Lee on Sep 09 2008 | Filed under: Around the Web
Boy, this is an unwise move. Perhaps my Tory colleagues are right and Gordon really is tempermentally unfit to govern. It’s an enormous risk and a pointless one, in that it cannot help Obama. British interference in American governance…well, we settled that one at the Treaty of Paris in 1783.
Sphere: Related ContentLee on Aug 01 2008 | Filed under: Around the Web
Joshua Foust on May 06 2008 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, History
Published first at Registan.net, this is the culmination of some research I’ve been doing into the nature and history of Pashtun tribal militancy. It draws from a mixture of out-of-print ethnocgraphic and geographic surveys, as well as contemporary news accounts, and tries to make the case that much of the turbulence there is really not unique in an historical sense. As always, comments and discussion is welcome.
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There is a great deal of western unease about the potential cease-fire between some Taliban and tribal militant groups in the NWFP and FATA of Pakistan and the new civilian government. Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of Tehrik-i Taliban and primary suspect in the assassination of Benazir Bhutto and sworn enemy of this month’s U.S. friend-of-convenience Maulvi Nazir, has registered interest in a cease-fire in Waziristan.
This is a major step, and indicative of the approach valued by the new civilian government: reconciliation, not confrontation. The usual suspects, namely the U.S., are all a-jitter about the prospect of a peace deal with the militants there. But there really is no reason to feel such deep concern. These sorts of cease fire agreements have a long history in the FATA area, and there really is nothing fundamentally new about the situation. In other words, such deep concern is overblown, and stems more from historical naiveté than anything else.
Sphere: Related ContentLee on Feb 11 2008 | Filed under: Around the Web
Lee on Feb 09 2008 | Filed under: Around the Web
Andy Burnham, the UK’s Labour Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, was caught in thick mascara at Prime Minister’s Questions on Thursday (glamor shot here). It might seem a light affair, but the peril for the British public is substantial. As Taxtrust points out, the gentleman from Leigh with an otherwise meaningless departmental title, will have to actually do something now. That is, lest be be remembered exclusively as the British Breck Girl. FWIW, Burnham has denied using any cosmetics, in a classic Kelly LeBrock defense. Don’t hate him because he’s beautiful.
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