Via Darleen and Mushiloon, looks like the insurgent jihadi freedom fighters are serving notice to Britain’s new Labour Party Prime Minister that, like Spain before them, Britain should take the opportunity of political change to rationalize their way out of Iraq:
Police in London’s bustling nightclub and theater district on Friday defused a bomb that could have killed hundreds, after an ambulance crew spotted smoke coming from a Mercedes filled with a lethal mix of gasoline, propane and nails, authorities said.
The bomb near Piccadilly Circus was powerful enough to have caused “significant injury or loss of life” – possibly killing hundreds, British anti-terror police chief Peter Clarke said.
Britain’s new home secretary, Jacqui Smith called an emergency meeting of top officials and later said the attempted attack was “international terrorism.”
Police were examining footage from closed-circuit TV cameras in the area, Clarke said, hoping the surveillance network that covers much of central London will help them track down the driver of the Mercedes.
Hours after the discovery, police closed a major road on the edge of Hyde Park in response to reports of a suspicious vehicle. Despite the closure of Park Lane, a police spokesman said there was nothing to immediately suggest it was linked to the foiled bombing.
“We are currently facing the most serious and sustained threat to our security from international terrorism,” Smith said. “This reinforces the need for the public to remain vigilant to the threat we face at all times.”
Officers were called to The Haymarket, just south of Piccadilly Circus, after an ambulance crew – responding to a call just before 1:30 a.m. about a person who had fallen at a nightclub – noticed smoke coming from a car parked in front of the building, Clarke said.
Early photographs of the metallic, pale green Mercedes show a canister bearing the words “patio gas,” indicating it was propane gas, next to the car. The back door was open with blankets spilling out. The car was removed from the scene after a bomb squad disabled the explosives.
The busy Haymarket thoroughfare is packed with restaurants, bars, a cinema complex and West End theaters, and was buzzing at that hour. “Phantom of the Opera” is playing at the Her Majesty’s Theater down the street.
It was ladies’ night Thursday, nicknamed “Sugar ‘N’ Spice,” at the massive Tiger Tiger nightclub, a three-story venue that at full capacity can pack in 1,770 people and stays open until 3 a.m.
The Haymarket venue is Tiger Tiger’s flagship club – billed as “stylish and friendly,” with live DJs, cocktails and an Asian fusion menu. Owner Novus Leisure also has Tiger Tiger clubs in eight other cities across Britain.
Police were also investigating the possibility that the planned attack could have been criminal in nature.
A possiblity, certainly, but when you have your new home secretary calling emergency meetings, then saying the attempted attack was “international terrorism” — the “criminal” scenario seems diminishingly likely.
In a post earlier this week, I highlighted — in responding to new Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s promises to “learn lessons that need to be learned†regarding Iraq  the following bit from the AP story:
“[the global war on terrorism] is also a struggle of ideas and ideals that in the coming years will be waged and won for hearts and minds here at home and round the world.â€Â
The unpopularity of the Iraq war, and Britain’s role in it, have dogged Blair through the last years of his leadership. The woman elected Sunday as Brown’s deputy, Harriet Harman, has called for the government to apologize for mistakes over the Iraq war.
Evidently, the jihadists are giving Britain a chance to do just that.
Their response to this thwarted attack will immediately test the new government — and better, will force Ms Harman to decide if now is the appropriate time to apologize for Iraq.
Because clearly, somebody in Britain seems to think they’re owed such an apology, and until they get one — and perhaps a full British retreat and renouncement of its military role in the coalition fighting — the might just have to, as I said the other day, “blow some shit up.”
As a lesson, you see.
Just like the one they offered to Spain — and just like the one they’ve offered us, and that people like Harry Reid seem rather too prepared to accept.
It should also be noted, Jeff, that the usual denisons of DU and Kos are alternately saying this “proves” the failure of Bush & Blair’s “war” and saying it was really a Bush or Brit plot to “instill fear” in Londoners.
Thanks for the H/T, Jeff.
I think we Americans are too arrogant to listen to terrorists (or so I hope).
