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Diplomacy is dead, long live diplomacy
posted Thursday, 11 January 2007
Sometimes, they scare me
I had to read it again and again, just in case I read it wrong. Well, what she said is really what she said; in fact it simply confirms that leaked memo that her successor in the position of National Security Advisor wrote which left George Bush being snubbed in
Yesterday, the President laid out an elaborate plan of troops surge and needing the cooperation of the Iraqi government which none of his advisors, generals, ambassadors or the Iraq Study Group wanted – that is why they were all swept out in a purge surge for presumably grateful people who being called to the service of their nation would be hamstrung to challenge the president’s views.
Hardly 24 hours after we heard the President’s great idea, his Secretary of State tells the Senate says the linchpin of this grand plan, their partner in bringing peace to Mess-O-potamia, the Prime Minister of Iraq is living on borrowed time.
Diplomacy is dead, long live diplomacy.
How on earth did they assume power?
Maybe the Bush regime is not that aware that they have lost over 3,000 soldiers and they spend $2 billion daily on this debacle to fight terrorists in
They might as well appoint an American as the Prime Minister of Iraq, John Negroponte for instance; at least the president has great confidence in him. Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki must be in a bind, he has borrowed time from the Americans and they are seeking pay back.
How did these people get into power? The world is definitely a dangerous place.
tags: power diplomacy rice bush nuri al maliki surge iraq
links: digg this del.icio.us technorati reddit
Dear Reader, Whilst welcome to leave comments I might use in other blogs, some rights are reserved. (1)
1. Chxta left...
Friday, 12 January 2007 8:30 pm :: http://chxta.blogspot.com
Tony Blair made a rather interesting speech today. Looks like he is willing
to go wherever ol' George goes...
Tag Related Posts
Shinseki: Embracing change to remain relevant
Sunday, 7 December 2008
The tapping of General Eric Shinseki for the post Secretary of Veteran Affairs in President Obama's cabinet is quite significant for the person and the thinking of the person appointed than the position itself.
Nigeria: Image allows immigration humiliation
Tuesday, 11 November 2008
A former high-commissioner to South Africa and two sitting senators get the bad mouth treatment at South Africa immigration - well, if we had a better image, none of that stuff would happen.
Paulson Bailout: Don't buy that rope
Monday, 22 September 2008
Methinks this bank bailout business is bad rope attached to even more menacing cows - don't buy the rope and if you have been given rope give it a good tug and find out what is attached to it.
This is no $700 billion bailout, it could well be twice
Apes Obey! Lacks the power of organisation
Thursday, 17 July 2008
My second Apes Obey! Series post dealing with a stampede caused by the failure to organise an effective recruitment drive.
Nigeria: Yar'Adua interviewed by the FT
Tuesday, 20 May 2008
I review the interview the Financial Times conducted with President Umaru Yar'Adua of Nigeria.
Nigeria: A National Assembly fudge
Tuesday, 13 May 2008
Ex-President refused to appear before the House Committee on Power and Steel yesterday, so the committee withdrew its invitation and have arranged alternatives that are worrisome.
Who is an ex-President answerable to?
Nigeria: Leaving the objective for the subjective
Monday, 12 May 2008
I highlight a case of where people allow the subjective to obfuscate the objective and in doing so lose sight of the main issue being discussed.
Living wage - a dimension to fighting corruption
Tuesday, 29 April 2008
I do wonder if the government took on the responsibility of paying a living wage to its staff the corrupt practices we experience would be reduced.
However, there are those who abuse their positions of authority, we need to find a way to deal with t
Yar'Adua memorial gathers the wreckers of Nigeria
Tuesday, 18 March 2008
A memorial lecture in honour of Shehu Yar'Adua reveals a lot more about what is wrong with Nigeria today and how it affects our future.
Boats, Threats & Videotape
Friday, 11 January 2008
The boats, the threats and the videotapes from both the United States and Iran about a confrontation in the Strait of Hormuz show that someone is up to no good - but who?
They damned the consequences
Wednesday, 2 January 2008
Murders and vote-rigging by people who damned the consequences of their actions in Pakistan and Kenya. We need to have ways of getting justice for these unjust actions.
Words of Mean Dithering (WMD)
Tuesday, 4 December 2007
The WMD issue is now not so much a threat since a WMD report leaves us with no WMD but other WMDs when we should be resolving issues with WMD.
America: Maniac with razor blades
Friday, 26 October 2007
Sanctions complicate issues and makes negotiations very difficult. America's position is now seen as one of a maniac with razor blades threatening a nuclear crisis which parallels the Cuba Nuclear Crisis of the 1960s.
