History, Politics and Opinion

Obama IS NOT HITLER!!!

2009-09-16T08:07:00.005+01:00

If you believe the rhetoric coming from the right, you'd think that Obama had plans to open concentrating camps in order to exterminate anyone who disagrees with his policies!! Some, like me may think this sounds ridiculous but if you do I think you will be surprised just how vituperative the right is being to those who will listen. From "Death Panels" to " Hidden Agenda Socialist Takeover" there is much misinformation about, some due to ignorance but there are those who should know better that take advantage of the ignorance of others. Of all these charges I find the comparison to Hitler to be the most loathsome is this comparison to Hitler the seems to keep poping up over and over.

Hitler was responsible for war and genocide and Obama wants to give healthcare to people who can't afford it through no fault of thier own. Morally equivalent?? I THINK NOT!!

Can you small what Barack is cooking...?

2009-09-15T06:39:00.003+01:00

A lot's happened since the last time I posted a blog on here. Most significantly a certain prominent Chicago politician rose to attain the office of the President of the United States of America... and what a dust up that has caused!!

His healthcare reform has proved particularly divisive for reasons unbeknownst to me!! Still I look forward to America joining the modern developed world in not letting people die because they do not have the monetary means to access what is admittedly the most advanced healthcare infrastructure in the world.

Healthcare reform WILL be achieved by the Democrats. The fact that it probably won't get any Republican support despite being watered down is telling. They do not care about the policy... they're just playing politics as usual. What else can we expect from politicians?

Watch this space.

Obam-Appeal !!

2008-09-23T01:09:00.001+01:00

...in mysterious ways!

2008-09-02T11:08:00.006+01:00

Stuart Shepard, director of digital media at Focus Action a right wing religious group asked in an online video if "it would be wrong to pray for rain of biblical proportions" during Obama's keynote speech at the Democrat National Convention. As it turns out it was a beautiful day with perfect weather and Obama's speech was seen universally as a success even by many Republican commentators.

There is a tinge of irony that Hurricane Gustav has taken up all the media coverage at the start of the Republican National Convention leaving far less time for the Republicans and John McCain to make their case.

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR!!!

Most students are average but...

2008-08-09T03:00:00.002+01:00

Democracy... Crazy Demo... Crazy Demonstration

2008-06-15T10:52:00.009+01:00

In this Guardian (UK) article, Robert Mugabe makes the case for why we need a "supranational" system of law and order. A system that will not be subject to any nation but will have the power and authority to protect the citizen individual nations from their own political leaders.

The world is full of dictators and tyrants from Burma to North Korea. Usually, while they remain inside the territory that they control they can easily to manipulate the governance and legislative structure in order to place themselves and their associates and cronies out of reach of the law. They might try to gain some credibility and respectability around the world by creating the semblance of due process, holding dummy elections for example. In Mugabe's case, this backfired despite the brutal use of state apparatus, a majority of Zimbabweans voted against his party, Zanu-PF in elections in March 2008. For a brief moment, the world held its' collective breath and imagined that this old school tyrant was about to accept his loss and bow out gracefully. There was even talk of negotiations for immunity from prosecution or being allowed to go into exile with his looted fortunes in return for handing over power. How naive we all were!

After a ridiculous delay in releasing the results of the March election, the regime declared that there was no outright winner of the presidential poll and has set about "campaigning" for the June 27th run off election. Despite their howls of protest that they had won the presidency fair and square, the world powers very quickly made it clear that if the opposition MDC party did not contest the run off they would, in effect be handing Mugabe the presidency. How can this be fair? By contesting the election, the opposition is condemning its supporters to become targets of the Mugabe intimidation machine. Many opposition activists have already been killed. Even diplomats from the US and UK were briefly detained and had their vehicles tyres slashed while trying to find out for themselves what life was like for ordinary Zimbabweans. Still we all do nothing.

Pontificating about how horrible it must be in Zimbabwe does nothing to change the status quo. As an African, I am disappointed in but not surprised by the silence and inaction of other African leaders, in particular Thabo Mbeki. Many African leaders themselves have dubious and tenuous claims to power and cannot (or more likely, will not) therefore criticise Mugabe. Mbeki however is the leader of what is purported to be Africa's premier democracy and a neighbor of Zimbabwe. His country has had to deal with a steady stream of Zimbabwean immigrants fleeing the repression and poverty. His lack of action on this issue is shameful! It took a strike of dock workers refusing to unload cargo to highlight that South Africa had been allowing shipments of weapons from China to pass through its' territory bound for land locked Zimbabwe. Stopping this shipment would have been a concrete statement to Mugabe's regime that their actions were beyond the pail. The problem here is that Mbeki, just like Mugabe, has has his world view indelibly marked by the colonial and racial history and politics in southern Africa in particular and Africa as a whole.

