libertymine

The end is nigh...

2009-03-29T04:32:00.000-07:00

... I have decided to bring to end my blogging, well almost.

LibertyMine will soon cease to exist. I just have to spend time saving all my favourite blogs as normal favourites on my browser so I can still follow what other (better) people write and then this will disappear, probably sometime this afternoon.

There are a number of reasons for this, not least the fact that I have to run this thing anonymously because of where I work. I don't like not giving me name, or hiding my hideous features in my profile picture. If I did not depend on my job, or rather if my views did not put that employment at risk then I would happily have my name/face about this place.

As it is I will continue to read the work of others and comment, probably still as LibertyMine or LM but without a blog to back it up.

I will continue to be active writing, just not here.

Thanks for all the comments people have left so far. I haven't changed my views, I just need to shake off the hijab (incidently Google can't find this word on Spellcheck and suggests one of the alternatives as HIJACK - how appropriate!) I've been wearing recently.

The Fall of Pakistan

2009-03-24T05:22:00.000-07:00

The new government of Pakistan appears to have little or no idea how it will move forward away from extremism and the threat of terrorism in the country. I remember when Musharraf took office eight or so years ago, colleagues I worked with who had Pakistani connections celebrated the end of democracy and the imposition of his kind of tough military rule. Musharraf was instantly popular but became increasingly unpopular, not least for his support of the west but also his internal policies. His rule unwound and with it he became vulnerable to the sort of end that has befallen so many Pakistani rulers over the last 50 years.

His successor has conceded defeat in the Swat Valley. The first defeat. The view of this area is something akin to Chechnya, bombed out ruins of former infrastructure. Continued homicide bombing has wiped out police stations and government offices and now the schools have been wiped away as well. The Taliban is back. Pushed aside from the rule of Afghanistan but not defeated it has found a new stronghold in a part of Pakistan that the government there has little confidence of defeating. This will not be the government’s last defeat.

Today a terrorist attack in Islamabad signals that nothing has changed with the new government or the concessions made by the new President.

Where will this go? Will Pakistan ultimately, perhaps not now, but over the next few years gradually fall further and further to strict Sharia law and the lawmakers of the Taliban? Is it conceivable that the Taliban could eventually take control of the entire nation? Pakistan is far more westernised and modern than many believe and certainly any civil war of this kind would result in thousands of deaths and no doubt a major exodus of citizens (another reason for the UK’s open door immigration policy to be reviewed). The bankruptcy of the country would follow as foreign investors flee, and tourism all but disappears. Media embargoes will ensure that only those scratchy mobile phone videos will surface depicting the awful atrocities that the Taliban and strict Sharia Law will bring.

If this happens then a major ally in the region will go. It is no wonder that the Big O is looking for an escape route from Afghanistan. I cannot see any way out of that infamous region without the concession of defeat to the Taliban. No manner of western-trained Afghan soldiers or the will of the majority or its government will be able to turn the tide of the Taliban in their surge to reoccupy Kabul. It will be like the fall of Saigon all over again. Americans (and probably British) fleeing in the last packed helicopters as the enemy at the gates swarms the ramparts.

Pakistan falls, Afghanistan either precedes or follows it. Two major nations sharing borders become a stronghold for Islamic rule. There is no turning back. Literally none. The will and firepower of the West cannot defeat this type of rule which exists on personal poverty and the iron-fist. Ahmadinejad has already said that the numbers are in his/their favour.

Where next?

India has always had a desperate balancing act. Its secular existence has had to tolerate all manner of extremism and terrorism. Muslims control vast areas and from here, with the support of Taliban Pakistan and Afghanistan these regions could quickly become strict Sharia bases from which the Taliban would grow rapidly. Therefore within time the Taliban will control parts of India, but not India itself. India the vast and beautiful nation with such rich history and wonderful people is still a nation of Hindus who will fight for their freedoms and liberties. This war could indeed be the most deadly the nation has ever fought against imperialism or Islam.

The Big O like Clinton before him will become insular. He is already pretty much a protectionist and interventionist. It is the socialist way. This will reflect his isolationist foreign policy. Part of his winning the election was down to his commitment to withdraw from Iraq. He will have this achieved in the next 2-3 years. Now he is sounding out Afghanistan. He is offering a surge, like the one that was so successful in Iraq. He will no doubt put a timeline on this. Does he want to go into the 2012 election with US troops still dying in Afghanistan? I doubt it. Especially as the environment there becomes even more difficult as the Taliban gains ground in Pakistan. The surge will give him a moment to publicly reflect the success of his policy and allow a speedy withdraw before the folly of it is exposed.

Out of Iraq and out of Afghanistan by 2013? I do not think he will commit US troops to any other campaign in the region.

I would look at strengthening ties with India as much as possible. Pakistan is all but lost as far as I can see. It will remain a large and strong enough buffer against the Taliban for a few years yet. Time enough to ensure India is fully prepared to deal with the tide of extremism and terrorism that will come its way in the next few years. India should always have been our ally, more so than Pakistan, for the Pakistani nation is Islamic and therefore susceptible to the fall that I foresee coming. How we can help India further I do not know, these are the answers that the National Security Agency will have. India has to be the priority.

Like Israel has been, is and will remain the frontline of the war on terror, India will become the next major front. The third front is the Fifth Column of Western Europe, and finally the fourth front is the United States itself.

Word verification switched off

2009-03-22T10:20:00.000-07:00

Decided to switch off word verification to make it simpler to add comments. I'll just have to see if this opens the floodgates to spam comments.

