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Arab spring has created 'intelligence disaster' 
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Legend

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/au ... er-scheuer

You weren't too clever with the intelligence most of the time anyway, far as us plebs can tell...

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Sun Aug 28, 2011 9:46 pm
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Legend
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The Arab spring was caused by the economic fall out of commodity price bubbles. These were inflated by central banks flooding markets with cash. Though to be honest I do not know of anyone actually predicting it. I always thought eastern Europe was more liable to an uprising as a result of austerity measures. Much of the arab world is still vulnerable. In fact even Israel is looking shaky with protests over the cost of living and wealth inequality.

The idea of restoring rendition means that the US is on the way to losing what friends and influence it has left.

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Sun Aug 28, 2011 10:07 pm
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To be so vulnerable to changes in the price of wheat and oil, those countries had to be mismanaged on an epic scale. Their economies were so weak because successive regimes had sought ill-advisedly to maintain control over too many aspects of people's lives, and to maintain stability with food and fuel subsidies. The events that caused the price changes that ruined this plan are neither here nor there, the plan was [LIFTED] and had to fail sooner or later.

Scheuer is quite wrong in my view though. The regimes that participated in rendition are exactly the ones that should be swept away. Better to do so now with a tidal wave of democratic fervour than to wait and hope that something better for us comes along. If we try yet again to undermine the legitimacy of fledgling democracies in the east, we probably deserve to get bombed. We've had enough warnings now, it's best that we show we aren't too arrogant to learn.


Mon Aug 29, 2011 12:02 am
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I agree, the root causes were the conditions that existed before the financial crisis. The food speculation bubble was the straw that broke the camels back. To repeat the same failed policies is a mistake. It would be better to start afresh rather than start rendition again especially when it is probably criminal.


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Mon Aug 29, 2011 1:41 am
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Considering the USA instigated the Arab Spring and began planning it during the Iraq war, it is a poor showing on their part, when they now don't understand it.

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Mon Aug 29, 2011 4:11 am
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They did what now?


Mon Aug 29, 2011 8:17 am
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They didn't, but they want you to think they did.


Mon Aug 29, 2011 8:54 am
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I wonder how many of America's problems have been caused directly by America?
They arm one lot, only for them to be enemies a few years later.

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Mon Aug 29, 2011 10:25 pm
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l3v1ck wrote:
I wonder how many of America's problems have been caused directly by America?
They arm one lot, only for them to be enemies a few years later.

They also seem to dislike it when other countries treat them in the same manner they treat pretty much everyone else... :-P

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Tue Aug 30, 2011 1:41 am
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they, whoever, didn't get it right before it began, they didn't get it right when it started, they haven't got it right after it was in action and will not get it right while it continues and even after its finished ...

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Tue Aug 30, 2011 2:22 am
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l3v1ck wrote:
I wonder how many of America's problems have been caused directly by America?
They arm one lot, only for them to be enemies a few years later.

Actually most of them. In fact the non domestic terrorism is as a consequence of their foreign policy. It's financial crisis is a result of past political corruption.


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Tue Aug 30, 2011 2:24 am
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Talking about General Wesley Clark (also in his book)
George Bush, 'the Path to Persia' wrote:
About 10 days after 9/11 I went through the Pentagon and I saw Mr Rumsfeld and Secretary Wolferwitz and I went downstairs, just to say hello to some of the people and the Joint Staff who used to work for me, and one of the generals called me in and said "have you got a couple of minutes? You've got to come in and talk to me a second."
I said, "well, you're too busy."
"No, no," he says, "we've made the decision, we are going to war with Iraq." This was on or about the 20th September.
I said, "we are going to war with Iraq? Why?"
He said, "I don't know." He said, "I guess they don't know what else to do."
So, I said, "have they found some information linking Saddam to Al Qiada?"
He said, "no, no, there's nothing new that way. They just made the decision to go to war with Iraq."
He said, "I guess, we don't know what to do about terrorists, but we have a good military and we can take down governments." And he said, "I guess if the only tool you have is a hammer, then every problem has to look like a nail."
So, I came back to see him a few weeks later and by that time, we were bombing in Afgahnistan.
I said, "so, are we still going to war with Iraq?
He said, "oh, its worse than that!" He said and he reached over on his desk and picked up a piece of paper and he said "I just got this down from upstairs, from the Secretary of Defence's Office today," and he said, "and it is a memo, which describes how we are going to take out 7 countries in five years. Starting with Iraq, then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia and Sudan and finishing off with Iran."


That it a transcript of a speech Bush gave to an audience a few years ago.

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Tue Aug 30, 2011 4:13 am
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That doesn't look even remotely like a blueprint for the Arab Spring (TM). It's clearly an absurd wishlist of terrorist sponsoring nations to occupy, it can't possibly have been a serious plan, and it obviously went out the windows years ago when they discovered that this stuff is difficult.


Tue Aug 30, 2011 7:54 am
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ShockWaffle wrote:
That doesn't look even remotely like a blueprint for the Arab Spring (TM). It's clearly an absurd wishlist of terrorist sponsoring nations to occupy, it can't possibly have been a serious plan, and it obviously went out the windows years ago when they discovered that this stuff is difficult.

Nearly 10 years on and they are still not out of Iraq.

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Tue Aug 30, 2011 9:50 am
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