Mugabe has been expert at invoking the memories of white minority rule in what was then Rhodesia and by implication South Africa. He points out that the rich countries only showed interest in Zimbabwean politics when well off white farmers began to be evicted. On this narrow issue, he actually has a point. There was no outrage about the massacre in Matabeleland in the early 1980s. Other injustices in Africa have gone unnoticed. There are still many Africans resentful of the history of European intervention in Africa that see Mugabe as a symbol of freedom from that era of subjugation. In reality, Mugabe has proved that his regime can be just as repressive and oppressive as any of the previous white minority governments. Mugabe's political opponents are treated no better (and maybe even worse) than black South Africans were under Apartheid. Mugabe has always been a blood-thirsty tyrant but his loosening grip on power has led him to "release the beast within".

It is with a deep sadness and a heavy heart that I predict that on the 27th of June, Mugabe will make sure he rigs the election correctly this time. The Zimbabwean people will still be living in an essentially collapsed economy and the rest of the world will do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

"Mash it up in-a Zimbabwe"

2008-04-15T21:03:00.002+01:00

Robert Mugabe has proved himself so incompetent that he hasn't even been able to rig an election properly.

Last time these was an election in Zimbabwe, the results were released in under 24 hours. Of course Mugabe had “won” that election which by all account was hardly free and fair. This time around with all the dice loaded favour of Zanu-PF, Mugabe's party, it would appear that they have not been able to pull off a repeat of the fraud.

It has been confirmed that the opposition have won the parliamentary polls despite the ruling party attempting to “recount”... Hmmm! Anyway we are left with the absurd spectacle of the ruling party in Zimbabwe agreeing to a run-off presidential election before any results have been released in the presidential election.

After presiding over a disastrous land "redistribution" policy and taking a country once known as Africa's bread basket and turning it into an almost unimaginable 100,000% inflation economy it would appear that Mugabe's desire to have the semblance of a democratic mandate has been his undoing. We are at a crossroads now. Fear of prosecution will prevent a smooth transition but it will be nigh on impossible to explain away hanging on to power after losing in a process that he had sought to give him legitimacy. It will essentially be a "constitutional coup d'etat" (a term coined by the opposition in Zimbabwe) if Mugabe stays in power. We wait to see what the outcome is but the whole episode is a further proof that democratic processes can bring about just outcomes even in the most inhospitable and unexpected places.

One final word of warning: As an African I have seen and even participated in celebrations after the removal or death of a dictator only to see the new regime take up the baton of tyranny and often commit worse crimes and hold on to power tighter than the previous regimes. We all hope the Zimbabwean opposition bucks this trend but on this note also, we will wait to see what happens.

Mission Accomplished??

2008-03-25T01:10:00.003Z

Just a quick one today.

It's 5 years almost to the day when US forces and thier allies invaded Iraq. We now have more than 4000 dead American soldiers as a result of the conflict.

But what percentage of them died after George W. declared "Major combat operations" to have ended on the 1st of May 2003 under the now infamous "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED" banner?
97 percent...

Go figure.

Shalom, Salaam... No Justice, No Peace

2008-03-12T01:37:00.001Z

It is my opinion that history will judge the treatment of the Palestinian people at least as harshly as the treatment of black South Africans during the Aparthied era.

This is not to say that the two situations are identical as they most definitely are not. There are however some striking similarities. From infrastructure built for use by Jews only to the townships/refugee camps the subjugated population are crammed into with only basic ameneties available... Even the fact that the "oppressors" are mostly decendants of Europeans. The main differences are the degree to which religion is a factor on both sides.

After the treatment meted out to Jews in much of the first half of the 20th century it is easy to understand where the determination to defend thier kith and kin comes from. It is unfortunate that in thier zeal to protect thier young homeland, many of the actions they have chosen to take have proven to be profoundly counterproductive. The nation of Israel has a habit of shooting itself in the foot while trying to defend herself.

The current situation in Gaza is a case in point. In response to militants (I deliberately did not use terrorist in this instance) firing makeshift rockets at thier towns, the actions taken by Israeli Defence Forces have taken can only be described as collective punishment. Infact some Israeli government officials admitted that the Palestinians had brought the wrath of Israel on themselves by electing Hamas.