Islam, the Koran 47.4

2009-03-22T07:40:00.000-07:00

[47.4] So when you meet in battle those who disbelieve, then smite the necks until when you have overcome them, then make (them) prisoners, and afterwards either set them free as a favor or let them ransom (themselves) until the war terminates. That (shall be so); and if Allah had pleased He would certainly have exacted what is due from them, but that He may try some of you by means of others; and (as for) those who are slain in the way of Allah, He will by no means allow their deeds to perish.

As with other verses, the trouble here again is the literal sense in which these old texts are still used today. There is no progression or modernisation.

Those Koran posts explained

2009-03-22T07:32:00.000-07:00

The reason I have begun, and will continue to publish parts of the Koran is because they originated from a poster produced by two students in India. The poster contained 24 Koranic verses and ended with the line "Why riots take place in this country." Needless to say the two students were arrested and sent to court. The wise intervention of the magistrate who acquitted them said:

...a close perusal of the Ayats [verses] shows that that the same are harmful and teach hatred, and are likely to create differences between Mohammedans on one hand and the remaining communities on the other.

The full list of these verses can be found at the foot of the article Geert Wilders and the Koran over on Hindu Vivek Kendra. The original American Thinker post is here.

Islam, the Koran 66.9

2009-03-22T07:27:00.000-07:00

[66.9] O Prophet! strive hard against the unbelievers and the hypocrites, and be hard against them; and their abode is hell; and evil is the resort.

Nice.

Islam, the Koran 4.56

2009-03-22T07:25:00.000-07:00

[4.56] (As for) those who disbelieve in Our communications, We shall make them enter fire; so oft as their skins are thoroughly burned, We will change them for other skins, that they may taste the chastisement; surely Allah is Mighty, Wise.

Islam, the Koran 9.123

2009-03-22T07:23:00.000-07:00

[9.123] O you who believe! fight those of the unbelievers who are near to you and let them find in you hardness; and know that Allah is with those who guard (against evil).

Our Sunday summon begins.

Galloway banned from entering Canada, if only...

2009-03-22T06:41:00.000-07:00

So the Canadians have banned the Gallofarce from polluting their territories. Well done them. He plans to fight the ban. Hope he loses.

If only we had that power, to ban people that really are a threat or nuisance to our country. Of course, our government does have the power, but will only use it where some Lord Ahmedamurderer* stamps his feat.

Georgie boy would be one of those near the top of the list. Revoke his citizenship and ban him from the country. Tell him to go seek asylum in Iran, Syria, Libya, Lebanon or Gaza. I'm sure they would be grateful for him. Whether they would still pay his MPs salary of £63,291 I'm not so sure.

* Lord Ahmedamurderer is a fictional character. Any similarity to any person living or deceased is purely coincidental. This is not meant in any way to refer to any Lord Ahmed, if there is one, or any suggestion that he is a murderer, as I doubt he is. He just kills people on motorways.

Interesting UFO story from Telegraph

2009-03-22T06:00:00.000-07:00

I used to "believe" in UFOs, back in the innocence of my youth. Fantasy and my lack of knowledge of the great unknown out there allowed my mind to race with ideas of civilisations in systems far, far away. I can blame Spielberg and others in Hollywood for adding fuel to these ideas. Then I remember coming across some programme about how life on earth came to be, how so many circumstances had to come together to ensure life could exist. It was this explanation that convinced me, reluctantly, that life on earth might well be it.

Still however, stories persist to occasionally grab my attention of unexplained aerial activity. I am not one to look at photographs and video because so many are so painfully fake they're embarrassing to the whole argument of other life out there. It only really gets interesting when official documents get declassified. Today I came across this piece in The Telegraph. Ultimately, like so many newspaper articles it doesn't really go anywhere and you can get the whole article in the headline. It intrigued me though, not that it was seen, or that is was photographed, but the presence of two apparently RAF Harrier jets.

It is little things like this that make the story more interesting. The notes of the documents indicate the consideration that the sighting could have been the Aurora spy plane. This is perhaps the most common avenue for denying UFOs in the last two decades - to try and link it to some supposedly top-secret (though how that figures when everyone is talking about it I don't know) new plane.

I did a very quick internet search to see if I could anything of the photographs mentioned and nothing but appalling fakes and other related botched-up UFO images could be found. The trouble with a lot of these images is they often bare a striking resemblance to the prevailing Hollywood interpretation of an alien spacecraft. Saucers and disks in the 50's and 60's, gradually giving way to more cylindrical vehicles in the 70's and 80's and then into more diamond-shaped objects in recent years. The saucers of old now seem so cheesy and ridiculous they are not worthy of further comment. Of course today you can pretty much make a movie on your PC so adding a few alien looking objects in the background of your holiday snap are hardly difficult.

Why do I care? I don't know to be honest. Do I want life out there? Not really fussed. I cannot see any real benefit. I am sure if there is some civilised life form capable of travelling the great expanse of space to come and peer into our boring lives they would probably, assuming their atmosphere is similar to ours bring with them all manner of horrid diseases and bugs. And will we ever know? God only knows, I suppose literally.

That said, I do like the idea having recently reread HG Wells great novel, that Martians could secretly be alive and well under the surface of the Red Planet waiting for their moment to strike. Whether they would fire their invading cylinders towards earth from a giant cannon or use some otherworldly propulsion system we will just have to wait and see. On the subject of this book it still amazes me how this man was able to write science fiction in the era that he did. Great metal tripods, heat-rays, giant cylinders catapulted through space. It is a work of wonder, me thinks.