I am friendly, I am Pat (expletive) Tillman

Oversight overdue

The Democrats in American Congress are beginning to take down the house that Don (Donald Rumsfeld) built, brick by brick. Do not tell me you have forgotten the erstwhile Secretary of Defense, who having been the longest serving appointee to that role and architect of two wars going places but to victory is now consigned to history.

Not exactly, the de-construction of Rumsfeld is being played back in the presence of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee as they hear of people who were decorated as heroes of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who were in fact not what they were cut out to be.

Saving Private Lynch

How can we forget the commando raid that looked like a rerun of Raid on Entebbe in Saving Private Lynch?

An outrageous media spin by the Ministry of Defense indicating the lady had had stab and bullet wounds and that she had been slapped about on her hospital bed and interrogated, when in fact, she was treated with the utmost dignity having the only specialist bed in that hospital and the soldiers who came to rescue her were only firing blanks.

However, for a reality show, it made good public relations, possibly boosting the morale of soldiers on a lie, Private Jessica Lynch tried as much as possible to debunk the spin and now finally had the chance before the committee to reveal that one of the greater casualties of the war is the truth.

All-American spin

I am no warmonger, though that does not make me a pacifist, if we tried to move out of our entrenched positions and converse to reach a compromise and an agreeable consensus maybe a lot more peace would be in this world, but man is sometimes like a vampire, baying for blood and until their thirst is assuaged, peace eludes all.

One was moved to the point of deep sorrow and compassion when news arrived of a young man who was about to sign on to a great professional football career but had caught the bug of going out to defend the fatherland in Afghanistan.

So much was made of this All-American hero who would give up the comforts of luxurious living for tracking down Al Qaeda and their cohorts.

In that time, there were probably many young men going about their lives who were persuaded by this gesture to sign up to this escapade for the fatherland, dreaming of coming back to ticker-tape parades after V-day in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Friendly fire

Corporal Pat Tillman did not make it back, I cannot relate this, his brother appeared before the committee and I cannot better what he said at his hearing - this is the text of what was said verbatim - "Authorities constructed not only a story of combat action -- accompanied by a silver medal - but lied about his medical care, saying he was transferred to a field hospital for continued medical care for 90 minutes after the incident, when the back of his head was blown off."

His head was blown off by friendly fire, a term too distressing to explain; where whilst in a hostile and precarious war setting a soldier gets inadvertently shot by members of his own troop.

However, the Pentagon did not just play up this falsehood; the brother who was also serving in the same area was not informed of this situation and his parents and the American Public were strung along in a deceitful morass of fictional tales to deflect focus from the Abu Ghraib scandal.

It is debatable if this manipulation of events, disappearance of eye witness accounts and destruction of crucial evidence was not sanction from the very top.

However, one witness recalls that the last words of Corporal Pat Tillman were "I am friendly, I am Pat (expletive) Tillman."

The young man knew he was done by his own people.

Accountability before irrelevance required

We have learnt that there was end to the advice given the war planners about troop numbers, executing the war, winning the peace, having conclusive and realizable goals, but the dissenters who would not acquiesce to feeding the bloody thirstiness of the neo-conservatives for war got sidelined one by one.

Chief amongst them was the soon to retire General Eric Shinseki who was the 34th Chief of Staff of the United States Army appointed by President Clinton.

His estimate of what was required to win the war conclusively in Iraq was dismissed by Rumsfeld - a politician - almost 4 years on, the commanders in charge said General Shinseki's estimates are proven correct.

It is important that the whole truth about how media manipulation was used to paint a completely different picture from reality be investigated and Donald Rumsfeld should be accorded the opportunity to defend himself against this malfeasance and deceitful conduct of the war before he is completely consigned to history and irrelevance.

Mr. Rumsfeld represented the stick-necked, stubborn and obstinate resolve of the Bush administration to stay a course with change regardless of the consequences and to all those who put their hands to this venture of shame should the General's words resound from now henceforth.

"If you don't like change, you're going to like irrelevance even less" - Irrelevance comes upon these men like a billowing dark dense cloud, and not wind of spin shall blow it away.

Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin - Rumsfeld gone!

Gates open as Rumsfeld steps out

I had probably lost my voice well over a year ago in asking that Donald Rumsfeld either resign or be sacked for his mishandling of Iraq.