Palestinians will point out that they are having had thier country stolen from under thier feet. Many areas are being concreted over and settlements are being built on land the Palestinans claim is thiers. Aside from the land captured after the 1967 war between the Arabs and Israel, Israel has encroached steadily on the land left over for the Palestinians.

Over the 5 decades since the birth of Israel the Palestinians, and other Arab Nations have consistently underestimated, to their cost, the resolve of the Jewish people to defend themselves and their young state. This resolve however has made the Israelis look cruel and frankly racist despite them taking actions that can be argued are legitimate.

Reactivation... Reactivation

2008-03-08T23:11:00.003Z

After a few months on hiatus, I am breathing life back into this blog.

With all the goings on in Israel/Palestine, political violence in Pakistan, the ongoing wars is Iraq and Afghanistan not to mention the upcoming US elections there is much history making politics to express opinion on.

So let the political blogging recommence.

The Attempted London Car Bombing: "Yuppie Terrorists" with a Mercedes [VIDEO]

2007-07-04T19:35:00.000+01:00

Click here to watch video....

More War, More Terror

2007-06-15T02:37:00.001+01:00

Somalia has recently been through the worst period of violence in 2 decades. Gaza is currently in a period of murderous chaos. What do these have in common? Short sighted American involvement.

As I'd said in an earlier post, the United States had intervened in the situation in Somalia under the guise of the so called "War on Terror".

It gives me no pleasure to say that my prediction that it would not go well has come to fruition. After the US backed Ethiopian forces cleared out the Union of Islamic Courts Movement, street fighting promptly returned to the streets of Mogadishu - some of the worst violence that this war ravaged country has seen for two decades no less! The pirates (yes PIRATES) operating in the waters of the horn of Africa, having been routed by the Courts Union are now well and truly back in business. The hard won relative stability the Courts Union had achieved after driving out the murderous clan militias has been pissed into the wind. For what? To kill and capture a few radicals and terrorists? Is US foreign policy being managed by some angry teenager? Does anyone in Dubya's government know what they're doing. For balance I should really mention that Bill Clinton wasn't any better at handling the Somalia question and his decision to pull out and leave them to their fate probably led us to where we are today.

In Gaza the situation is even more serious and the potential fallout is much more far reaching. Whatever one's view on Hamas is the truth is that they hold a legitimately and democratically elected parliamentary majority in the Palestinian territories. It is the right of any country to refuse to deal with any foreign government it chooses not to regardless of legitimacy. Acting within one's rights does not however mean that one is doing the right thing.

Hamas have been portrayed in the media as dangerous loose cannons who decided off their own back to take up arms and fight the armed wing of Fatah, Yasser Arafat’s former party. The British Foreign Secretary called it a “coup d’etat”. I have experienced a couple of coups first hand but never heard of an elected government having to take power in a coup!! The truth is that Fatah had never come to terms with Hamas’ election victory. Yasser Arafat had the leadership of the Palestinian people completely locked down. His Fatah party and all the associated hangers on thought they would also be in power indefinitely. They have refused to relinquish power after losing an election. I have heard it likened to the conservatives winning the general election but Labour insisting that they retain control of the police and MI5. The Fatah party members and associated gunmen bear primary responsibility for the bloodshed and chaos in the Gaza strip.

It is true that Fatah acted with the backing of Israel and the US who egged them on believing that they could defeat Hamas militarily. This strategy has backfired spectacularly and now Hamas are more popular than they ever were! Fatah on the other hand need to tread carefully. They had already been routed electorally because Palestinians had rightly tagged them as fiscally and morally corrupt. They may be providing another nail for their own coffin by associating with Israel and the US. It is a naked ploy for self preservation rather than a move to further the cause of the Palestinian people. They have long since fulfilled the conditions being demanded of Hamas, namely that they renounce violence and recognise Israel. What do they have to show for it?

The current situation in Gaza proves to anyone who may still doubt that policy making based on ideology and dogma alone will almost always produce bad policy. While religion and faith can provide moral grounding pragmatism and practicality must be the governing tenets be policy making.

Azzam the American

2007-06-10T01:53:00.000+01:00

English speaking al-Qaeda spokesman Adam Gadahn AKA Azzam al-Amriki (Azzam the American) mentions my home country, Nigeria as a front in their war on the Western Powers.

For anyone who has never seen one of these propaganda videos or does not speak or understand Arabic and not been able to get a full unedited version, this is a riveting video to watch!! Well worth it!!

