Iraq.

[Chopper the ex Copper]

I've not been skiing since I was a teenager - and broke my ankle - but even a stupid over confident no talented like me found trees a lot easier to miss than pedestrians. They don't wander out in front of you for a start.

As for Iraqistan, that idiot Obama in the space of an afternoon has gone from considering military intervention, to promising to no US troops will be on Iraqi soil, to talking about air strikes, to suggesting the Iraqi government needs to grow some cojones. All four points of the political compass in as many hours is good going even by his self contradictory standards.

And the front is now 60 miles from Bagdhad. It's looking as if the Kurds are going to pick over the carcass and finally have their own free state in the North, while the rest is going to be split into two with little enclaves of rival religious clans dotted throughout each others territory. A mess.

 

[highlandsflyer]

Re:

How do you get on avoiding pedestrians in a white-out? Sometimes the quickest way off the hill, and the best chance of survival, is fast and furious. Very easy to encounter wood in those situations.

I agree on Iraq.

Although Bush's mess, Obama should not announce his intentions to these idiots.

Neither should our own lot.

Keep them guessing, and hit them randomly and hard.

 

[02gf74]

It's looking as if the Kurds are going to pick over the carcass and finally have their own free state in the North, while the rest is going to be split into two with little enclaves of rival religious clans dotted throughout each others territory. A mess.

Isn't this part of the solution, splitting up the country as what happened with Yugoslavia? Then any fighting will be between new "countries", being smaller, would make it easier to control?

 

[Chopper the ex Copper]

Re:

It would be a solution for them, but not at acceptable to the West as the rebels are from a group openly allied with AQ.

Sonny Bono didn't die in a whiteout. To be fair with whiteouts, if the weather were that bad while driving I'd pull over, and thus continue to avoid the pedestrians.

 

[The History Man]

If you pulled over kathy bates might find you.............

 

[Bats]

Isn't this part of the solution, splitting up the country as what happened with Yugoslavia? Then any fighting will be between new "countries", being smaller, would make it easier to control?

Except with Yugoslavia the splitting up WAS the fighting. Nice thing about Tito was he'd just shoot anyone who smelled like they wanted to start trouble.

At any rate, the best thing we can do is stay the hell out of the middle east. We've been faffing about there since the days of empire, and people have the nerve to be surprised when a few of them get wazzed off and bomb our busses? Give over.

 

[Chopper the ex Copper]

There's a sort of logic there, but by and larger the ones that blow things up over here are born here, so the link between cause and effect is missing in that example. Our problem is domestic extremism, not people coming over from the 'stans to have a pop.

Put Kim Jong Un in charge. There's a man who gets things done.

 

[JohnH]

Re: Re:

I think this sums up the region quite well -

The Onion: Middle East Conflict Intensifies As Blah Blah Blah, Etc. Etc.

The Onion: BREAKING: Middle East Conflict Not Solved Today

 

[highlandsflyer]

The point I was making about ski-ing is that it is a risk sport. We don't know what happened to cause that collision with a tree. He could have had a dump of snow that obscured his view for a moment.

Are the riders who died during the TT worthy of Darwin awards?

Tony Blair is absolutely right about Iraq. Letting these extremists, who are cowards on the whole, know that you intend to sit on your hands is tantamount to signing the death warrant of thousands.

There is no need to rule out any course of action, regardless of intentionality.

Except political expediency.

 

[Bats]

There's a sort of logic there, but by and larger the ones that blow things up over here are born here, so the link between cause and effect is missing in that example. Our problem is domestic extremism, not people coming over from the 'stans to have a pop.

Given that they make it very clear when asked why they're "having a pop", where they're actually from doesn't matter.

For instance, them lads wot did splatter Lee Rigby. Stood around for ages explaining their motivations and reasoning. Turns out it wasn't because they were upset about changes to the bus timetable.