William Hague - What the hell are you thinking?!!!

[scotspine1]

Interesting that you see the membership (and therefore yourself) as an allegorical christ figure Tim - although I do appreciate the related symbolism of me being a potentially cursed man with a job to do, however distasteful it might be...

 

In the same vein, and without any intention of further de-railing the original thought provoking and well balanced diatribe, I would liken my role more to that of Mr Miyagi in the 1984 spectacular 'The Karate Kid'. You guys are Daniel-san and through my obtuse and apparently punitive teaching methods you will develop an ingrained response to do the right thing in any given situation.

 

 

Like it Tony,

 

did you know that the actor who portrayed Miyagi was nominated for an Oscar for his role as Mr Miyagi?

 

Not a lot of people know that. Don't believe me?

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Morita

[breffni]

No, Kevin. Not missed the point. I know full well what they are like to deal with. And I completely agree with you on the lack of thanks we would get, followed by the political about turn to make us the bigger enemy than the dictator before.

 

What saddens me is the that human beings get needlessly slaughtered whilst the UN's toothless teams get the runaround and nobody wants to stand up and help. Apart from groups like MSF etc, who get a hard enough time too.

 

I can't see surgical strikes having much effect, unless they go for regime change targets, and get lucky.

 

Why do western governments care about what happens in Syria? Why don't they care what happens in somewhere like the Congo where millions have died since the early 90's?

 

 

Sent using My c

[JimM]

Why do western governments care about what happens in Syria? Why don't they care what happens in somewhere like the Congo where millions have died since the early 90's?

 

 

Sent using My c

 

That's the million dollar question....or should that be the million barrel question. We used to debate that on the jet. Why let the people of Rwanda and all the other places in Africa suffer, when we had the ability to render intervention there. Bear in mind that many of these places in Africa suffered in times when we had no military action going on and our forces weren't as stretched as they are now.

Our feeling then was that it is all down to politics. What's in it for us, the UK, the politicians themselves.

Believe you me, we were every bit as angry as the public, watching suffering being doled out with relative impunity.

[scotspine1]

Why do western governments care about what happens in Syria?

 

Probably because Syria is very close to Iran both politically and geographically. It's also militarily and strategically important for the western allies to get a foothold in Syria to further separate Hezbollah in Lebanon from Iran in a geographical sense and limit Iran's allies in the area. It wont work, the religious and political allegiances in the middle east are very complex.

 

For example, if the US, UK etc launch cruise missile attacks on Syria, Hezbollah will probably fire 1000s of rockets into Israel from Lebanon in retaliation. Iran will probably stay out of it, biding their time, but they'll probably be supplying Hezbollah with arms. If Iran can persuade the muslim world that the US/UK attacking Syria is another example of westerners invading a muslim country yet again, the whole dynamic will shift to muslims vs westerners

 

Edited August 29, 2013 by scotspine1

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

It's a shambles! Having spent today watching the BBC Parliament channel live coverage it's obvious there is no public or political appetite to become engaged in this saga, sad as it may be. You're right Jim, there have been huge, outrages against human decency throughout recent history (too many to mention) that we've all watched unfold on our Tv screens (or been more closely engaged with). It seems to me, in this case, that the method of despatch has become the issue rather than the number despatched. Death is death, are we saying (as a nation) that 1000 dead by gas is somehow worse that 1m by machete? I'm confused by PM Cameron's motive. The No. 10 briefing note justifying military intervention is worthy of a Monty Python sketch (yes I have forwarded my comments to https://email.number10.gov.uk/) They couldn't even get the paragraph numbering right let alone the fictitious so-called legal justification for military intervention. Here's a thought though, after 13 years continuos war fighting operations, 3 redundancy rounds and very significant budget reductions there won't be any forces to deploy once the fire brigade strike starts because the armed forces will be using WW2 equipment, sleeping in empty warehouses and still perform better than the idle (2jobs) fire brigade that spend most of their "on-call" time playing 5a side or using the gym at their local armed forces base.

