tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post4300935696888517764..comments2024-02-26T00:59:26.907-08:00Comments on Ana the Imp: Nobody expects the Chilcot Inquisition!Anastasia F-Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-198621874183700722010-05-27T01:01:31.127-07:002010-05-27T01:01:31.127-07:00Yes, I read that last week, whilst in your archiv...Yes, I read that last week, whilst in your archives. Everything you said about Saddam was true. He was a man as brutish as necessary and crucially a buffer against a fundamentalist Iran and against fundamentalism, primevalism, sectarianism, sexism, and barbarism.Fletch's Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16402507296202065300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-63237722298441347702010-05-26T18:27:33.250-07:002010-05-26T18:27:33.250-07:00Sorry, Ana. Been on a plane and the Virgin wifi w...Sorry, Ana. Been on a plane and the Virgin wifi went out. Yes, I remember reading that piece, agreed with every word you said about the war, and bout the nature of Saddam's Iraq.Fletch's Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16402507296202065300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-37693170509158176542010-05-26T18:27:33.251-07:002010-05-26T18:27:33.251-07:00Sorry, Ana. Been on a plane and the Virgin wifi w...Sorry, Ana. Been on a plane and the Virgin wifi went out. Yes, I remember reading that piece, agreed with every word you said about the war, and bout the nature of Saddam's Iraq.Fletch's Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16402507296202065300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-13685673645929609742010-05-26T17:01:57.939-07:002010-05-26T17:01:57.939-07:00Adam, you might care to look at The Disaster of Ir...Adam, you might care to look at <i>The Disaster of Iraq</i>, a piece I posted here at the beginning of May last year.Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-9599484740617048982010-05-26T15:55:47.671-07:002010-05-26T15:55:47.671-07:00Hear, hear! I said so in 2003, it becomes truer b...Hear, hear! I said so in 2003, it becomes truer by the hour. Blair's lives are counted in droops of blood spilt, and numbers of lives lost. Had he a Serbian name he's be in a gaol cell in The Hague.Fletch's Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16402507296202065300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-86805767871461410712010-05-26T15:54:18.173-07:002010-05-26T15:54:18.173-07:00The second war was a disaster; his removal was a d...The second war was a disaster; his removal was a disaster, serving the interests of Iran.Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-4743035008102006352010-05-26T00:26:41.122-07:002010-05-26T00:26:41.122-07:00He was a useful ally then, he could have been a us...He was a useful ally then, he could have been a useful ally in future years, if one was needed. He was the lesser of many evils, and far preferable to the fundamentalist Government currently in Baghdad.Fletch's Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16402507296202065300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-80119224831749367462010-05-26T00:25:00.819-07:002010-05-26T00:25:00.819-07:00He was an 'ally' during his Persian war. ...He was an 'ally' during his Persian war. The man was too dangerous not to be ham-strung in some fashion.Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-8839587838688998492010-05-24T05:08:03.364-07:002010-05-24T05:08:03.364-07:00Saddam was never a threat, never an enemy, he fran...Saddam was never a threat, never an enemy, he frankly could have been a useful ally. He was far more benevolent than the Saudis or Kuwaitis with whom we made common cause. I'm not a supporter of any non-Imperial intervention, but adding insult to injury is the fact that we usually take all the wrong sides.Fletch's Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16402507296202065300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-41434383441330978412010-05-24T05:05:56.042-07:002010-05-24T05:05:56.042-07:00Adam, I think that sometimes war is chess by other...Adam, I think that sometimes war is chess by other means. After the First Gulf War Saddam was held in check. He should have been kept that way.Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-16874248925562837292010-05-23T03:37:22.447-07:002010-05-23T03:37:22.447-07:00First let's start with my singular disagreemen...First let's start with my singular disagreement. I disagree on the first Gulf War. Saddam posed no threat to us, and if anyone wanted to sign up to defend the chronically corrupt, quasi-extremist oligarchy of Kuwait, they were welcome to sign up as mercenaries. You said yourself in another blog that Saddam's regime in a country incapable of democracy was heavy handed at times, but was non-sectarian(regionally speaking) had high regional educational standards, forsook the sexism of Islam, and had very good social services by regional standards. <br />All else though I'm in total agreement on. Cilcot was farcical in the extreme. I only wish Sir Martin didn't lower himself to be part of the charade, especially since he once had the unfortunate luck to blurt out that Blair was the new Churchill(oh, how I cringe at comparing the finest the the worst). I've met Sir Martin several times, just casually at book talks and such things. He's an utterly affable chap, always happy to converse about all things Churchill, which is why I say with much sadness that I lost some measure of respect for him in light of Chilcot.Fletch's Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16402507296202065300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-75280071678483000132010-02-01T16:37:41.250-08:002010-02-01T16:37:41.250-08:00No, I see; it's Rough Ride on MyT. :-)No, I see; it's Rough Ride on MyT. :-)Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-56733636367888820822010-02-01T16:36:35.882-08:002010-02-01T16:36:35.882-08:00Colin, is it the Definitely Not MyT site? Otherwi...Colin, is it the Definitely Not MyT site? Otherwise I'm just getting Sciencebuzz.Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-87509450835656721222010-02-01T14:59:59.286-08:002010-02-01T14:59:59.286-08:00I now have both, Colin! Sorry, I haven't been...I now have both, Colin! Sorry, I haven't been here since last night and comments only appear once moderated. Oh, and your contribution is excellent. :-) When I'm finished here I'll check out your link.Anastasia F-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284602529524462457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-35892463040505085222010-02-01T13:08:27.563-08:002010-02-01T13:08:27.563-08:00Hiya Ana
Did you not get the comment I sent you t...Hiya Ana<br /><br />Did you not get the comment I sent you this morning? <br /><br />It wasn't earth-shattering, but I'm wondering now if blogspot is playing up...sciencebodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12051016731274875332noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4413130168723738166.post-2268601972178674842010-01-31T23:30:38.297-08:002010-01-31T23:30:38.297-08:00You make some very good points here Ana - with you...You make some very good points here Ana - with your customary flair for expression.<br /><br />Blair's entire performance in the run-up to the Iraq invasions needs to be put under a forensic microscope. Why has there been no reference anywhere that I can see to those interviews he gave to camera, claiming that a new threat was emerging of al-Qaeda forming links with rogue states in possession of WMD. This became effectively the perspiring wild-eyed Blair doctrine, one he no doubt touted around the world, the White House included, infecting others with his visions of doom.<br /><br />Why didn't wiser counsels prevail, reminding him that politics is the art of the possible, not the barely conceivable, and that in any case it's the job of security and intelligence service to dream up worst case scenarios - not Prime Ministers?<br /><br />It's a telling indictment of our age, and of that intellectually-shallow man, ensconced on his fireside sofa of power, that he should have become obsessed with a conspiracy theory, like some teenaged internet geek bragging that he knows what really happened on 9/11 or "faked" moon shots. <br /><br />PS When you've a spare minute, please take a look at my subversive new site. Am just starting to get into my stride. ;-)<br /><br />http://www.sciencebod.blogspot.com<br /><br />It's called "A Rough Ride on MyT". I'm electronically locked out from MyT, as I expect you know.sciencebodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12051016731274875332noreply@blogger.com