*Ø* Blogmanac | Ten U-turns on the road to "peace"
"Part one: The appointment of an interim Prime Minister who used to work for the CIA is one of a series of disastrous policy changes by the US.
By Justin Huggler and Rupert Cornwell
The Prime Minister
"The appointment of Iyad Allawi as Iraq's interim Prime Minister this weekend was being seen as an American-backed coup which wrong-footed Lakhdar Brahimi, the United Nations envoy supposed to be putting together the interim government which will wield 'sovereignty' after 30 June.
"The more that is learnt, however, about the sudden emergence of Mr Allawi, a man close to the CIA and MI6, the more it appears the appointment of the new government has been hijacked by the ambitious politicians of the Iraqi Governing Council - the very body it was meant to replace. The only question is whom the IGC was conspiring with as its members picked jobs for themselves.
"But whatever the answer, the appointment of Mr Allawi is the culmination of a series of spectacular U-turns that has given President George Bush and his administration the appearance of lurching in a panic from one flawed policy on Iraq to the next. Since last November every decision seems to have been taken with an eye to one political event alone: Mr Bush's bid for re-election this November."
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"Part one: The appointment of an interim Prime Minister who used to work for the CIA is one of a series of disastrous policy changes by the US.
By Justin Huggler and Rupert Cornwell
The Prime Minister
"The appointment of Iyad Allawi as Iraq's interim Prime Minister this weekend was being seen as an American-backed coup which wrong-footed Lakhdar Brahimi, the United Nations envoy supposed to be putting together the interim government which will wield 'sovereignty' after 30 June.
"The more that is learnt, however, about the sudden emergence of Mr Allawi, a man close to the CIA and MI6, the more it appears the appointment of the new government has been hijacked by the ambitious politicians of the Iraqi Governing Council - the very body it was meant to replace. The only question is whom the IGC was conspiring with as its members picked jobs for themselves.
"But whatever the answer, the appointment of Mr Allawi is the culmination of a series of spectacular U-turns that has given President George Bush and his administration the appearance of lurching in a panic from one flawed policy on Iraq to the next. Since last November every decision seems to have been taken with an eye to one political event alone: Mr Bush's bid for re-election this November."
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1921 More than 300 were killed in a race riot in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA – the most devastating race riot in US history in terms of lives lost.
Pictured: Happier times: Mamdouh Habib and family
542 CE According to tradition, King Arthur of England died.
Things are starting to buzz at 
May 28, 1961 
"Carlisle, Pennsylvania: Two rehearsals for his prime-time speech were not enough to keep George Bush from mangling the name of the prison outside Baghdad that has brought shame to the US mission in Iraq.
1870 Captain Thunderbolt (Frederick Ward), the notorious Australian bushranger, was allegedly shot dead by Constable AB Walker.
"London (Reuters) - Homer's ancient Greek poem 'The Iliad,' the basis for Hollywood blockbuster 'Troy,' has been compressed for a new generation too lazy to see the film let alone read the 24-book epic that runs to over 15,000 lines.
Someone else reprimands: "I have an assignment for you LEARN HOW TO FACT CHECK, CORRECTALY."
1498 Girolamo Savonarola (September 21, 1452), Italian religious fanatic, was burnt at the stake for heresy. He was hanged and cooked, in the same place and in the same manner in which he had had others, pagan and Christian, executed for their 'heresies'.
Those people who believe in such things, rather than being a wimpy fence sitter such as I, will be interested in the fact that the infamous Abu Ghraib photos were mostly taken on November 8, 2003, the day of the "
This was before 9-11 when I could pull out statistics, such as that 70 per cent of American journalists identified as 'liberal', which acted as a counterbalance to the capital interests of their employers.
1898 Armand Hammer (d. December 10, 1990), American physician, entrepreneur, oil magnate, art collector (seen here with Brezhnev).
Salam Pax, whose blog from Baghdad called 
Interesting that he's 
Ascension is the end of the Easter season, when almanackists can take things a bit easier for a while.
"Specialist Sabrina Harman was pictured with the body of an Iraqi, who other soldiers have told investigators died during interrogation at Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad.
"Dozens of videotapes of American guards allegedly engaged in brutal attacks on Guantanamo Bay detainees have been stored and catalogued at the camp, an investigation by The Observer has revealed.
Feast day of St Brendan the Elder (aka, the Navigator, or Voyager)
Odd. At least 150,000 Israelis 
A friend of mine just told me that in a small country town not far from here, at the Star Hotel, there is a guy who can claim the name of 'piss artist extraordinaire'.
1927 The ill-fated German luxury passenger steamer, Cap Arcona, was launched at the Blohm & Voss shipyard, in Hamburg. Less than 20 years later, many thousands of innocent prisoners aboard her were to become victims of an Allied bombing that seems to have fallen through the cracks of history.
We recently celebrated our first year online, and the prestigious 
