The great curse of Somalia is that it lies near the oil-rich Middle East and all sorts of interested parties have played their hands to ensure that the country remains unstable for geopolitical reasons. Since the collapse of the Somali state in 1991, these state and non-state actors have included Al Qaeda, Iran, Sudan, Eritrea and a shadowy network of financial backers and charities in Middle East countries.
You left of the worst of them all, the United States, which should have accepted that the Islamic Courts Union was the best chance for peace in Somalia instead of using Ethiopia to drive them out of Mogadishu and persuade the more radical Islamist elements to form Al Shabaab.
If he doesn't have many aircraft, only a few of those aircraft are capable of flight and the bombing raids those few undertake are ineffective then there is no reason to set up a "no fly zone" as the propaganda advantage to Gaddafi of the West becoming involved in a civil war would be immense.
The big difference between Iran and the Arab countries where the population is rebelling is that Khamenei/Ahmadinejad have a very large base of local supporters. There is good evidence (no real proof of electoral fraud. opinion surveys, etc.) to suggest that they actually have majority support. So while Iran might not be a true democracy, at least the government reflects the will of the people rather than the will of the hegemons in Washington. How big was Mubarak's base? A few billionaires and the well paid Ministry of the Interior goons.
"Until now, the Iranian Revolution of 1979 has been the only populist-led revolution in the Middle East."
Go read your history books - there have been other "populist-led revolutions" in the Middle East but the colonialists put them down.
Let's not forget that it was American support of conservative Saudi Arabis against the nationalist Egypt under Nasser that did and continues to do so much to spread fundamentalism in the Middle East. I only hope that those idiots in Washington don't go down the same path again though I wouldn't put it past them.
The US embassy denied rumors that the president’s wife, Suzanne Mubarak, and his son Gamal and his daughter-in-law had fled the country on private jets.
Could someone explain to me why the US embassy is doing PR for the Mubarak regime? I thought diplomats were not supposed to involve themselves in the internal politics of sovereign states.
If the US government refuses to extradite or prosecute Cheney within the US on these corruption charges which are totally unrelated to his previous office, then the US can never again accuse any foreigner of corruption with being demonstrated to be a rabid bunch of hypocrites (that most non-Americans already know they are). Karzai's cronies in the Afghan government are probably pissing themselves laughing at this very moment!
Don't for one minute think that Boris is concerned about human rights in this instance, it's just that diplomatic protection in the UK is the responsibility of "The Met", and as Mayor of London Boris would have to pay for it and in the current economic climate he can't afford it and this is a easy way to tell the Chimp to fuck orf.
Strange that $5,000,000 just happens to be 214,000,000 rupees. I think someone has mixed up their USD and INR (although in a few years they will probably have parity). Also Indians use the lakh (one hundred thousand ) and crore (ten million) rather than million or US billion to desribe large numbers so confusion can arise there as well.
I've read this speech about three times and I can't see any reference to "protecting Qana", a not very realistic ambition given the technological superiority and murderous intentions of the IDF. All I can see is mention of standing by the people of Qana, a different matter all together. Also, no reference to the Twelfth Iman. Perhaps there are other references you can quote?
Of course there is always Iran which I am sure would be prepared to allow fuel for NATO and the US to transit its territory ifg it was part of a "grand bargain". But then the Israeli lobby might throw a tantrum!
At last! British politicians looking out for British interests. A quite novel sensation since I've felt for the last few years that British politicians have been more concerned with American rather than British interests. Perhaps American politicians should pay more attention to America's interests instead of serving Israel's interests the whole time.
The great curse of Somalia is that it lies near the oil-rich Middle East and all sorts of interested parties have played their hands to ensure that the country remains unstable for geopolitical reasons. Since the collapse of the Somali state in 1991, these state and non-state actors have included Al Qaeda, Iran, Sudan, Eritrea and a shadowy network of financial backers and charities in Middle East countries.
