iraq

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The Chilcot report

Written By: - Date published: 7:03 am, July 7th, 2016 - 51 comments

The Chilcot report is out and it’s more damning of the decision to invade Iraq than expected.

Chilcot report – Blair’s bad week

Written By: - Date published: 10:02 am, July 5th, 2016 - 44 comments

Even before its release the Chilcot report is drawing attention to the hubristic warmongering that will forever stain Blair’s time in office.

Chilcot, Corbyn and the UK Labour Party caucus.

Written By: - Date published: 10:23 am, June 29th, 2016 - 62 comments

Three dots.

Updated

Mission Creep

Written By: - Date published: 7:06 pm, June 20th, 2016 - 50 comments

The military mission to Iraq is to be extended by another 18 months, much to nobody’s surprise. John Key has put the creep into the mission.

Why American Foreign Policy still matters

Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, June 14th, 2016 - 17 comments

So what should the next President of the United States focus on?  Military power or economic domination or international institutions?

What Possibility a Mid Winter Celebration?

Written By: - Date published: 2:21 pm, May 15th, 2016 - 8 comments

According to the Herald on Sunday, some people aren’t just sitting back waiting for the Chilcot report to be released before deciding what to do. Some people are getting geared up.

Little just visited NZ troops in Iraq

Written By: - Date published: 4:20 pm, April 28th, 2016 - 11 comments

“Opposition Leader Andrew Little has visited New Zealand troops at Camp Taji, Iraq. Mr Little also met with Iraqi Defence Minister Khaled Al-Obedih and senior military officials from the Coalition forces in Iraq. He now heads to Jordan to see the unfolding refugee crisis first hand.”

The “jihadi brides” lie

Written By: - Date published: 7:02 am, March 17th, 2016 - 74 comments

Remember the “jihadi brides” – part of last year’s beat-up about the risk of terrorism in NZ? Yesterday the central lie in the story was revealed.

The difference between decent folk and complete idiots

Written By: - Date published: 10:17 am, February 19th, 2016 - 34 comments

For a change I’m not going to have a rip at our local idiotic politicians. The most extreme case recently being the now infamous Dildo Baggins. Lets have a look offshore where they are often even worse…

The unexpected oil crisis

Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, January 16th, 2016 - 186 comments

The world is currently facing a problem that even a few years ago was unthinkable.  Oil is cheap and demand has dropped out of the market.  What are the geopolitical implications of this?

The major world risks in 2016

Written By: - Date published: 12:37 pm, January 5th, 2016 - 14 comments

Ad reviews Eurasia’s appraisal of global risks the world faces in 2016.

Barbaric Death Cult or friend and ally?

Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, January 4th, 2016 - 49 comments

Spot the difference.

Treachery and silly season political snippets

Written By: - Date published: 7:41 am, December 23rd, 2015 - 61 comments

There’s still a few MPs “on duty”. Their function is to maintain the semblance of active government and to roll out a bunch of announcements they hope will escape full scrutiny.

International law and the Turkish shootdown of the RuAF Su-24

Written By: - Date published: 8:49 pm, November 27th, 2015 - 117 comments

Assuming the Russian jet did enter Turkish airspace for 17s, was there really no recourse for  Turkey other than using lethal force?

Corbyn’s Isis Crisis

Written By: - Date published: 9:25 am, November 27th, 2015 - 89 comments

UK Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn faces his first big test. Can he command the majority in Labour over Syria? Or should he accept he is on the wrong side of history?

Graph of the day

Written By: - Date published: 9:37 am, November 23rd, 2015 - 13 comments

terrorism-deaths

Ground troops to Iraq – PM please explain

Written By: - Date published: 2:10 pm, November 19th, 2015 - 26 comments

PM please explain, what the hell good would sending a few Kiwi ground troops to the ongoing disaster of the Middle East achieve? Is it the whole cost of being in the club thing again?

Imperator Fish: the Terrorist Test

Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, November 19th, 2015 - 22 comments

Following from a tweet from Josie Pagani Imperator Fish has designed this handy quiz so that protesters can work out if they prefer ISIS to the TPP.

Paris 3 – common sense from Democrats

Written By: - Date published: 8:32 am, November 16th, 2015 - 161 comments

The fallout from the Paris attacks continues. The American political reaction is as important as it is predicable.

Just another coverup

Written By: - Date published: 7:03 am, October 14th, 2015 - 7 comments

The Nats changing lines on the Taji report look like just another routine coverup of just another routine lie. At least, I hope so, because not knowing / caring about the report would be worse.

The Taji report

Written By: - Date published: 7:02 am, October 13th, 2015 - 17 comments

An American report which came out shortly before Key’s visit to our troops at Taji camp in Iraq is strongly critical of conditions there, and of the efficacy of the training process. Key claims he didn’t know, yet another of his outbreaks of “convenient ignorance”.

The Ankara massacre

Written By: - Date published: 8:40 am, October 12th, 2015 - 35 comments

Terrible news from Turkey where over a hundred protesters have been killed by explosions at a peaceful protest organised to seek an end to the violence between the Kurdish separatist PKK militants and the Turkish government.

Three minutes to midnight. John Key incoherent.

Written By: - Date published: 7:07 am, October 2nd, 2015 - 91 comments

Same ole, same ole. Except, this time, US neoconservative imperalism might have a problem. Russia.

In Our Back Yard – Manus Island and Nauru

Written By: - Date published: 12:04 pm, September 9th, 2015 - 12 comments

As the photo claims, refugees are human beings. We can tell this from general expressions of resignation, desperation and misery.

But what about our own expressions of humanity?

Happy Father’s day

Written By: - Date published: 7:44 am, September 6th, 2015 - 4 comments

For father’s day how about a gift of a donation to charities helping the refugees pouring into Europe?

How much does New Zealand spend on refugees?

Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, September 3rd, 2015 - 54 comments

The Government is under increasing pressure to increase the number of refugees that it takes.  Amnesty International’s proposal to double the number could be met by less than the cost of a flag referendum.

Key is relaxed about widespread refugee crisis

Written By: - Date published: 9:02 am, September 1st, 2015 - 58 comments

John Key has ruled out an emergency intake of refugees and claims that New Zealand is doing its bit and that bit is enough.

An open letter to Andrew Little

Written By: - Date published: 6:08 pm, June 26th, 2015 - 433 comments

A respectful open letter to Andrew Little with suggestions for how to win the next election!

The third way according to Tony Blair

Written By: - Date published: 9:06 am, June 14th, 2015 - 70 comments

Supporters of Tony Blair’s third way and the need for Labour to be aspirational should reflect on recent reports of his huge wealth earned with taxpayer support while he has been engaged on official business.

The decontextualisation of ANZAC Day

Written By: - Date published: 12:00 pm, April 21st, 2015 - 69 comments

Everyone else is giving their reckons on the treatment of ANZAC Day this year, as we commemorate the centenary of the first year of World War I. So here are mine.

ANZAC 4 SALE

Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, April 21st, 2015 - 37 comments

Has the spirit of ANZAC Day become subsumed by the commercial imperative?

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