Chapter 103: Chapter 103 Joining the Negotiations
It is generally believed that the early morning of March 20, 2003 was the time when the United States and Britain launched the war against Iraq.
But before that, in fact, they had taken a series of military actions against Iraq.
For example, on September 5 of this year, about 100 US and British fighter jets attacked a major air defense facility in western Iraq. This was the largest strike operation taken by the US and British forces against Iraq in the past four years.
Many people at this time believed that this action indicated that the US and UK military operations against Iraq might have quietly begun.
Although the British people were increasingly opposed to attacking Iraq at this time, Prime Minister Brown had already made it clear that once "the guns sounded", Britain would stand on the side of America.
On September 12, the President of the United States accused Iraq of possessing weapons of mass destruction at the United Nations General Assembly, saying that it posed a serious threat to the United States and the world.
In his speech, he reminded the United Nations that it must either pay attention to the growing danger from Iraq or stand aside when the United States takes action.
On September 24, the British Parliament prepared to debate the Iraq crisis.
The day before, the government released evidence accusing Saddam's regime of possessing weapons of mass destruction and that Iraq had a "military plan" to use chemical and biological weapons.
The documents also accuse Iraq of trying to obtain "large quantities" of uranium - a key material used to make nuclear weapons - from Africa.
In addition, Iraq "attempted to secretly acquire technology and materials for the manufacture of nuclear weapons," according to the documents, and it convened experts to develop a nuclear program.
The documents revealed that Iraq had 20 Hussein missiles - missiles with a range of 650 kilometers that could carry chemical or biological weapons warheads and could be deployed within 45 minutes.
The document also said Iraq had set up mobile laboratories for military purposes, consistent with previous reports of mobile facilities for chemical weapons production.
The government documents said "intelligence also indicated that Iraq was prepared to destroy evidence before resuming weapons inspections," including by burning relevant materials.
Prime Minister Brown said before the report that the documents were compiled based on evidence gathered by the government's joint intelligence committee, and that he believed Iraqi President Saddam posed a serious threat and that he had "made progress on weapons of mass destruction that must be stopped."
Anyway, these so-called "evidences" are nothing new to Barron, and the so-called intelligence about "Iraq setting up mobile laboratories and factories on trucks to manufacture biological and chemical weapons" was also declassified and confirmed a few years later. It was a fabrication of the German intelligence agency BND by a Saddam opponent who defected to Germany...
Well...actually it doesn't matter. After all, the US Secretary of State can use a tube of "washing powder" as evidence of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
During this period, the independent press behaved in a relatively "restrained" manner and did not rush to the forefront of the anti-war movement.
After all, Barron had just reached a tacit understanding with the Prime Minister through the Duke of Westminster - the Culture, Media and Sport Special Committee agreed to allow Summit Media to join the negotiations with ITV Digital, the BBC and related departments on terrestrial digital television filming.
Of course, ITV has been more active in this regard, because so far, after Summit Media took over their evening broadcast time from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m., the performance of their programs has far exceeded expectations, allowing them to regain a point in the competition with the BBC and Sky TV.
The ratings for "The traitors" on its first day of broadcast were 26%, which is a pretty good result.
But the surprises are yet to come. After the first episode was aired, "The Traitors" sparked a lot of discussion, especially the novel format of the show. Also, two contestants were eliminated at the very beginning, which was really surprising.
When the second episode was aired, the ratings of "The Traitors" jumped to 40% and continued to rise!
Obviously, this reality show has a tendency to explode, or it has already begun to explode.
ITV channel very much hopes that "The Traitors" can continue this good trend. A phenomenal variety show is too important for a TV station.
In addition to "The Traitors", "The Werewolf of Miller's Hollow" also performed well. Although the ratings were not as exaggerated as "The Traitors", it has been able to maintain a ratings of more than 20%, and occasionally hit 30%, which is enough to bring excellent benefits to ITV and Summit Media.
And to be honest, Barron doesn't think he can change anything about the future of the Iraq War, and it's not like he can't benefit from it either.
The most direct point is that as the shadow of war grows thicker, the prices of crude oil, ore and gold have all begun to rise.
Barron's had already participated in the long positions in crude oil, London copper and gold before. Not only had DS Capital already established positions in international crude oil and gold, their private equity fund, the Mars Fund, also invested the 50 million pounds in international crude oil and gold futures in the shortest possible time.
In addition, after his last short selling of London copper, he earned more than 200 million pounds in profits. Except for the part that has been used in various industries, the remaining funds did not remain in the bank account. Instead, he invested more than 100 million pounds of the funds in London copper futures and bought long positions.
All of the above investments have generated considerable returns to date, and the main factor is the market's expectations of the war.
…
"Long time no see, Ms. Moore."
Faced with Barron's greeting, Yulia was stunned for a moment. It seemed that only a week had passed.
"Good morning, Monsieur the Duke."
In the end, she responded to Barron in a rather formulaic way.
"How is the situation at the manor?"
During this period, Yulia left London and went to Chatsworth House and Callan City - both places were undergoing renovation and reconstruction. As the manager of the family fund, she would also conduct on-site investigations.
"The situation is pretty good. I have to say that after the reality show was broadcast, it did have an effect..."
Yulia smiled and said to Barron,
"Because of the ongoing renovation, Chatsworth House is currently open to restricted areas...During this month's open days, neither the number of reservations nor the number of visitors have decreased. On the contrary, they are slightly higher than the same period before, and many people will go to visit the location where the reality show was filmed."
It can be said that when the manor undergoes large-scale renovation, it will definitely have an impact on tourists - at least certain angles of the manor cannot be used as a background for taking photos because the renovation of the exterior will have an impact.
But now the tourists' performance is increasing instead of decreasing, which is indeed a very good phenomenon for the manor.
It also shows that the reality show "The traitors" is very helpful in increasing the popularity and fame of the manor.
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