Click here to view...

Boldface LIES!!

2007-02-10T03:27:00.000Z

It said that to be a good politician you have to be able to tell a lie with a straight face. It is different though arguing about education of taxes but when the lies lead to thousands and thousands of deaths, a civil war and a world in turmoil... well judge for yourself!!

Who said multi-culturalism is dead??

2007-01-31T01:29:00.000Z

Inconvenient History

2007-01-17T19:28:00.000Z

Justice is Served!

2007-01-04T01:23:00.000Z

Saddam Hussein is executed! Not a tear shall be shed. The Butcher of Baghdad has been hanged in his own gallows.

I hope all the world's tyrants, dictators and kleptocrats are turning a few times in their sleep.

IBRAHIM BABANGIDA, TAKE NOTE!!

The War on Terror continues...

2006-12-30T02:50:00.000Z

The US strategy in Somalia is both painfully obvious and completely baffling. It would seem to be based on thinking still stuck in the cold war era.

The Islamic courts which brought some semblance of order and stability to many parts of Somalia have been forced into a tactical retreat much like the Taliban in 2001 by US backed Ethiopian forces.

The idea that the American "War on Terrorism" is against a monolithic global network of jihadists is pervasive in Washington. This is not dissimilar to the idea that communists had a network of allies over whom they had absolute ideological control. The American view appears to be that if our enemies have certain factors in common, they are essentially the same enemy. No exceptions permitted or nuance considered. My enemy's friend is my enemy.

Before the Islamic courts took control of most Somalia the country was literally in complete chaos. For decades several warlords had carved the territory into fiefdoms and regularly duelled for territory, resources and pride. The fate of ordinary people was not largely catered for and no effective system of justice was in place and murder, robbery, rape and intimidation were rife as well as an burgeoning industry for assassins carrying reprisal beatings and killings.

The courts brought a system for the people not only to deal with criminality but a system to begin to organise a united country. The main port in Mogadishu had been used as a base for pirates who had frequently attacked international shipping off the horn of Africa. The Islamic Courts made it one of their military objectives to put a stop to this. They essentially provided relative sense of order for the first time since in more than 20 years.

The US has decided to disregard all of this as a matter of policy and back forces opposing this movement based on the premise that some elements of the Islamic Courts appear to share the ideology of al-Qaeda. There are elements of the Islamic Courts movement whose rhetoric causes concern but in my observation they seem to be well reigned in and under control. At first the US attempted to back the warlords responsible for most of the chaos with money and equipment but the disparate warring clans could not unite to present a unitary defence against the Courts movement who were able to overcome them all militarily with increased public support largely due to the American intervention.

The choice of Ethiopia, a long standing enemy of Somalia, a country with whom they have fought a war to proxy for the US in battling the Courts movement and propping up the weak Somali government is equally baffling. This is a government so weak that up till very recently it had to sit in Kenya, a foreign country. For this government to be propped up using foreign troops, particularly Ethiopian will in the very least inflame many Somalis and I cannot see how this government can gain any legitimacy as long as Ethiopian troops are present. The problem is that there is no chance this government can survive 10 minutes in Mogadishu without Ethiopia's backing. I continue to watch with interest.

An attack on British troops in Iraq - Nov 2006

2006-12-07T01:52:00.000Z

Just before the attack, one of the lead vehicles correctly identifies a threat and warns of "Kamikaze" probably saving lives by giving any exposed rooftop gunners a chance to duck into the vehicle.

The genius of Steven Colbert...

2006-12-06T00:55:00.001Z

"To Leave Iraq, take the next exit ramp..."

2006-11-29T10:44:00.000Z

The Iraq war is lost. In my view it was lost the day those scandalous pictures from the Abu Ghraib prison were published.

The window of opportunity for a face saving exit is shutting fast! Since the Congressional elections in America, the political debate in America seems to be shifting from whether or not to "stay the course" or "cut and run" as it were. Now the debate is shifting to when and how to withdraw and disengage. Donald Rumsfeld had been fired. Dick Cheney is largely marginalised. The Neo Con cheerleader troupe has made an about face and is now claiming that the war was a good idea but was just managed badly... TYPICAL BUREAUCRATIC HOGWASH!!

