things will get fun now.
Serious!
Ohhh dear! Often, better the 'devil' you have, and know
a decent 'track record' about, and are kinda able to
predict,
rather than the turmoil and fights to follow.
"Fun" - certainly depends on the viewpoint.
"May you live in exciting times" - right!
He's resigned because the newly elected government threw him out.
He held out for immunity but didn't get it, which may well mean a compound
in Florida rather than a compound in Islamabad.
Fortunately for all of us the Islamic parties got completely thrashed in the
recent Pakistani elections, even out on the Frontier.
Which means the current government there has a mandate to go after the
terrorists, even the ones their own military are busy sponsoring.
--
William Black
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.
Barbeques on fire by the chalets past the castle headland
I watched the gift shops glitter in the darkness off the Newborough gate
All these moments will be lost in time, like icecream on the beach
Time for tea.
more likely switzerland over florida
Harare or Mogadishu would work for me.
He's your boy.
The US will give him immunity against extradition for his various ghastly
crimes.
The Indian government wants him for murder from back before he overthrew the
Pakistani government.
He was an ISI head of department, he's dirty from way back.
> > He held out for immunity but didn't get it, which may well mean a
> > compound in Florida rather than a compound in Islamabad.
>
> more likely switzerland over florida
Harare or Mogadishu would work for me.
----------------------
He's your boy, you're gonna get him.
That is assuming he can't do an immunity deal in Pakistan, and even if he
does his life isn't worth a 'plugged nickel' there. He isn't going to be
able to nip down to the Islamabad 7-11 for a packet of fags without drawing
fire.
The USA or Western Europe are just about the only places on earth he'll be
able to live some form of normal life.
And Western Europe won't entertain him because he has human rights charges
hanging over him.
which is why he'll go to switzerland.
just remember it was your country that screwed these places up and forced
groups together when drawing up the borders.
a little less gin before drawing up the maps might have been in order.
british colonial incompetence has led to most of the ethnic troubles.
Aw the French take anybody, long as you fly in enough gold bullion and
put it in the Bank of France, buy a villa and keep your nose clean.
Not sure the Brits would take him, though by rights, it was a Royal
Colony at one time. Not sure he'd fit in at all the 'right' clubs
though. Just because he can play cricket isn't enough.
Well no.
That's rather the point about South Asia.
The locals wanted partition, the British wanted a united India.
There'd still be trouble, but if Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Burma
had been a single country, as the British wanted, there wouldn't have been
a tenth of what there is now.
Partition and the idea of Pakistan was invented by Jinnah as a political
ploy. It just turned out, in the circumstances, to be inevitable, which
was a pity...
---------------------------
Not a hope with the current government in France.
Didn't you notice when they took 'Freedom Fries' off the menue...
--------------------------
Not sure the Brits would take him, though by rights, it was a Royal
Colony at one time.
---------------------------
What is now 'Pakistan' was never any sort of 'Royal Colony'. Indeed the
only bit of India that was ever directly 'Royal' in a British sense, as far
as I'm aware, is Bombay.
--------------------------
Not sure he'd fit in at all the 'right' clubs
though. Just because he can play cricket isn't enough.
---------------------------
Every officer I've ever met in the Indian and Pakistani armies, which is a
small but significant number, would fit into any British military mess
without any problems, although they'd probably be considered a touch old
fashioned.
Indian army officers are regularly seen in the UK, these days the Pakistani
army tends to go to the USA...
and what about places like iraq and the middle east. is that the locals
fault too?
england had the power and they did what was convienient for them and not
what was smart for the region.
Interesting how you change the subject so quickly.
One minute India, the next the rest of the empire.
We'll be talking about Ireland next.
Somebody was saying on the news part of the problem was how quickly
the UK left their colonies, didn't transition in a native government.
I don't think anybody did it well, and there were a lot of crooks that
took over, of course its not PC to say they were a bunch of thieving ba
$tards...now the multinationals are propping a lot of them up in
return for concessions on oil or mineral rights.