In politics, when your boss expresses confidence in you when you are under pressure, it is probably your boss about to pull the carpet from under your feet.

Only two days ago, the President said he would keep Rumsfeld and Cheney till the end of his term, he has kept one part, it is the end of his term with the loss of the sycophantic and toothless Republican dominated Congress to the Democrats.

Bush has reached a Belshazzar moment, even though the handwriting of the polls had been on the wall for quite a while about the change in the power dynamic of Congress, the president refused to read and understand the message, especially on Iraq.

So, Donald Rumsfeld is to be pensioned off; he has resigned with immediate effect, so the unknown unknowns can now read as the inscription of old – Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin – they have all been weighed in balances and found wanting – such is the way of democracy.

Robert Gates might well open the gates to new thinking on the war on terrorism.

God speaks to Rumsfeld too

Hearing voices or hearing things?

If you wondered why Donald Rumsfeld has not been pensioned off despite the brick bats he has received, well you should hear from Marine General Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

“He leads in a way that the good Lord tells him is best for our country” Read here …

My reading of this is simple, if we have someone how hears from a higher being whilst refusing to listen to mortal men, we would rather keep the man than have someone who can between his religion and his interaction with men appear to be a man of reason.

The greater fear is if this comes from a General, we are in a greater pickle than we ever thought we were, we are in deep shit – this is really where we also need the good Lord’s help too.

Powerless against the 'Gitmo' noose

Our Imperfect World

When news arrived that 3 inmates of Guantanamo bay had committed suicide by hanging I was not surprised, rather I was taken aback by how long it had taken for anyone to come to that point of absolute despair.

Like it or not, regardless of the purported evil and despicable intentions of those inmates, they are flesh and blood like you and I, they were born into this world and have had their lives shaped by the circumstances of upbringing, society and environment like any other human being.

If this world were a perfect place

+ where everyone lived in peace and harmony,

+ where the strong helped the weak out of the milk of humanity rather than ideological domination,

+ where sickness and disease were met with the concerted efforts of all mankind deploying their compassion and knowledge,

+ where leaders really did command the respect of their people through probity, honesty, wisdom and prudence

We would not be in the in the state we are in now where globalization, war, disease, unrest, inequalities, tyranny and corruption are competing elements thwarting every attempt at human progress.

The most important element to progress is fairness expressed and justice seen to be done with the highest moral standards.

The Genesis of our times is in the past

America as a superpower had been attacked by a terrorist organisation that did not fit the mould of nation state but religious ideology built on the abhorrence of certain America activities around the globe.

Whilst it is enough to give platitudes to the inclination that these terrorists are against our freedoms, democracy and liberty, we would be remiss to think that is the whole story. The catalogue of American activities in other lands where they have purported to offer a lifestyle similar to theirs is almost bloodier than conquests of the Jews, Normans, Vikings and Crusades put together.

America might not have been the primary cause in some of these even but it is questionable that some of their activities were pro patria even if their leaders have presumed their acts have been in the best interests of the American people.

Guantanamo Bay not Montego Bay

Guantanamo Bay is the culmination of all that is wrong in the pursuit of peace in the world we are today. The benefactor superpower in this situation has done little to benefit the war on terror and done a lot to recruit malefactors that continue the make the Middle East the cauldron of human conflict and other arms of law enforcement in “free” countries jittery, lacking in resolute analysis and prone to procedural error.

Soon after 9/11 the goodwill America garnered in abundans cautela non nocet as to retaliation allowed level heads with the support of the many to invade Afghanistan going after the Taleban who gave refuge to Al Qaeda.

However, this is where the whole value system began to break down as prisoner swept up by this war lost the title of “prisoner of war” and became “enemy combatants” and were transported to Guantanamo Bay under circumstance less humane of what is to be expected of leaders of freedom albeit aggrieved from loss.

Enemy Combatant’s Lot

The Enemy Combatant appellation allowed for extra judicial and extraterritorial exercise of domain outside the scrutiny of due process, the courts and civil oversight from which the American democratic project derives its legitimacy and validity.

So, beyond the scrutiny of organs that ensure that rights, freedoms and liberties are protected, the hapless pawns in Afghanistan and other places ended up in that Cuban enclave feeding every speculation and conspiracy about the untoward.