Those of us who opposed this illegal invasion before the fact said that it would lead to chaos and civil war. I remember members of the British government crowing about the success of their venture in 2004. Now thier only recourse in a debate is "...so would you prefer it if Saddam Hussein was still in power?" Having lived under the dark clouds of dictatorship of Sani Abacha's Nigeria in the late 1990s i can say with some authority, YES!! Under Saddam, Iraqis may not have been free but the lines they were not to cross were clearly defined. Now, no one knows if he will be the victim of a suicide bomber in a market place.. or if he will be kidnapped by sectarian militia rife in the police force.. or maybe even just caught in the crossfire between skirmishing neighbourhoods. Life was much more certain and stable under the dictator which is saying something! Bush and Blair have taken a bad situation and turned it into a disaster. Tony Blair is latched on so tight that he may just follow the Bush administration as they "stay the course" right off the edge of the cliff...

THE ONLY LEGACY BUSH AND BLAIR WILL HAVE IS IRAQ. AN ERROR OF JUDGEMENT 100 TIMES WORSE THAN SUEZ!

IDF Response to peaceful protest

2006-11-25T00:55:00.000Z

Quite frankly, I see Israel's attitude towards the Palestinians to be completely shameful and completely counter productive! There are MANY Israelis who will feel the same. This is not how to make peace! How many of the children hit with stun grenades or rubber bullets will go on to be taken advantage of by those who send suicide bombers?

TAKE AWAY A PEOPLE'S HOPE AND ONLY CHAOS WILL FOLLOW!!

Kramer's a RACIST!!

2006-11-21T02:13:00.000Z

This is not particularly political but must be a total disappointment for fans for "Seinfeld"...

One reason why I believe I understand why the Israelis react like they do when they are attacked is because they like blacks know what it feels like to be persecuted.

This is like saying to a Jewish person "50 years ago you would have been marching towards the gas chambers!!"

Hateful and oh so disappointing.

This is what torture looks like.

2006-11-18T00:41:00.000Z

The background to this is that a student at UCLA is approached randomly and asked for ID and he doesn't or can't produce any. For what ever reason, campus police were called. He is asked to leave and agrees to do so after apparently initially refusing. He objects very loudly to the officers grabbing his arm and for some unbeknownst reason he is tazer'd. More than once! About 3 minutes into the video, he is completely limp while the officers repeatedly ask him to stand up. Tazers can do that to you and it is possible to be completely incapacitated for us to 15 minutes after a shock. He cannot or does not comply with the officers and is tazer'd AGAIN sending his legs flying through the air apparently in spasm and he can be heard screaming in pain!!

The students name is Mustapha which may or may not be relevant. I'll leave you to judge.

Purity of Arms

2006-11-17T01:41:00.000Z

Here is an excerpt from the Israeli Defence Forces Website (www.idf.il). It is one of their values.

The IDF servicemen and women will use their weapons and force only for the purpose of their mission, only to the necessary extent and will maintain their humanity even during combat. IDF soldiers will not use their weapons and force to harm human beings who are not combatants or prisoners of war, and will do all in their power to avoid causing harm to their lives, bodies, dignity and property.

I have to say I find it difficult to see how they can argue that this has been adhered to in their recent operations in the Gaza Strip.

Bush Whacked

2006-11-08T23:02:00.001Z

At last enough there are enough Americans that are not going to let their legitimate fear of terrorism be taken advantage of.

The Republicans tried using statements like "...the terrorists would prefer a Democrat victory!" or "...the Democrats position on the war on terror is that the terrorists win and America loses!" to scare people into voting their way. It didn't work.

Checks and balances have been restored to the United States system of government and in less than 24 hours, the first positive sign: Don Rumsfeld is thrown overboard.

I look forward to the hearings and investigations the Democrat Party surely must now instigate.

THE ERA OF THE NEO-CON IS OVER!!

Back to Gaza

2006-11-08T22:29:00.000Z

A couple days ago, we saw on TV two Palestinian women on a peaceful demonstration shot in the back while running away from the IDF. This shooting reminds me of video from Apartheid South Africa I used to see when i was growing up. We are hear today of and tank shell hitting a civilian house killing 18 more women and children.

It seems anywhere the IDF go, they leave a multitude of innocent dead in their wake. I DO NOT BELIEVE THE CIVILIAN OR MILITARY LEADERSHIP OF THE IDF ORDERS THE TARGETING OF CIVILIANS. They do however seem to encourage a culture of impunity which could and, probably does, lead to indiscipline among the "frontline" troops.

Civilian deaths like these may serve to vindicate extremist propaganda in the eyes of the Arab world. This cannot be good for Israel or peace in general. Israel must find an alternative to this cycle of attack and retaliation they have been stuck in for almost 50 years!