Fair-trade oil quest for Nigeria
Wednesday, 24 October 2007
We look to President Yar'adua to appear to be doing something, but as the oil company deals are coming under review for a better deal, maybe this would be the advent of fair-trade oil and resolution of many Nigerian problems.
Qataris not flying by the seat of their culture
Sunday, 29 July 2007
The Qatari women would not sit beside men unknown to them on a commercial flight, so the flight gets held up for four hours and they still do not get to travel on that flight.
A Closer Look at the Failed States Index - Sudan is really worse than Iraq
Wednesday, 20 June 2007
The Failed States Index really has to be studied in detail before any of its assertions are debunked outright. I am of the veiw that this study is competently and thoroughly done.
Ghana makes Nigeria a truly failed state
Tuesday, 19 June 2007
The list of Failed States in 2007 leaves Nigeria rising up the ranks of failure and concern about how others might be doing a lot better like Ghana.
Yar'Adua on Power - a whimper, a bark or a roar
Wednesday, 6 June 2007
President Yar'Adua met with managers of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria to tell them to sort out the power mess. I do wonder if they understood his tone and whether he can really grapple with this long-staying problem.
Save us from the Carbon Nazis
Wednesday, 25 April 2007
All this carbon footprint talk and how it affects me - I am seriously concerned.
Selling their discretion, dignity and honour
Sunday, 8 April 2007
Now the naval personnel have been given permission to sell their stories to newspapers. I despair.
Stripping the "Great" out of Britain
Wednesday, 4 April 2007
This UK-Iran crisis did nothing to affirm the great in Great Britain, instead we were out-manoeuvred at every turn as the Iranians chose the tempo of events.
Numbers on lifts and people
Sunday, 1 April 2007
Number 13 missing in my hotel lift and numbers written on the back-hands of women and necks of men in Iraq. The danger of numbering is evident.
Ban Ki-moon ducks for dear life
Friday, 23 March 2007
It would appear diplomats no more attend finishing school and hence do not exude airs and graces but common instincts of involuntary self-preservation. The UN Secretary General showed in Baghdad yesterday how low the bar now is.
Four years of shock and awe
Tuesday, 20 March 2007
The story of Iraq tells itself without the need for analysis or excessive commentary.
Zimbabwe, a serial nightmare
Sunday, 18 March 2007
One man needs to get out of the way for Zimbabwe to rise out of the fossilisation and gangrenous decay engulfing it - That man is Mr. Robert Mugabe.
Obama is one quick wit - Howard trumped
Monday, 12 February 2007
Barack Obama's response to John Howard's criticism of pulling American troops out of Iraq would have the old man scratching his head and ruing why he did not keep his peace.
Weapons of Mock Translation from Iran
Sunday, 11 February 2007
Are these weapons really from Iran or is this a premise for a new war front?
The Fate of the Union Address - 2007
Tuesday, 23 January 2007
The President is to deliver the Fate of the Union Address, expect nothing new and probably less of the rhetoric.
The US does not torture
Friday, 19 January 2007
It would appear my concept of torture is hardly coercion in the eyes of those at the forefront of the war on terror in America. Judge for yourself as we have been told, the US does not torture.
These are no men of peace
Thursday, 18 January 2007
If indeed the US Government rejected a peace deal with Iran which could have helped limit the bloodbath that we now have in Iraq, who are the men we have in power and why are they there?
Dummies Guide to Hanging
Monday, 15 January 2007
Even the hanging of Saddam's aides seems to have missed out on a professional touch that one got decapitated in the process. There are dynamics of hanging that prevent that, but that man's family would end up with 2 pieces of him. How gruesome!
Who pays the price? Boxer versus Rice
Sunday, 14 January 2007
The exchange between Barbara Boxer and Condoleezza Rice last week in the Senate has the conservative wires in apoplectic rage. The real question however has not been answered, who really pays the price for the continuing debacle in Iraq?
The year of Armageddon upon us
Saturday, 13 January 2007
There is a possibility that the Middle-East might in view of radical American policies see the ignition of the tinder box of Armageddon - US, Iraq, Iran, Israel and Syria filling the rivers of Mesopotamia to Jordan with blood.
Diplomacy is dead, long live diplomacy
Thursday, 11 January 2007
One case study that the Bush administration would offer for posterity is how to engage your allies by disparaging them especially when they are critical to your wellbeing and success. I am speechless.