Abu Ghraib gave us unprecedented insight into the way things were done at Guantanamo bay since the man-in-charge there took responsibility of retraining people in the way “things are to be done”.

Guantanamo Bay as it stood with its inmates was the middle of nowhere and the pit of despair as many did not know their status, the semblance of justice or the possibility of freedom – all we were fed by Donald Rumsfeld was that they were very horrible people who were humanely treated – Mr Rumsfeld is a very smart man, but I cannot take lessons of justice, fairness and due process from him.

Power against hunger powerless against the noose

Only recently, we were told a number if inmates had gone on hunger strike, I would think the only reason anyone would go on hunger strike is because the system is failing to apply reason to their plight.

Those people were force-fed to prevent the separation of soul from body to much disdain as the voice against Guantanamo Bay gets louder and clearer and the people in charge are beginning to have no other options but to begin to oblige.

With all the supervision, deprivation, inspection and surveillance in the dog cages these people occupy three people having not been able to bring reason to bear through other means took their apparel and hung themselves by the neck till death.

One could cynically surmise you can force-feed a hunger striker but how do you mend a broken neck?

Act of war – my foot!

So, in all the circumstances and the depth of despair that represented the fact that many had resolved they were incarcerated epso perpetua the suicide being depicted as an act of war or rather “an act of asymmetric warfare waged against us” by the camp commander is a complete dereliction of responsibility in a policy that would have made Stalin’s Gulags look like play school.

Asymmetric warfare? You must be kidding me, I have never heard such tripe, ever!

I will not buy that view no matter the preponderance of law, evidence or inclination, the reaction is beyond belief and Mr George W. Bush with his concerns are much more about the new low to hit the unpopular Guantanamo Bay than the death of enemy combatants.

The 3 men of blessed or cursed memory took the only avenue to their freedom and liberty and many ore would if that aberration called Guantanamo Bay is not consigned to history before it becomes the cornerstone of the Bush II presidency.

quidquid Latine dictum sit altum viditur – just exactly what I mean to say whatever has been said in Latin seems deep.

Old-age Rum's field day

Old-age rights

Any septuagenarian can exercise the inalienable right to be subconsciously forgetful to the extent that recorded statements of views expressed years ago may not be remembered.

However, if there is anything anyone would deny is happening as one matures; it is the loss of hearing, the loss of memory and probably the loss of energy.

The loss of hearing plays a great part when the elderly listener who by happenstance has not been pensioned off, holds more meetings with his team than any other predecessor and still does not seem to end up with the substance of their ideas.

Note however, that due diligence is served by being in the meeting and presiding over that meeting.

Blessings of old age

A well known trait of the elderly when entering those stages of hearing loss might be grumpiness, irascibility, stubbornness, dogged determination and downright rudeness which in some other quarters can be utterly unacceptable.

The elderly by their wealth of experience gained through years of toil or service can offer us gems of wisdom and thoughts to ponder; some can quite imponderable that you end up in the unknown unknown.

That is a place that only too few people have been to, because they are the only ones who can reveal the existence of that place. They are the sages of our age.

Bliss of old age

The loss of memory presents convenience for those who cannot remember and frustration for those who can remember but cannot find correlation with the main proponent of the subject.

If no record can be found of the subject being addressed for the proponent to remember, then it one man’s word against another. We are left to decide on the ability of either to convince with conviction and hopefully, truthfully.

This era of mass media however offers the ability to record, replay, review, research, recall and reproduce whatever material has been subjected to scrutiny.

The loss of energy might inform the reason why a mechanical device might be required to do the routine task of signing letters that should be of great import to the recipients.

Unequal values of old age

So, if at any time in the future after that recording; someone who remembers or who researches asks a question about a statement made in the past, the expected response should be concurrency.

Where there is no concurrency, the person being asked can defer to check the facts of that event and respond at a later time.

However, if the person being asked is generally given to bluster and falls into the demographic of the type of elderly person described earlier; then the person would not deny, rather suggest that something else was said or they have been misrepresented - conveniently.

Truth about old age

The reporters of this current event can then search their archives and return with the recording of that earlier event which has concurrency with the questioner’s assertions, not once, not twice, but thrice.

I would then assume that the septuagenarian has been caught in a lie – Never! The old man is never ever wrong.

You ask me, “Could that particular septuagenarian be Donald Rumsfeld?” Well, Go Figure!