There will be no decisive military victory, no military glory for either side. Israelis cannot continue to revert to "Jewish Paranoia" over the existence of their state. All rational observers can see that there is very little prospect of the State of Israel not existing into the distant future.
The only real threat to the existence of Israel is the loss of American support for which there is also little prospect.

Israel has the ability to make a bilateral peace from a position of strength rather than making excuses and constantly moving unilaterally. It is clear that Israel is not in a conciliatory mood after their recent strategic defeat in Lebanon. Going forward I hope the people of Israel begin to realise that there is not military solution to their unique problem.

DIALOGUE IS THE ONLY WAY TO PEACE AND ISRAELIS WILL NOT KNOW PEACE UNTIL MOST OF THEM REALISE THIS!

How do you solve a problem like Korea?

2006-10-17T02:18:00.000+01:00

The biggest problem with sanctions against a country like North Korea is that any ruling regime has access to resources that insulate them from the effects of economic pressures. In countries where governments where governments need to create wealth for many in order to hold on to power, it may be difficult to understand the extent to which some corrupt dictatorships are willing to leave their people impoverished and in poverty in order to accumulate resources and funds for themselves and their cronies. Case in point: Saddam Hussein and his sons living in lavish palaces while Iraqi children died from lack of medicine at the height of sanctions against Iraq.

The North Korean regime has absolutely no regard for the masses in their territory. They allow people to starve while spending untold millions on choreographed mass parades. The only thing that kleptocratic dictatorships care about is the survival of their regime and they often repress opposition and dissent with ruthless human rights abuses.

I do not know what the appropriate censure would be for a regime like Kim Jong-Il’s. It’ll probably take someone smarter than me to figure out what is.

Islamophobic Crusade

2006-10-07T12:19:00.001+01:00

Leader of the House of Commons and former British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw recently asserted that he would prefer if Muslim women who come in to his constituency surgery to see him did not wear a veil over their faces. He also said it was his intention to spark a debate as in his view, the veil represents a physical barrier to communication and a symbol of separate identity. While it may be politically astute for Mr Straw to have made these comments, in the wider context, it is UNBELIEVABLY IRRESPONSIBLE for him to have said what he said.

We live in a society where many people are made to feel uncomfortable by scantily clad women and young girls exposing their cleavage, mid-riff and wearing implausibly short skirts. We are not supposed to complain about this and anyone should suggests that these girls may need to cover up is labelled a prude and considered odd. Yet there seems to be a groundswell of support for this move to demonise the veil which is the opposite of everything in this society which seeks to objectify women.

In Islam the veil is meant to preserve a woman’s modesty. In much the same way that not all women are comfortable in low cut tops and mini skirts, some women prefer to be covered up. Not all women are comfortable with being ogled and wolf whistled at. As long as a woman chooses to wear the veil of her own free will then what is the problem? Women should not be compelled to wear a veil but neither should they be compelled to remove it. I think those who claim to be made uncomfortable by the veil are really saying they are uncomfortable around Muslims.

There is not doubt that there has been a rise in anti Muslim feeling in Western Europe and North America since 9/11 and the subsequent terrorist attacks around the world by evil and twisted pseudo-Islamic radicals – the ‘al-Qaeda types’. The reasons for the attacks and the premise of the War on Terror are complex but suffice to say the killing of non combatants is always wrong whether in New York, Gaza, Jerusalem, Sarajevo or Dresden. Violence always begets more violence.

Osama bin Laden and his ilk have been trying to convince disaffected young Muslims that the so called War on Terror is simply a pseudonym for a War on Islam. The government in London and Washington have been trying very hard to refute this saying often that they realise that not all Muslims share the sentiments of al-Qaeda and even if some think their grievances are legitimate, almost none approve of their methods. There are probably more violence prone white racist thugs in the UK or the USA than potential terrorists. Over and over the actions of the British and American governments seem to reinforce the notion that there is a conflict against Islam. I may explore this in detail at a later date but examples are George Bushes choice of the words ‘crusade’ or ‘Islamo-fascist’ and Tony Blair’s assertion that the Muslim community are the ones that need to ‘sort out’ the terrorist threat.

If we are to win the battle of ideas we cannot alienate people to the extent that they are not interested in listening.

Washington Misguided

2006-10-01T03:25:00.000+01:00

"The US has a huge hammer in its' military capacity which creates a strong temptation to see every foriegn policy problem it faces as a nail"

-Martin Walker, Editor of the of United Press International English Edition

Here we go again...

