Monday, April 02, 2007

British Public - Apathetic or Afraid?

I was talking to a young man in my office today. He is concerned that the Bush Administration is going to war with Iran. I assured him that was not going to happen. I could be completely wrong but this British sailor crisis will not be the precipitant. The British people seem to be either apathetic or too frightened by the prospect of a firm Falklands type reaction. There is no hue and cry for action. I would be shocked if we see anything more than jaw jaw.
Where is the outrage? James Forsyth
Spectator.co.uk

One doesn’t need to be Lord Palmerston thundering about ‘civis Romanus sum’ and ‘the strong arm of England’ during the Don Pacifico affair to feel enraged by Iran’s capture and detention of 15 British sailors and marines. Yet the general reaction has been one of indifference. One looks in vain for mass demonstrations outside the Iranian embassy or any other signs of solidarity with our men and women in uniform.

The incident has revealed a country disconnected from its armed forces and deeply ambivalent about its global role. The lack of popular outrage here is quite incredible. According to eyewitness accounts, the Iranians crossed into Iraqi territorial waters and abducted at gunpoint British troops who were operating at the request of the United Nations and the Iraqi government. Then they moved their prisoners to Tehran and denied the British government consular access to them. If the accounts are right — and they are backed up by the master of the ship they were boarding — then the Iranians committed an act of war in snatching the Britons. Last summer, the kidnapping of two of its soldiers caused Israel to go to war with Hezbollah.

The lack of public anger is less surprising, however, when you consider that we have known for months that British troops are almost certainly being killed by militias supplied and trained by Iran. The same morning that the British sailors were seized, one of the most senior British officers in Iraq, Lieutenant Colonel Justin Maciejewski, reported that the ‘vast majority’ of attacks on British troops were being funded by Iran.

The unpalatable truth is that both the public and the political class are largely indifferent to a hostile power murdering British troops. It is hard to imagine this being the case in the past.

Read more.


Now that the fact that the Sailors were under orders not to resist the Iranians, why would anyone think that the Brits would suddenly find their manhood and do something now?

Ahmadinejad now knows that he can quite easily keep oil prices high. The oil markets only need the slightest excuse to jack prices up and it will be easier for Iran to keep the prices up than for Saudi Arabia to force them done. Damn em all!

39 comments:

  1. I've got to hurriedly get out of town.

    Later

    Best to all

    ReplyDelete
  2. If you can keep your head when all about you
    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
    If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
    But make allowance for their doubting too;
    If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
    Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
    Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
    And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

    If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
    If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
    If you can meet with triumph and disaster
    And treat those two imposters just the same;
    If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
    Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
    Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
    And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

    If you can make one heap of all your winnings
    And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
    And lose, and start again at your beginnings
    And never breathe a word about your loss;
    If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
    To serve your turn long after they are gone,
    And so hold on when there is nothing in you
    Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

    If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
    Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
    If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
    If all men count with you, but none too much;
    If you can fill the unforgiving minute
    With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
    Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
    And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!


    The Brits have forgotten their past, what they recall, well, its' embarassing to them now, what brutes the boys were, then.

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  3. Rudyard Kipling was, in his grand style, the bard of British Imperialism, and in his dialect poems, the voice of the common soldier. Anyone interested in the military history of the period owes it to himself to become at least passingly familiar with Kipling's soldierly verse.

    Kipling is often ignored today, because his exultation in the supposed moral and cultural superiority of European (and specifically British) civilization makes liberal-minded twentieth-century readers wince. But the human virtues that Kipling is most concerned with - courage, duty, honor, decency, commitment and grit - he is quick to recognize in men and women from all classes and races. That he shared and promoted the near-universal prejudices of the pre-Twentieth Century worldview should not diminish our appreciation of his artistic achievements.

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  4. This is from the Telegraph and reader comments on their opinion about Iran:

    If this crisis isn't resolved in Britain's favor that's
    the end of any British or EU influence in world
    affairs. If Britain has any pretensions about
    having something to offer the world it had better
    win this contest with this disgusting thugocracy.
    The EU has the same to lose, maybe more since
    it has bigger pretensions.

