blogolob

A piece from the New York Times entitled “A War We Just Might Win” is well worth reading, as is “Baghdad Night Raid” by intrepid reporter, Michael J Totten. Norm provides some balance.

John Simpson on his return from Afghanistan and the miracle of Rafe

I hope I never did think that attacks on civilians - any civilians - were justified but now I know for certain they are not.

Having been through the first and second Gulf Wars, and watched the wars in the former Yugoslavia and the Nato bombing of Belgrade in 1999, I do not really care any longer what the cause is. It is the civilians on the receiving-end who matter.

I am sorry if this sounds pious or sentimental. I do not mean it to be.

But I have finally understood something, through the blessing of having another child late on.

It is that life itself is immensely valuable. Not just the lives of people who think and look and maybe worship like you and me, people who are attractive or well-educated or rich, people who are the right type of Christian or the right type of Muslim. All lives.

Le Chaim, John and Mazeltov.

Perhaps, until he’s had a child ‘late on’, no man should be allowed to be a war correspondent.

Since its formation in 2002, OneVoice has become one of the fastest growing peace movements in history.

OneVoice is committed to amplifying the voice of the overwhelming but hitherto silent majority of moderates who wish for peace and prosperity for Israel and Palestine within a two state framework. OneVoice are totally opposed to violent extremism. Recent polls indicate that a full 76% of Israelis and Palestinians believe in the two state solution. They deserve our help.

You don’t have to be Jewish or Muslim, Israeli or Palestinian. You can be male or female, young or old. If you would like to see peace in the Middle East and if you oppose violent extremism, your help could make a difference.

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At Harry’s Place, Mikey reports on John Kerry’s outrageous and irresponsible denial of the massacres that took place following the US troop withdrawal from Vietnam. In fact, more than 1.7 million of Cambodia’s 8 million inhabitants perished from disease, starvation, overwork, or outright execution in a notorious genocide.

As Mikey writes:

To argue for US troops to quickly withdraw from Iraq is a case that Senator Kerry is perfectly entitled to make; but to do so via distorting the historical record is something he should be ashamed of.

Quite.

With floods devastating vast swathes of England, the flood on everyone’s mind in Burnley is Brendan Flood and his ambitious £20m plans for the redevelopment of the town’s vintage football club.

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Sir Anthony Jay, co-author of the BBC’s ‘Yes Minister’, is the author of ‘Confessions of a Reformed BBC Producer’ which has just been published by the Centre for Policy Studies. Sir Anthony, who himself worked for the BBC for 9 years, has produced an incisive analysis and criticism of what he calls the “media liberalism” that pervades, not only the BBC but also most of the UK media. I eagerly await my copy but if the following extracts taken from The Telegraph are any guide, this should be made essential reading for all BBC staff, managers and job applicants.

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Since British troops occupied Southern Iraq in the spring of 2003, thousands of Iraqi citizens have worked for the British Army, the Coalition Provisional Authority (South) and for contractors serving UK forces. There is now considerable evidence that their lives, and the lives of their families, are at risk: some former workers for the British have been murdered, and many others have fled to neighbouring countries or gone into hiding in Basra. The British Government, for whom they were ultimately working, has not offered them the right of asylum in the UK. This is morally unacceptable. It is also unnecessary, since we are well able to accommodate several thousand Iraqi refugees, most of whom already speak English and all of whom have already worked for our country.

David T writes more at Harry’s Place

Regular blogolob visitors will recall the tale of Sajani Shakya, the ten year old from Nepal who was stripped of her title as a living goddess because she traveled overseas - “She’s not a living goddess, she’s a very naughty girl”. Now the BBC reports that, following the massive publicity that her story generated, she’s to be reinstated as a living goddess - once she has been ritually cleansed of her sins.

It would seem that even the heavens are not unaffected by celebrity culture.

What the BBC says:

The angry young men jailed over protest

What the BBC means:

Raging, psychopathic Islamic extremists jailed for inciting racial hatred and soliciting to murder

Can we cut the crap, please?

via: EU Referendum and inspired by this. News video here.