Letter Never Sent Tell me when to go.

At the risk of seeming too macabre I’ve posted an Iraq civilian body count counter on the bottom left of this page. You can get your own here. I hope no one else is killed and I wish the Iraqi people luck in the coming months and years. I’m surprised and yet not surprised that we are going against world opinion to wage this unnecessary, wasteful, and costly war. For our own sake as a nation founded upon principles of freedom, I hope we fail utterly in our mission to occupy this country.

Military regime in place to run Iraq after Saddam:

According to British and American officials, the final touches are being made to the ambitious plan, which envisages deploying an entire civil administration to take over the running of Iraq, from healthcare to education and security.

The Times has learnt that most of the key posts in the future Iraqi civil service will be held by former American generals, diplomats and aid workers, who will report directly to the Pentagon.

The overall head of this de facto Iraqi government will be General Tommy Franks, the commander-in-chief of American and British forces that are now poised to invade the country. Until yesterday Britain’s role in planning for post-Saddam Iraq was kept secret, even though the special inter-ministerial Iraq Planning Unit was created two months ago. It is headed by Dominick Chilcott, a Foreign Office diplomat and former Royal Navy officer, who co-ordinates with officials from the Ministry of Defence and the Department for International Development.

A Foreign Office official said that the existence of the unit was not revealed because they did “not want to give the impression that war was inevitable”. …

British and American officials said yesterday that allied forces were bound by international law to take responsibility for running Iraq once the Baathist regime of President Saddam is overthrown. They insisted, however, that they would gladly hand over responsibility for civilian administration to the United Nations and ultimately to an elected Iraqi government once the situation had stabilised.

US officials denied that there was any intention of installing a long-term military “maharajah” and envisage a brief, “necessary occupation” lasting “months”.

Some Iraqis, probably drawn from exiled groups and figures inside the country, will initially be involved on a consultative basis. Later it is hoped that power will be transferred to an Iraqi Interim Authority.

Nevertheless, it is clear that General Franks will become a modern version of General Douglas MacArthur, who defeated and later ran Japan after the Second World War.

…to live in the Fourth Reich? I hope you’re proud. Now let’s see that Sig Heil! It’s not the Jews now. It’s the Muslims. Will we have the equivalent Yellow Crescent patches that Muslims will be required to wear or carry on their person?

Rights Groups Protest Jailing of Asylum Seekers: Element of Stepped-Up Homeland Security Called ‘Shocking’ :

Civil-rights groups and immigration advocacy organizations are protesting one element in the government’s security procedures announced yesterday in anticipation of war in Iraq–a decision to jail asylum seekers from dozens of mostly Muslim nations while officials check out their claims of persecution in their home countries.

The complaints rose as security was stepped up across the country today, with more federal agents assigned to U.S. borders, increased deployment of Coast Guard ships and aircraft at seaports, and health officials placed on special alert to watch for possible chemical or biological attack. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge also asked many of the nation’s 50 governors to deploy the National Guard or state police at sensitive sites such as chemical plants and railroad bridges.

In addition, on Monday evening at the same time as President Bush’s speech on war in Iraq, Ridge announced he was raising the nation’s threat alert level to orange or “high risk” because of the danger terrorists would retaliate for a U.S. invasion of Iraq.

“It’s a shocking development,” Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil-rights group, said of the asylum policy. “Many asylum applications can take years. It seems unfair to put people in jail who are escaping persecution and who have done nothing wrong just because they are from certain countries.”

BBC: Timeline of Iraq Crisis:

5:43 PM: White House declares US forces would enter Iraq even if Saddam Hussein obeys order to leave.

Know this. The offer to let Saddam Hussein flee is a lie. Our leaders are liars, thieves, and despots. We owe no allegiance to them or their military. This is a black day.

US invasion of Iraq ‘inevitable’: The United States says American forces will enter Iraq to search for weapons of mass destruction even if President Saddam Hussein complies with an ultimatum to leave.