BBC News : Labour denies expenses omission.
And why not? I mean, why legislate against stealing taxpayer’s money when you’ve sort of said sorry for doing it previously? Obviously, you’ve proven that you’re trustworthy and that should be enough. Besides, it’s not like the British public are feeling disenfranchised and mutinous. Oh.. Wait………
And blah to the rest of your stupid laws. We know you wrote them in a rush, based on polling and yes-men, rather than on what we want and need.
(The BBC has updated their reporting of the story, which is how things works, so whatever. Newsniffer says they’ve updated twelve times, and has a wonderful thing where we can see all versions! We’re working from version seven, which you can read here.)
Long(ish) story short, the BBC said last night that Gordon
…plans to host talks in the new year to discuss timing for handing over the campaign in Afghanistan to the Afghan government.
The prime minister said he wanted the Nato meeting to "set a timetable" for transfer starting in 2010.
He called for a "district by district" process of passing the responsibility for security to Afghan forces.
I’m not on the bandwagon of Gordon-haters, he seems like a lovely chap. But on the war in Afghanistan, bad, bad, bad!!! What is going on in Westminster???
It took quite a while for the domestic leadership of ISAF nations to wake up to the fact that this isn’t a conventional war, it’s a nasty, tricksy insurgency. The Taliban aren’t popular, very few people support them. Which makes complete sense, given that they are nasty, tricksy insurgents, using the cloak of “oh, gosh, look, we’re just like a band of Afghan Robin Hoods, robbing those nasty oppressors and saving all you wonderful folk.” It’s a cloak because they raise a fair amount of their money through extortion of the locals – if you don’t pay you rushr , chances are you won’t wake up to a job in the morning, if you wake up at all.
It’s the same old story of paramilitary groups bullying and exploiting the local people, using a nice, press-friendly narrative to mask it. In the beginning, there may have been some basis to the argument that the Taliban were very devout and wanted to restore Afghanistan after the decades of all out and utterly brutal war. Gretchen Peters, in this excellent piece on Taliban funding, argues that way-
Many who encountered the Taliban at their outset say aspects of the tale were true: the early Taliban were well intentioned, even if their methods were medieval. According to people who witnessed the movement from its inception, they even initially made a commitment (which they acted on a handful of times) to stamp out the opium trade. This commitment was swiftly dropped as political realities and a need for funds overcame their original objectives. Despite their efforts at myth making, the Taliban’s rise to power in Afghanistan had little to do with the grace of Allah as they claimed. From its inception, the movement appeared to rely on the financial backing of an unholy alliance of drug smugglers, traders, and trucking groups.
This is definitely not the subtle dissection and examination of the big T and little t Taliban, the decline into thuggery, or their relationship with Al Qaeda and any other group that we may or may not demonise using inflammatory language. It’s not even going to mention all the ways corruption and the Taliban are destroying the local population, and the accompanying dangers of Western thinking (we tend to get all ‘Empire’ and think like old white men). These discussions will all come soon.
However, this is about the information aspect of the war, the all important, success-defining aspect that that keeps being overlooked by Westminster. It may be that they haven’t overlooked this at all (we live in hope!), but having read their coverage of the war and listened to people who know far more than me about the situation, not holding out much hope. The Taliban are very good at getting a story out. They have a turn around of a couple of hours, whereas ISAF take a lot longer (up to and usually over 24 hours). The Taliban also have time on their side, and the eternally popular story of standing up against a bullying oppressor who has no place to be bullying or oppressing.
The issue isn’t with Britain wanting or needing to withdraw. Obviously, we cannot sit in Kabul until Doomsday. Bloody stupid idea. But the danger comes when we say “ok, this is when we start to do this” and fix a date. The Taliban have already proven many times before that they’re more than happy to sit this one out and keep punching the West until we lose the will to fight. They have worked out that we honour our war dead, that no one enjoys seeing the streets of Wooten Basset lined with mourners, and that this is very effective leverage over our Government. It’s the Dover Effect* and it’s nothing new. It worked just as well in Rwanda, where the Hutu extremists who planned and neatly executed the genocide, factored the Dover Effect into their diabolical plans. Romeo Dallaire was told in advance that the Hutu Power had set a trap that was
“intended to kill some ten Belgians. The leadership of the Hutu Power had determined that Belgium had no stomach for taking casualties in their old colony, and if Belgian soldiers were killed, the nation would withdraw from UNAMIR.** [The informant] said that the extremists knew the Belgians had the best contingent in UNAMIR, and they assumed that if the Belgians left, the mission would collapse.”