Your optimism is welcome, Musli, but I fear that our “fearless leaders” might have their arrogance tuned a different direction. Bush isn’t going to listen to terrorists, but Pelosi and Reid seem to think that they can conduct their own foreign policy on the side because They Know Better. Shoot, if all it takes is a little apology to stop the violence, that’s a pretty sweet deal. Certainly much cheaper than mobilizing hundreds of thousands of troops and their obscene amenities.
Aren’t British troops leaving Iraq this year anyway?
saying it was really a Bush or Brit plot to “instill fear†in Londoners.
All the pipe bombs they’ve been finding around here I was writing off as silly redneck over-the-top 4th of July fireworks. But unless our Brit cousins have suddenly gotten into the spirit of such things, I think that interpretation’s off the table in this case.
“Aren’t British troops leaving Iraq this year anyway?”
And most of them are heading to Afghanistan. Still Dar-ul Islam, so … there it is.
I question the timing!
This from Kos, via LGF:
Right. I listen to Coast-to-Coast AM every so often because it’s a hoot, and I swear the stuff they come up with isn’t anywhere near as insane as this.
And now there is a “car of interest” in Hyde Park.
It hasn’t hit the ‘net yet, but radio reports are coming in that it IS another car bomb.
Boy, those BushNeoConZionists who brought down the WTC on 9/11 are gettin’ busy in London, eh?
A friend of mine just got back from his third tour in Iraq (he goes back for his fourth in a few weeks) and he was part of a group of special forces guys that went to go help the UK forces in Basra. He gave an interesting anecdote, which ties in interestingly enough with the 2nd amendment post below. Apparently the Brits aren’t too big on engaging enemies or shooting stuff period, and this is a reflection of their attitudes carried with them from home. He said that when he was walking around the base fully armed locked and loaded it made the other Brits uncomfortable because they don’t like having guns around. And hey, it’s not like they are in a war zone or something. Because of this Basra is a mess, and the base he was at was rocketed every night, far worse than what he was used to up in US held areas.
The other funny part was the Brits said they only wanted a couple of guys to help, but the US military said that if you ask for our help, we are sending what we think you need, not what you think you need. And we are going to shoot the enemies dead too.
The loss of the UK from Iraq may not be a bad thing.
“Comment by Major John on 6/29 @ 10:46 am #
“Aren’t British troops leaving Iraq this year anyway?â€Â
And most of them are heading to Afghanistan. Still Dar-ul Islam, so … there it is.”
Good. We need them there.
Like it really stops when you give in. That is when the bastards have the real fun. Chopping off the two smoking fingers (I think here in California they do this if you smoke in a public building already, so bad example)
I saw those nice photos of the poor Iranian guy drinking from the ass washing can, and of the beatings given for wearing soccer jerseys. The Bong Hits 4 Jesus kid would be headless.
I’m religious. I believe in order and law. But those types of guys deserve a big “fuck you” followed by an ass kicking. I hope I never live to see Americans bowing down to that bullshit
It is grossly unfair to think this might be somehow related to the Relion of Peace until both of the Pirhanna brothers have been firmly excluded from any further suspicion. Meanwhile, I was waiting for someone to generate a conspiracy theory around new PM Gordon Brown trying to use this incident to instill fear amongst the populace so as to complete Labour’s abolition of the few remaining liberties held by the British people. Oh wait, he doesn’t have to instill fear amongst the populace to do that. Never mind.
It is grossly unfair to think this might be somehow related to the Religion of Peace until both of the Pirhanna brothers have been firmly excluded from any further suspicion. Meanwhile, I was waiting for someone to generate a conspiracy theory around new PM Gordon Brown trying to use this incident to instill fear amongst the populace so as to complete Labour’s abolition of the few remaining liberties held by the British people. Oh wait, he doesn’t have to instill fear amongst the populace to do that. Never mind.
I hope I never live to see Americans bowing down to that bullshit.
Well, if the “blame America and the Joooooos” Leftist crowd had their way, you would. Cuz, ya see,
, this so-called “bomb” is proof positive we’ve again “offended” the Religion of Pieces.
