Preparations are continuing for an attack on Iraq.

Some 300 Iraqi opposition military and political leaders convened an unprecedented conference in London over the weekend to discuss options for toppling Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

They warned Sunday that a large-scale invasion would bring widespread destruction without removing Saddam Hussein, and would not be supported by opponents of the current regime.

The delegates said large-scale Western attacks on Iraq will be unnecessary because most Iraqi forces will turn against President Saddam at the outbreak of hostilities.

Meanwhile, senior British defense officials have informed the government that British troops will have to be stationed in Iraq for up to five years as part of an “occupation force” once Saddam Hussein has been removed from power. This according to the London Telegraph.

The occupation would be to prevent the post-Saddam state from fragmenting into civil war and anarchy.

And critics of the Bush Administration are asking why the plans to attack Iraq have become public just when the corporate scandals reached a climax and began to implicate the President himself.

One staffer in the office of California Democratic congressman Henry Waxman told the London Observer: “It’s certainly strange that the more the finance scandals approach the White House, the harder and sharper the plans for an attack on Iraq.”

Today, in a wide-ranging interview, investigative journalist and filmmaker John Pilger takes on the expanded so-called “war on terror.” Among his films are “Paying The Price: Killing the Children of Iraq,” about the economic sanctions against Iraq.

John Pilger just returned from the Middle East, where he was working on an upcoming film. I recently had a rare opportunity to sit down with Pilger, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The interview was filmed by Dale Kruzic and Miguel Grunzman of ThunderRoad Productions.

Tape:

• John Pilger, investigative journalist and filmmaker. Pilger has been named Journalist of the Year twice. For his documentary filmmaking, he has won France’s Reporter sans frontiers, an Academy Award, and an 'Emmy.' He was an accredited war correspondent in Vietnam, Cambodia, Egypt, India, Bangladesh, and Biafra. He is the author of many books including “Heroes”, “Hidden Agendas” and most recently “The New Rulers of the World” published this year by Verso. His films include “Cambodia The Betrayal”, “War by Other Means”, “Death of a Nation: The Timor Conspiracy” and “Flying the Flag, Arming the World.”

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• John Pilger