I don't often find myself agreeing with Gordon Brown, but on the subject of the Iraq war inquiry I tend to feel that there is little to be gained by holding it in public.
First of all, the only reason we're having this inquiry in the first place is at the demand of those who've already made their minds up about the rights and wrongs of the war. Whether it is public or private, it the inquiry doesn't agree with their point of view then they'll claim it was a whitewash.
And like Brown, the only people I can see gaining anything from a pubic inquiry are lawyers - as with the Bloody Sunday inquiry debacle. There's no point in doing all that again when people have already made up their minds and will not be dissuaded one way or the other.
9 comments:
Sorry, NNW - I won't participate in assisting a DNS attack or encourage anyone else to do so no matter how noble the cause. It's actually probably illegal so I would actually discourage any involvement.
As far as the Iran situation is concerned - there are quite a few people who seem to think this is some sort of counter revolution to depose the theocracy. It is not. The difference between the candidates - despite what the media say - are minimal. You don't get to stand if you are in any way opposed to the theocracy which is where the real power lies.
Ahmadinnerjacket won because that is what the ayatollahs decreed - long before anyone went out to vote. The ayatollahs set the agenda and they believe the mad pixie is best qualified to carry it out.
I've tried pointing out numerous times on my blog that democracy is NOT about voting. Iran is not a democracy just because they had an election.
This will all fizzle out much like the Tiananmen Square "revolution" did and in another ten years westen leftist media reporters will be back saying "look how great it is here" just like they were a few years ago - ignoring, of course, the fact that anyone who opposes the regime gets imprisoned, tortured or even murdered.
I have no doubts that Mir Hossein Mousavi is just one of the Guardian Council's Henry Ford choice of candidates - whatever kind of Islamist nut case you want. But not all popular uprisings fail. Tiananmen Square and the Cedar Revolution and the Orange Revolution were left to wither on the vine for want of outside support, and I'm sure our Marxist press will dump the anti-Dinnerjacket movement one some Israeli somewhere shoots some terrorist, but the Iron Curtain did come down and much of it was popular, and the Philippines did overthrow the Marcoses and Corazón Aquino became President.
I'd hate to sit on my hands as another bunch of Marsh Arabs got it in the neck because the Western 'authorities' were into 'stability' and 'dialogue' as they seem to be.
Melanie Phillips has been arguing for years that the CIA should have been importing mobile phones and laptops to help topple the ayatollahs - and of course they haven't.
I know there's danger in revolution - I'm a Tory - but to make something worse than a nuclear-armed Iran? I doubt it.
We shall have to agree to differ on this as other things.
I don't know about the illegality of visiting web servers in large numbers but yours is a good point
Don't get me wrong, NNW - I'd be delighted to see Iran's despotic leadership deposed, but I don't believe this "revolution" will do it and I don't believe there is any significant will amongst the people of Iran for that to happen anyway.
It's always been my opinion that we (the west) should be doing more to destabilise the Iranian regime. They effectively declared war on the USA by launching an attack against US sovereign territory in 1979 (the US Embassy).
Fortunately for Iran the USA had a weak, pathetic, ineffectual leader called Carter who ran around like a headless chicken rather than doing anything positive. If that attack had happened with Reagan in charge I have no doubt that the response would have been faster, harder and incredibly decisive.
The seizure of Royal Marines in international waters was a further breach of "international law" which would constitute an act of war - but once again, weak leadership in the west resulted in a major PR coup for Iran.
Once upon a time - even in my lifetime - the response to that sort of aggression by another country against our people would have brought a swift and decisive response - although it's fair to say that we probably don't have the capability anymore.
Stan,
I don't agree with the assertion that we don't have the capability to deal with siezures similar to that of our naval personnel by the Iranians.
We most certainly do. What we do not have is a political leader with the balls to "Cry Havoc and let loose the dogs of war". I'll bet the SAS and SBS were just itching to go once they received the say so from on high.
Hello gentlemen. It may be that the peepul are actually using the elections as a protest vote against the whole theocracy.
La Mel seems to think so, and I tend to trust her judgement on these issues.
"The great majority of the people of Iran are disillusioned and even disgusted by the mediaeval incompetent, oppressive, and corrupt rule of the mullahs, irrespective of which mafia gang is in power. The votes, more than anything else, are protest ballots cast against the entire system, rather than indications of support for the so-called conservative-moderate coalition."
http://www.spectator.co.uk/melaniephillips/3700526/oh-dear-how-inconvenient-for-the-white-house.thtml
Here's hoping.
And Henry Crun - why risk good lads on the ground?
As one of the good ones wrote in the Telegraph at the time, the Revolutionary Guards' ship's home port could have been visited by the Fleet Air Arm and maybe the Royal Air Force has there been a vertebrate in Downing Street that wasn't the Prime Minister's cat.
Crikey this blog gets more neo-con by the week. How's this for a policy line - we keep our nose out of other people's affairs?
And I dont expect NNW or Henry C will be stepping forward to risk their health in bringing 'freedom and democracy' to Iranians (that would be to those who managed to avoid US and UK ordnance)
AgainsTTheWall
'freedom and democracy' in quote marks. Marks. Hmm. Sounds like...
The Iranians, it seem, will be bringing any freedom and democracy (real things,those; unlike some dozy Leftwing fantasy of equality or social justice), for themselves.
But I suppose there's a large constituency out there wanting America's (and freedom and democracy's) enemies to be left alone.
Trouble is, if you keep your nose out a decade or a generation later, the-left alone party (if it means business) has a tendency to come a-knocking.
Appeasement always encourage worse behaviour from the aggressors as the inglorious Obama administration is showing the world even now.
No, I don't want the kind of world which your kind of policy would help create, so my weak, minuscule help for the freedom movement will go on to whatever extent I can help. I'll leave the friends and supporters of Iran's Islamist rape victim killers and to stew in their own fellow-traveller or appeasing dhimmi juices.
Thanks for the neo-con compliment, though.
It's an honour, so keep 'em coming.
A neocon? Me? I'm a right wing leaning Anglo Saxon.
If anything, I'm a Right Angle. Hey - I like that. I think I'll call my new political party the Right Angle Party (RAP). I won't be the leader, I'll be "chairman" - Chairman of the Right Angle Party (CRAP). I'll need to produce RAP manifesto (RAPMAN) and a chairmans mission statement (CRAP Mission) - and of course I'll need policies (CRAP Policies).
On second thoughts - I'll just nick those from the Tory Party - if and when they get round to producing any.
The leader of all the Anglo Saxons would be the Bretwalda.
Post a Comment