References

CNN.com - Hecklers interrupt Rumsfeld speech - May 4, 2006:

Target Rumsfeld

Rumsfeld Defends His Record Against Critics - New York Times:

Rumsfeld Blog Archive

The defence of the YesMen Generals

A time to go

The clamour for the resignation of Donald Rumsfeld has not gone unnoticed, as retired generals have wrangled with each other taking on whether or not to defenestrate the embattled Secretary of Defense (American spelling).

To date, a 4-star General, two 3-star Generals and four 2-star generals have voiced their opinions about the fitness of Mr Rumsfeld for the duties that he has been assigned.

In the numbers game, of all retired generals, this could be insignificant, but when viewed in the context of the fact that six of those generals have reported up the chain in his tenure, you begin to wonder if it is the generals or the secretary that is the issue.

Yes, from the Generals

However, two other 4-star Generals have come forward to defend the tenure and abilities of Donald Rumsfeld; they being General Tommy Franks and General Richard Myers.

One could feel great sympathy for their stance since they represented the highest link in the chain between the forces and their political masters.

The risk of having both their reputations and legacies sullied is evident if tactics and modalities surrounding the execution of Iraqi war and peace are brought under the harsh light of unrelenting scrutiny.

However, if people in authority cannot speak up when they should on matters of expertise, principle, honesty, integrity, tactics and/or experience, they are bungling miscreants not worthy of giving counsel to anyone.

This was not helped by the fact that the Secretary of State in the person of Condolezza Rice did say there were tactical errors regarding the execution and process of the Iraqi war when she was in the UK powwowing with Jack Straw.

Donald can dismiss, disdain and disparage

Rumsfeld in his characteristic manner dismissed her comments with the flippant “I do not know what she is talking about”.

It goes without saying that Mr Rumsfeld’s arrogance sometimes beggars belief, the unparalleled hubris with which he singularly deprecates other views to the elevation of his opinions is dangerous at best and globally lethal at worst.

Since the Abu Ghraib episode, anybody of useful and commendable reputation has asked for Rumsfeld to step down, for the sake of loyalty, dignity and possible self-pride.

However, he has stuck to the position, clammed shut and irretrievable from the Pentagon whilst the White House engages in the Window-dressing of changing staff to raise the popularity of the president.

Sack him for the polls

I could almost promise an amazing 10 to 15 point surge in the president’s popularity if he left that office this afternoon. Changing the press secretary, budget director, chief of staff or some other brown-nosing functionary would do nothing to budge the downward spiral of squandered opportunities the president finds himself in.

Enter the Economist through a piece by Lexington and suddenly, I read a whole message that shows the Rumsfeld should long have been pensioned off to some home for bureaucratic bottlenecks and enemies of reasonable discourse.

Yes, from the generals, again

Here, we find that General Tommy Franks is considered a one-dimensional strategist and General Myers is a yes man– call me anything but never a yes man.

Then we hear from Dr. Henry Kissinger who would be so welcome for trial in any international court of justice commend Donald Rumsfeld as “the best practitioner of the art of bureaucratic infighting” he had ever seen.

It is then no wonder that he can disparage the Secretary of State, dismiss the opinions of the generals, deny that there is a problem anywhere whilst opportunistically linking his efficacy to the wishes of the president to keep him there.

Load bearing furniture

A contemporary assessment of the Bush Presidency is beginning to look like a case of moving around the furniture to keep a building from collapsing; furniture might bear up the building for a while, but the problem is structural and fundamental.

Some of the major players in the President’s team need to be sent packing of which Mr Rumsfeld is the chief liability and millstone around the president’s laden neck.

An opinion worthy of attention

The Economist says this better as the casualties of the tactical errors continue to rise in Iraq and in America; Mr Rumsfeld is worth the greater sacrifice for the nation and fatherland, regardless of the idea changing horses mid-race, it might be the right thing to do to win the race and turn this sordid matter around – once and for all.

Sphincter melody - seriously parental advisory

Another opinion in vision and song that might have you nodding your head in agreement.

The deal - requires flash - plays back vision and sound.

Warning: The lyrics and subject are very colourful.

Judicial Backwaters - Guantanamo Countdown

WITHOUT PREJUDICE

The poor cannot be innocent

A saying once ascribed to a prominent law professor and defence lawyer in America suggested “everyone is innocent until declared broke”.