Lifeguards cause drownings. No matter how many people may be “saved” by a lifeguard at a pool or beach, if one person drowns it’s because of lifeguards. The only way to stop drowning is to just ban swimming.
The only way to stop Islamist terrorism is to stop offending them.
Say hello to dhimmitude.
timb – “Good. We need them there.”
Something about this quote, from you, just drives me nuts. It implies a certain level of knowledge that you have, or in this case do not have, that gives you a better understanding of the situation than us rubes. Pray tell explain why we are losing in Afghanistan.
Why, because of Iraq, JD. Bu$hco’s lying war for oil.
i/The other funny part was the Brits said they only wanted a couple of guys to help, but the US military said that if you ask for our help, we are sending what we think you need, not what you think you need. And we are going to shoot the enemies dead too./i
Hey didn’t the UK putz around Basra during the invasion – too scared to go in and clean house? In fact I remember they even tried to lay siege to the city, until we peeled a marine or army division off Baghdad and sent them south to finish the job.
Save for the SAS, they really are coming across as a bunch of class A tits.
Brits ceased being an effective military force right about at Dunkirk.
no offence to furriskey … my favourite continental on PW
OldTT,
In that story above I left out the parts where my friend gave me his opinion about the UK forces (minus the SAS guys) that were there. He was in Basra when the Iran boat seizure thing happened, and let’s just say he wasn’t very surprised.
All this is unfair to the British Army. The Brits are very well trained, and when they are allowed to do their job they do it as well as or better than any body of troops in the world. For example, Michael Yon recently did an article about some time he spent with a Brit unit and he was very favorably impressed. If there’s a problem in Basra or elsewhere in the south it’s because of political decisions, not because of the quality of Brit personnel and training.
I’m not trying to denigrate the UK forces, and they are still brave and noble for serving and sacrificing, way more than myself as I type this from the safety and comfort of the homeland.
But I think there is something to the fact that the UK is a “gun free” society, and how this reflects the way their troops act. I’m just telling you what my friend said, and he’s been in the military for over 20 years.
Hello….
The West has it’s own nasty boys. Is it time for the dirty tricks department to take a hand? Because if the West turned it’s mind to terrorizing the Muslim world, I’ll bet you dollars to doughnuts that we do one hell of a job.
That may sound nice and reinforce your prejudices but I think there is another reason the British armed forces don’t project power the same way the US does. They have a long tradition of being an occupational force, look at Ireland for example. They found that if possible, it is best to build a rapport with the locals and not instill fear in potential allies by arming themselves to the teeth at all times.
heet, if you think that’s how they behaved in Ireland, you need to read more history.
mojo, I forgot who predicted this (Mark Steyn is my best guess), but he essentially said that we should expect our own version of Westerners beginning to “take the law into their own hands,” so to speak. Tit-for-tat. shall we say.
I would be surprised if U.S. citizens did it first. I’m guessing it to be individuals in a Euro country where we’d never expect their citizenry to rise up (due to their aggresively nancy-boy government).
Heet,
I’m telling you what my friend told me. There is no prejudice here. If you don’t like what he told me, then too bad. He said unequivocally that many of the non-special ops troops were not as effective in repelling the enemies in the area as our troops were. He told me that they were “gun free” on the base, as they don’t like to have firearms out in the open the way that our troops do. I believe this is a reflection of their life at home.
I can’t believe that you’re using the Britains “occupation” of Ireland as an example of their vast experience in colonialism. It shows that you know zero about the Irish.
Do you think it is a coincidence that this occurs one day after the switch in government? I don’t. It is a test of Brown’s mett;e.
IIRC all of the major attacks on US interests here and abroad were timed to occur at or near a shift in leadership.
Believe it because it is true. The British developed their own operational methods out of experience with occupations. If it is easier to believe they are big pussies, then hey, go for it.
Heet
DO explain the difference between how the Aussies handled the Iranian gunboats that tried to kidnap them; and the subsequent capture and capitulation of the Brits in the same circumstances.