(Shake Hands with the Devil, 143-144)
Their calculation proved right and the genocide ensued as the UNAMIR troops were forced to watch 800,000 people were brutally hacked to death by their neighbours.
This is not to draw parallels between Rwanda and Afghanistan on any level, other than that at which our enemy knows our weakness. Gordon, please! The Taliban have cased us pretty well. Sure, at some point talking to them will be a good idea, and yes, anyone with half a brain recognises we need to hand over. But don’t go giving them dates! They’ll just sit it out and do nothing. Have you not read your State Building Strategy 101? I know some smart students who could teach you a thing or two…….
*The Dover Effect is used to describe the impact that coverage of war dead has on the government’s will to continue the fight. It harks back to the days of Vietnam, one of the first wars to be broadcast nightly into people’s homes, and the coverage of the US war dead arriving at Dover Airbase.
** UNAMIR – United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda
Look, Kim. We need to talk.
Earlier this month, Kim Howells, chairman of the influential intelligence and security committee, became the most senior Labour figure to call for British troops to be pulled out of the Nato-led International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF).
The former foreign office minister called for the majority of UK forces to be brought home to concentrate on protective measures to prevent terror attacks in the UK. (source)
No offence, but that won’t work. We withdraw, then all those who hate us and want us wiped off the face of the planet win a massive PR coup. It’d be better for them than September 11th and the July 7 bombings rolled into one. We withdraw and what…? You going to put a soldier on every corner? You want to ramp up domestic security so that every moment of every person is monitored? You think that will stop the terror attacks? Are you out of your mind?
Seriously, guys. Sort it out.
Update: Reliably informed by sources wiser than me that Kim is ‘good people’. No offence to the man, sure he is. Still waiting for evidence that this isn’t a bloody stupid idea.
Still testing the limits of this, figured I would shamelessly plug some photos. Prints and canvases available, message me if you fancy one.
(Awkward) Update: You can buy them from here -
http://www.photoboxgallery.com/aloysiusandotherrumours/collection?album_id=236213410
Nothing like a bit of shameful self-promotion to grate on friendship. Woo!
Very interesting article in the Economist the other week about water in California. Apparently, the state has been in conflict for decades, as the environmental lobby, urban consumers and agriculture battle it out over an ever-diminishing supply of water.
Water has divided Californians since Mark Twain remarked that “whiskey’s for drinking, water’s for fighting over.” But this latest conflict comes as America’s largest state is politically gridlocked and holding back a national economic recovery. From Australia to Israel, parched places all over the world are now looking to California to see whether, and how, it solves one of the most intractable problems of thirsty civilisations in dry regions.
Things get tricky for California, as the urban consumers number around 19m people – that’s 50% of the population of one of the biggest economies of the world that has suffered ‘mandatory conservation measures’ this year. The drought and the restrictions have hit farmers hard too. Annnd then you chuck back into the mix the need to protect the environment and it all gets to be a big horrible mess.
But they really weren’t kidding when they said that this is an important issue and the rest of the world is watching. Whatever the press says, water and access to water is a hugely aggravating factor in the Israel/Palestine conflict. There are reports of settlements that have access to superior technology and can consequently dig deeper wells, depriving neighbouring wells of their water supply (1980 UN report and some facts and figures in a seemingly well balanced blog – always hard to find when dealing with this conflict!). Plus –
While in ‘Aqraba and other nearby villages Palestinians have no running water and are prevented even from collecting small amounts of rainwater, the nearby Israeli settlements of Eli and Shilo have swimming pools. Itamar settlement has a fish farm on top of a hill. (source)
I know the West Wing isn’t necessarily the best source on which to base large sections of my beliefs, but I love it and it makes sense. In episode 6:16 Drought Conditions, CJ goes round for round with a lobbyist called Cliff Calley. It’s an excellent episode. He opposes a water bill and there is a brilliant back and forth that I will dig out and update, just as soon as we’re in the new house and I know where my DVDs are….. Anyway, the point of the wonderful dialogue is that he says until the day to day lives of people in the US (and it could be expanded to apply to the Rest of the West) are somehow threatened by a lack of water, there will be little motivation to invest in desalination and other technology that is so desperately needed across the globe. High five to Calley on that one. Hurry up science!!
