b’shalom

bananabrain

‘Because some things ARE black and white.’

And others aren’t. Rwanda and Srebrenica are good examples of cases where liberal intervention (as good a phrase as any) would have been justified, Sierra Leone and East Timor examples where it was justifiably practiced. I’m sure you can think of others.

But not Iraq. Intent matters, and I do not accept that the Bush Jr. administration was motivated by compassion for the oppressed people of Iraq and a desire to better their lot. And so their strategy was not directed towards that end, hence the current shambles which, apart from its intrinsic horror, has made real liberal intervention virtually impossible.

Without the Iraq debacle we might have actually done something effective about Darfur.

Bush Sr. could have finished Saddam but,to his eternal discredit, he found it expedient to leave the resistance twisting in the wind.

Bush Jr. could have beaten Saddam’s forces without the Shock and Awe self-indulgent son-et-lumiere of how powerful are we? fear us. He could have made even rudimentary plans to preserve and rebuild the infrastructure, he could have had some kind of agenda beyond ‘what’s in it for me and my cronies’. But he didn’t.

Finding that appalling does not equate to being content that a dictator should continue in power. It’s just grey.

For decades I thought I was hardend to he hypocrisy of democracy’s dealings with tyranny, but when Bush and Blair started prating about their humanitarian motives, I almost gagged.

I don’t doubt your own personal loathing of theocratic homicidal bigots, but there is no such ethical centre to the actual policies being enacted.

TCH

“Wait until you see Morgoth & Refresh (or “Rishi & Dimple” as I like to call them) in that clip above. They’re the hottest “will-they-or-won’t-they” couple since The Scarecrow and Mrs King.”

But which Pickler completes the love triangle? Will someone fight Morgoth for Refresh’s affections, or will it be the other way around?

Which one of us is Sid James though?

Not seen that one – but I got the picture. Disturbing.

Youtube is your friend. Song in full:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srTpevukbtU

Somewhat cheesy picturisation at the start in typical mid-80s style, but it gets a lot better towards the end; in some ways the latter section was quite ahead of its time in terms of the photography involved etc. Fantastic soundtrack by the late great RD Burman anyway, it’s one of those all-time Bollywood classics.

Rumbold,

No worries Jai- you have a wonderful flair for vivid description.

Wait until you see Morgoth & Refresh (or “Rishi & Dimple” as I like to call them) in that clip above. They’re the hottest “will-they-or-won’t-they” couple since The Scarecrow and Mrs King.

refresh – it’s one of father jack hackett’s more colourful expressions (along with “arsebiscuits!” which should be shouted loudly at bishops). and what is not working is a) US foreign policy and b) UK foreign policy, but i don’t think moaning about how rubbish it was in the past actually helps. we have to start from where we are and it is very, very difficult (as even gandhi admitted) to be non-violent faced with something like hitler, or fanatical jihadi murderers.

b’shalom

bananabrain

“With apologies to Rumbold for the threadjack.”

No worries Jai- you have a wonderful flair for vivid description.

“refresh, i just can’t see what you *do* suggest that would actually work. opposing things is all very well, but what are you actually *for*?”

You have to tell me what you think is not working?

“…you fecking feathered eejits.” Not come across that before, what does it mean?

…you fecking feathered eejits.

refresh, i just can’t see what you *do* suggest that would actually work. opposing things is all very well, but what are you actually *for*?

and morgoth, i find it hard to distinguish between your oft-stated distaste for religion and your wish to protect jewish people from prejudice. it feels like the old enlightenment bargain:

“we’ll stop treating you like jews if you stop behaving like jews”

in other words, no help at all without effectively getting rid of jews. if i wanted to be rude about it (which i don’t) i’d compare it to ken livingstone’s preference for dead ethnically-dressed victimised jews over live, articulate, well-armed jews with suntans and american accents. not that i don’t have copious problems with the latter.

b’shalom

bananabrain

Great film, beautiful music, stylish picturisation of that song, very disturbing imagery when transposed to a certain two commenters on PP.

With apologies to Rumbold for the threadjack. Back to business…..