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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 19 of 19. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Sigismund on March 4, 2009, at 0:50:51
seems to be the place to watch.
The attempt on the Sri Lankan cricket team was meant to kill them all.
I doubt that predator drones (belonging to the USA in particular) on the NW Frontier will be able to fix any of this.
Posted by Sigismund on March 4, 2009, at 1:29:52
In reply to Pakistan, posted by Sigismund on March 4, 2009, at 0:50:51
The blowing up of the Marriot in Islamabad(?).
Benazir Bhutto assassination.
The Mumbai attacks.
The Sri Lankan cricket team attack
Posted by fayeroe on March 5, 2009, at 12:20:07
In reply to Pakistan, posted by Sigismund on March 4, 2009, at 0:50:51
> seems to be the place to watch.
>
> The attempt on the Sri Lankan cricket team was meant to kill them all.
>
> I doubt that predator drones (belonging to the USA in particular) on the NW Frontier will be able to fix any of this.No doubt in my mind that Pakistan bears watching. How many did the attack kill? How many are on the team? Did it kill spectators also?
I agree with you about the drones....I think we're in for a long ride in the middle east.
>
>
Posted by Sigismund on March 5, 2009, at 18:39:37
In reply to Re: Pakistan » Sigismund, posted by fayeroe on March 5, 2009, at 12:20:07
In Lahore there is a very big roundabout. The team bus was on the roundabout when 4 cars(?) came from each direction and surrounded it. The plan was to fire a rocket launcher at the bus, shoot the tyres out, and board the bus and execute the entire Sri Lankan cricket team. It failed because the bus driver, realising what was happening, drove the bus away. I don't know if the tyres were shot out. The gunmen walked away or escaped on motorbikes. The way one of them walked away made me wonder how the other people in the street felt. The 7 people killed were not on the team, some members of which were wounded.
I've started "Descent into Chaos" by Ahmed Rashid, in which I read that Pakistan is the 5th most populous country in the world. Can that be right?
Posted by fayeroe on March 5, 2009, at 18:51:44
In reply to Re: Pakistan » fayeroe, posted by Sigismund on March 5, 2009, at 18:39:37
> In Lahore there is a very big roundabout. The team bus was on the roundabout when 4 cars(?) came from each direction and surrounded it. The plan was to fire a rocket launcher at the bus, shoot the tyres out, and board the bus and execute the entire Sri Lankan cricket team. It failed because the bus driver, realising what was happening, drove the bus away. I don't know if the tyres were shot out. The gunmen walked away or escaped on motorbikes. The way one of them walked away made me wonder how the other people in the street felt. The 7 people killed were not on the team, some members of which were wounded.
>
> I've started "Descent into Chaos" by Ahmed Rashid, in which I read that Pakistan is the 5th most populous country in the world. Can that be right?China is # 1. Pakistan is # 6.
What do you mean by how the guy walked away? The people who were there may have known about the planned attack?Very smart bus driver..
Posted by Sigismund on March 5, 2009, at 19:27:37
In reply to Re: Pakistan, posted by fayeroe on March 5, 2009, at 18:51:44
>What do you mean by how the guy walked away?
There was footage on TV of one of the young gunmen *walking* away down a side street, so I wondered if he felt no reason to hurry because the people there either supported the attack or were too frightened to do anything about it.
And if that is right, it means trouble.
>The people who were there may have known about the planned attack?No idea.
Posted by fayeroe on March 5, 2009, at 19:58:51
In reply to Re: Pakistan » fayeroe, posted by Sigismund on March 5, 2009, at 19:27:37
> >What do you mean by how the guy walked away?
>
> There was footage on TV of one of the young gunmen *walking* away down a side street, so I wondered if he felt no reason to hurry because the people there either supported the attack or were too frightened to do anything about it.
>
> And if that is right, it means trouble.
>
>
> >The people who were there may have known about the planned attack?
>
> No idea.Thinking about what does get to us out of Pakistan..can you imagine what we don't hear about....
I'm really worried about the troops in Afghanistan. If we had gone in there and left Iraq alone, we might have caught Bin Laden. Oh, No, we had to catch Saddam who undoubtedly had weapons of mass destruction in his drawers.
I have two nephews who went to Vietnam. One is on full disability for PTSD.I remember being so angry about the war and having to keep my mouth shut because my family supported it. I'm still angry about Vietnam...
We need to keep our noses out of other people's business.
We certainly do not need to be singing "Bomb, Bomb Iran".....
Posted by Sigismund on March 5, 2009, at 23:52:54
In reply to Re: Pakistan » Sigismund, posted by fayeroe on March 5, 2009, at 19:58:51
Informed opinion seems to be saying that there is no hope of western victory in Afghanistan: the window of opportunity was open for a few years and is now shut.
However that may be, I would not like to see the Afghanistan war consume Obama's presidency.
I've just read some of the book. It is all hellishly complicated.
Posted by fayeroe on March 6, 2009, at 10:06:02
In reply to Re: Pakistan » fayeroe, posted by Sigismund on March 5, 2009, at 23:52:54
> Informed opinion seems to be saying that there is no hope of western victory in Afghanistan: the window of opportunity was open for a few years and is now shut.