I know it’s wrong to enjoy these things, but I do.
Ghosts of Alexander posted an article linking to this article about the latest conspiracy doing the rounds on the AfPak border. Love this quote:
“We heard that foreigners are releasing them at night from planes to eat people. We heard that usually the tiger cats attack the throat and drink all the blood,” said Mohammed Saber, also from Saidkhail.
Air delivery? But wouldn’t the fall kill the cats?
“They fly really low,” said Koko Gul, 20, of nearby Monara village, holding his hands a foot from the ground, “and they just drop the cats onto the ground.”
Nothing like a good story of man-eating beasts to help with an insurgency, as the British Army are well aware – they introduced man-eating badgers to Basra.
On a more serious note, this article is very informative about the relationship between the media and conspiracy theories in Pakistan.
Correspondents and editors belonging to Pakistan’s top local print and TV outlets let loose with accusations and complaints, particularly about American concerns that Pakistan was failing as a state. "There is no Taliban threat," said one Pakistani journalist. "Do you really think a bunch of hillbillies from the tribal areas can take on our military?" sneered another. "It’s all propaganda," said a third, designed "to weaken us, so the U.S. can fulfill its agenda to break Pakistan into pieces."
In the course of my reporting on Pakistan, I hear conspiracy theories all the time: that the Pakistani Taliban fighting in Swat are funded by Indian intelligence; that the Americans are assisting the Taliban in Afghanistan to justify and secure a Central Asian foothold against China; and the old chestnut that Israel’s Mossad and the CIA were behind the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. While no press in any country is without flaw or bias, I count on fellow journalists everywhere to be more enlightened and sensible than average folk. But in Pakistan’s case, sections of the media are reinforcing the nation’s paranoia at a critical time when it faces a threat to its very existence.
The information aspect of these things is often overlooked by the West. It’s very easy to forget that not everyone has access to the same level of information and that in many places, people aren’t encourage to challenge the basis of information. Sorry for the Captain Obvious moment, but it seems that that people are guilty of that at all levels… *cough* Westminster and DC *cough* While it is easy to sit back and smile at Mohammed Saber’s man-eating tigers, also have to wonder how we would fare if we were in his place.
Northern Ireland dominated the news while we were growing up in the 1990s, and the decades preceding. Was a bit too young to remember the dubbing on the news (of “proscribed paramilitary groups in NI, from representatives of Sinn Féin, Republican Sinn Féin or the UDA and from those who ’support or invite support for these organisations’”), but Northern Ireland correspondents were a regular feature on the nightly news and friends have memories of living with the threat of violence (more on this in a later post!).
Barring the change in the name of the police, the story wouldn’t be out of place from any decade since the Troubles started:
Police again came under attack from rioters in Northern Ireland last night. Petrol bombs and paint were throw at officers from a large crowd that gathered in the Brompton Park area of the Crumlin Road in north Belfast, close to where serious trouble flared on Monday night.
The latest disturbances lasted for around three hours and were only quelled at 1.30am. Meanwhile, stones and golf balls were throw at an interface area in the east of the city last night. The incidents happened near the Short Strand area of the lower Newtownards Road.
Elsewhere, the Police Service of Northern Ireland in Co Armagh are investigating reports a bus was attacked with a petrol bomb and bricks in Lurgan.
Last night’s disturbances came 24 hours after some of the most serious rioting seen in Northern Ireland for years.
A gunman fired at police in the Ardoyne area of north Belfast in trouble that left 21 officers injured under a barrage of stones, fireworks, blast bombs and other missiles. The rioting flared after nationalists gathered at the traditional flashpoint to oppose a passing Orange Order march during the annual Twelfth of July commemorations (held a day late this year). Officers responded with non-lethal rounds and water cannon.
Sinn Fein blamed the Real IRA but the 32 County Sovereignty Movement, which is linked to the dissident group, refuted the claim
It’s dated 15th July 2009, from the Independent.