I don’t blame the gelding that acts like a gelding, I just point out the natural consequences of a policy that demands geldings then expects them to act like stallions when the circumstances arise.
Hey Heet,
Fuck you. I never said they were pussies. Read what I wrote you tool.
I’m not trying to denigrate the UK forces, and they are still brave and noble for serving and sacrificing, way more than myself as I type this from the safety and comfort of the homeland.
they were “gun free†on the base, as they don’t like to have firearms out in the open the way that our troops do. I believe this is a reflection of their life at home.=they are big pussies
The easiest thing to believe is this is the most brazenly dishonest bunch of trolls we have ever suffered through.
shine excepted, I honestly think he is mostly just confused.
Such language! Manly, though.
Tman – You are more likely to win the lottery in 10 consecutive weeks than to get an honest response from heet. He/she/it is a firebrand partisan 24/7, facts be damned.
Does that turn you on a little heet?
They have a long tradition of being an occupational force, look at Ireland for example.
Put down the (mis) historical analogy and walk away before you hurt yourself. Again.
The only similarity to the current conflict is, as with Jihadist oil money, the vast amounts of US dollars sent to Ireland allowed a minisule group of marxists to promulgate a reign of terror that could never have been sustained with domestic support alone.
When it came to the IRA the Brits were never big on hearts and minds. Unless they were spraying them against a brick wall or wiring them for sound.
I had a comment, but then I realized it’s pointless. The telephone poles will read what they want to read, regardless of how much we try to explain.
Rob – I was just having that same thought about Buffalo Bill in the Agitprop thread.
heet – the British experience in Afghanistan – not so good. We wanted to name a road after an American soldier who had lost both legs near my base, but it was the same last name as a British General who burned Kabul in the later part of the 19th Century…
My only long term experience with Brits is with the RAF Regiment – they are really, really good. The Green Howards, Sherwood Foresters and the rest – couldn’t tell you too much about them, even though they were around.
Uh, that should be one leg – not both. McNaughton being the name as well. I miss preview…
I never claimed the British were saints while occupiers.
“Comment by JD on 6/29 @ 11:14 am #
timb – “Good. We need them there.â€Â
Something about this quote, from you, just drives me nuts. It implies a certain level of knowledge that you have, or in this case do not have, that gives you a better understanding of the situation than us rubes. Pray tell explain why we are losing in Afghanistan.”
JD, sorry I missed this shot across the bow.
All I know is that NATO requested more forces for Afghanistan.
I neither think we are losing nor winning in Afghanistan, because I don’t know what the mission is anymore outside of propping up the Karzi government. So, in essence, we have done that, we have also, unfortunately, allowed warlords like Dostum or Ismael Khan to reclaim their pre-Taliban holdings, while not apprehending OBL or destroying the Taliban and allowing poppy production to exceed pre-war levels.
On the other hand, Karzi’s government is stable (as long as NATO is there), the vaunted Taliban spring offensive was crushed, leaving them with their rural Pashtun hideouts and the Pakistan border, and NATO will be sending more troops.
Major John has an Afghanistan watch on his blog if you need more information.
All I will say regarding Afghanistan is that it is a dangerous place, which has sent almost every conqueror in history from Alexander to the Russians back across the border (except for Tamerlane) a few years after victory was declared. I will also add that the most dangerous threats in the world are right there and in the tribal areas of Pakistan and it’s good we’ve got our soldiers nearby.
Prediction #1 Major John will correct any factual errors
Prediction #2 Major John and RTO Trainer will attempt to correct my opinions.
Prediction #3 They will be disappointed, although, as always, RTO’s observation of what life is like in Kandahar will be fascinating.
P.S. Tman, it really did sound you were calling the Brits pussies in your first post (you know, where you said we might do better without them). I didn’t want to argue with you, so I didn’t respond. But, since you’re going to attack people who argue with you and I probably won’t be reading the blog until Monday…have at it, ol’ boy.
