Past Extras

Occasionally, I will want to write a column that doesn't fit the normal structure of the site. Normal columns are around the thousand word mark, and deal with reasonably serious subject matter. Columns I wish to publish that don't fit this pattern will appear here instead, on an irregular schedule.

Latest Extra Blair's Speech and Lies on Iraq
The reaction of the traditional media to Tony Blair's conference speech has puzzled me. Ranging from boredom to gushing enthusiasm, the newspaper coverage has been almost completely lacking in negative comment. With the exception of the occasional critical columnist, Blair's speech was treated as a great success. Yet, re-read his words as I might I cannot understand why. Badly written, in places barely coherent, and studded with lies, this speech would be the nail in Blair's coffin, were it not for the remarkably compliant British press.

20th August 2003 112 Days in Iraq
On 27th November 2002, UN weapons inspectors began work in Iraq. 112 days later, on March 18th, President Bush declared America would go to war. Both Bush and Blair stated publicly that the inspections had had enough time, that only an active and cunning program of deception could have prevented the discovery of weapons. On May 1st was declared by the President to have been a success, the war officially over. By that point, the coalition's hunt for weapons of mass destruction had already begun. We know how long that hunt should take - 112 days is more than enough time. Yet those 112 days ran out on Wednesday, 20th August 2003 with no evidence at all of such weapons.

7th August 2002 Why online opinion exists.
I present to you online opinion. A traditional, weekly opinion column, possibly to be accompanied by a traditional letters page, published via the Internet. I hope the columns will form a centre piece for broader discussions.

News & Views
Between August 2002 and March 2003, I ran a weblog-based column, primarily consisting of short comment pieces. The experiment failed - partly because I do not have time to maintain the column properly, and partly because too many of the pieces were not up to an acceptable standard. If you are interested, the archives are maintained here. This is not the end of my blogging experiments - I have just begun a new blog on my personal site, grahamrobinson.com.

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