    Britain, and the EU have the power to take away
    from Iran some things it needs. Trade, and
    recognition. You should be expelling Iranian
    diplomats from all over Europe. You should be
    discussing in Brussels making it illegal to trade
    with Iran. You should be arresting Iranian agents
    all over the EU. If they have nothing to lose then
    this will never end. Speaking diplomatically with
    a country that doesn't follow the rules of
    diplomacy is madness.
    Posted by RickD on April 2, 2007 6:55 PM
    Report this comment

    Evidently some people don't like the idea of nuking Iran, so how about this - first we nuke Iran, then the Archbishop of Canterbury can apologise for us. That should satisfy both the warhawks and the abject liberals. My own preference would be to send the Chief Loony a deadline involving some lesser evil, such as the loss of Iran's limited refining capacity.
    As for diplomacy, that's something you do with sane governments. It doesn't work with savages, religious maniacs or blackmailers, and these sickos are all three.

    Posted by John B on April 2, 2007 6:49 PM
    Report this comment

    I've now come to the conclusion that Iran is deliberately trying to make Tony Blair a lame duck Prime Minister at the end of his term of office; just as they made Jimmy Carter a lame duck President before Ronnie Reagan won the election. Carter's attempted rescue of hostages was ill planned and a military disaster.

    I think the first thing is to see the hostages released, and let Iran have it's moment of glory. Then for the Royal Navy to return!! Complete with Harrier Jets, Missiles and several Warships . . . get my meaning?
    Posted by TG on April 2, 2007 6:46 PM
    Report this comment

    It doesn't matter WHERE the UK troops were.This is not legal what is being done to them.Send these kids home now.They are being held against international law.The US is not waiting to be "asked" we are waiting for you to tell us "how" we are going to help.We are already committed to getting these kids back.
    Posted by Joe Pepe New York on April 2, 2007 6:24 PM
    Report this comment

    Threaten to cut off their supply of gasoline. With all that oil, they don't have adequate refineries to use it. The country would grind to a halt in no time.
    Posted by Kip Nelson on April 2, 2007 5:52 PM
    Report this comment

    To Jim Cowell April 2 1.25 PM.

    Dropping nukes from Vulcan bombers sounds ideal and very nostalgic. But, we only have one almost airworthy Vulcan bomber XH 558 as yet not fit to fly (and no doubt the CAA have insisted that the NBS be removed) but worst of all we have NO air deliverable nuclear warheads, none.

    Posted by Robert Plant on April 2, 2007 5:32 PM
    Report this comment

    The image of Faye Turney forced to don a headscarf in a subordinate position of humiliation is symbolic of what Iran has in mind for the rest of the Middle East and the world.

    We are being humiliated and in the Islamic culture humiliation is a prelude to harm. We need a complete embargo; bomb Iran’s refining capacity and destroy her nuclear program. The honor and well-being of one’s nation comes first in any war. And this is a war.
    Posted by Rick Zuma on April 2, 2007 5:23 PM
    Report this comment


    Tax all beards, immediately Gordon and use the revenue to re-build our Royal Navy.

    God Bless America for your support.
    It's times like this you know who your friends are.
    Posted by Bubbles de Vere (in the bathtub) on April 2, 2007 4:52 PM
    Report this comment

    All this talk of nuking and bombing Iran is a nonsense. This is just a minor border dispute, that Iran is milking for propaganda value. The British Government should have apologised right at the start and got its personnel back. Maybe they were in Iranian waters, frankly who cares. Iran is just a 4th rate arab country with a big inferiority complex. The best way to deal with Iranians is to laugh at them. They hate it when you don't take them seriously.
    Posted by Chris on April 2, 2007 4:49 PM
    Report this comment

    Jim Cowell @ 1.25 I am sorry to tell you mate that the Vulcans were stood down in 1984 and are therefore not able to "nuke" millions of innocent people at your behest. Sorry also old chap, but surprise surprise the UK is not in the business of premptive nuclear strikes. But you go ahead and keep inflaming us all to trigger WW3. Better to let the diplomats handle this one I think, as so far not one death has occoured over this and the objective is to keep it that way. Sure, it may come to that, but for now lets play their game and keep talking. After all there going to be plenty of time for "nukeing" in years to come, expecially if there are a few more like you out there.
    Posted by Keith Manton on April 2, 2007 4:47 PM
    Report this comment

    I realise that I'm speaking from a somewhat detached position here and that'll be called an armchair expert or whatever but, what the hell happened to "Name, Rank and Serial Number"?

