On my way out

What a week it has been! Its the second week back at school and things are picking up already while I am leaving for two weeks to go back to Sri Lanka. We celebrated Martin Luther King's birthday, the Democrats finished their much talked about 100 hours today though I still cant figure out where they learned to keep time. Bob Gates made a trip to Iraq - again, Shawn and Ben are back with their families and are being swamped by the media, America has been fascinated by the recent hooliganism that occurred in Taiwan's parliament, the debate is on about who won the recent spat between Rosie and Donald, more people joined the race for 08 and the battle between the legislature and the executive is warming up.

Lindsey Lohan has checked into rehab and Miss America is expected out of rehab soon. The big hullabaloo about president Carter's new book is still raging though his book really isn't all that new anymore. The State Of The Union is coming up next week and the Southwest is expecting more bizarre weather. I'm typing all this at 3 am on Saturday morning while staying awake to try and reduce the jet lag for when I get back home.

A timeless lesson in a modern day horror story

The story of Shawn Hornbeck has gripped America. Really, it is a gripping story about a boy kidnapped and held captive for four years, until his kidnapper went out and kidnapped another boy. The second kidnapping broke the case and police were able to find the second boy and the kidnapper, in the process finding Shawn. I cant imagine what the parents must have gone through. Now the media is all over the story and there will be investigations into various stuff, including whether the kidnapper wanted the boys for sex.

In addition to all the lessons coming out of this story, I think in a sick way, there is one timeless lesson that no one seems to be focusing on: greed. I am in no way condoning the actions of the kidnapper and I am as elated as any one else that this has finally come to an end, but think about it. I did, and it occurred to me that if there was no second kidnapping, Shawn wouldn't have been found yet. The story unravelled because Shawn could no longer satisfy his kidnapper, or because after four years of not getting caught he felt emboldened, but the lesson is that he became greedy and got caught. In a modern day horror story I find a timeless lesson.

This I know is a truly different view.

Laboring Under Illusions

That big speech given by the president - ya, the one on Wednesday night, I finally heard parts of it. Mr. Bush thinks that the Iraqi's owe the Americans "gratitude". I believe he still thinks that the Iraqi's will welcome the Americans with rose petals just like it was predicted before the war and he probably has some theory about why that hasn't happened yet. Maybe its the Syrians who are denying the funding needed to buy those petals? I mean, with inflation in Iraq so high, things must be really expensive!

We know the president is labouring under many illusions, but the illusion that the Iraqi's owe gratitude is one he needs to part with. In fact, Halliburton's (and other oil companies) profits show that the President has gotten way more than his share of gratitude for this war. In addition, maybe Condi should remind him that the Americans helped the Allies in World War II and look how much gratitude they got for that! Junior just doesn't seem to get it! Maybe a "surge" in the number of daddy's friends in the White House might help him come to terms with reality? Then again, maybe not, seeing as how the Baker-Hamilton commission report has been flushed down the toilet.

While on the speech and Iraq, my friend Deane wants to know what I think should be done. I think that if you are going to send troops, send enough to actually make a difference. The "Coalition of the Willing" is not so willing anymore and therefore the Americans need to cover up for that loss, and then add some more.

However, I think the Americans should pull out their troops too. Sometimes leaders have to follow, especially when you are not doing much of a job of leading. The only way to turn this around is to let the Iraqi's hit "rock bottom" and the presence of the Americans is delaying that. Leave, let them hit "rock bottom" and figure out on their own and in their own way what needs to be done. Its going to be bloody, and not what the Americans want to happen or how the Americans want it to happen, but it will happen. When it does, it is more than likely that Saddam II would rise to the top, but hey, that's the best that can be hoped for under the circumstances. At least we can be sure that Al Qaeda will not be in Iraq anymore.

We must also make note of the argument that Islamic countries can never have democracy in the way the west wants them too. I believe there is a basis for this argument though I don't believe it to be entirely true. On the other hand, the Americans need to understand that the uniqueness of their development gives them a different perception and understanding of things and that they cannot force their values on other nations that have not undergone the same development and don't see things their way.

