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Posts Tagged ‘Anglosphere’

Actually, Prince Philip is not Greek, born in Crete yes but his family was of Danish origins. There was on the BBC a rather splendid programme on his life and times, “The Duke at 90″, well worth watching.

There are not words enough to celebrate this most splendid man on his 90th birthday except to say, a Very Happy Birthday and thanks for great service to Queen and Country. In addition, greatest thanks for never being “politically correct” and having an obvious great sense of humour, you have always been a total tonic for the majority of us, long may you continue to be so otherwise we will be stuck with the mealy mouthed of this world.

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There are times when the mutterings of the Metropolitan Media Classes, really get up my nose. It is not their smug left wing bias, it is their dishonesty and inability to see an issue as it really is rather than as a reflection of their own current hormonal imbalances. A prime example was this in the Independent of the other day : http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/leading-articles/leading-article-mission-creep-and-perilous-tactics-in-libya-2288471.html

I have no doubt that if Gaddafi had been allowed to massacre his opponents as he intended, the Independent might well be the first to write that “Something Should Be Done !” and then accuse the British Government of inaction and sacrificing the innocent because of our interests in continuing access to Libyan oil and exploration rights. Remember all the headlines over releasing Mehgrani ?

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We have a scandal involving the now, former Managing Director of the international Monitory Fund Dominique Strauss Khan being accused of the rape of a Chamber Maid in an upmarket New York hotel. For a whole number of reasons, it really is a quite extraordinary tale that at this stage of events, raises far more questions than it provides answers.

There are a couple of very well written articles in the Economist on this which are worth reading: http://www.economist.com/node/18712833 and http://www.economist.com/node/18712515

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The saying, “War is too important to be left to the Generals” probably also applies to Constitutions and Politicians. Constitutional change is far too important to be left to the politicians, they just don’t seem to have a clue and certainly lack the intellectual rigour to suggest anything remotely workable.

This Thursday we have local council elections down here but also, the Referendum on changing the voting system from First Past the Post to the Alternative Vote. Funny how a Coalition Agreement can conjure that up when herds of wild stallions couldn’t get the greasy buggers to give us a Referendum on the EU !

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The other day John Rentoul wrote a very interesting piece in The Independent: http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/john-rentoul/john-rentoul-david-dear-a-word-of-advice-2275574.html

At his best John Rentoul is very definitely one of the best journalists writing in the broadsheet British Media today, I posted a short note to say excellent and well done stuff… The responses from other commentators was quite amusing which led me to ponder certain other things in our increasingly angry and frustrated society…

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Well with all the fuss in the run up to the Royal Wedding on Friday, there are bound to be a fair selection of malcontent s and grumpy naysayers on display. There was a Baghot colum in the Economist on just such a note: http://www.economist.com/node/18584926

I don’t know why these people bother, it might be just because they like to moan a lot about anything be it X Factor, Royalty, Coronation Street, Football, Cricket, Tennis, MP’s Expenses… For the terminally grumpy, the list is endless, there will always be something to moan about to keep them “happy” !

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With the deployment of 10 UK Military Advisers, similar numbers from France and Italy plus the US deploying a couple of armed ‘Raptor’ drone aircraft, there are numerous articles on “Mission Creep” and the “V” word (Vietnam), which rather ignores the experiences of Iraq and Afghanistan which to say the least, have been chastening for the West and a check on American idealism.

For a flavour of the drivel being written, the following is a good place-holder: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8461863/British-troops-go-to-Libya-amid-Vietnam-warnings.html

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Although I often find even the European edition of Time magazine, far too “American” in terms of its content, from time to time, there are some really excellent articles and this past weekends edition is a case in point particularly with regard to Defence Spending. Entitled “How to Save a Trillion Dollars”, it is well worth reading: http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,2065108,00.html

Those who know me, might well say that I liked this article because it accords with many of the views I have been expressing and particularly with regard to Aircraft Carriers for some years now. However, I would suggest that it is far more than that because throughout history, there comes a moment in time when military thinking needs a radical overhaul, I would suggest that we have reached that point right now.

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Following on from the recent events in Tunisia, The Yemen and now Egypt, it looks as though there is a degree of revolution in the air and potential changes in Leaders and Regimes that may well threaten Western interests both politically and economically. Inevitably under the current circumstances, there will be a fear of Muslim Extremists stepping into any political vacuum that opens up during this time of change.

However, the reality is that whether in these countries, Saudi Arabia or a number of others, change was always going to happen sooner or later and it may well be that now, might be more favourable to Western interests than possibly at any other time if only, because now it is not just a matter of “American or Western Interests” alone, it also involves China and India.

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It was interesting to me, at least to see a contributor to the Independent newspaper finally, picking up on Dwight Eisenhower’s warnings shortly before leaving Office as the US President.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/ike-was-right-all-along-the-danger-of-the-militaryindustrial-complex-2186133.html

Although the article was interesting, it was written for the wrong reasons by someone who seems oblivious to the political realities at play here (Rupert Cornwell). The “Industrial/Military Complex” that Eisenhower pointed to in the US has some resonance in the UK but not quite in the same way and it is important to understand the differences and from that, the way forward in looking at this problem.

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