In reponse to this, and in a desperate attempt to not only pin the ongoing Shrine bombings and Imman killings in Iraq on al-Qaeda, but also to explain why the infamous Muslim terror group would want to see 26 million Iraqi Muslims at each others throats rather than at the throats of the American occupiers, U.K. Foreign Minister Jack Straw has informed us that the formerly fundamentalist Muslim group, 'al-Qaeda', is now more "nihilist" than anything else.

My question: Why do most people stare blankly back when such statements are made, when the correct response is uproarious laughter? Is it not traditionally the case that the ability of the average human being to realise that they are being fed a line of BS is indirectly proportional to the pungency of the BS being proffered? If so, then by this comment, Jack Straw has done the British public a great service in clearly revealing his utter lack of integrity, honesty and conscience.

Both Messers Bush and Blair have built the entire case for their bogus yet vicious never-ending war on terror on the 'reality' of the threat from Islamic terrorists, specifically, the mythical 'al-Qaeda'. Yet, given that the war on terror was from the very beginning a war on the Middle East, there was always going to be a point when it was impossible for British, American and Israeli agents to continue to attack Muslims and blame Muslims for those attacks. While the Western populations have largely accepted increasingly unbelievable government lies over the past 5 or 6 years, there are limits to how far the deception can be pushed.

That time has now arrived it seems, and in order to continue to avail of the 'Muslim terrorist' straw man to take the rap for the additional bloodshed and carnage that is on the (Israeli) NeoCon agenda, the architects of the war on terror have decided Osama needs a makeover. "Nihilist Terrorism", has a nice ring to it, or what about "al-Nihila"? I reckon the average Joe will buy it - mainly because he won't know what it means. But not to worry, all will be explained, in fact, all has already been explained, as I wrote a few days ago, US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad has said that the Shrine bombing "shows that (Islamic) terrorists stop at nothing and care for nothing" - not even Islam or their fellow Islamists it seems. Go figure.

Of course, the fact that up until now 'al-Nihila" have repeatedly made it clear that their goal is to further the cause of fundamentalist Islam, and that attacks on American interests are in retaliation for the decades of aggressive treatment of Arab Muslims by Israel and the U.S., should just be forgotten. You see, it is best that you, the lowly citizen, do not trouble yourself with the complexities of international affairs and what is going on behind the war on terror, you will simply become confused and confuddled, or worse, you might realise that almost every word that comes out of the mouths of your (un)elected representatives bears a striking similarity to that noxious stuff you thought only existed in small round patties in farmer's fields.

Imagine how annoyed you would be.

So it's best just to leave it all alone. If, however, you are of a rebellious nature and still hold to the quaint notion that you can and should think for yourself, and think you can do so without being locked up as an "al-Nihila" sympathiser, then you should continue to read news sites like Signs of the Times. There'll be lots more lessons in the finer points of government BS detection in the months to come. You can count on it.