However, if you still want to force your values on to other nations, do the whole package and not just the ones that serve your interests.

21,500

I'm hoping it is the magic number: 21,500. The number of new troops that will be going to Iraq. 21,500 more lives put at risk to achieve the "mission", whatever the heck that is.

Its been a busy week and I haven't been following the story as much as id like to, but from what I hear, a lot of people are unhappy about this. I am hoping this is the magic number because I hope it will turn things around. I doubt it though. Firstly, how was this number derived at? I know Bush doesn't read, so its a safe bet that he hasn't read Malcolm Gladwell's book "The Tipping Point".

Regardless of how this number was derived at, I would like to know how many of them speak the language of the region. How many ever soldiers you send, I don't think it matters if they cannot communicate. If the soldiers, like the people sending them, do not know the difference between Bin and Binte as pointed out previously, not much good is going to come out of this. Further, I think other changes have to be made, not only with regard to domestic issues, but international issues too. Syria and Iran need to be brought in. It is clear that that will not happen, at least as clear as it was that Rumsfeld would not be fired.

That changed, and I'm hoping this will too.

Enough Already!

January 8th, 2007. 10.59 ET

At this moment, NBC is reporting that the U.S has launched air strikes against targets in Somalia. Apparently, the operation is still ongoing and naval vessels have been dispatched to support the operation already under way. After watching the report, I turned on CNN and Fox news, the only two I have access to, but they are not reporting anything. Therefore, I am desperately hoping that this is not true. I guess time will tell.....

In the mean time, assuming that this is true, here are my thoughts: WHAT THE HECK!!

Apparently, the US government had assurances from the Somalian and Ethiopian governments that "should they obtain intelligence concerning the whereabouts of the Al-Qaida operatives, they would pass it on to the United States." Does this mean that the US also had the permission to attack based on that evidence?

Here's another thought: assuming that there is evidence, is it concrete by accepted international standards, or is it as concrete as the evidence of the presence of WMD in Iraq?

Assuming that the answer to both questions is positive, let me pose another one: which government has given the permission and provided the evidence? Last I knew, the Somalian government was running for cover as Islamic fundamentalists overran the capital, the result of which was the intervention of the Ethiopian military.

Apparently, things were settling down. That is, until now.

Goodbye Saddam

So, Saddam was executed. How much does it matter? Politically he was dead long before he was even caught. How many lives has it saved? Does Iraq have a more secure government? Do the Iraqi's have more security? How much money has America saved? Do the relatives of his victims feel better now, vindicated even?

Now we have a video released to show us how horribly the whole thing was carried out and surprise surprise, there is a rush to condemn the way it was done. In fact, I burst out laughing when I watched that military spokesman clamour at the news conference to explain that it was all the fault of the Iraqi's. What a joke!

Personally, I don't believe that any one has a right to sentence any one to death, regardless of their crimes and so I believe Saddam should have not been executed. The whole process that lead to the comedy that was his execution was a joke. There was an extreme bias in the trial from the outset and therefore, his trial should have been held at the Hague, just like Slobodan Milosevic's trial was.

Regardless of how the entire process from his capture to his execution was handled, nothing has changed and so, his execution really does not matter.

Hopes for 2007

They say back home that if you do something on the first day of the year, you will continue to do it throughout the year. There are many people who believe this, including teachers who have classes early in the morning of the 1st of January so that their students continue to study throughout the year. Thankfully, I didn't have any teachers who believed in it strongly enough to have classes because I was sure that I would not attend that class. I always wondered though whether I would be skipping classes more than usual during the year as a result of missing the first class of the year.

Being a devout multilateralist and an ardent believer in organizations like the UN, NATO and WTO, my hope is that these organizations would see better days than they did last year so that all of us can see our hopes for a more peaceful year come alive. To that effect, I hope the new Secretary General of the UN is hard at work pulling diplomatic strings today so that he continues to do so throughout the year.

As for me, who knows, I might end up blogging more often this year. After all, I am doing it on the first day of the year.