Great mysteries of empire are always shrouded in mystery. One idea that I have lifted from terrible military fiction is the concept of the 6P’s. They are: Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance. Can you guess which imperialistic nation didn’t do their homework? “Sky said the United States led the
Continue readingTag: Iraq
Alberta Politics: Jason Kenney sails close to the wind on Anti-Terrorism Act at picnic visit
PHOTOS: Liberal candidate Adam Vaughan’s photo of the Kurdish Peace and Cultural Festival in Toronto Saturday, with an image of PKK founder Abdullah Ocalan visible in the background. (Grabbed from Twitter.) Below: Defence Minister Jason Kenney, who bragged about being at the event, and Mr. Vaughan. Jason Kenney, who notwithstanding
Continue readingAlberta Politics: That Conservative foreign policy election plank: shaky, incoherent and quite possibly dangerous
PHOTOS: A screen grab from the Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s notorious electioneering video showing the himself and Defence Minister Jason Kenney in Iraqi Kurdistan, with the face of a Canadian special forces soldier blocked out by the CBC – unlike the version that appeared on the PMO’s website. Note the
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: A Seismic Jolt That Most Won’t Even Notice
Just consider it the 21st century version of the “Great Game,” the superpower struggle to wrest control of South Asia. While it used to be a contest between Russia and Britain, today the players are Washington and Beijing. The latest round goes to China and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which
Continue readingWhy Britain is culpable for the slaughter of its citizens
British Prime Minister David Cameron is enraged at the massacre on a beach at the Sousse resort in Tunisia last week. And well he should be: thirty of his countrymen and women were slaughtered. He has pledged a “full spectrum” response, whatever that means. But while Mr. Cameron is engaging
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Difficult To Talk About, Important To Try
This is a difficult subject to talk about, because highlighting it could easily be viewed as hypocritical. In my defense, I’m not defending Trudeau because I want him elected, and I’m not attacking the Conservatives over this because I think they’re unfit to govern. I just think that using propaganda
Continue readingPushed to the Left and Loving It: Unearthed Job Application Stephen Harper 2005
The latest Conservative attack ad to discredit Justin Trudeau is childish at best with a strong scent of desperation. It’s a mock meeting discussing Trudeau’s resume as he applies for the job of Prime Minister. However, going back to 2005, when Stephen Harper himself was applying for the job, what
Continue readingThe Boston bombers and the cycle of vengeancce
The bombing of the Boston Marathon in April 2013 was a heinous crime. Three people died, hundreds were injured, and a policeman was killed in a shootout with the perpetrators. One of the two brothers responsible for the attack died from the shootout. The other, 21-year old immigrant Dzhokhar Tsarnaev,
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Stephen Harper and the Great Failing Con War on Terror
I don't know if you've noticed, but Stephen Harper has suddenly stopped talking about the Great War on Terror, and the Great Terrorist Menace.These days he wants to project a kinder gentler image as a Great Friend of Children Leader.So now almost every photo-op features a group of bored kids in
Continue readingLeDaro: His Highness Emperor Stephen Harper
Harper is putting Canadian troops on the frontlines in Iraq, when even the United States would not, and then sending Canadian troops to Syria. He’s taking our country deeper into war and putting our Canadian soldiers at risk. Who does Harper think he is? Is he trying to be a
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Evening Links
Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading. – Sara Mojtehedzadeh highlights how Ontario employers are exploiting temporary workers rather than making any effort to offer jobs which can support a life: Under Ontario’s antiquated Employment Standards Act, which is currently under review, there is no limit on how long a company
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Stephen Harper and Jason Kenney’s Con Clown Tour of Iraq
It looked like a scene out of one of those On the Road movies with Bing Crosby and Bob Hope.Except that this movie is not a comedy it's a horror show.It's Stephen Harper and Jason Kenney on the road in Iraq,Giving themselves another big, fat, juicy photo-op with OUR money. Read
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Alison picks up on Armine Yalnizyan’s important question as to whether the Cons have a Plan B other than hoping for factors beyond our control to boost oil prices. And Brad Delong argues that based on the foreseeable direction of our economy,
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: "Whack a Mole" is No Reason to Go to War.
We spent a decade in Afghanistan playing whack-a-mole, essentially achieving nothing. We had no coherent vision of what ‘victory’ might even look like much less how it could be achieved. In the result we never committed anything remotely like the size force that would have been necessary to keep the
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Want Canada to Make a Difference? Let’s Back Tunisia.
Face it. There’s not much hope that we’re really going to achieve anything significant from our air war in Iraq, regardless of whether we get stuck into Syria also. All ISIS needs to survive is a nation in chaos. They weren’t in on the ground floor in Syria. ISIS moved
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Simon Wren-Lewis connects the UK’s counterproductive austerity program to the lack of any wage growth. And Gary Lamphier observes that Alberta is serving as a case in point that jobs generated through public policy rigged in favour of the wealthy are no
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: That Burnt Smell, That Hissing Sound? That’s the Fuze.
Well, if nothing else, Stephen Harper might just have earned Canada a ringside seat to the outbreak of a Middle East regional war. The way the International Crisis Group sees it, the Saudi air war on Shiite Yemeni rebels might just be the burning fuze that explodes the Sunni-Shia powder
Continue readingCowichan Conversations: How Harper Turned Canada into a Rogue State
Richard Hughes-Political Blogger How Harper Turned Canada into a Rogue State It was not easy for those who went before us to build Canada into the remarkable and much respected country that it has been until now, until the reckless and unbalanced power hungry Prime Minister Steve Harper has grabbed
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Finally, a Mulroney We Can Believe In.
David Mulroney served as a deputy minister in charge of Canada’s Afghanistan task force. It seems he learned a thing or two from the experience, enough to know that we’re at risk of repeating the same mistakes in our rush to war in Iraq. “When I recently saw Foreign Minister
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Tony Blair and his "Bloody Crusades"
Tony Blair’s former deputy prime minister, John Prescott, thinks he can explain the radicalization of Britain’s Muslim youth – his former boss Tony Blair’s “bloody crusade” to topple Saddam Hussein. The outspoken former deputy PM, who was recently appointed as an unpaid adviser with special responsibility for climate change by
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