Actually the Subject was the resignation of Musharrif, but we have
drifted as we often do. As far as Colonial Failure goes? The UK has
decent record. Most of the Commonwealth turned into OK nation states.
Burma, Malaya, & Zimbabwe seem higher on the fail list than Pakistan.
> i didn't change the subject. the subject was the failure of england to
> leave stable countries in the wake of their colonial retreat.
> but i will grant you that belgium, portugal and holland were worse.
1. In fact the subject is on the subject line.
2. It's not 'England'.
Somebody was saying on the news part of the problem was how quickly
the UK left their colonies, didn't transition in a native government.
I don't think anybody did it well, and there were a lot of crooks that
took over, of course its not PC to say they were a bunch of thieving ba
$tards...now the multinationals are propping a lot of them up in
return for concessions on oil or mineral rights.
-----------------------------------
The British empire was vast and it's difficult to generalise about it.
The bulk of the colonies were given independence well over half a century
ago.
Anyone who was in power then is long gone now.
The governments of Canada, New Zealand, Australia and India seem
reasonably stable and fairly honest.
Some of the African ones are in a bit of a state but places like Malaysia
seem to be managing.
Too many Pakistanis in Britain know how to make bombs, Musharrif would
not be safe in Britain.
Andrew Swallow
> Every officer I've ever met in the Indian and Pakistani armies, which is a
> small but significant number, would fit into any British military mess
> without any problems, although they'd probably be considered a touch old
> fashioned.
>
> Indian army officers are regularly seen in the UK, these days the Pakistani
> army tends to go to the USA...
Officers of both countries meet when they attend the National Security
Programme at the Canadian Forces College
(http://www.cfc.forces.gc.ca/DP4/NSP/NSP1/nspoverv_e.html). The mess in Armour
Heights, a prime example of stock broker Tudor, would do credit to any
garrison (http://www.cfc.forces.gc.ca/resources/mess.jpg). Reportedly, some
Pakistanis drink there -- I can't say; what's done in the mess stays in the
mess.
--
Andrew Chaplin
SIT MIHI GLADIUS SICUT SANCTO MARTINO
(If you're going to e-mail me, you'll have to get "yourfinger." out.)
> Somebody was saying on the news part of the problem was how quickly
> the UK left their colonies, didn't transition in a native government.
> I don't think anybody did it well, and there were a lot of crooks that
> took over, of course its not PC to say they were a bunch of thieving ba
> $tards...now the multinationals are propping a lot of them up in
> return for concessions on oil or mineral rights.
Only the leaders with the common sense to realise that they need the
multinationals to do the mining are being propped up. Too many
governments listened to the left wingers who said running companies
was easy for politicians (and they also get to keep the profits). The
Chinese keep finding abandoned mines still full of minerals.
Andrew Swallow
Do you think they will be able to go after 'the terrorists', William ?
Are the spy's in the ministry 'known' [the one's who warn before a mission],
will it be feasible to expect a *purge* ?
What is _your- feeling on the new admistration, how will it treat the US and
'the War in Afghanistan' ?
cheers....Jeff
cheers....Jeff
> Do you think they will be able to go after 'the terrorists', William ?
In reality, no. What they should be able to do is reign in the ISI and so
close the terrorist training camps that Musharaf couldn't.
> Are the spy's in the ministry 'known' [the one's who warn before a
> mission], will it be feasible to expect a *purge* ?
No idea.
> What is _your- feeling on the new admistration, how will it treat the US
> and 'the War in Afghanistan' ?
Almost certainly they'll want the USA at arm's length.
They saw what happened to Musharaf for siding with the USA.
Too many bombs on innocents for them to stomach.
As is usual in South Asia it's a mess, but usually people start making shed
loads of money and stuff calms down.
If the Pakistani economy gets running they should become reasonably stable.
Same at the Joint Services Command & Staff College. I've met both Indian
and Pakistani students on the Advanced Command & Staff Course there.
<http://www.da.mod.uk/colleges/jscsc>
--
The nation that makes a great distinction between its scholars and its
warriors, will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting done
by fools.
-Thucydides
paul<dot>j<dot>adam[at]googlemail{dot}.com