Robsk II

No.

Beheading for sorcery.

How was it?

My point is that any government could have been in the same position. I'm not defending it. Yet it seems many people were in favour at the start, and democracy isn't about doing the right thing, in its pure form. It's about doing what most of the people want. Even if we say it's less pure, and the government should have done the best thing for this country, we really don't know what they did it for. That's irrefutable. I don't think they spent millions simply to kill innocents, but sure, they must - we must - be accountable for the fact that it happened, because it always does. I also wouldn't say it was a precedent. There've been hundreds, thousands before. It's what governments do.

I just think that lots goes on in the corridors of power that make it hard to judge things. As far as I recall it, there was a broad cross party agreement in the end. Plus, being in opposition means you don't get leant on by 'comrades' etc. Who knows.. that's all I'm saying, and it's very easy to now get at the government. Don't get me wrong, I'm far from happy with much that this supposedly labour party has done - but holding them directly accountable for this sort of thing is stupid. Any war has innocent casualties, you know this very well. OK, governments have blood on their hands for sending soldiers knowing this, too. There's only so much you can stop from happening in combat, and the modern media means things will get out. Yet actually, if the whole population had said "No" then we wouldn't have gone. That is a fact.

Brings up a bigger question, really. Does anyone have the right to dictate how the world should be run? To hold their values aloft not only in their own nation states, but globally, and impose them on others? Of course that sortof thing is barbaric, but so is half the stuff we do here, albeit with a softer edge. Humans are largely c*nts, lets face it, wherever they are in the world. We're a few disasters away from fear, hatred and spears ourselves, some closer than others. Media-based frenzied attacks on anything from drugs without much evidence to people falsely convicted of crimes etc.. our citizens are capable of shouting loudly about rights whilst taking those of others away in the same breath. Would intervention really have a cumulatively positive effect in Saudi Arabia, or North Korea, or anywhere? Even a bloodless victory might prove entirely negative if a population is not ready to accept, to relish, the values and ideas being instituted. We had many years to be coddled by consumerism, celebrity culture, etc... which keeps us quiet.. but powerful opiate though it is, people used to theocracies etc are not always as well-understood as western governments like to think.

Why the hell would anyone think the tories wouldn't have done things exactly the same? Idiot.

Good, you ugly moron.

Me too, as it happens. Many weren't, though. I disapproved of Saddam Hussein's human rights breaches and Kurdish murders, but found it convenient that the 'coalition' was happy to ignore despots in oil-scarce regions at the same time as invading Iraq with no link to Afghanistan or clear evidence. I find it troublingly clear that, no matter how much suffering and deaths under Saddam, the numbers do die since have been far in excess per year. How can one argue with that? The US have known that guerilla enemies in foreign lands cause real problems way before Vietnam - Mark Twain said the following in 1900: "I wanted the American eagle to go screaming into the Pacific ...Why not spread its wings over the Philippines, I asked myself? ... I said to myself, Here are a people who have suffered for three centuries. We can make them as free as ourselves, give them a government and country of their own, put a miniature of the American Constitution afloat in the Pacific, start a brand new republic to take its place among the free nations of the world. It seemed to me a great task to which we had addressed ourselves. But I have thought some more, since then, and I have read carefully the treaty of Paris , and I have seen that we do not intend to free, but to subjugate the people of the Philippines. We have gone there to conquer, not to redeem. It should, it seems to me, be our pleasure and duty to make those people free, and let them deal with their own domestic questions in their own way. And so I am an anti-imperialist. I am opposed to having the eagle put its talons on any other land." He was talking about a war by the fledgling US against a Philippine nation rising up against colonialist annexation. The US eventually 'won' by use of great numbers and better technology (against an enemy they termed 'insurgents' - familiar, anyone?) but fared badly against a determined enemy force, who became increasingly effective upon utilising guerilla tactics. The US became more and more ruthless in response, murdering prisoners, killing civilians, etc, until the numbers told - and this is unlikely to be easy or acceptable in the more complex, far larger situation in Iraq or Afghanistan today. Forget history at your peril.

War is hell, **** like this always has and always will happen in them. Including, regrettably, by UK personnel on occasions. Why so surprised? Just because for once you see it? Also, it's all very well being anti-war in the light of this, but where was everyone when we went in? It's always highly complex, and giving guns to largely ignorant kids is going to cause problems now, as it did in Bosnia, as it did in My Lai. as it did across Europe and the world in every other conflict. The bottom line is that the human race never learns a damn thing when the key lessons are there to be seen.

Is that actually true? Only half the perimeter seemed 'on', and it did smell weird - plus some on the same side weren't on, which wouldn't make sense if it was wind-based..?

Went for a walk today, and up behind Squabb Wood near Romsey is a landfill site being restored or something. Around the perimeter, unbeknownst to me as it had changed since the last time I walked past, is a fence. Nothing abnormal, you'd think, yet this fence had a line running around the top with a mist being sprayed out at intervals. Any idea what this was, or why? It had no warning signs or anything, but it smellt kind of odd and gave me a bit of a headache.. I can think of no purpose to it, because this was at the top of the lip, far above anything the site is actually doing. Anyone work in this area, or any ideas? So far i am assuming it was polonium 210.

I'll reflect, but it won't change my non-nazi values.

Dune, if you're such a big BNP man, why colour it as a backwards french flag?

So we're all sorry to see him go, I think.

Yes, I do,and yes, it was

This would have been fine.

Winch is not actually a great night. Most of the late night things are just the usual rubbish, full of c*nts. The Railway is often decent, and the Black Boy is a nice little boozer. Otherwise, don't bother unless you're happy with just drinking around pubs. There used to be a decent little place called the North Pole, but that shut ages ago and it was possibly not as good as I recall it to have been.

You're wrong. Some people don't think they're funny. Some people mean it, which is far worse.

He ogled young girls whilst in London, apparently. I'd be fairly sure he has to be monitored pretty closely, and the NOTW is so full of unsubstantiated ****. It's not really a paper, is it.

Good.

Positive start.. got to keep it tighter though.

Deppo to win on points.

Liberal Democrats: 63% Labour Party: 57% Green Party: 56% UK Independence Party: 52% Conservative Party: 40% British National Party: 37% Apparently, if I include them all.

Just finished it. I had Jack die at the end, when debris fell on her. Maybe because she wasn't loyal. Did her mission but she argued with Miranda, and I didn't have enough paragon at that point to placate her. Ah well, crazy *****.