    Aren't you only supposed to start singing after they've kicked the daylights out of you?

    I remember the two Tornado pilots who were captured in the first Gulf war and they certainly didn't talk quite so readily. Either Iranian torture tecniques must be awfully efficient or our millitary aren't quite as hard as they think they used to be.
    Posted by JonathanL on April 2, 2007 4:38 PM
    Report this comment

    It is truly stunning and embarassing to see the UK humbled in this way.

    I don't know the proper steps to advance the cause here, but to do NOTHING. To watch your troops paraded on TV, and to even consider a statement that agrees that the UK won't trespass is insane.

    Has Europe really decided that maintaining a slow and steady descent into 3rd World Status is worth more than anything else and is willing to accept any terms and conditions.

    Is there nothing worth fighting for anymore ?? Is passivity and not putting anything at risk really all that Europe has the stomach for ??

    Unreal
    Posted by Jim, BOSTON on April 2, 2007 4:33 PM
    Report this comment

    Loved Kurt Macdonalds piece! He should definately be there in the front line together with all the other armchair warriors on this blog. For 8 years Saddam bombed the hell out of Iran. Every bit of infrastructure was hit and he still didn't win! Despite all the help he had from the west. So my Generals you just chew on that as you advocate economic warfare. Oh yes and Saddam used gas and biological weapons too! The Germans and the French were so happy to oblige! Of course you expect that the Iranians will sit tamely by and let all this happen! Well I've got some news they won't and they'll be big losses. Oh yes Maggies cure will do will it? How many British servicemen lost their lives and limbs in the Falklands? How many ships were lost? And that was a minor fracas by comparison to war the above mentioned talk of. Get real, Britania doesn't rule the waves and the US still cannot finish the war it started in Iraq four years ago! Now I know the ultimate war monger Blair would be itching to add another war to his unfortunate portfolio. Better he keeps quiet and let some real negotiators do the job. The armchair generals too should spend more time on the golf course it's safer!
    Posted by Alan, Warsaw on April 2, 2007 4:32 PM
    Report this comment

    Of all the comments made by the Government, the only statesman-like one came frm Dr.Phyllis Starkey. Beligerent statements and sabre-rattling must be replaced by quiet diplomacy. It is understandable that Iran refuses to lose face.
    Posted by Oliver Lovell on April 2, 2007 4:31 PM
    Report this comment

    You need to ask the question, "What would George Bush do?" I think that you know the answer.

    Get it done.
    Posted by George on April 2, 2007 4:18 PM
    Report this comment

    Iran has only 1 gasoline refinery putting that facility out of commision sends the iranian economy to the dark ages let them know [in private] if hostages are not released within ... days they will have to resort to mule carts!
    Posted by mb f on April 2, 2007 4:07 PM
    Report this comment

    If it is not the Iranian people we have a problem with, where did all the thousands of protesters outside the British embassy in Tehran come from chanting "Death to the UK. Death to America." These people are savages who have been completely brainwashed.
    Posted by George Edwards on April 2, 2007 3:50 PM
    Report this comment

    Be prepared for these 15 hostages to be held for a very long time (months or years). For Iran, the trickiest part is over (grabbing the 15 and initial week's reaction). Their goal now is to make the lame-duck Blair Gov't look weak until the end of Blair's term in office, and they will then wish to put a bit of egg on Gordon Brown's face before deciding to resolve this. It is also an excellent distraction from world focus on their nuclear activities.
    Posted by Paul, New York on April 2, 2007 3:45 PM
    Report this comment

    As an American, I will not presume tell the UK how to handle this situation.
    I will say that the UK and the USA have been fast and firm allies for over 100 years.
    The people of the USA will stand with the UK if firm action is taken.
    Capturing uniformed service personal is an act of war. If Iran is intent on having a war, perhaps they should have one.
    Posted by Henry Johnson on April 2, 2007 3:35 PM
    Report this comment

    Red necks united are alive and well in Great Britain. You have your nuclear war and hopefully the UK will be expelled from the EU. Fascism is alive and well in this backwater!
    Posted by Jack Anderson on April 2, 2007 3:16 PM
    Report this comment

    I go with Paul Kidd's idea, but add to it:

    Blockade ALL Iranian vessels in the Gulf.
    Seize ALL Iranian funds in British institutions.
    Arrest ALL active hardline militants of Iranian descent in the UK.
    Seize Iranians, especially in Iraq, and offer a trade conditional on admitting that they staged the whole thing.
    Gary

    Posted by Gary on April 2, 2007 3:16 PM
    Report this comment

    Wake up! As an American in the Military it is absolutely STUPID to think about bombing or starting anything with Iran. All you people who complain about 3$ a gallon now would soon be facing European prices for gasoline. It is definitely not worth it. America should stick to making sure Russia's pathetically guarded WMDs do not get in the hands of terrorists. That is the #1 threat, not N Korea or Iran.
    Posted by Elias on April 2, 2007 3:13 PM
    Report this comment

    naval blockade should have been imposed the moment we saw Faye paraded. Bring back the British lion from its mothballs.
    Posted by cujo on April 2, 2007 3:07 PM
    Report this comment

    Blockade ALL Iranian vessels in the Gulf.
    Seize ALL Iranian funds in British institutions.
    Arrest ALL active hardline militants of Iranian descent in the UK.
    If no joy, then a tactical EMP nuclear strike.
    We are not playing soft ball here....

    Posted by Paul Kidd on April 2, 2007 3:05 PM
    Report this comment

    England, Blair has been humiliated; they have won !
    Posted by titi preda on April 2, 2007 2:58 PM
    Report this comment

    Well, if you go in and bomb Iran you do realize they will kill the sailors. Perhaps even torture them in unimaginable ways.
    The 'Iraq war' now is mostly a proxy war with Iran as this is the country that supplies the insurgents and various factions with weapons and tech.

    Most Americans want out of Iraq. Why would any of you think they would support another war (even if this one is legit)??
    The military is strecthed too thin as it is. Iran is off the table because we handled Iraq with kid gloves trying to win friends and influence people over there.
    Julius Ceasar would have vanquished Iraq in 3 weeks. Now he would have been killing millions of people to do it but he would have done it because he knows war is about fighting and fighting is about killing people.

    Modern day states are too mentally and emotionally weak to really do what needs to be done. Example: present day Britain. This will all be resloved through various "diplomatic" channels.
    Perhaps the UK will write Iran a check for $400 million or so..
    Whatever you decide to do, you better do it quickly.

    Posted by Peter Johnson on April 2, 2007 2:58 PM
    Report this comment

    Look beyond the 15 lives - this crisis is actually a very good thing. Iran has reminded the world that it is not a mature democratic state that deserves the right to develop nuclear power/weapons.

    Prior to this, there were plenty of countries willing not to prevent Iran becoming nuclear - they are steadily changing their minds.

    Iran is convincing the world, better than anyone else ever could, that they are little more than a nation of gangsters.


    Posted by MarkB, Georgia USA (British) on April 2, 2007 2:53 PM
    Rep

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  5. Man, C-4's got Nothin on Deuce!

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  6. Mat, (giggling hysterically)

    "Iran is quaking in their boots, wondering only when, not if."

    No Hope on Nitrous.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Guess Who:\
    "He's more mushroom now than man. His poll numbers are around 26% approval, worse than even Bush.
    He's already said he will step down before September of this year. The Britons beat him down year after year for being too close to Bush and Israel, and now they will reap what they have sown."
    "
    ---

    Well, as it was, Blair was indeed too close to Bush and the Jewish moneymen for Britain's tastes. His choice. His collapse.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Bob, I have been in a couple of situations where bravery was called for and it was hardly answered at all. It is just the way it is. People like to talk about what they would do if.........but when the call goes out.....well most of us don't make the cut.

    I like to read and listen to what they think. I do not expect them to do what they think they will do. That does not dissapoint me.

    It is like when I turn on a computer or printer. I am not surprised when it fails, I am pleased when it works.

    ReplyDelete
  9. My good buddy C-4, the man who never was.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hewitt just did his best to rip Tancredo apart.
    Good Republican thing to do, I guess.
    For whatever that's worth.
    F...!

    ReplyDelete
  11. In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures for May delivery fell 1.44 cent to settle at $1.8625 a gallon; gasoline futures for May fell 1.52 cent to settle at $2.0428; and natural gas prices fell 5.9 cents to settle at $7.671 per 1,000 cubic feet.