War on terror - Where suspects have no recourse
Tuesday, 9 January 2007
The use of alleged, presumed and suspected in gaining the impetus to go after probable terrorists when after the skirmish, the dead are found to be anything but terrorists, is of great concern and needs to be addressed.
Is there a ‘Nam brewing in Mess-O-potamia?
Monday, 8 January 2007
The comparisons of Iraq with Vietnam would never end as history forms around the events of our times. I have just visited an old blog and pulled out a tome to the demented.
Can Bush be a great man?
Monday, 8 January 2007
If Bush changed his tone in the process of changing hois strategy, would he gain more success in Iraq?
The Iraqi Travesty - Saddam escapes justice
Monday, 8 January 2007
All charges against Saddam Hussein have now been dropped and rightly so. However, I do remember that we were assured that all the charges would be tried even if he was killed, smart people knew the rush to kill him was behind that false promise.
Enlisting the dead for Iraq
Saturday, 6 January 2007
Computers would get blamed for this crass stupidity of sending letters to the dead of Iraq to reenlist in the army, I am taking none of it.
Spare and pardon the Saddam video guard
Thursday, 4 January 2007
As the net closes in on the person who recorded the execution of Saddam, the fact of the matter is that the government lied to us when something different was happening. They should face up to their mistakes and learn to speak the truth.
3,000 memorials to what?
Monday, 1 January 2007
The death toll of US soldiers now reaches 3,000, what have they died for and for what would they be remembered in posterity? Who now has innocent blood on their hands?
Saddam was innocent of 9/11
Saturday, 30 December 2006
Now that Saddam Hussein has been killed we can move on from that distraction and focus on the real perpetrators of 9/11 who run wild and free giving inspiration and killing American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Where is Bin Laden amd Mullah Omar?
Like having a Hard Rock thrown at you
Monday, 11 December 2006
So much has happened and the dog ate my blog.
Left with the bread crumbs of Middle East diplomacy
Thursday, 30 November 2006
There is a kind of self-determination going on in Israel, Palestine, Iraq, Iran, Syria and Lebanon, all without the influence of America - probably a few lessons for America too.
Bush finally takes the draft - Vietnam
Friday, 17 November 2006
The President is in Vietnam cavorting with faraway Communists, maybe it is time to visit Havana too.
Kerry not plenty smart on the truth about cannon fodder
Monday, 6 November 2006
Even as a botched joke, John Kerry's delivery is a truth on its own, if we examine the facts behind Army recruitment.
Saddam's death - No open and shut case
Sunday, 5 November 2006
The execution of Saddam Hussein would do nothing to change Iraqi for the better, we can expect worse before things begin to change after the US November elections.
Need a good joke to bury - give it to John Kerry
Wednesday, 1 November 2006
John Kerry botches a good delivery and brings all hell down on his own head, but it looks like he might just repair the damage with some hard truths and lethal barbs - let's watch it all unfold.
Is Rice on bootlegged rice alcohol from North Korea?
Monday, 23 October 2006
These people need to wake up fast and face the realities of our world today.
Many U-turns Required - II
Monday, 23 October 2006
In response to anonymous comments made to an earlier blog.
Many U-turns required
Saturday, 21 October 2006
On Iraq, on Iran, on North Korea, on Syria, on Hezbollah, on Hamas and on many other issues, the Bush administration is in need a radical rethink if not a complete overhaul of his team which should include Rumsfeld, Rice and Gonzales.
An opportunity to make friends - with Syria
Wednesday, 13 September 2006
Syria foiled a terrorist attack on the US Embassy building and the Iraqi Prime Minister visits Iran - looks like talking does yield some benefits and actions should be seen as opportunities.
All warfare is based on deception
Sunday, 10 September 2006
As far as the war in Iraq is concerned, we were deceived into going to war to create a playground for terrorists to concentrate their efforts on Americans and Iraqis in Iraq than they running loose to plan another attack on American soil.
An admission in remission
Friday, 8 September 2006
Admitting the CIA secret prisons did exist leaves one wondering how many more admissions would completely destroy the last ounce of respect America can show.
Ahmedinejad-Bush coming to your television
Tuesday, 29 August 2006
The Iranian doctor of engineering invites a one-time failed oil businessman to a debate about world issues. I want a front row seat, who is selling the tickets? bin Laden might also already be dead so what fuels the war on terror?
Condi is not welcome in Lebanon
Sunday, 30 July 2006
Sometimes you just have to speak up and stop being run around by seemingly benevolent but insincere friends. Lebanon has reached that stage with America by saying the Secretary of State is not welcome. A snub as good as you can get.
