Also let us not forget that just because someone is asking for our help that does not make them our friend, that they share our values or wouldn't kill us given half a chance. In the west we tend to show our emotions and feelings, if we do not like someone we let them know it, whereas the Koran requires Muslims to be polite and offer hospitality to strangers and we can mistake that for friendship. In asymmetric warfare the person who is outwardly friendly during the day can also be laying booby traps and pointing a Kalashnikov at night.
I've been looking at some Alex Gibney documentary films. That coupled with having read quite a lot of books about the Bush administration and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are enlightening for understanding what has gone on. Quite apart from interfering in other countries, the way the Americans have prosecuted their wars was totally in contradiction to their expressed values. Torture was wholescale and systematic, sanctioned by Bush and Cheney. The experiences of all sorts of locals picked up and put into hellholes radicalised them or further radicalised them. All the top IS people were brutalised by the USA. This has created committed radicals with a profound hatred of the West. They see our values as pure hypocrisy, based on their personal experiences. It gives them moral ammunition for recruitment. It undermines our "humantity vs barbarism" stance. It has totally bolloxed up everything. This is what happens when you rip up the Geneva Convention as the US has done. If you don't want to believe this, you will force me to publish a bibliography which I am loathe to do as it means work and I doubt you'll read the books anyway. Yes the terrorists are barbaric, but the US has deserted the moral high ground and now Europe lives with the consequences. It just means that the spiral of violence will continue and there is no guarantee that the US will act any differently if/when it puts boots on the ground in Syria. Once you've got an ideology to recruit to and a meaningful narrative which justifies it, you have the seeds of what we now have to deal with. The US handed that narrative to the extremists. After than, any other nations who go along with them are tarred with the same brush.
@gliddofglood Did you ever read The Places In Between: Amazon.co.uk: Rory Stewart: 9780330486347: Books well worth the effort for a greater understanding of tribal Afghanistan.
Just ordered this Can Intervention Work? (Amnesty International Global Ethics) (Norton Global Ethics Series): Amazon.co.uk: Rory Stewart, Gerald Knaus: 9780393342246: Books
If you published something on this i would defiantly have a go at reading it! although im not sure id understand it all and my ability to retain information is really bad so makes things difficult.. but i like most of what you say on here and find it clear and quite easy to understand.. its an interesting and important subject that i wish i had a better knowledge of.
@gliddofglood ....I think this is known as a hidden insult... I love @chizel, but his mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork.
It does seem that Human Rights legislation restricts us in the UK from using a bit more creativity with sentencing and prison regime. For instance, when it comes to reading I feel that depriving prisoners of books is somewhat inhumane. On the other hand there are those for whom it would perhaps make sense to provide them with a complete set of the works of Richard Dawkins, on the basis that until they have read all of them, produced a 20,000 word thesis discussing the content, and received an acceptable mark for it, no other books will be provided (nor any other TV, radio, etc.). Some prisoners might also benefit from a "take it or leave it" prison diet of diluted lager and stale pork pies.
No, no insult intended at all (for a change!) i do genuinely appreciate and agree with alot of what ol glidds has to say. and i understand the bulk of it to.. ya probably right about the stork bit though!
FFS, what is the matter withe UK Government............?? In the Daily Mail (I know, I know) apparently Special Forces, Military and Armed Police are in large numbers in London as there is a 'Cyber-Caliphate' preparing an attack on the UK..............but I didn't see any security people in Tesc*s, Ch**msford which was very busy. Does this Government seriously think that by monitoring the ether, they will be ready for an attack in Liverpool or Manchester, when the terrorists are probably sitting around a table in a kebab house writing down dates, times and who is doing what on paper? Its coming soon and we here all know it is, so why haven't they acted earlier and properly.......Ostriches, I reckon.
What can they do? cant put an undercover in every kebab house.. was said on the news that the police say it takes 20 officers to watch one suspect round the clock.. maybe i misheard.. but i guess with 8 hr shifts, working with a partner plus all the support staff... anyway point is i guess that perhaps a show of force to give the illusion of having a clue, may be enough to deter some nutters albeit in the short term.. unless some one on the inside grasses the fuckers up id imagine it must be pretty hard to do anything other than keep an eye on known morons (as far as their budget will allow) and post more units at suspected targets.. i dont know.. its a mess
oh god... couldnt think of much worse... wouldnt eat a kebad if ya paid me! not the elephant foot sort anyhu..