Predictably, the lefties are denying the existence of worldwide terrorism. Noted pre-9/11 terror predictor and all-around asshat Larry Johnson is spectacular in his cluelessness this morning:
London Bomb–What a Crock of Crap!!
by
Larry C Johnson
So I turn on the telly this morning and find breathless CNN anchors hyperventilating over the nuclear suicide car weapon of mass destruction discovered smoldering outside of a London nightclub…
You know what you call a vehicle with 50 gallons of gas? A Cadillac Escalade. The media meltdown over this incident is simply shameful…
For starters, gasoline is not a high explosive. If we were talking 50 pounds of Semtex or the Al Qaeda standby, TATP, I would be impressed. Those are real high explosives with a detonation rate in excess of 20,000 feet per second. Gasoline can explode (just ask former owners of a Ford Pinto) but it is first and foremost an incendiary. If the initial reports are true, the clown driving the Mercedes was a rank amateur when it comes to constructing an Improvised Explosive Device aka IED. Unlike a Hollywood flick the 50 gallons of gas would not have shredded the Mercedes into lethal chunks of flying shrapenal….
Judging from the overreaction to this non-incident I think we can safely conclude that Osama Bin Laden will remain holed up in Pakistan and let the fear mongers at CNN, MSNBC, and FOX do the dirty business of scaring the shit out of people.
Posted by Larry Johnson on Friday, 29 June 2007 at 11:09 | Permalink
Do they have bumper stickers in the U.K., it’s been a while?
Hmmm… my last comment seems to have gone into the bit bucket.
Ah well.
But police have now tied The Haymarket carbomb and the one in Hyde Park
So we have two Mercedes, both packed with gas, propane and nails … so show of hands that this is just “disaffected youths” having a lark, like TPing the neighbor’s house?
Larry forgot to mention the bottles of LPG(what the brits refer to as gas) Which, when heated to the right temperature, go off like a miniature nuke. The petrol was there to heat the propane, Larry. Dumbshit! Excuse me. I sneezed.
Oh sweetjaysus, daley
Did you get aload of Marvin’s comment (at 15:56)?
It’s Bu$Hitler and the Jooooos!
goddam
Larry also apparently doesn’t know that gasoline powered Mercedes are a bit rare on the other side of the pond. They were damn near all diesel on the continent, and I would wager the same in Britain.
heet and timmah,
for the record I called them a bunch of Class A Tits, not Tman. Perhaps in certain quarters that can be equated to “big pussies”. Either way, I do not care. Their combat operations in southern Iraq during the initial phase of the War were eye-opening to me. It indicated a lack of conviction and confidence to clear and hold combined with reliance on some form of stultifying mechanical strategy that was immune to improvisation.
Par for the course if ya read about Operation Market Garden or El-Alamein, the former where they got shredded and the latter where they got lucky when Rommel gambled by stretching his supply lines. I excepted the SAS because they have shown much more mettle in COIN – Malaya for example and RHodesia (where their tectics were adopted by the Rhodhesian SAS and Selous Scouts). If ya read that is.
Sounds to me that the fellows ensconced at the bases, from Tman’s buddy’s description, in Basra and running patrols on the water are of the non-grape variety that would rather rely on colorful language, bad breath as offensive weapons of choice than ammo up and pound the cockroaches. Its not a reflection on their personalities or their nationalilty, just a comparison to the American combat units in the field. Pure and simple.
Damn premature epostulation, I was going to add that diesel fuel was a prime ingredient in McVeigh’s bomb. There is a lot we don’t know and shouldn’t rule out here.
Except that it was all Chimpy’s fault, I mean.
Jesus.
I’m amazed how the anti-anti-jihadi reaction is to downplay unsuccessful attacks as nothing, or to do their damnedest to blame anyone but the perpetrators. Johnson is either ignorant of what propane can do, or didn’t bother to get the facts before he spouted off, or he’s intentionally ignoring the facts in an attempt to score political points.
Scary Larry call your office.
Taylor Marsh was another was another major winner of this morning’s Idiotarian Sweepstakes:
A world full of pussies.