A poker hand of unintended consequences
Sunday, 30 July 2006
The gamble US, Britain and Israel have taken in the Lebanon issue can see a better resolution than new occupations. Israel should relinquish occupied territories of Shebaa Farms and Golan Heights. That is the really hard but courageous decision.
Condi knows nothing about birth pangs
Saturday, 29 July 2006
Bombs and hostilities continue as birth pangs of a new Middle-East as the midwife returns to the woman in travail and extended labour to probably deliver the baby still-born. No new Middle-East can emerge with this belligerence.
Nigerian electioneering usurped by uber-thugs
Friday, 28 July 2006
A second gubernatorial candidate has been murdered in Nigeria in just this month. It is unlikely the crime would be solved and it is likely that the violence would continue. When would we be free of thugs who want to rule Nigeria at all costs?
Attempting to stem the tide of science with one veto
Thursday, 20 July 2006
The Presidential veto against federal funding of stem cell research shows how emotive subjects can be hijacked with political aplomp regardless of the scientific benefits. Thankfully, science would progress regardless.
Peace eludes our time with appeasement
Monday, 17 July 2006
Evacuating foreign citizens of influential countries from Lebanon is the best tacit appeasement that would help the troubles escalate beyond manageable proportions. I fear for when those Israeli rockets land inadvertently in Iran and Syria.
A crusading psychopath is in a war near you
Sunday, 16 July 2006
The shortage of army manpower in America lead to relaxing the rules of recruitment, Steven Green benefited and now has a rap sheet of rape and murder committed in Iraq. They created a monster of a pussy-cat criminal and dumped back in society.
Spooky Brother Act as Spook goes to Court
Friday, 14 July 2006
Polish twin brothers as heads of government depending on who you are looking at and the spy throws a pie in the face of the White House - when you uncover a spy - well ...
6th of July - 1942, 1946 & 2006
Thursday, 6 July 2006
On this day, Anne Frank's family sought refuge from the Nazi's in the Secret Annex and 4 years later this day George W. Bush arrived in the first tranche of baby-boomers - Does history have much to teach us?
They hate our freedoms
Saturday, 24 June 2006
Now we hear that the US Government is livid about the revelation that they have been trawling through international banking transactions since 2001 - looks like this government hates our freedom to know what they have been up to.
We've lost intelligence
Thursday, 15 June 2006
The mind boggles as we read of a marine's song about the death of a young girl in Iraq - insensivity in the marines takes its roots from elsewhere. Meanwhile, we are told, it is all inappropriate.
Stealthily from Camp David to Camp Al-Nasr
Tuesday, 13 June 2006
I am beginning to wonder if news stories are used as decoys to announce the president is in one place whilst on his way to some troubled zone like Iraq,
Galvanising by gay-bashing
Sunday, 4 June 2006
It is another election year in America and the gays would have it in the neck because that is the only way to bring out his support.
Diplomatic tactlessness
Tuesday, 9 May 2006
The Iranian President writes to George Bush - they read and castigate - are there not other ways to reply to a letter? The US could have been more discrete, sensitive and mature about this episode - Unlikely!!
America! Your move
Monday, 8 May 2006
A few days ago, I lamented the fact that presidents at war do not chat to each other before the break-out of hostilities. It now transpires the president of Iran has written to President Bush. This is an opportunity - do not miss it.
Old-age Rum's field day
Friday, 5 May 2006
A hapless septuagenarian was heckled during an important speech to his supporters, then accused of lying. How rotten! This is in empathetic concern and commiseration. Why badger a poor old man?
The Coalition of the Unviable
Tuesday, 2 May 2006
The release of the Failed States Index of 2006 has the United States squarely in the centre of the trouble in 3 of the 10 Top though they come in at 128. More could be read to the figures with another thorough analysis.
The defence of the YesMen Generals
Monday, 24 April 2006
As if I needed any more convincing that Rumsfeld should step down. The Lexington column in the Economist this week helped clarify in detail the argument that he should have been pensioned off from year dot.
Iraq is far away from a Gettysburg Address
Monday, 17 April 2006
I begin a series of examining what democracy means and why the ideals of the Gettysburg Address are beginning to look impossible to attain.
The Barbarian Ruling Class
Friday, 14 April 2006
Politicians and leaders in the military seem to be missing an essential component in their education; an appreciation of history, culture, heritage and values. Babylon is plundered and the Colonel in charge fails to grasp the error.
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