You left of the worst of them all, the United States, which should have accepted that the Islamic Courts Union was the best chance for peace in Somalia instead of using Ethiopia to drive them out of Mogadishu and persuade the more radical Islamist elements to form Al Shabaab.
Maybe it is not such a "hot" war as some are making it out to be.
If he doesn't have many aircraft, only a few of those aircraft are capable of flight and the bombing raids those few undertake are ineffective then there is no reason to set up a "no fly zone" as the propaganda advantage to Gaddafi of the West becoming involved in a civil war would be immense.
The big difference between Iran and the Arab countries where the population is rebelling is that Khamenei/Ahmadinejad have a very large base of local supporters. There is good evidence (no real proof of electoral fraud. opinion surveys, etc.) to suggest that they actually have majority support. So while Iran might not be a true democracy, at least the government reflects the will of the people rather than the will of the hegemons in Washington. How big was Mubarak's base? A few billionaires and the well paid Ministry of the Interior goons.
"Until now, the Iranian Revolution of 1979 has been the only populist-led revolution in the Middle East."
Go read your history books - there have been other "populist-led revolutions" in the Middle East but the colonialists put them down.
Let's not forget that it was American support of conservative Saudi Arabis against the nationalist Egypt under Nasser that did and continues to do so much to spread fundamentalism in the Middle East. I only hope that those idiots in Washington don't go down the same path again though I wouldn't put it past them.
The US embassy denied rumors that the president’s wife, Suzanne Mubarak, and his son Gamal and his daughter-in-law had fled the country on private jets.
Could someone explain to me why the US embassy is doing PR for the Mubarak regime? I thought diplomats were not supposed to involve themselves in the internal politics of sovereign states.
And just what is to stop the shites in Washington resurrecting the claim at a future date? The US Supreme Court?
And then we get this shit from the Department of War, Slaughter and Torture in Washington:
King Might Understand Today’s Wars, Pentagon Lawyer Says
If the US government refuses to extradite or prosecute Cheney within the US on these corruption charges which are totally unrelated to his previous office, then the US can never again accuse any foreigner of corruption with being demonstrated to be a rabid bunch of hypocrites (that most non-Americans already know they are). Karzai's cronies in the Afghan government are probably pissing themselves laughing at this very moment!
Credenhill is just up the road.
Don't for one minute think that Boris is concerned about human rights in this instance, it's just that diplomatic protection in the UK is the responsibility of "The Met", and as Mayor of London Boris would have to pay for it and in the current economic climate he can't afford it and this is a easy way to tell the Chimp to fuck orf.
Strange that $5,000,000 just happens to be 214,000,000 rupees. I think someone has mixed up their USD and INR (although in a few years they will probably have parity). Also Indians use the lakh (one hundred thousand ) and crore (ten million) rather than million or US billion to desribe large numbers so confusion can arise there as well.
I've read this speech about three times and I can't see any reference to "protecting Qana", a not very realistic ambition given the technological superiority and murderous intentions of the IDF. All I can see is mention of standing by the people of Qana, a different matter all together. Also, no reference to the Twelfth Iman. Perhaps there are other references you can quote?
Of course there is always Iran which I am sure would be prepared to allow fuel for NATO and the US to transit its territory ifg it was part of a "grand bargain". But then the Israeli lobby might throw a tantrum!
At last! British politicians looking out for British interests. A quite novel sensation since I've felt for the last few years that British politicians have been more concerned with American rather than British interests. Perhaps American politicians should pay more attention to America's interests instead of serving Israel's interests the whole time.
the Israeli government lobbied Germany in 2004 to restrict Jewish But there are now more Jews in Germany than there were in 1939 before the Holocaust.
But still less than in 1933.
“sovereign” Iraq that is “no haven” for the kind of violent extremists that attacked the US on Sept. 11, 2001
But, it was sovereign until the US invaded it! And with 50,000 troops and that embassy left behind it won't be sovereign
But it was never a "haven". Saddam Hussein made sure of that!
At least with Bush you knew he was an idiot!