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: ISIS
Susan on the Soapbox: Dear Mr Harper: About that Poll…
On Thursday I answered the phone and it was you Mr Harper (well, your robot pollster lady) wondering whether I’d answer a 30 second political survey. While I can’t be certain she was calling on your behalf, the nature of her questions led me to the inevitable conclusion that I
Continue readingAre we reaching a critical mass on climate change?
Convincing people that anthropogenic climate change is real is a tough slog. Quite aside from the difficulty of selling inconvenient truths, powerful interests have been arrayed against the science. Nonetheless, people around the world are coming to recognize the reality. A recent Pew Research Center survey found that publics in
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Will Canadian troops in Ukraine have to train radical Islamist volunteers said to be tied to ISIS?
PHOTOS: Defence Minister Jason Kenney explains who Canadian troops will train in Ukraine last fall. Below: Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Ukraine in 2010. Photos are from the CBC and the Prime Minister’s Office’s Flickr account. It’s been evident for several months now Ukraine has a problem with neo-Nazis, in
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 readingDead Wild Roses: The DWR Sunday Religious Disservice – Destroying History, for What?
There is no morality to be found in religions and their scriptures. It is a human being who interprets the words and it is human being that makes the decision to x or y – no religious magic involved. So what is happening in Palmyra with ISIS is a
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 readingThe Disaffected Lib: The Final Chapter for Bashar Assad
Things are not looking up for Syrian strongman, Bashar Assad. His first problem is the Sunni Muslim coalition of Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia (ordinarily not the best of friends) that has materialized for the sole purpose of running Assad out of Damascus. The advances are not only a sign
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Why The "Fight Against ISIS" Is A Farce
Prime Minister Harper’s current political “divert the public’s attention” strategy is to beat on the war drums over ISIS. Yes, ISIS is a brutal lot, and they are doing a lot of horrible things. Should they be held accountable for their actions? Absolutely. Are the western powers the right people
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Why The "Fight Against ISIS" Is A Farce
Prime Minister Harper’s current political “divert the public’s attention” strategy is to beat on the war drums over ISIS. Yes, ISIS is a brutal lot, and they are doing a lot of horrible things. Should they be held accountable for their actions? &…
Continue readingBigCityLib Strikes Back: Best Thing I’ve Read On ISIS
It’s run by Saddam’s old gang from the Baath party. The best bit: Rayburn questions whether even some of the foreign volunteers realise the extent to which they are being drawn into Iraq’s morass. Some of the fiercest battles being waged today in Iraq are for control of communities and neighborhoods
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: Has Harperland Made Canada a Rogue State
The Tyee’s Crawford Kilian argues that Harper’s Canada has become a rogue state. Kilian disposes of the arguments of those, including several Liberals, who see a “moral imperative” in our air war against ISIS. It’s a very selective morality that attacks the Islamic State in Syria while not attacking Boko Haram
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Deliver Us From Evil
Why do we tolerate Saudi Arabia when the kingdom, and its Sunni state allies, seems determined to deliver Yemen into the control of ISIS and al Qaeda? Gwynne Dyer writes that, while we wage an air war against ISIS, the Saudis are undermining our effort with their war on the
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Some Inspiration From A Clear-Thinking Citizen
That’s what I derive from Donald Crump’s Star letter. It is a shame more of our fellow citizens are not possessed of such critical faculties: Increasing risk of terror in Canada When a government starts making decisions based primarily on getting re-elected, with little regard for what is best for
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 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 readingThe Disaffected Lib: What Has Jason Kenney Been Smoking?
Seriously. I’m wondering if our fledgling defence minister was high, high, high, when he proclaimed that, after we defeat ISIS, Iraq and Syria better not look to Canada to create a model democracy in those states. That’s sort of like me asking the confirmed bachelor if he’s stopped beating his wife yet.
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Penetrating The Fog Of War
Today I turn, once again, to Star letter-writers to inspire both sanity and hope in our troubled land: No ‘middle’ in Mideast war debate, March 25 Prime Minister Stephen Harper bet Canada’s future on oil prices remaining abnormally high. Some economist! Now he is about to order our Armed Forces
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: It’s a Muslim Religious Civil War and We’re Going In Blind.
When we see one of our closest Arab allies, Saudi Arabia, go after a Shiite bunch engaged in combat with ISIS and al Qaeda forces, the same groups we’re supposedly fighting, then it should be obvious that all is not as it seems. Suddenly this entire anti-ISIS coalition smells off.
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