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| Blogs > rm_mazandbren > The Complaisant Husband |
Keep Dancing.
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Keep Dancing. one of the biggest lies about the campaign in Afghanistan is the repeated assertion that the war has become a training ground for the export of terrorism. now this would, in fact, only be true if the West were to withdraw its troops; who exactly do you think they have been killing? the same lie was told throughout the Iraq War- but all the terrorist attacks in the West during that campaign were in fact launched by Islamists born and/or raised in the country where the attack took place. indeed the biggest contribution the foreign volunteers for the various terrorist organisations have made to the war is to turn the native Muslims against them. even the native extremists are starting to be renounced by their previously loyal following. recent sentences in Malaysia and Somalia from religious courts have actually met with such outcry from the people that they have been subsequently altered. even in Saudi Arabia the religious police and courts have been pulled up in recent weeks for overstepping their authority into areas where such interference previously excited little protest. but on the military front the failures have been spectacular; the Moro in the Phillipines are almost finished- their allies forced to find new training areas; the Thai Muslims seem to be giving up almost before they have begun; from almost conquering Yemen the terrorists are now being chased through the mountains by almost everyone from government regulars, nomadic tribesmen and anti-government rebels; the Somalia Coalition that almost took the country has now begun to unravel; despite the high profile blasts of recent weeks the number of attacks in Iraq is in deep decline. but it is Pakistan where the terrorists have most obviously failed. a few months ago popular agitation and<b> skilled </font></b>negotiation gave the Taliban the Swat Valley, almost on the doorstep of Karachi and possible access to nuclear weapons. not only did they make mistake of going back on the deal and attacking into lowland Pakistan they managed, by their brutal rule, to almost empty the inhabitants from the region into the lowland areas where tales of their excess shifted support firmly behind the government. now they have not only lost the Swat Valley and its tribal support there, but they have lost support across the mountain regions and tempted the Pakistan Army into having a third go at wiping out the bases in South Waziristan- the home of the Taliban Movement. the weakness of the Taliban is probably best demonstrated by the shifting of support by Pakistan Intelligence to the anti-Iranian groups in the border areas. there was a recent article comparing the current Pakistan offensive to the attempts of the British to control the region; a rather selective version of history it must be noted. the British did succeed in bringing the area under control on a number of occasions- invariably when they held the Afghan border and gave the tribes nowhere to run. so the recent criticism of the Pakistan government and army by the Obama Whitehouse, and particularly Hilary Clinton's recent words, rings hollow when it is remembered that the new Allied strategy is to abandon the border areas. several anti-terrorist experts have noted that the sudden rise in Taliban and Al-Qaeda activity in the relatively quiet areas of the North-east owe to the fact that these elements no longer trust their hosts in Northern Pakistan not to turn on them- it is safer in Afghanistan now that the border areas are being given up. it also seems a little hypocritical of the Obama Administration to be pointing to "do nothing" Pakistanis and Europeans when, nine months after being sworn in and promising a decision on future directions in Afghanistan the latest announcement on the progress of this decision is that the President requires another month to come to a decision. this was announced on the back of Obama's first visit to Dover AFB, the touchdown point for all deceased service personnel being repatriated to the US. that it just happened to coincide with the Pentagon's decision to lift the 18 year ban on media at such homecomings was not merely a cynical ploy but a disgusting attempt to hijack the limelight for votes. Neither of the Bush presidents nor Clinton thought that such behaviour on their part was appropriate- they felt that a Presidential visit would distract officials and families at precisely the wrong time. Both Clinton and Bush Jr invited families to the White House instead. obviously the chance of appearing in a photo was more important to Obama than the grief of the families. Obama still thinks that he is campaigning- his speeches continue to promote his vision of a change. he seems to enjoy the spotlight wherever he can find it, regardless of how inappropriate it might seem. and all the time, from the composition of his cabinet to the decision on Afghanistan he flip-flops and merely produces rehashes of old policy or else hopes that nobody has noticed he hasn't actually done a lot since being swept into office. a recent article in the Australian noted that he had yet to use the race card, though his followers seemed determined to do it for him, which makes it available for the re-elect. rather amusingly it goes on to ask if we can really stand another 6years of bad BO.  In truth is there no beauty? I am not in love; but i am open to persuasion. |
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