“For Gordon Brown it is a rude awakening to the realities you take on as prime minister,” CNN’s European Political Editor Robin Oakley said.
Manhunt for London bomb suspect
This is what police do. It’s called their job. Do I have to say yet again that one car with two gasalone canisters in it and a bunch of nails is not worth alerting the worldwide media?
Honestly, get a grip, people. As for the media and cable, well, there’s simply no hope of taking them seriously anymore.
What about the detonator?
What about the timing?
Would it go off before or after the theater?
It’s reality in the modern era. Calm down, already.
___________________________________________
You have to wonder what medication they are all taking.
It is just another Bu$hCo McHalliburton Zionist conspiracy to scare those bedwetting Redstaters who see the bogeyman around every corner and will use this ruse as proof that their warforoil is working and the great war on islam must be fought not only in the middle east but everywhere as it is not enough to just make more terrahists in the middle east but npw we have to make sure that our allies want us gone too and while we are at it why not squander away every last bit of international goodwill while tap dancing on the graves of the geneva conventions and international law which we just flip the big bird to by virtue of abu ghraib gitmo and black cia prisons in the european union and torturing innocent people caught up in the war to kill muslims when all they really want to do is live in peace and blow up jews and if the amerikkkans were so strong why are people still dying after mission accomplished you wing wing nuts threaten to kill people make women get abortions with coat hangers and stone gays and expect people to vote for the amerikkkan taliban
Old Texas,
No, I specifically recalled Tman’s “The loss of the UK from Iraq may not be a bad thing.” It struck me as borderline insane and reeked of the implication they weren’t manly enough to kill Iraqis.
I ignored your contention because on the face of it, it was silly.
As for your contention re: El Alamein, I let it slide. Waverly and friends had already fought 300,000 Italians to a standstill, bloodied the Vichy French in Syria and Lebanon, and had see-sawed with the Afrika Korps for awhile before smashing most of the German armour at El Alamein. I consider victories to be victories.
As for the failure of Market Garden, the surrounded and dead English paratroopers who were, apparently in your world, giant pussies for being stranded among strong German defense, beg your pardon. As do the English armour units, whose attempts against superior odds to make the operation a success failed resulted in heavy losses.
Could you tell me how our “failure to fight” (rest in peace, Kurt Vonnegut) on the first day of the Ardennes was the fault of the English?
Or how they kicked the ever living shit out of the Argentines in 1981? Because isn’t that what you are basing our American killer rep on: the ability to win wars? Seems to me the British haven’t lost in awhile….
Tman indicated what he thought of the English and that he was just realting a story. I accept that. My brother-in-law just returned from Basrah as a liaison to the Brits and said the worst part of his year long stay was having to eat English food. Some things never change: American Special Forces guys are gung ho and the English have bad food.
I think I know from whom Jeff has been stealing all those punctuation marks he’s been hoarding.
That’s good parody.
“I specifically recalled Tman’s “The loss of the UK from Iraq may not be a bad thing.†It struck me as borderline insane and reeked of the implication they weren’t manly enough to kill Iraqis.”
You might want to have that nose looked at, timmy. Seems a bit out of calibration.
Congratulations Timmy! You’ve soiled our fair name again.
Tman indicated what he thought of the English
You missed the part where I explicitly stated “I’m not trying to denigrate the UK forces, and they are still brave and noble for serving and sacrificing, way more than myself as I type this from the safety and comfort of the homeland. ”
But please, continue to display your supreme arrogance and self-righteousness as you twist everyones words inside out in order to quench your thirst for intellectual superiority.
Prick.
Could you drop me an email, Jeff? I lost yours when I switched accounts and have something you might find amusing.