[easy-lift guy]

It's a shambles! Having spent today watching the BBC Parliament channel live coverage it's obvious there is no public or political appetite to become engaged in this saga, sad as it may be. You're right Jim, there have been huge, outrages against human decency throughout recent history (too many to mention) that we've all watched unfold on our Tv screens (or been more closely engaged with). It seems to me, in this case, that the method of despatch has become the issue rather than the number despatched. Death is death, are we saying (as a nation) that 1000 dead by gas is somehow worse that 1m by machete? I'm confused by PM Cameron's motive. The No. 10 briefing note justifying military intervention is worthy of a Monty Python sketch (yes I have forwarded my comments to https://email.number10.gov.uk/) They couldn't even get the paragraph numbering right let alone the fictitious so-called legal justification for military intervention. Here's a thought though, after 13 years continuos war fighting operations, 3 redundancy rounds and very significant budget reductions there won't be any forces to deploy once the fire brigade strike starts because the armed forces will be using WW2 equipment, sleeping in empty warehouses and still perform better than the idle (2jobs) fire brigade that spend most of their "on-call" time playing 5a side or using the gym at their local armed forces base.

 

I to just watched segments of hearings in Parliament. Very interesting when Labor party member Paul Flynn accused the President of the US FOOLISHLY DRAWING A RED LINE WHICH WILL NOW FORCE HIM TO ATTACK RATHER THAN FACING HUMILIATION. I guess since this person is a member of Parliament he can more or less call the President of the US a fool, however if someone refers to same person as a iconic cartoon figure he can be labeled as being a racist:thumbdown:. Love the double standard when free speech is only free when your a politician. Or better yet when someone compares them self to an actor pretending to really be someone there not.

I hope for the sake of the UK that your Parliament has the wisdom to sit this out and let the US president do what he thinks he can get away with. It can only hurt my country that much more, which this Clown is an expert at:thumbdown:

easy-lift guy

[easy-lift guy]

Probably because Syria is very close to Iran both politically and geographically. It's also militarily and strategically important for the western allies to get a foothold in Syria to further separate Hezbollah in Lebanon from Iran in a geographical sense and limit Iran's allies in the area. It wont work, the religious and political allegiances in the middle east are very complex.

 

For example, if the US, UK etc launch cruise missile attacks on Syria, Hezbollah will probably fire 1000s of rockets into Israel from Lebanon in retaliation. Iran will probably stay out of it, biding their time, but they'll probably be supplying Hezbollah with arms. If Iran can persuade the muslim world that the US/UK attacking Syria is another example of westerners invading a muslim country yet again, the whole dynamic will shift to muslims vs westerners

 

 

Your reply is spot on. Sadly the Middle East is more or less controlled by Two countries. Russia, China. The US and other European influence ended long ago.

easy-lift guy

[Amelanchier]

I guess since this person is a member of Parliament he can more or less call the President of the US a fool, however if someone refers to same person as a iconic cartoon figure he can be labeled as being a racist:thumbdown:. Love the double standard when free speech is only free when your a politician.

 

You don't have free speech on someone else's forum. You never have and you never will. If you want to recast Obama as a monkey in your narrative of the repression of true American values then I'm sure there are plenty of other places you can do so if you can't help yourself. Just not here.

 

Or better yet when someone compares them self to an actor pretending to really be someone there not.

 

If you cared to notice, I specifically chose to compare myself to the character and not the actor, but I can see how that subtlety would be lost on you Daniel-san.

 

Now get back to waxing. Wax on. Wax off...

Edited August 30, 2013 by Amelanchier

[scotspine1]

You don't have free speech on someone else's forum. You never have and you never will.

 

yes sir boss, yes sir

[easy-lift guy]

yes sir boss, yes sir

 

The dictator has spoken. He still has no clothes on and continues to preach the double standard when suits his needs. Next thing you know someone might claim ownership to something as opposed to stewartship:sneaky2:, Darn, I just realized they may be one in the same:laugh1:.

easy-lift guy

Edited August 30, 2013 by easy-lift guy
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