    Gasoline prices slipped Monday, but have been soaring in recent weeks with traders betting that demand will be high and supplies will be tight going into the summer driving season. U.S. gasoline inventories have been steadily declining for nearly two months, according to the EIA.

    Consumers have been seeing high prices at the pump: the average cost of a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline in the United States was $2.685 on Monday, according to AAA, up more than a cent from a day earlier and nearly 12 cents higher than a year ago.


    Nymex Trading

    ReplyDelete
  12. "It is like when I turn on a computer or printer. I am not surprised when it fails, I am pleased when it works."
    ---
    Real hard to figure out what kind of computer you and Rush use!
    ...he's always talkin about Printer foul ups.
    I just smile.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Probably just some dumb kid bob. they will regret it some day. A long time ago , on my way to a bierfest in Munich, me and a companion accidently lost our way and ended at Dachau. We spent an afternoon there. It lasted a lifetime.

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  14. Doug:Hewitt just did his best to rip Tancredo apart. Good Republican thing to do, I guess. For whatever that's worth.

    I heard that, put it down to Hewitt's early support for Mitt Romney and turned over to Air America to listen to Randi Rhodes tear John McCain apair. Good Democratic thing to do, I guess. It's getting so I can't tell them apart.

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  15. I enjoy Hewitt, but Do not take him seriously.

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  16. I hate to tell you bobal but it's only going to get worse.

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  17. I told everyone my partner was no optimist, but you still have to love him, and he is not that kind of guy, so shut the F up Doug!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hewitt's analysis never really coheres. The short version of it follows.

    First, Americans -- especially Christians -- are basically decent, and there's no religious test for office; if the media are fair, and people learn about Mormonism, it will benefit Romney.

    Second, if skeptical conservatives -- in South Carolina especially -- attack Romney's faith, it will benefit Romney because "any overt displays of this animus will produce sympathy in the North and even in other places in the South."

    Third, Mormons will be so excited by the Romney candidacy that they'll beat down doors in Iowa; they "will deliver not just themselves but their non-Mormon friends and neighbors to the caucuses en masse and do so with a full grasp of the rules and a deep experience in patience that comes from knocking on thousands and thousands of doors during their time as missionaries."


    New Book Serves as Cheerleader for Romney

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  19. Doug: Teresita mentioned we'd still be America, no real change.
    ...as tho she can name any none Anglo-Judeo-Christian based cultures that aren't in the sewer or headed their fast.


    1. China
    2. India
    3. Brazil
    4. Poland
    5. Hungary

    ReplyDelete
  20. Dealers said St Louis Federal Reserve president William Poole commented overnight that the impact of the subprime housing crisis is likely to be limited and noted that the risks of recession were "slightly elevated" but not high.

    Poole added that if the US economy slowed modestly but inflation failed to move towards two pct then "it would be a high hurdle for me to be cutting rates."

    Meanwhile, dealers said the Australian dollar continues to rise from evidence that economic growth in Australia is accelerating which has further raised expectations for a Reserve Bank of Australia interest rate hike following its monthly meeting today.


    Subprime Housing Crisis Limited

    ReplyDelete
  21. China, India, Brazil:

    Care to live in any of those hellholes?

    ReplyDelete
  22. whit quoted:

    "The incident has revealed a country disconnected from its armed forces and deeply ambivalent about its global role. The lack of popular outrage here is quite incredible"

    Is it really all that incredible. It isn't if you view it slightly differently, probably how many British probably view it:

    'We (brits) stood behind the lying Bush with our less then truthful glorius leader Blair and firmly planted our military footprint in the quaqmire of the middle east were nothing is certain. Borders, laws, friends, enemies are never clear and death and backstabbing reign supreme. 15 of our finest sent into this meat grinder in the morass of sand and heat are now guests of the Iranian government used as pawns in a blurry border. Screaming about violations of Geneva Conventions certainly make one laugh - should we turn the other cheek if they are also waterboarded? aye, ambivalence seems to be the order of the day.'

    ReplyDelete
  23. Lebanon is embroiled in a power struggle between the Western-backed Prime Minister Fuad Saniora and the Hezbollah-led opposition, which is trying to bring down the government through boycotts and demonstrations.

    Pelosi met with Saniora and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a major figure in the Hezbollah-led opposition. Hezbollah is considered a terrorist organization by the United States.