Parody parody parody I will show you parody you Man KKKoulter loving Rethuglicruds You think that you can get away with threatening to kill Sen. Edwards with terrorists You would rather talk about his sexuality calling him a faggot and silk pony rather than talk about the leadership he has shown to both Amerikkkas and being at the forefront of the war against poverty all while raising a family of patriots and his wife has cancer and he lost a child which you always mock all while fighting for the little people against big corporations doctors hospitals nurses and affiliated healthcare professionals so he could feed his family and he will protect all Amerikkkans from the faux war on terror as it is just an excuse to scare the silly people in the south and the midwest BOO into giving up their civil rights and civil liberties since bushitler and cheney are helping their oil baron buddies at halliburton line their pockets with the money and blood of the iraqi people which is made possible by the scaredy cat bedwetters that allow the raping of the geneva conventions and laugh while amerikkka torture and maims innocent women children and minorities with the menstrual blood of infidel women and extramarital rendering of innocent civilians and meanwhile back at home those frightened rethuglikkkrats are terrified that more brown people might come into their cuntry and the white elite will becum a minority and they are afraid that they will be enslaved like they do to the minorities today so the rich white patriarchy can line their pockets with the money of hard working women and children even though they continue to assault women refuse to pay them and mortgage the future of the kids with tax cuts for felon paris hilton and will kill the old people when they demolish social security so more rich whities can get richer expanding the income gap under the worst economy since hooverand the great depression and rolling back society to the stone ages
Hey P.B.T. A:
Your mom’s gonna be pissed once she finds out you’ve been typing such nonsense with her computer again.
no figs or virgins for scape goats trainees or otherwise allah hua al akbar allah muathem allah hua al rajl mus zoobee infidels
Moe.
Timothy McVey used diesel and nitrate fertilizer as his bomb. commonly known as anfo. Each taken individually are pretty harmless. Combined in the right amounts, well, we all saw what it can do. there’s enough stuff around the average home to create quite a bit of havoc.
u silly amerikkkans we can paralyze your economy and make the infidels cower in fear and wet their pants with 50 dinars worth of nails and 20 dinars of petrol inside of a nazi car how weak the paper tiger is
Personally I like witheld better than PBTA…
Tim, I am a bit startled – the British mess in Kabul was the best non-native food in country. Hmmm. In fact, the brother of the best British blogger (Tim Worstall) was a contractor there at Camp Suter – a fantastic cook at that.
Don;t over estimate how much Ismail Khan has retaken. He got cut down a notch, while Dostum got cut down half a notch. Dostum’s problem is that Herat is doing just fine without him, and the Governor out there is a stronger one than most. Ismail Khan is just an a$$h&le, and too many people are tired of his crap at this point – it’s one thing to follow a strong man when the enemy is at the gates, its another to tolerate a quasi-despotic dickhead when everyone wants to get back to normal.
Don’t like the opium – talk to the Eurpoean junkies. Those buggers consume opiates like grubs go through suburban lawns.
If you look at the Afghan situation as one of attrition – this one actually works in our favor. When I was there, the neo-Talib could still send 100-150 man formations over the border. Now, not so much. You can only scrape so much out of the Pashtun areas before you have to show some sort of success. They may be resentful of the writ of Pakistan or Afghanistan, but they aren’t dumb. And if it takes a Western military 10 years to make a really good NCO, how long does it take to replace all the Talib cadres who have been vaporized by the Brits, Canadians, American, ANA and various NATO and US Air Forces? We had worked the list down to the middle management by Spring 2005, and it hasn’t been real good for them since.
Of course, I might just get the chance late next year to see if I am right or not – on site, so I may either return triumphant or eat the Afghan version of crow (crane, if I remember correctly).
major john you are an honorable warrior a person I have no qualms with when you and your bands od brothers come around my people tend to become martyrs so as much as I respect your skills I have no desire to ever meet you or your compatriots we prefer to fight gays women children and civilians less chance they will fight back
Britain’s new Home Secretary is named Jacqui?
I wonder how the splodeydopes will react when she starts doing her Sassy Black Woman routine.
To Rusty;
Don’t you think the propane was there to detonate and vaporize the gasoline, which then would be the primary explosion? I think that was the type of bomb that killed the Marines in Beirut, except I think they used TNT to vaporize the fuel…30 gallons of gas has the energy eq. of one ton of TNT.
It’s reality in the modern era. Calm down, already.