2006-09-28T13:47:00.000+01:00

Bill Clinton’s remarkable interview on Fox News is a reminder of why he won 2 elections. The contrast with Bush is stark. Even after having lost his temper, Clinton was coherent stating specifics in his efforts to kill Osama Bin Laden. That was Clinton’s A Game!

Now Condi Rice wants us to believe that the Bush administration was just as aggressive as the Clinton’s in facing the threat of terrorism. She also claims that they were not given a plan on how to deal with the threat. Once again, the Bush administration is not on the same side with the facts.

For all those interested in truth and facts, watch this clip:

http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?g=6d59cc85-6335-4cd1-b772-eaf924103673&f=&fg=email

Terrorism 101: The Spectacular

2006-09-11T15:07:00.000+01:00

Terrorism is a common tactic in, though not exclusive to asymmetric warfare. It is warfare on the cheap. It is a tactic as old as warfare itself. The Ancient Romans had specialised teams of shock troops whose job it was inflict mass casualties on helpless civilians, in effect acts of terrorism. Groups like the Irgun in Palestine and Nelson Mandela’s ANC have used acts which could be described as terrorism against what they would consider an unjust or incorrect political situation. Terrorism is in effect, like warfare, politics by other mostly violent means.

While Al Qaeda’s resources and resourcefulness are considerable, its’ means of delivering its’ warfare is limited by the vastly greater resources of their main enemy, the United States. It therefore has to maximize the effectiveness of whatever resources it brings to play. ”The Spectacular” is a type of terrorist attack devised by al-Qaeda which involves a highly visible mass casualty operation almost always on soft targets which captures the imagination of both its’ followers and its’ victims. For the victims it creates a sense of vulnerability and insecurity. For the followers these attacks are meant to inspire and create a sense of progress in the struggle as well as a sense of staying in the fight. It may also serve toinspiring some to immitate and also seek "martyrdom in jihad".

5 years ago today, on the 11^th of September 2001 the attack on the North East of the United States of America proved to be a near perfect example of the Spectacular, successfully executed to devastating effect. On that morning four planes were hijacked. The world had never experienced a suicidal high jacking of an airliner and so at first reacted in a typically sluggish manner. One plane is flown into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Only one camera just happens to capture the impact. The stage is set. The impact is significant enough to attract the interest of the news media, more and more of whom had begun running live feeds as the significance of the event becomes clearer. Several video cameras are now trained onto the towers. Suddenly as if from out of nowhere, a second passenger plane descends at full throttle towards Lower Manhattan. The plane crashes, passengers and all, into the South Tower in a huge ball of smoke and fire with the whole world watching live! For anyone who has ever been in plane or in a tall building the prospect was bone chilling. Yet it was achieved by 19 operatives on suicide missions armed with box cutters. They manage to execute the ultimate sucker punch. As a secondary benefit, the attack managed to provoke a massive over reaction by America which has in turn provided a further propaganda coup for al-Qaeda and a vastly more receptive pool of potential recruits.

As a tactic, this particular attack cannot be replicated. Never again will passengers sit idly by during any further hijacking of airliners. If the passengers are not able to subdue the attackers they will probably be sacrificed as a last resort to prevent further casualties on the ground. As a tactic the Spectacular proved its’ worth that day and has been adapted for attacks in Bali, Madrid, London, Beslan, Mumbai and several times in Iraq.

I fear this genie is out of the bottle. My only hope is that the powers that be are up to the strategic challenge of this formidable and dangerous enemy, al-Qaeda.

Resurgent Insurgents

2006-09-10T01:11:00.000+01:00

5 years after the Taliban was toppled as the government of Afghanistan the war seems to have restarted. It is now becoming clear that the Taliban was never actually defeated. The Taliban is fighting hard in Afghanistan there have been scores of terrorist attacks since the ill advised declaration of a “War of Terror”. Iran has supplied weapons to Hezbollah in order to attack the main US ally in the region, Israel who incidentally could not dislodge Hezbollah from her northern border despite massive firepower and relentless bombing. Iraq is in flames and fighting a civil war in all but name. Thousands are dead around the world.

At every turn George Walker Bush has proved that he is not a strategic thinker. The reaction to 9/11 has proved almost as dangerous as the terrorists that caused it the only difference being that the terrorists were trying deliberately to cause devastation while the current US administration has just been inept to put it very mildly.

It is hard to see where all of this will end up. I certainly do not want to live in a Taliban style caliphate but I am not confident that the George Bush is going in the right direction to prevent this.

