I don’t know about you, but I found something about these two headlines in today’s BBC feed to be just a little jarring:
Iran ‘reaches key nuclear goal’
Iran has met a key target for its nuclear programme and now has 3,000 centrifuges enriching uranium, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said.
Mr Ahmadinejad said Iran would continue its drive in spite of UN sanctions.
Pope leads eco-friendly festival
The Catholic Church has declared Sunday “Save Creation Day” as Pope Benedict joined about 300,000 young Roman Catholics for an eco-friendly festival.
The youth festival is being held at the shrine of Loreto, in Italy.
In his main homily the Pope urged young Catholics to take better care of the planet and called for “courageous decisions” to safeguard creation.
Meanwhile, having given up for now looking down their noses at the colonial troops walking the mean streets of Baghdad in full battle rattle, but stung perhaps that some in the US have questioned their performance in Basra, where three Shi’ite gangs wrestle for control of the city’s institutions and the British Army defends its cantonments on the outskirts, senior members of the UK military are blaming the US for “fatally flawed” post-war policy.
Well, sure: “Fatal” would tend to indicate that the patient has died which seems at least a little premature, but these guys have reputations to salvage defend and it isn’t like the book publishers will wait forever.
Since Waterloo was the highwater mark of Brit generalship, these fellows are but a footnote.
Now the Mountaineers of Appalachian State, there’s a story of grit & determination overcoming long odds. I’d put my money on those guys straightening out Basra in short order.
Yeah, let’s blame the bloody Colonials for their desire to cut and run in the south, which sounds like a sneak preview of what the rest of Iraq would look like if we did the same.
“Their” meaning the Brits, btw.
Ah England,
Enchanted land of mists and coastlines, where fairies still flit about, and ruddy-faced young men dream of becoming a queen…..
How did that old phrase go? “The blood never dries on the English Empire?”
Nice culture they’ve got there….
Respects,
Actually, for us to ever have a “fatally flawed post-war policy” assumes we actually had one to begin with. And therein lies the rub.
(No, I don’t have a publisher waiting in the wings, either.)
Capn,
I thought the Brits wanted Basra from the first. Something about being close to water’s edge and friendly shores close by.
Casca,
The New Son-In-Law is a graduate of U of M. He sports one of their ballcapa at all times (even at the dinner table). Needless to say, his weekend was ruined. My only comment, ‘Do they play Navy? If not its meaningless.’
filterman
Keep those cards and letters coming. I enjoy a good laugh.
Arrghhh…what happened to the Irish?? Not sure whether I should watch ND-Mich or not this year..(-*
Brits…many make better Americans than Americans – and some are infected with “Montgomeryism”…was seen for what it was then too.