Saddam Hussein arrested

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Spiffor
Don't the thumbs up mean something completely different in Arabic traditions. Something about sticking it to your [censored]

That was discussed back in April. Apparently theyre quite aware of what it means in the West, and when they use it to Westerners, it means approval.

Kinda like Id be careful talking about a "s-h-a-g" carpet in to some Brits

Which, BTW, poly censors, making it very difficult to discuss US 1970's decor

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Combat Ingrid


This picture would be great to throw in whenever someting bad happens to US or Israel

Except for the fact that its from Iraq, and what they were reacting to was something quite different.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by East Street Trader
A consensus did seem to appear that what was happening in the Balkans was wrong and that the world at large ought to do something about it.

We did not stand back and let those squabbles reach their own conclusion.

And no individual nation state charged in.

.

NATO charged in without sanction from the UNSC, which refused to act. How is that different from the coalition that went into Iraq, except that NATO was a formal military alliance? NATO had no more standing under international law then the "coalition of the willing"

[Combat Ingrid]

Originally posted by lord of the mark
Except for the fact that its from Iraq, and what they were reacting to was something quite different.

Yes I know, but imagine the response to this picture accompanying the headline "120 Americans killed in terrorist attack"

[lord of the mark]

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Combat Ingrid


Yes I know, but imagine the response to this picture accompanying the headline "120 Americans killed in terrorist attack"

Note: Rantissi, head of Hamas, says US will pay for capturing Saddam. Not ALL arabs are happy with this. I didnt mean to imply they all were.

[Patroklos]

Interantional law would be a great thing, but not in the world as it currently is. I think that when China gets a little more powerful and mainstream, and the EU gets its act together and becomes a major power, there will be an interantional system

The problem, notne of that will happem for a least 50 years.

The UN, HA. If they want to go for some humanitarian missions go ahead, in all other instances they are hopeless faileures.

-Pat

[Combat Ingrid]

LOTM, it was just meant as a joke, how a journalist could use the pictures out of context to create an opinion. Just to make it more obvious I'm just joking around here:


"Iraq lifts ban on porn"

[lord of the mark]

The reaction in Nassiriyah ( a mainly Shiite city in southern Iraq) Via Oxblog


"It took about 30 seconds for THE rumor to spread through our compound. THE rumor, if true, would be the biggest story in Iraq: we had Saddam.

It took about 60 seconds for the first celebratory gunfire to begin. It hasn't stopped. It is now so constant that all of our workers--who had already stopped working and forced their way into our normally off-limits kitchen (where our TV is)--came in to watch the news. Its probably better that way...the sky is raining bullets. I gladly stepped aside for them to watch--this is their day.

It took about 5 minutes for every car in Nasiriyah to grind to a halt, horns honking, people getting out and dancing in the streets. I kept thinking to myself "I hope this one turns out to be true..."

It took about 20 minutes for an official here to get through to Baghdad and confirm that the news was true."

This is the last bind to their terrible, recent history, and that bind has now been cut. The people here are ecstatic. People are dancing in the streets, honking their horns, firing weapons non-stop, smiling, hugging, and lord knows what else.

There's still a lot of work to be done here, but for the first time since I've been here I think I'm going to take a lengthy break in the middle of the day, and just kinda enjoy myself with the Iraqis that work here. I feel so very fortunate to be here, among them, as they celebrate. "

[Q Classic]

i will never understand why people fire off automatic weapons in celebration.

[East Street Trader]

I do not contend that what happened about the Balkans was a perfect example of police action in support of an established rule of law. Nor would I, or anyone, hold up the UN as being effective.

The thing to say about the UN is that it has managed to stay in existence long enough to have got established.

Which is to say a good deal. It is a newish idea. It's predecessor, the League of Nations, failed altogether. But even that was an advance over the situatiuon when there was no such body.

So we have the chance to build on something. Inadequate as it yet is.

And while I agree that there was a period when no-one was doing anything about the Balkans what finally was done had the support of a large number of nation states and was actively opposed by none. Even those targeted by the intervention pretty well came to acknowledge that what was done was necessary.

Nothing like that had been done before and, once again, there is something which could be built upon.

NATO has lost its reason d'etre but the role it fulfilled in the cas of the Balkans was a good one. The pre-existing political and military arrangements allowed co-operative police actions. And the need for a wide consensus distanced what was done quite a lot from narrow state self interests.

Maybe each continent needs a NATO>

Anyway, faltering as these steps may be they seem to me to provide the beginnings.

The Iraq war, by contrast, just takes us straight back to war between nation states. Governed solely by real politick

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Combat Ingrid
Yes I know, but imagine the response to this picture accompanying the headline "120 Americans killed in terrorist attack"

The juxtaposition of your post and LotM's posting of people celebrating right after has the unintentional effect of being very funny. [In a warped way.]

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by East Street Trader
I do not contend that what happened about the Balkans was a perfect example of police action in support of an established rule of law. Nor would I, or anyone, hold up the UN as being effective.

The thing to say about the UN is that it has managed to stay in existence long enough to have got established.

Which is to say a good deal. It is a newish idea. It's predecessor, the League of Nations, failed altogether. But even that was an advance over the situatiuon when there was no such body.

So we have the chance to build on something. Inadequate as it yet is.

And while I agree that there was a period when no-one was doing anything about the Balkans what finally was done had the support of a large number of nation states and was actively opposed by none. Even those targeted by the intervention pretty well came to acknowledge that what was done was necessary.

Nothing like that had been done before and, once again, there is something which could be built upon.

NATO has lost its reason d'etre but the role it fulfilled in the cas of the Balkans was a good one. The pre-existing political and military arrangements allowed co-operative police actions. And the need for a wide consensus distanced what was done quite a lot from narrow state self interests.

Maybe each continent needs a NATO>

Anyway, faltering as these steps may be they seem to me to provide the beginnings.

The Iraq war, by contrast, just takes us straight back to war between nation states. Governed solely by real politick

The Govt of Yugoslavia was NOT a member of NATO. As far as it was concerned, NATO was just a collection nation states. Governed soley be realpolitick. No different from the coalition of the willing acting in Iraq.

[East Street Trader]

What about the subsequent establishment of a court Theoden, King?

Would you accept that to have won full acceptance?

It has the look of a truly international institution enjoying the acceptance of the whole community and even of some that it has tried.

It has also done well, in my eyes, by being concerned with evidence - as oppopsed to speech making, a la Nuremburg.

[lord of the mark]

"Spokeswoman for French President Jacques Chirac

The president is delighted at the arrest of Saddam Hussein.

This is a major event which should strongly contribute to the democratisation and the stabilisation of Iraq, and allow the Iraqis to once more be masters of their destiny in a sovereign Iraq. "


I can agree with that.