    Lebanon's anti-Syrian leaders are wary of better relations between Syria and the West, fearing they could weaken efforts to end the Syrian influence in the country, which remains significant two years after the withdrawal of the Syrian army.


    Pelosi Shrugs Off White House Criticism

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  24. Deuce,
    It's not for me to judge:
    For all I know, YOU may go to Unix conventions.
    ...I know little about printing with Unix boxes.

    ReplyDelete
  25. (judgementalism just seeps out, sometimes)

    ReplyDelete
  26. Personally, I think the Eunuchs Convention is what triggered the Hostage Crisis, but how can one be sure?

    ReplyDelete
  27. Reid Backs Iraq War-Funds Cutoff
    Senate Leader Makes It Clear a Bush Veto Won't End Debate on Withdrawal


    By Shailagh Murray
    Washington Post Staff Writer
    Tuesday, April 3, 2007; Page A04

    Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid yesterday endorsed the Senate's toughest antiwar bill yet, a bid to cut off funding within a year, sending a clear signal to President Bush that the Iraq debate will continue in Congress regardless of whether he carries through on his veto threats.

    Reid (Nev.) announced that he had teamed up with Sen. Russell Feingold (Wis.), one of the Democrats' strongest war critics, on legislation to set a March 31, 2008, deadline for completing the withdrawal of combat forces and ending most military spending in Iraq.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Other top-name candidates have been opening themselves wide to questions in New Hampshire and getting tough ones - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on her Iraq vote, Sen. John McCain on his immigration plan and his support for the war, and former Sen. John Edwards on who will pay for his health care plan.

    Such situations could be trouble for Giuliani, whom critics in New York considered a bully and whose centrist positions are unacceptable to many social conservatives. As New York mayor, Giuliani had a tumultuous relationship with the press and often snapped at their questions.

    His current schedule protects him somewhat.


    NH Appearances

    ReplyDelete
  29. Trish I hope this doesn't embarass you but I agree totally with your last statement ...Putzes.

    I think if the Democrats continue to try and push for a weaked US military position and succeed in forcing US troops out of Iraq a number of very bad things will happen.
    This is an all volunteer force, highly trained with many many of them having done multiple tours in Iraq. They seem to feel they are making a difference.
    If they are forced to return, defeated in what in their mind is the mission, to secure a safe Iraq for the Iraqi's they will be pissed. They, unlike a conscripted army form a tighter band-of-brothers mentality that is then tempered in battle.
    Once they have had a chance to rest and reflect they could become a restive voice in the body politic. The Democrats will be in their elective crosshairs for they know that history will be repeating itself.
    It should be very interesting to see the ripple effect throughout society as the current Democrats overplay their hand. We will see in '08 how the Democrats will fare after their second "no funds" a la Vietnam goes over with this generation of men at arms.

    ReplyDelete
  30. The Israeli Government has asked Ms Pelosi to tell Syrian leaders that it would engage in peace talks if their regime stopped supporting Palestinian militants. “Pelosi is conveying that Israel is willing to talk if they would openly take steps to stop supporting terrorism,” a spokesman for the Israeli Prime Minister said.

    “But at this point the Syrian Government, by openly backing terror all around the Middle East, is not a partner for negotiations.”

    In Washington, her Democratic colleagues in the Senate stepped up the pressure on Mr Bush over Iraq, telling him they would block all war funding if he vetoed a Bill requiring the withdrawal of combat troops next year. But the presidential hopeful Barack Obama was criticised by liberal activists for saying that Congress would provide funding if the President vetoed its legislation, because nobody “wants to play chicken with our troops”.


    Speaker on Mercy Mission

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  31. Golly gee willikers Trish.

    I was hoping to get your true inner feelings, touch your "qi" taken to be the life-process or “flow” of metaphysical energy that sustains living beings.

    I am truly fortuneate to have accomplished this goal in such a short time.

    I feel expansive in my empowerment to engage the unalloyed Trish, the Trish who can speak the language of those in harmony with the world around them. The hail that falls so hard to the ground melts away to nourish the growth of tender new life, and your hail stones are mighty.