This opens the subject of the backwater of American justice where the privileged and the rich can get away with anything if they have the representation and resources that can bamboozle the judges, the jury and the legal system.

Too many examples exist as to how rich and famous Americans have walked free from murder, child abuse and fraud charges with just a dent to their egos.

If one were to commiserate, it would be for those who have no means of getting real justice in the land of liberty and freedom because the equality of man in America is only there when you are equal to the system by being able to pay your way out of the clutches of the law.

The equality of certain death

In fact, I would go on to say the only equality of opportunity in America of today is the equality of the certainty of death. Some might delay it by being of means, those who have not, arrive there quicker. It is a sad fact of life as exemplified by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

One profession that brings home the bacon every time is that of the high-profile lawyer as they argue and settle marital, criminal or civil matters. In a quest to help healthcare organisation that crumble under the strain of class-action suits, Mr Bush has clipped the wings of Tort cases which really make lawyers so rich at the expense of the claimants.

Abyss of injustice

Spare a thought for the aberration, anomaly or abomination that is Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. It is amazing that this place has been leased in perpetuity from Cuba which has suffered decades of sanctions and bad blood with America. Sometimes international treaties and diplomacy make no sense but there we are with an aberration.

It is an anomaly because people are in detention created by the US government but outside the jurisdiction of American courts and justice; because we have allowed the bastion of human freedom and democracy to assign untrammelled powers to their president to protect the American people.

Protecting the American People however includes the ability to take America from the safety of the high moral ground to the moral valley illustrated by the despicable state of affairs that feeds our disgust from the pictures and videos of Abu Ghraib Prison.

The abomination of justice is where those who do not have a strong ally or country to defend them and demand their rights are kept as enemy combatants outside the reach of even the Geneva Convention.

No voice for the voiceless

It pains me that whilst Britain has successfully extracted their citizens from Guantanamo Bay, they have not spoken up for those who are kept outside justice, outside review, outside care, outside concern and outside reach of their people in that utterly forsaken place.

It is a luxury of American royalty that men who are going to live full and fulfilled lives having extricated themselves from the travesty of war and the defence of the realm and now hold the power to send others to their untimely deaths as martyrs to a cause that is defeating reason and purpose as days go by.

If any of them had attended one funeral of any of all those killed in the cauldron of terror call Iraq, I might even find one word of praise for them.

As well run as Abu Ghraib?

However, Mr Rumsfeld says Guantanamo Bay is a well run detention centre, I am wont to believe him, but can I really do that?

The detention centres in Iraq produced those stomach churning pictures and the British soldiers meting out “justice” to the teenagers, as the cameraman in seemingly sexual ecstasy urges them on – are situations open to public and press scrutiny.

One commentary contends that Guantanamo Bay served as the incubator for those activities.

We cannot have one standard for our convenience and exculpation then have another for those who are not like us.

Here lies the unjust

The unknown unknown of Guantanamo Bay requires that the people there know if they would get justice somewhere on earth, and if America cannot give it to them, then it is really time to close Guantanamo Bay and let the wild bunch lose.

Mr Rumsfeld is a smart man; he is probably a fair man too, but nay a just man.

We should call to notice that all in leadership who have the power to send men to war should ensure that their epitaphs include the phrase “he/she was a just man/woman”; God have mercy on your souls, if fortune obliterates that legacy.

"The defendant wants to hide the truth because he's generally guilty. The defense attorney's job is to make sure the jury does not arrive at that truth." Alan Dershowitz

Hitler on a spit-roast

Dastardly comparisons

In trying to keep ahead of issues, events and people I regularly check my news on three sites – BBC News, TheWorld News site – a news aggregator that takes topics from local media in a global context and Expatica – a news site in English for Expatriates in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Spain.

However, in the space of just a few days, the name of Adolf Hitler has been invoked in comparisons by Donald Rumsfeld, Hugo Chavez and Angela Merkel.

It brings to mind the saying about turning in one’s grave, which indicates that a person now dead would have been utterly displeased if the event had happened in that person’s lifetime.

By inference, Adolf Hitler having turned thrice might as well be in a spin on a spit-roast {You can read more into this as to burning and fire}.