AMERICA IS CREATING MORE TERRORISTS THAN IT CAN EVER KILL OR CAPTURE!!

Sanctions against Iran? Dont make me laugh!!

2006-09-07T03:05:00.000+01:00

In most, if not all, countries of the world in order to enforce laws there are systems and process to identify those who may have committed acts deemed illegal and normally what follows is a punishment of some sort which serves to dissuade the perpetrator from repeating his actions, exacts a retribution for those actions and discourages others from following acting in a similar fashion. While many nations are fair in their application of law, often the systems of trial and punishment are hijacked by questionable regimes and used to terrorise a populace into submission and compliance. Whatever the nature of the regime, the punishment aspect is what gives law enforcement its' bite. It is what actually makes it enforcement rather than a statement of what the state wished people would do. If we move from the micro to the macro environment, an effective way to scale these processes up has yet to be devised. Saddam Hussein is a case in point.

Sanctions against Iraq after the Kuwait invasion and the First Gulf War disproportionately affected the people particularly the poor unconnected people. Saddam Hussein was unconcerned as long as he and his sons could frolic in their lavish palaces and live the good life. When he need more funds, he figured a way around the sanctions by getting around the now infamous "Oil for Food Programme" which was devised to assuage the guilt of Western diplomats who felt at least partly responsible for the death of almost a million Iraqi children. Saddam was unconcerned with the fate of the ordinary Iraqi hence rendering economic sanctions totally useless. Travel bans and targeted sanctions are just as useless as Mugabe proved by attending the Pope's funeral.

I do not know what the solution is but if we are to get a solution in North Korea, Burma (or is that Myanmar), Zimbabwe among other hot spots we as a world need to find an effective way to punish despotic leaders in a way which actually amounts to a genuine punishment that they would care about. In honesty I do not know what the solution is but I can see the problem and if some system is not found, state actors will continue to abuse the rights of their populations and thumb their nose at the international community.

Israel and her Neighbors

2006-09-07T02:59:00.000+01:00

After centuries of persecution, pogroms and discrimination culminating with the Nazi holocaust, I can completely understand the bunker mentality that still prevails in Israel to this day.

Finally after so many centuries, the Jews can have thier own state... And people can say whatever they want about the Jews and money... the truth is they all seem to know what to do with it when they have it and have built themselves a gem of a homeland. I do not begrudge them this.

My problem is thier attitude towards thier neighbors. Now, I acknowledge that there are many in the region who would like to "wipe Israel off the map" as the saying goes. I do believe however that there are moderates all around, even within the groups dimissed as terrorists who accept the reality that Israel is going nowhere and cannot be forced into any action it does not wish to take. The assertion that Israel will not talk till thier right to exist is recognised to me seems ridiculous. Any challenge to Israels' right to exist in reality can only be rhetorical, a starting point for negotiations from which compromise can be reached and I am certain that the every Palestinian, Syrian and Lebanese thinking person knows this to be true. For Israel to set a precondition for final status negotiations is, in my view, just plain stupid as it leaves the agenda at the mercy of the rejectionists and extremists on both sides.

There is no shooting solution to Israels final status, no great victory to be had. In the end, as history has taught us, the only solution to these issues is dialogue and compromise. If Israel continues to refuse to talk more Israeli's and Palestinians will die.

One more thing why does the settlement building policy of Israel seem so much like the Nazi policy of Lebensraum?

European Imperial History

2006-08-24T02:15:00.000+01:00

From the countless African wars to both of the world wars fought in the first half of the last century, the roots of many conflicts in today's world can be traced back to policies of, and decisions taken by the European "Empires".

There is a school of thought in some parts of Africa that the former imperial masters deliberately left behind states that had no hope of success in order to delay the industrial development of what could be rival nations in the future. I am not convinced that was the case but the other alternatives are blind arrogance or complete ignorance. Ethnic groups were often divided up placed on opposite sides of national borders while being trapped inside national borders with ethnic rivals. India and Pakistan I think are the starkest example of the latter. In West Africa, the Yoruba speaking people are spread across Nigeria, Togo, Benin and there are even some in Ghana. The borders drawn in the Middle East after the fall of the Ottoman Empire have been the direct cause of thousands of death from Israel to Iraq.

While the European people cannot be held accountable for what thier ancestors did, most still benefit from the results. If the current prosperity of Europe came off the back of others whose lives were diliberately or inadvertently messed up as a result, it is not unreasonable to expect that at least some lingering injustices are resolved. I hope to go into these into more detail as time goes by...