Read the first couple of chapters of Christopher Caldwell's "Reflections on the Revolution in Europe" this morning.. got it from ebay for about £2 and turns out its a signed copy!
Written in 2009, it is spookily accurate. Has anyone read "Camp of the Saints?"
The part where the Mayor of New York is forced to share his home with 3 refugee families is almost identical to the Finnish President's offer to share his home with middle eastern refugees.
Interesting alternate look at life in the Islamic State
"“While no one is predicting that the Islamic State will become the steward of an accountable, functioning state anytime soon, the group is putting in place the kinds of measures associated with governing: issuing identification cards for residents, promulgating fishing guidelines to preserve stocks, requiring that cars carry tool kits for emergencies. That transition may demand that the West rethink its military-first approach to combating the group...
Honestly, both are dirty, the regime and Daesh,” said Ahmed, owner of an antiques shop who recently fled to Raqqa to avoid airstrikes in outlying areas. But the Islamic State, he said, “is more acceptable here in Raqqa.”
Ahmed, who gave only his first name for fear of reprisals, has also lived under the Free Syrian Army, or F.S.A., the rebel group that rose up in 2011 to fight the Syrian government. The F.S.A., he said, is “like the regime. They are thieves.”
Under the Islamic State, he said, life can be brutal, but at least it seems more stable for those who can avoid crossing the group’s leaders. “Here they are implementing God’s regulations,” he said. “The killer is killed. The adulterer is stoned. The thief’s hands are cut.”
Read the first couple of chapters of Christopher Caldwell's "Reflections on the Revolution in Europe" this morning.. got it from ebay for about £2 and turns out its a signed copy!
Written in 2009, it is spookily accurate. Has anyone read "Camp of the Saints?"
The part where the Mayor of New York is forced to share his home with 3 refugee families is almost identical to the Finnish President's offer to share his home with middle eastern refugees.
Would they ever share their homes with homeless people from their own country?
AnneJGP..It will be interesting to see how many Councillors get the boot from disgruntled waiting list tenants at the next locals....at the moment they still do have the vote.
Read the first couple of chapters of Christopher Caldwell's "Reflections on the Revolution in Europe" this morning.. got it from ebay for about £2 and turns out its a signed copy!
Written in 2009, it is spookily accurate. Has anyone read "Camp of the Saints?"
The part where the Mayor of New York is forced to share his home with 3 refugee families is almost identical to the Finnish President's offer to share his home with middle eastern refugees.
Would they ever share their homes with homeless people from their own country?
Homeless people do not belong in an "oppressed minority".
There is evidence that weapons were used, but very little as to who used them. Shia and Alawite towns have been the targets of these weapons, I find it unlikely that it was the Syrian government who used them. The Russians have it right on this one, Assad is the lesser of the many evils in Syria. We can't ally ourselves with al-Nusra as some in the US have suggested. Assad presents us with a much more agreeable long term solution.
You keep banging on about how awful Assad is and how wonderful the opposition are, and yet it is ISIS and al-Nusra who are the primary belligerents causing such an upheaval in Syria. It is the Sunni nations that have continued to back the al-Nusra. This is a 600 year old Islamic civil war being played out in Syria and for some reason we have chosen to sit back and let the Sunnis cause mayhem while simultaneously attacking previously stable governments or rulers in the Shia camp.
This is Sectarian violence and instead of condemning both sides and trying to keep the peace, we treat with the Sunnis and appease them while they burn down Shia and Alawaite towns displacing millions of people in the process.
AIUI part of the reason there is little evidence of *who* used them is that the UN inspectors were not allowed, by Assad and Russia, to say *who* used them.
Why was that?
I suggest you look much more closely at where the 2013 attacks were, in comparison to where the rebels and Syrian army were, just before the attacks. Basically, Assad as scared that Damascus was going to fall.
And for the record, not that this should need saying, I have not banged on about how wonderful the opposition is, and have particular annoyance at someone suggesting it. For instance, a few months ago I was warning about the dangers of arming the Peshmerga. It also does well to remember that there are many different 'oppositions', and the situation has changed over the months and years.
An awful lot of bloody water has gone under that particular Bridge of Sorrows, but it doesn't help to excuse the guilty just because it suits our purposes to now do so.
If the migrants are actually refugees who just want to escape persecution and have no knowledge of how the EU systems work, why am I seeing thousands of them refusing to be processed in Hungary, refusing food and water and having to be restrained by tear gas because they only want to go to Germany?
Because they are more united, organised and determined than us spineless wretches?
It is unfortunate that we live in a time where the main power, USA, is led by people that lack a grasp of how to achieve a more stable solution in the middle east. Where is the leadership to understand that a solution for Syria and Iraq does involve Turkey and the kurdish issue? Maybe now that the Iran matter is now settled , albeit not stabilised, the USA foreign policy efforts should have one main priority.
There is a distinct lack of understanding in the West of the complexities of the Middle East. Democracies make their politicians think only in the short term. Unfortunately the most powerful nation in the West is the worst in that aspect.
Comments
Why was that?
I suggest you look much more closely at where the 2013 attacks were, in comparison to where the rebels and Syrian army were, just before the attacks. Basically, Assad as scared that Damascus was going to fall.
And for the record, not that this should need saying, I have not banged on about how wonderful the opposition is, and have particular annoyance at someone suggesting it. For instance, a few months ago I was warning about the dangers of arming the Peshmerga. It also does well to remember that there are many different 'oppositions', and the situation has changed over the months and years.
An awful lot of bloody water has gone under that particular Bridge of Sorrows, but it doesn't help to excuse the guilty just because it suits our purposes to now do so.
"Asghedom Ghermay, an Eritrean, is accused of masterminding the smuggling operations from Catania in eastern Sicily, where many migrant boats end up.
He landed in Italy as a refugee himself two years ago and was granted asylum, with permission to live in the country until 2019."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/11553193/Dirty-business-of-people-smuggling-Italian-police-release-wiretaps-from-trafficking-network.html
New Thread New Thread