tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post5505962441659447105..comments2024-03-28T10:07:24.955-04:00Comments on Northern Reflections: Just Another ChapterOwen Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06464860078574618579noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-72845469922041024682016-09-12T14:37:53.204-04:002016-09-12T14:37:53.204-04:00He understood precisely what would happen, opit.He understood precisely what would happen, opit.Owen Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06464860078574618579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-24890528085293383552016-09-12T13:04:21.654-04:002016-09-12T13:04:21.654-04:00" The conflict is all about redrawing lines t..." The conflict is all about redrawing lines that are one hundred years old." Colonel Lawrence would recognize those ideas.opithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01621946866211400380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-74200792496198661932016-09-12T12:21:05.157-04:002016-09-12T12:21:05.157-04:00An important piece of history, Dana. The conflict ...An important piece of history, Dana. The conflict is all about redrawing lines that are one hundred years old.Owen Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06464860078574618579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-9353029497227390632016-09-12T11:42:19.086-04:002016-09-12T11:42:19.086-04:00Precisely, opit. The effects are plain to see.Precisely, opit. The effects are plain to see.Owen Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06464860078574618579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-8280990790465496812016-09-12T10:50:10.407-04:002016-09-12T10:50:10.407-04:00It seems odd that people insist on treating 't...It seems odd that people insist on treating 'the War on Terror' as if it were anything but 'The War of Terror'. When police and 'security' have activities characterized by ginning up suckers to be charged as 'terrorists' after being incited by those very departments, a rat should definitely be designated as smelled. Saddam Hussein was put inplay by the C.I.A. as a stabilizing force to repress dissent - and to war on Iran for having the alleged temerity to overthrow their puppet ruler. I say alleged vecause there is reason to suspect the religious leadership of Iran is another sectarian smoke screen. Certainly for nations retooling their WMD the prospect of other nations protesting their presence is cause for representing them asw 'the real danger' - a ridiculous proposition wherin people without WMD are penalized as if they were misbehaving. The State Department very clearly planned thge Iraq invasion as a means to 'decapitate governments in an arc of oil bearing regions of the Middle East and Afgrica' as per the 1999 War Game 'Post Saddam Iraq'. Nor has there been adequate coverage of Bremer's 100 Orders dissolving the Iraqi constitution and imposing foreign rule over resources. The PNAC has hardly been subtle - but the effects of its policies are plain to see.opithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01621946866211400380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-64128380119170862372016-09-12T10:36:14.483-04:002016-09-12T10:36:14.483-04:00Mustn't forget the oft forgotten Sykes-Picot A...Mustn't forget the oft forgotten Sykes-Picot Agreement. ISIL often talks about reversing the effects of this. <br /><br />http://interactive.aljazeera.com/aje/2016/sykes-picot-100-years-middle-east-map/Danahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12465953801145126160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-90750966945718334612016-09-12T07:54:32.132-04:002016-09-12T07:54:32.132-04:00I understand, Steve. I merely point out that the p...I understand, Steve. I merely point out that the present problems there stem from the aftermath of that War.Owen Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06464860078574618579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-64874045734283672932016-09-11T23:27:32.264-04:002016-09-11T23:27:32.264-04:00If you follow the link you would see I am not talk...If you follow the link you would see I am not talking about the dumb partioning of the world. I am talking about the direct link between, reparations, WW2 and the Industrail Military Complex.Stevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14162783936999869984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-42621065447144173272016-09-11T14:26:04.301-04:002016-09-11T14:26:04.301-04:00That pattern is as old as the human race, Mound. A...That pattern is as old as the human race, Mound. And we keep repeating it.Owen Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06464860078574618579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-52588672806903664292016-09-11T13:21:14.426-04:002016-09-11T13:21:14.426-04:00I think Steve has the wrong treaty. It was the tre...<br />I think Steve has the wrong treaty. It was the treaty of Sevres in 1920 and the follow on treaty of Lausanne three years later that created the foundation for much of the Middle East chaos of today. These instruments ignored the ethnic, sectarian and tribal realities of that region and instead carved out nations to suit the convenience of France and Britain. This is one key reason why many insist partition is essential to achieve lasting peace in Iraq and Syria.<br /><br />Hubris often comes with a pricetag of hundreds of thousands if not millions of lives lost. The First World War was sparked by hubris. So too was Hitler's Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. The Bush/Cheney regime's decision to conquer Iraq as a lesson to the other nations of the Middle East was pure hubris. And what follows Hubris? Nemesis.The Mound of Soundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09023839743772372922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-24962610113641978472016-09-11T09:46:30.607-04:002016-09-11T09:46:30.607-04:00A lot of the problems in the Middle East stem from...A lot of the problems in the Middle East stem from the way that part of the world was divided up after World War I, Steve.Owen Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06464860078574618579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-8045687245820927062016-09-11T09:40:21.358-04:002016-09-11T09:40:21.358-04:00I wonder if we will ever recover from 911? IMHO it...<a href="http://thinkingaboot.blogspot.ca/2016/09/will-we-ever-recover-from-911.html" rel="nofollow">I wonder if we will ever recover from 911?</a> IMHO it all started with the Treaty of Versilles.Stevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14162783936999869984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-53182061151524920012016-09-11T09:14:00.717-04:002016-09-11T09:14:00.717-04:00The fact that Donald Trump is the Republican nomin...The fact that Donald Trump is the Republican nominee underscores that fact, Lorne. Last week one of Trump's biographers appeared on PBS. Asked about Trump's business acumen, he said that Trump was not like John D. Rockerfeller or Steve Jobs. He was more like P.T. Barnum -- the man behind the "Greatest Show on Earth."Owen Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06464860078574618579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35117130.post-8595915829925180022016-09-11T09:05:33.033-04:002016-09-11T09:05:33.033-04:00And I think it is safe to add, Owen, that the Amer...And I think it is safe to add, Owen, that the Americans will have learned nothing from these blunders. After all, when you are 'the greatest nation on earth,' humbling introspection is hard to pursue.Lornehttp://www.politicsanditsdiscontents.blogspot.canoreply@blogger.com