While riding the No 3 bus in Glasgow MATT KERR has ample time to dissect the moribund Scottish Labour decline into near oblivion and watch intriguing bus passenger dynamics
As the famous quote — commonly attributed to US writer Mark Twain — goes: “a lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes.”
It shouldn’t be surprising, then, that while the case for the 2003 Iraq war has been largely discredited, an unnerving amount of propaganda spread by the US and UK governments at the time still has some purchase today.
For example, Gerd Nonneman, Professor of International Relations and Gulf Studies at Georgetown University Qatar, recently tweeted about Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD): “Saddam’s aim was to keep everyone at home & abroad guessing.” Similarly, a November Financial Times review by Chief Political Correspondent Philip Stephens of two books on UK intelligence matters noted the then Iraqi leader “believed his domestic authority in Iraq rested on a pretence that he still had WMD.”
Media Lens at 25: David Cromwell and David Edwards reflect on a quarter-century of media criticism, explaining why independent journalism is more important than ever
IAN SINCLAIR examines the curious memory lapses across liberal media when it comes to British government crimes
GUILLERMO THOMAS enjoys a survey of the current state of the CIA (aka Langley) from an expert and insider of sorts
ANDREW MURRAY looks back on the ignominious career of the former US vice-president, who died earlier this week



