Hope there was a stiff upper lip to go with your honest mea culpas: <<drug pushers (The British Empire)>>
Of course! -g-
I am very proud of many achievements of Britain and the British empire. Lots of really good things were done too. Not just bridges, railways, political systems, ships, military achievements either. The Victorian age also developed very competent administrators and organizers too. It's only real competition was the USA.
But the opium wars and the drug trade? No Palmerston and the opium trade were stinkers no matter how much revenue it brought in. Those kind of problems undermined the real strength of the country over time.
I know for a fact, and don't need historians or journalists of any stripe to tell me, that in one form or another this same *hustle* was perpetrated on American soldiers with opium refined into heroin
If the CIA is up to it's next in the drug biz, it's time for the people and government to get this into the open and legalize it along the lines I suggested. No way should foreign crooks/countries be allowed to pump out USA's wealth in this way.
Britain's foreign policy where land is divided up to piss off the most people, but leave you in charge was a real dumb idea imho too. I supposed they viewed wars as fun then, doubt they would act the same with nukes in the background. My point in this is I see USA ME policy as doing the same. Aping the old British Empire policies. A clear example was leaving Sadaam Hussain in power to "balance things". Pure bullchit in my view. You want the minimum number of pi**ed of people to get a stable country where whaco policies are not pursued.
Read the Telegraph today. Some topical things in it.
First an interview with Wolfowitz (good name for a "hawk"-g-) Some people in the UK don't understand the USA's "myopic" desire just to nail OBL. They don't understand the average USA citizen in my view. OBL + team really hurt the USA and her people. The elected Presidents remit is to hunt down those SOB's and punish them. Doing a good job too.
portal.telegraph.co.uk
We want bin Laden but the real threat is al-Qa'eda network
(Filed: 28/11/2001)
PAUL WOLFOWITZ, US deputy defence secretary, talks to Ben Fenton in Washington
It would "not make much difference" if Osama bin Laden remained alive as a fugitive, so long as his terrorist network was destroyed, the Number Two man in the Pentagon, Paul Wolfowitz, said yesterday.
The deputy defence secretary, in his first interview with a British daily newspaper since the September 11 attacks, spoke of America's desire to finish off the Taliban, but said eradicating al-Qa'eda was its primary objective.
<<endsnip>>
Second. A possible case where an innocent person is being detained. I expect more then 50% of those detained in Europe and the USA are completely innocent. Trouble is there is a very real bad problem to fix so some sacrifices have to be made. I will also be glad when proper legal procedures can be returned too in the near future (I hope)
portal.telegraph.co.uk
portal.telegraph.co.uk
'I did nothing wrong. I'm just a Muslim and a student of flying'
By Sean O'Neill and Reda Hassaine
(Filed: 28/11/2001)
LOTFI Raissi said yesterday that his dream of becoming a pilot had become a nightmare. Raissi, 27, claimed that he was innocent and had no connection with terrorism.
Speaking from his cell in Belmarsh prison, south-east London, Raissi said: "I am a prisoner who did nothing wrong. I never thought that one day I would be in this situation."
Interviewed for the first time since his arrest, Raissi said he was spending his time in prison studying law to defend himself against the accusation that he was part of the al-Qa'eda network.
Sonia, his French wife, was in court for Raissi's extradition hearing, along with his mother Raeba, brother Mohammed, sister-in-law Noor, and uncle Kemel.
<<endsnip>>
Thirdly (finally -g-) a piece on those pestky russkies in Kabul. If there was any Russian desire to play political games here, I'm sure the Telegraph would be the first to air suspicions. They put it down to plain showmanship so far.
portal.telegraph.co.uk
Russians make surprise return to Kabul
By Marcus Warren in Kabul
(Filed: 28/11/2001)
THE British are in Bagram. United States marines have occupied a desert airstrip near Kandahar.
The Russians, complete with their own armed guards, yesterday staked their claim to a stony patch of wasteland in the centre of Kabul.
The Great Game for influence in the new Afghanistan was in full swing. Here was Russia trying to steal a march on its rivals by building a field hospital in the capital and securing the site with a handful of paramilitary soldiers.
No foreign troops have ventured into Kabul since the Russians were last here in 1989 and the sight of non-Afghans armed with Kalashnikovs attracted hundreds of curious locals.
In a city starved of entertainment under Taliban rule, the visitors quickly became the biggest show in town, with the police reduced to restraining the crowds with logs and rifle butts.
The Russians, wearing the blue uniforms and markings of Moscow's Emergencies Ministry, chain-smoked and looked on impassively.
Most of the guards would have been babes in arms when the Soviet army invaded in 1979.
"No one seems that glad to see us," said Vyacheslav, 38, one ministry official who refused to give his surname. "But then no one has asked us to leave either."
<<endsnip>> |