Just relax and enjoy it, ma’am.
In 1995 my wife and I lived in Alaska, out in the boonies about 15 miles from Fairbanks. Our heating system used #2 diesel fuel for the boiler, and of course we had a septic tank.
During all the post-OKC paranoia about militias and survivalists, I used to joke (maliciously) that I had the makin’s for a bomb in tanks in my backyard.
What always impresses me about these exchanges is when heet or one of his allies posts something that reveals the central, basic error from which all the poison derives — and nobody appears to notice, or at least nobody takes them to task for it. ThomasD even pulls out the relevant quote:
This is the Mooreonic Convergence: the automatic, kneejerk equation of “occupation” with “imperialism” all the vitriol is distilled from.
It is possible, even reasonable, to regard the British activites in Northern Ireland as imperialist. That is certainly how the opposition sees it, but more importantly Ulster is, from the British point of view, part of the country, “owned” by the Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the purpose of British occupation is to maintain that status. To regard British tactics in Iraq as being defined and informed by that experience is to make the automatic and unthinking assumption that the situation is truly analogous, i.e., that the purpose of occupying Iraq is imperialist. It was not and is not, unless “imperialist” is to join “racist”, “Fascist”, and a whole list of other English words in being reduced to “the soi-disant Left doesn’t like that.”
“Imperialism” has a specific meaning. It means, at the limit, to force another polity to join the imperialists’ and become part of it; and, in lesser forms, seizing another polity’s assets for the benefit of the Empire. American and Coalition policy and intent is not and has never been imperialist, and many of the strategies and tactics that have come to be sneered at as “mistakes” were and are purely and simply the result of not being imperialist and not acting as such. Even stupid things like not stopping the looting belong in that category. If you’re being an imperialist, securing the valuable assets of the country is a top priority. If you’re not an imperialist you expect native security forces and the people of the country to secure their own assets, not just from you but from one another. And the tactics of the latter part of 2005 and all of 2006 were purely and simply an expression of non-Imperialism, an attempt to allow and encourage Iraqis to build their own political and economic structures to run the country with minimal American intrusion. They did in fact fail, but the reasons why are completely different from what is commonly assumed by opponents of the adventure. It’s damned ironic to see people criticizing Americans for imperialism by declaring that they aren’t imperialist enough!
For myself, I think one of the reasons Basra hasn’t advanced (from our point of view) much is that the British forces themselves at least somewhat buy in to the “imperialist” notion, seeing themselves as acting as they did in Northern Ireland, and for much the same reasons. If that attitude informs their tactics, much becomes clear about the way they behave and the results of their activities. It’s possible to blame Bush & Co. for not properly communicating the goals, but while I don’t think Bush is much of a “communicator” to start with, I also don’t think it would or could have been very readily possible to communicate any idea opposed by an attitude so deeply ingrained in the Press and the Left; it’s the main way the latter two are synonymous.
America’s intent in Iraq is not imperialist. Watch for the places where the notion that it is and must be, and try to quash the notion. It may be too late, but it still needs to be done.
Regards,
Ric
ha ha, Ric, your points about imperialism make we wonder why so many on the left are eager for us to occupy Sudan. and when will we end our occupation of Kosovo?
Pardon my lack of willingness to do the research, but how long has it been known that Blair was stepping down? Has it been long enough for someone/group to plan such a coordinated attack (2 car bombs in London and a burning Jeep in Glasgow)? Was it already planned and then postponed/moved up to coincide with the first weekend after the new government took over?
I’m just wondering if Jeff’s comment…
“looks like the insurgent jihadi freedom fighters are serving notice to Britain’s new Labour Party Prime Minister that, like Spain before them, Britain should take the opportunity of political change to rationalize their way out of Iraq”
…is jumping to a conclusion (or, giving the terrorist too much credit), if it turns out there hasn’t been enough time, or it is determined they had chosen this weekend for the attack prior to Blair’s stepping down announcement. (Not sure if this is the right way to phrase my question, but I intend it in a non-snark tone).
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