>
> However that may be, I would not like to see the Afghanistan war consume Obama's presidency.
>
> I've just read some of the book. It is all hellishly complicated.Yeah....my take on it is we did have a window and it has slammed shut. I fear many, many more deaths and not much to show for our efforts. Of course if the dude who runs some of that (Mr. Gates?) stands steady and they make full use of his intelligence...it won't be as bad as Iraq. Bush ran the show in Iraq. Obama won't do that. He will call for , rightly so,personal responsibilty of the leaders of the military branches. He also has a huge group of retired generals and such to advise him. Bush did'nt listen to them. Watch me get called out for that statement.
Posted by fayeroe on March 7, 2009, at 10:28:42
In reply to Pakistan, posted by Sigismund on March 4, 2009, at 0:50:51
> seems to be the place to watch.
>
> The attempt on the Sri Lankan cricket team was meant to kill them all.
>
> I doubt that predator drones (belonging to the USA in particular) on the NW Frontier will be able to fix any of this.http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29561475/
>
>
Posted by Sigismund on March 7, 2009, at 14:39:22
In reply to Re: Pakistan » Sigismund, posted by fayeroe on March 7, 2009, at 10:28:42
This is the blowback from doing Iraq instead of Afghanistan, there not being enough targets there. (But wait till Central Asia goes up.)
Australians have made a contribution here as well. The Australian Wheat Board gave $220M to Saddam in kickbacks during the oil for food program and nobody has been held responsible.
Posted by fayeroe on March 7, 2009, at 14:43:18
In reply to Re: Pakistan » fayeroe, posted by Sigismund on March 7, 2009, at 14:39:22
> This is the blowback from doing Iraq instead of Afghanistan, there not being enough targets there. (But wait till Central Asia goes up.)
> Australians have made a contribution here as well. The Australian Wheat Board gave $220M to Saddam in kickbacks during the oil for food program and nobody has been held responsible.Wow! $220m? Someone should have to answer to that. Of course who am I to speak? We helped Saddam get some of his weapons.....
Yup, should have gone to Afghanistan instead of Iraq. Hindsight.
Posted by Sigismund on March 7, 2009, at 15:01:33
In reply to Re: Pakistan » Sigismund, posted by fayeroe on March 7, 2009, at 14:43:18
Lots of help during the Iran/Iraq war with aerial intelligence of the positions of Iranian troops.
Saddam was born reasonably close to Stalin (I dunno how far it is from Gori to Tikrit), and he was our ally too.
Posted by Sigismund on March 7, 2009, at 15:11:18
In reply to Re: Pakistan » Sigismund, posted by fayeroe on March 7, 2009, at 14:43:18
Oscar Wyatt, from Texas, gave 3.2M to Saddam for kickbacks, and he was fined 11M, and spent a year bars.
But the Australian Wheat Board is a qango, and therefore really an aspect of the government.
We had a Royal Commission (with carefully crafted terms of reference) to sort it all out.
Posted by fayeroe on March 7, 2009, at 15:17:22
In reply to Re: Pakistan, posted by Sigismund on March 7, 2009, at 15:11:18
> Oscar Wyatt, from Texas, gave 3.2M to Saddam for kickbacks, and he was fined 11M, and spent a year bars.
my gosh....i am certainly glad that he was fine and incarcerated. i think that the Wyatts own some primo retail sites in Dallas as well as other properties.
>
> But the Australian Wheat Board is a qango, and therefore really an aspect of the government.what does "gango" mean?
>
> We had a Royal Commission (with carefully crafted terms of reference) to sort it all out.The Republicans are now trying to avoid the "Truth Commission".....guess there might be some skeletons (or live ones) in the closets.
We are doing yard work now but when I finish I intend to read up on Pakistan.
Posted by Sigismund on March 7, 2009, at 17:48:21
In reply to Re: Pakistan » Sigismund, posted by fayeroe on March 7, 2009, at 15:17:22
Qango means quasi autonomous non-government organisation, which the Australian Wheat Board, being a privatised government body was.
The 220M was claimed, understandably enough, as a business expense, which means the Australian taxpayer paid Saddam to buy our wheat. The question was 'Did the Minister for Foreign Affairs know of this' and the terms of reference took care of that.
I miss our Minister for Foreign Affairs.
He was a treat
Posted by Sigismund on March 7, 2009, at 18:00:52
In reply to Re: Pakistan » Sigismund, posted by fayeroe on March 7, 2009, at 15:17:22
Upon his retirement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Alexander Downer was appointed as a UN mediator in Cyprus.
This one I like
Posted by fayeroe on March 7, 2009, at 18:53:49
In reply to Re: Pakistan, posted by Sigismund on March 7, 2009, at 17:48:21
Fantastic....very funny. I loved the way he deflected all of the criticism that was about his work!! Loved them. Went on and watched others.
Posted by fayeroe on March 10, 2009, at 17:20:25
In reply to From Foreign Affairs and Trade to Cyprus, posted by Sigismund on March 7, 2009, at 18:00:52
> Upon his retirement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Alexander Downer was appointed as a UN mediator in Cyprus.
>
> This one I like
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kgDo2GLH2w"Where am I going?" "Yes, Cyprus"
LOVE THEM...thank you, Pat
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