The rise of Chavez

Mr Rumsfeld speaking from an Unknown, Unknowns perspective raises hackles about the elections in Latin America that have favoured people who would appear to be hostile to the American hegemony.

As far as Latin America is concerned, America has not been able to transfer the quality of their economic progress beyond their borders; Mexico and Cuba are case in point.

The history of American intervention in Latin America is long, varied and unsavoury. We have the good fortune of the world being a bit more civilised than the 1970s or we would have had a Chilean putsch deposing Hugo Chavez for some puppet to America’s liking.

For a country that just over 200 years ago fought imperialism, their imperialist credentials rival those of other empires and are ever so recent.

The people’s leader

In a nutshell, Hugo Chavez was elected the President of Venezuela by popular consent having once served a term in jail for plotting an unsuccessful coup.

Whilst he many not be to anyone’s liking, I can contend that this is the first developing world leader who is ploughing profits of oil back into the country to help his people, regardless of how populist his ideas and tirades are.

His liaison with Fidel Castro stems from the fact that just being 90 miles south of America, the overwhelming force of sanctions and blockades still has Cuba as a country able to evacuate its people out of the way of disaster in time and efficiently, they also have probably the best medical services in the world.

Probably, the question Hugo always asks Fidel is “How can I keep America out of my backyard?” Well, the evidence is America is miffed that they cannot influence events in Latin America just as they once did.

Good on you Hugo.

Hitler is a baby

I have sometimes wondered about the even-handedness of the United States in world affairs. It is sometimes difficult to find instances where America has not acted in complete self-interest regardless of the platitudes that eventually emerged to just the ends.

The raid on Afghanistan did free the people of Afghanistan but it was really to go after Al Qaeda and the Taliban.

The all-encompassing mirage of nuclear annihilation wrought by Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction formed the basis of war in Iraq to inadvertently secure oil which does not seem to flow as much as when he was in power.

We have a similitude of democracy but it would not be in the flavour that America likes, just as they learnt of the Palestinians.

America has form, creating fear

However, Hugo’s diatribe links so many American activities as the failed coup to overthrow him that American seemed to acquiesce, the continued animosity between both countries and the veiled threats that come from senior officials of the government.

Just as countries of Europe feared the invasion of the Hitler armies, it is probably plausible that some governments in Latin America might fear the invasion of Bush armies.

This however, might not happen because the US forces are a bit pre-occupied with sorting out the Iraqi quagmire.

Hugo, that comparison is a bit far fetched, Bush has only polarised his people he is far from hypnotising them.

The Nile (denial) of the Holocaust

Dr Ahmadinejad has been quite instructive in a number of pronouncements as he has poured scorn on the half-baked solution that created Israel at the expense of Palestine.

We are still nowhere near a solution to that problem, as Europe helped the Jews reclaim the land of their fathers; they left the cousins of the Jews bereft of land which is also of their fathers.

As history would have it, the land belongs to the children of Abraham, to the line of Isaac and Jacob (Israel) by promise but then the other significant children as Ismael – purported to be the scion of Muslims of Arabia – and Esau who gave up his birth-right for a pot of porridge, hence losing the right to sire the promised nation.

The victorious powers after World War II assuaged their guilt by helping create the nation of Israel, but left it in perpetual turmoil by displacing others and not setting in clarity the status of Jerusalem and Palestine.

An Israel in Europe

Dr Ahmadinejad takes-off from this perspective as he berates Europe for having created a problem and solution in the Middle-East and lays bear in more graphic detail the injustice that represents itself as the new world order.

One can then see why he has adopted an all-or-nothing perspective which is Israel cannot exist at the expense of Palestine, the prevailing circumstances give no encouragement toward a ready solution.

In that light, it might sound plausible that the nation of Israel as a people which was so decimated by the Hitler should exist somewhere else in the West, as a recompense for the Hitler atrocities and the European indifference at the time.

However, Israel does need to exist in the Middle-East, if Dr Ahmadinejad’s comments force Europe and American to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian crises with more impetus, it would have been a thing done right.

Defence of the realm

Finally, when you are surrounded by your sworn enemies in Iraq and Afghanistan, the defence of the realm becomes the paramount objective, even if it includes nuclear weapons, and as long as those prime powers think they are more deserving of nuclear exploitation than you are, well, the debate would continue.

Another oil crisis looms probably with Angela’s help.