Quite agree Swanny, and I'm sure there must be a way to win this war but it most certainly isn't by dropping bombs out of planes.
Absolutely, Oddy. The Americans, and now it would seem the Russians, quite often have no idea as to exactly who they are bombing?
I'm not sure what the **** is going on here. The whole thing is a complete shambles. We have a host of religious zealots previously funded and or armed to some degree by the self appointed World Sheriff, kicking up a **** fight in Syria and it's surrounds, which in turn has ignited a flight of human misery into Europe. One didn't have to be a Rhode's Scholar to understand that hidden among the innocent, there was certain to be a bunch of fanatics. What's the answer? Close borders every time the crap hits the fan? Sounds great right now doesn't it? **** 'em all off, let 'em wallow in their own stinkin' ****. Stuff humanity. If we lived this kind of existence, we's soon find ourselves back in the stone age. There is no easy answer to this mess. No Shock and Awe attack and no massive land assault will put an end to a enemy that can hide it's combatants in the general population. The real power of the West is in the heavy hand it can exert on the so called leaders of the Middle East. Sometimes people have to forced in rational behavior.
Back from racing in Paris safe and (not quite) sound. Left Paris on Eurostar on Wednesday and spent a couple of nights in London. Bit worried as everything went smoothly!!! Great day at the races; won about 200 Euros. SH - went to see a new German movie about Georg Elser; in German with French subtitles so I managed to understand all the intricaces of the narrative. I was however aware of the 'history'. Have read about Elser and there was an earlier film about the subject. Since I returned on Friday have not slept as I have been watching the rolling news programmes. Cannot really add anything to the points made above.
A very popular TV programme on Bavaria's BR channel on Sunday mornings between 11:00 and 12:00 CET is "Der Sonntags-Stammtisch" (Stammtisch means, roughly, a pub table permanently reserved for regular customers). Actually, we actually went to this live show a few years ago, as 'extras'; beer was alcohol-free, unfortunately. My better half never misses it (bit too 'dialect' for me!), and she just told me an amazing story which I had not heard before. This guy on Stammtisch this week (there are three regulars (including the moderator) and two guests which today included Horst Seehofer, Bayern's Minister-President) said that a man turned up at a turnstile for the Friday 'friendly' between France and Germany with a valid ticket. The turnstile man noticed a fairly large bulge under his shirt and, incredibly, refused to let him through without him agreeing to a thorough search; the man left. The man turned out to be one of the dead terrorists, identified, I guess, by the stadium employee. Christ Almighty! Just asked the missus exactly which one of the five guys in this TV show related this story. She said it was the moderator himself, Helmut Markwort, who is the co-founder and former editor-in-chief of the highly-respected "Focus" magazine here in Germany. So, I guess, it sounds pretty authentic.
Was lying in my hotel room in Germany (Christ knows where) and discovered a similar programme however the moderator and the six or so guests were former German footballers. I think Thomas Helmer was the moderator and it was on late evening. Some of the tales were a wee bit tasty!
That is correct, Cyc, the turnstile employee refused to let him through. I had not heard this story before an hour ago.
American policy has become very simple. They perceive that the way to deal with ISIS is to behead the monster. They use targeted air strikes – usually by unmanned drones rather than risking pilots – aimed at the leaders of ISIS, whom they track down by spying on them electronically. Russian policy is pure and simple support for the Assad regime, which they have armed for decades. At the moment they generally target the rebel forces rather than ISIS; however, the downing of the holiday jet may see some movement in their position, although the target may be Egyptian ISIS if they conclude that they are to blame. If the West wants to slow ISIS down they need to start taking measures to starve them of funding. We know that they receive funding from Sunni Muslim sympathisers in places like Saudi Arabia and they generate funds by selling captured oil and antiquities on the black market. As it stands, it has been reported that one of the jihadists was a Syrian, one was an Egyptian and one was a French-born of Algerian descent whom the authorities already had under surveillance. The German security services must be having kittens wondering just who Angela Merkel has invited to live there. As French police have located the car that some of the jihadists used to get away, it is only reasonable to conclude that the eight dead jihadists are not the whole cell and there are now an unknown number of terrorists loose in France.
Wow!..hang on Swanny..I didn't call anyone a loon..merely stating that such a state of mind exists. I stand by my remark about the threat to National Security though...it wasn't and isn't regardless of the terrible loss of life on Friday evening.
The West doesn't seem to know what it's doing frankly. We are currently backing Kurdish terrorists and Syrian terrorists who are being attacked by Turkish forces and yet Turkey,aside from the ghastly yids,is our main ally in the region,and provided air bases for years to back up the carriers in the Gulf. We have also joined the propaganda war and spent millions killing a no mark "Jihadi John"..why? Probably illegal as well under "International Law" which doesn't exist. Leave it to the towel heads to sort out their own mess. It should be nothing to do with us or anyone within 1000 miles of us.
OK, Dexter, fair enough, we agree to disagree. I also stand by my own opinion that it is a definite threat to not only the national security of France, but to each and every European country. It is an extremely serious situation.
It should be, but unfortunately it is a lot to do with us now. Here's an article from Deutsche Welle's chief editor which puts things far more eloquently than I could ever manage: http://www.dw.com/en/opinion-an-asymmetrical-war/a-18852015
"Yid" is often a self referencing term used by people from that culture and certainly not pejorative to many. Never aware of the "rag head" terminology..I am now thanks to you. Swanny,don't start a row where there isn't one!
No row intended, but Jewish people don't call each other Yids. However, Yiddish is a form of Hebrew, I believe, spoken in the past by mostly Germans of the Jewish faith. 'Rag Heads' is derogatory, I can assure you.
Any hooo i'm off up the Errigle for a few pints of Belfast Ale with my Mick mates . I'm in the pinewood Beefy if you fancy joining me for a jar.
Have to admit I had to look up 'asymmetric' and discovered asymmetric war to which the author refers to in his article. Cannot think of a solution apart from massive air strikes plus the cliche of boots on the ground to inflict a massive defeat on IS or whatever they are currently known as. We would have to be very vigilant in all European states and possibly have to expect some more attacks as in Paris until IS is predominantly 'defeated'. The difficulty is how would the rest of the 'Muslim World' would react to what they may see as a Crusade by the Christian West. The problem is how many Cells already exist in European countries. The more I think about this problem the more I consider my suggestion irrelevant and unworkable so I have to accept that I am not clever or experienced enough to formulate a solution.