    Our new policy the august General Patreaus has initiated has our troops embedded in the neighborhoods, providing that comfort that John Lennon referred to in "Happiness is a Warm Gun"

    What a new day it is for the people of Iraq to awaken, embraced by the comfort of our soldiers and Marines near their sides. Yes, and I know you truly feel within your essence, your qi, that our US Forces are "making a difference" To do otherwise would be to cast the lives of those brave men and women who have sacrificed their lives in the light of meaningless or perhaps even foolish duty to mankind. Certainly you do not mean that to be the case.
    So let us celebrate their accomplishments, their bravery ,self sacrifice, and committment. It is the WAY.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Wretchard over at the Belmont, writing about The Independent Newspaper in Britain esentially saying the hostage crisis is all the fault of the US, had this comment:
    ______________________________________
    "From a certain viewpoint, the Independent is correct to say that Iran is continuing the tit for the American tat. But then America was responding to many, many warlike provocations Iran had engaged in previously. So the Independent's observation is trivial.

    But the departure is that while the Independent sympathizes with Iran's "right" to retaliate, America enjoys no such reciprocal right. It's the whole Geneva Convention thing again. A one way street in favor of the enemy.

    But since the Independent wants to side with the enemy, the trick is to make them reap its consequences. The first casualty of a civilization which has lost consensus should be the Free Rider privilege. When things fall apart the King's Highway becomes safe only for those with private security. Safety becomes commoditized. As it has already become so in the Third World and at the margins of the First World. The Independent can print its drivel because ultimately it is defended by the very people it vilifies. It gets a free ride despite its irresponsibility. It "knows" it is safe because of the social contract.

    But once the greater social contract fails through the untiring efforts of organizations like the Independent then they will find, as many Europeans are beginning to find that security is no long so assured. In France, Denmark, Britain and Spain internal security is no longer guaranteed. Even internationally, things are no longer so certain. Surely the EU would support Britain? Surely the UN? They got nothing from either; they might get something from NATO, but only because America will still provide it. The US it the security Central Banker of last resort. But if the Independent doesn't want even that sort of help then clearly Britain is on its own.

    But what if the US simply defaults on its security guarantees? Or selectively provides it? Maybe it already has no choice. Nancy Pelosi is trying to engineer the abandonment of Iraq. She will devalue the American coin of commitment. So clearly the American word isn't worth its face value. But it's still redeemable for Britain isn't it? And for France, is it not? How sure is anyone now?

    I suppose the people in the Independent think that the cavalry will always come. But the Times have changed. The BBC correspondent in Gaza has been missing a long time now. Sometimes the cavalry just goes away. Or sometimes the world is so full of trouble nobody has time to care any more about the troubles of journalists.

    4/02/2007 08:03:00 PM

    ReplyDelete
  33. Menopause symptoms:

    Psychological:
    mood disturbance
    irritability
    fatigue
    memory loss
    depression

    Power Surge Menopause Community at power-surge.com

    ReplyDelete
  34. Victor David Hansen ends his March 30th essay with this line.

    "Quite simply, there is now no NATO, no E.U., no U.N. that can or will do anything in anyone’s hour of need."

    What he states is clear and has been so for many years. It is time for the US to go through a major assessment of the continued value of these institutions to US interests. Not to mention the US taxpayer.

    ReplyDelete
  35. That's the spirit. Only going to get better and better.

    It is so gratifying to see someone grow, to finally understand the human condition can get better with confidence,faith,hard work, and "A Little Help From A Friend"

    Good to see you come to that growth we often find so elusive.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Iraqi militants holding a German woman and her son hostage say Germany has a new deadline of 10 days to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan or the pair will be killed.

    The Arrows of Righteousness group posted a video on the internet showing Hannelore Marianne Krause urging Germany to heed the demands of the militants.

    The group had issued an earlier ultimatum on March 10 that it would kill the pair if Berlin failed to pull out its troops from Afghanistan.


    Deadline in Iraq

    ReplyDelete
  37. BTW...

    TO ALL THE OTHER GATORS OUT THERE....
    GO GATORS...GO GATORS

    REIGNING NATIONAL FOOTBALL AND BASKETBALL CHAMPIONS!!!!

    AND FIRST TIME EVER IN COLLEGE BASKETBALL HISTORY THE SAME STARTING FIVE WON THE TITLE BACK TO BACK!!! GO GATORS !!!

    ReplyDelete
  38. Menopause symptoms:

    Psychological:
    mood disturbance
    irritability
    fatigue
    memory loss
    depression

    Power Surge Menopause Community at power-surge.com

    ReplyDelete