Due to lack of TV and having been in a blackhole these last few months, can’t comment on how thorough the coverage is on the nightly news and in the papers. On the main pages of the big news websites though, Northern Ireland hasn’t featured very highly, unless something major has happened. A quick look for more specific new sources quickly gets you past that, and there awaits stories that document a level of violence not reflected in the rest of the UK, that is reminiscent of the old days, in style if not in motivation. Kneecappings, tar-and-feather-ing, punishment beatings and random acts of sectarian violence have all occurred fairly regularly in recent years.
This is from an article from January 2008 –
A loyalist source said that the pair had been abducted by the UVF and then taken to a local bar.
‘One was stripped to the waist and severely beaten while the other was forced to watch,’ he said. ‘Then they were marched out of the pub and on to the Shankill Road. Three guys stood behind them, all with dogs on leashes, including a pit bull terrier, and the boys were made to march up and down the road for an hour.’
The marks of their encounter were starkly evident to passers-by. One had heavy bruises and cuts on his head as well as blackened eyes. The physicals scars were only part of their punishment, however. As the pair were paraded along the road, the men marching behind shouted abuse and laughed at them…
…Sources on the Shankill said that all three men had been told they would be ‘exiled’ or shot if they gave evidence to the police or spoke out to the media. Their families were also issued with warnings that they were not to speak about the incidents.
The photos below (from the Daily Mail, because they had the best photos) are of a man in the loyalist area of Belfast who was accused of drug dealing, and was subsequently punished. The UDA denied any part in his punishment, yet Alban Maginness (SDLP MLA) said at the time – "It is quite clear that it was an element of the UDA which was responsible for this. These things are not done spontaneously by the community. It would seem to be a very provocative act."
It often appears that when incidents like this happen, the lack of policing or the frustration of the community with the failings of government are mentioned. Setting aside the debate on vigilante justice and the role that the provision of justice plays in insurgencies (and indeed, the use of language and how tricksy that gets in these situations!) for a later post, it is interesting to ponder why this happens in Northern Ireland not other areas. I don’t have the answers, not going to pretend I do. But why does this happen here and not in the rest of the UK?
If you are a follower of blogs and newsfeeds, it’s worth adding BBC Northern Ireland feed to your reader. Not unbiased, not infallible, but good for a heads up on what’s happening in the region.
While waiting for all this to load, I already got struck by the fear that my mother may not approve. But, we’ll set that aside and these posts won’t be about me anyway, as that wouldn’t be interesting.
Just got knocked back from a job for the eight millionth time, because I “don’t have the experience”. Apparently they liked me a lot, but yeah.. need more experience. Thanks a lot to the Baby Boomers who told us all to spend years in education and then crashed the economy into the biggest wall of recession doom the world has seen for years. Yeah, thanks a lot.
Anyhow, channelling the disgruntlement into this, which is something that has been mulled over in the House for a while. Everyone has an interesting story to tell, so the idea of this will be to locate and share those stories, while hopefully provoking thought, smiles, laughter (we can hope!) and some sort of recognition that the world isn’t a terrible place. This will be sandwiched between the usual doom-fest of news stories that I read and think other people will enjoy/should read…. And then, hopefully, someone will give me money for this, or realise that I should be employed and then once you’re hooked on this and reading this forms the pinnacle of your day, it’ll be gone. That last bit is unrealistic. Hm.
Onwards and upwards! And hopefully, I won’t damage all career prospects or give my mother cause for disapproval!
Also, expect a fairly erratic posting style and many, many posts within one day. There’s a limit to the number of cover letters a girl can mail before a break is needed!
The Momo is getting primed and ready to re-re-launch. Brace positions advised.
Subtlety 101
ASOS | at ASOS
I stopped subscribing to Vogue many years ago, because it was pretty much wasted on me. But I read the interwebs and vaguely know what fashion is. Since when has it been cool to wear things that draw attention to your va-GI-joe? There’s another dress that scared the crap out of me the other day that I’ll post later.
If you were to go to a big geek convention, I imagine this would fulfil many/all of their fantasies in one go. Especially once that involve weird intergalactic space stations docking or something. Urgh.
But, ladies. Seriously. The Pankhursts and their friends did not go to all that trouble so you could advertise your freedom with a massive cosmic starburst over your crotch. Please. Don’t.