teenager whose parents were born in Korea. Maybe you've seen her on 60 Minutes. Wie does things her own way. She turned pro last year, while still a junior in high school. At 13, she was already talking about wanting to play on the PGA Tour. Now, at 16, she's getting closer. The old order, the old way of thinking, got nicked Monday.

It was an important step. On Monday there was a girl playing with the boys for the first time in a USGA sectional qualifier. A girl who, in the wet gray cool of early morning, was wearing dangling earrings and clam-digger pants and a coral-colored sweater that would look good on only one other golfer -- Arnold Palmer. Michelle Wie was at the Canoe Brook Country Club in the wilds of northern New Jersey, trying to earn a place in the field at the 106th U.S. Open, this year at Winged Foot, a tournament for which Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson have already secured their spots. No woman has ever played in a U.S. Open before -- or the Masters or the British Open or the PGA Championship. No woman, for that matter, has played in the NBA or fought for the heavyweight title of the world, but things are changing. You've heard of Danica Patrick, right? Michelle Wie didn't qualify for the U.S. Open -- she needs to fix her putting game from 10 feet and in -- this year, but some year she will. So will other women whose names we don't yet know.

Early Monday morning she was on the practice tee at Canoe Brook, warming up for a 12-hour day of golf. The other golfers -- at Canoe Brook there were 153 golfers playing for 18 spots -- were using the garden-variety striped range balls issued by the club. Wie, the youngest golfer in the field, was not. Her father, B.J., came on to the range carrying a plastic shopping bag filled with brand-new Nike practice balls, the brand she is paid to play, part of an overall endorsement deal worth over $10 million. It takes chutzpah to show up at a USGA event with your own practice balls, but the three Wies -- father, daughter and mother Bo --are not slaves to convention. B.J. Wie is more Richard Williams (father of Serena and Venus) than Earl Woods. For years now people have been saying that Michelle Wie should be playing against other girls in junior events, learning how to win. The father has never stopped to ask why.

But even while trying to do something new, there was something lost-world about the golf at Canoe Brook. There were a couple hundred spectators when she and her two playing partners, former PGA Tour winner David Gossett and club pro Rick Hartmann, played their morning round. The spectators wandered across the fairways and made paths for the golfers with gallery ropes and with minimal supervision, just like in the old sepia-toned clips from the early Bobby Jones days. Of course, living in the times we do, ESPN was there, talk radio was there, TV Ashai was there. But the crowd following them -- over a 1,000 by cocktail hour -- was mostly real golf fans, there on the hope that they'd see something new.

"If you have the opportunity to see something historic, and you can do it, why wouldn't you?" said Robert Macdonald, a publisher of golf books.

Wie drove it with her playing partners, hit the ball as high as her playing partners, chatted (at least a little) with her playing partners. She putted like Fred Couples. Over 36 holes, she missed once from five feet, twice from four feet, once from two feet. In the morning, on the South Course, she shot 68, 2 under par, and after lunch, on the more difficult North Course, she shot 75, 3 over par. She needed a two-round total of 138 to qualify for Winged Foot. This year, she missed. There's next year and 30 more next years after that. All she did Monday was not make it. There are more believers now than there were before.

In the gallery on Monday at Canoe Brook was Nicole Sikora, 23 years old and an aspiring professional, watching Wie in person for the first time and soaking up everything. "She can change the whole game," Sikora said. "Look at her. She's not a girl playing golf. She's one of them." Sikora's looking to be one of them, too.

Wie is still going to school, in every sense. On Monday, she made a decidedly minor faux pas. She hit a wild push off the 18th tee in the first round, and only wet rough kept her ball from going in a pond. Distracted by this near-calamity, she left her extra long tee, marked by stripes, right where she had planted it. In golf, as in life, you're supposed to clean up after yourself. Hartmann, playing after her, bent over to put his peg in and tossed Wie's tee to the side. Gossett, who knows the rich and fallow periods golf can bring, pocketed this semi-exotic little souvenir. At that point, the day showed nothing but promise. By nightfall, looking through a longer lens, it still did.

Will Cathay Pacific buy its way into China?

5 June 2006

After some two years of speculation it appears that Cathay Pacific is close to announcing its purchase of Hing Kong based Dragonair. A deal would win Cathay, which owns 17.8% of shares in Dragonair, access to much-coveted routes between Hong Kong and mainland China.

Cathay has struggled to gain access into China with only limited flights to Beijing (2 a day) and to Xiamen.

Atrocity and Cover Up - the US failings at Haditha

2 June 2006

We are so used to hearing about atrocities in Iraq that it is easier to turn a deaf ear and ignore the facts and the implications.

But the US government is openly using the words 'atrocity' and 'massacre' to describe acts by the U.S. military in a November 19, 2005 incident in Haditha, Iraq when a small group of Marines, according to the claims, shot at least 24 Iraqi men, women and children. The slayings were allegedly triggered by the killing of a Marine in a bomb attack.

The killing of civilians by Marines there is reminiscent of the 1968 My Lai massacre, which galvanized opposition to the Vietnam War. This story would be too ugly to be credible if it hadn't happened before. It makes the prisoner abuses at Abu Ghraib seem benign by comparison and harms America's cause and credibility in Iraq,  and, indeed, around the world. It also makes those nations such as the UK, that have stood by the Americans, look similarly embattled.

Throughout history invading and occupying forces have committed atrocities; but the USA chose the moral high ground in its war in Iraq. The USA insists that what it offers is better than what was there before. War is hell, but in this war the USA has to be holier than thou. And it has failed abjectly.

The politicians really did not know what they were getting into in Iraq. The town of Haditha is at the violent epicenter of the Sunni insurgency responsible for the majority of U.S. casualties since the fall of Saddam Hussein.  U.S. forces, often inadequately trained and undermanned and like Vietnam, young and under educated, leave the relative safety of their base to patrol a land where it can be treacherously difficult to distinguish friend from foe, innocent from deadly.

But the fault lies not just with the marines; the whole culture of cover up needs to be exposed. That six months on we are still seeking the truth of events on this day is embarrassing. Allegedly the marine squad leader involved in the deaths of the civilians falsely reported that they had been killed by a roadside bomb.

Members of a separate marine unit that removed the bodies also failed to report they had been shot at close range, and senior officers failed to launch an investigation even after doubt was cast on the official version of events by human rights investigators and journalists. A marine captain ridiculed Time journalists for looking into the case. "I cannot believe you're buying any of this," he emailed the magazine. "This falls into the same category of any aqi [al-Qaida in Iraq] propaganda."

Iraq is broken. The US Army long ago lost control of Iraq's security. Now it's losing a grip on its own soldiers, who are exhausted and demoralized by everything they've seen.

It is time to give Iraq back to its people and let events unfurl. Iraq is broken and America is not a force for good or for change in Iraq.

Finally, someone needs to explain why Donald Rumsfeld still has a job.