D day-tribute: the Free Europeans

Tommorrow is the 60^th anniversary of D day. In Europe due to the time differences they're already celebrating the event. Lately, it's been trendy to bash the Europeans on our side of the Atlantic; we shouldn't.

If there's one group of combattants that shouldn't be overlooked it's the Free Europeans. Not all Europeans collaborated or acted as quislings; some like the Poles and Czechs travelled a roundabout way to fight with the Western allies' side. Others like the French, Belgs, Dutch, Danes and Norwegians either made their way to England after the Dunkirk evacuations or stayed behind to establish resistence.

We vaguely remember that the Poles were the 4^th largest army in the Normany invasion and the French also had a sizable contribution. The Free Europeans fought bravely, with distinction, salvaged the honour of their countries compromised with collaboration or occupation and laid the foundations for the present European Union.

Let's set aside our differences and pay hommage to the Free Europeans as well. They liberated their countries too despite their small numbers.

L'infancidi es un dret constitucional en EE UU

Tenet's resignation: a preanounced dismissal

I hate Thursdays. They're my busiest days and breaking news occurs. I had a short break from my teaching when I flicked on the TV and on CNN there's was a BREAKING NEWS banner. It was about Tenant's resignation.

I'm unsurprised by his decision to step down but does catch my attention is that he's stayed on for so long. It's no secret whay Tenant resigned: the serious flaws in the intelligence gathering on Iraqi weapons of mass destructions and the revelations that Chabali might've spied for Iran were the final setbacks that Tenent couldn't justify.

As a foreigner, I'm more ambivalent: I neither hate him or admire Tenent.I opine that he should've resigned after 11 September but that's as far as I'll go to assess Tenent's tenure as CIA director. It'll be very interesting to read the American bloggers and media pundits' views on Tenent.

Les attentats en Arabie saoudite: le bilan de d?g?ts

Hier je lisais les carnet sur les attentants et plus tard j'ai ?cout? les nouvelles. Les deux co?ncident sur l'essentiel: 3 de 4 terrorists ont pu filer malgr? ?tre cern?s par les forces speciales soudiennes.

Robert d'Alphabet city affrime nos pires craintes:il y a eu de la complicit? active (vous devez decendre jusqu'au bout de ce billet)entre le r?gime et les terroristes.

Je sp?cule de nouveau que les avoir tu?s ou captur?s aurait soul?v?es des questions bien trop g?nantes que les dirig?ants du r?gime n'eussent pu en r?pondre sans qu'ils exposent les liens entre certains rameaux de la famille royale, certines unit?s de forces de s?curit?s avec la cellule saoudienne d'Al Qu'ida.

On aper?oit tant les d?gats humains: 22 morts et des innombres bl?ss?s que mat?riels: le prix du baril de p?trole a fl?chi ? 42$U.S. un nouveau r?cord. Vraiment, cette attaque menance notre s?curit? ?conomique. Ma question: que passera-t-il maintenant et que ferons-nous l'Occident?

The elections: the Conservatives finally wake up in Quebec?

Is it a coincidence that since yesterday's newsreports that highlighted the provincial Liberals' 'neurality' in the elections, that the Conservatives have finally woken up and even been energized here in Quebec?

Today, I went to the gym early in the morning and I saw a new election poster. The slogan was really lame: Qui a vol? l'argent des ch?mers?( who stole the unemployed's money?) Is this the local Conservatives sign? I wasn't able to see the party name and logo- a real pet peeve of mine. In any case, it appears that the election here in my hometown is beginning to heat up like turning the nob slighty to increase the BBQ flame.

Dday celebrations: let's not mar them with santimony

Good Lord what is it with the Anglophones with the French? Let's not mar the Dday celebrations by berating the French on the liberation of their country and the rest of Northwestern Europe for their 'constant' military ineptitude. Indeed it would be in very bad taste for me to remind the Anlgophones, particularly the British, that from 1939-42, they didn't exactly cover themelves with glory either.

What saved them was the English Channel, Hitler's strategic error in leaving an undefeated enemy behind his back and Lend lease.

As for WW I, Henderson is quite correct to highlight the Commonwealth soldiery as a factor in the Allied victory. The British High command was relatively backwards. It hadn't even bothered to keep up with the ideas and innovations occuring in Europe since the Crimean war; so the British military was well-prepared to fight African tribes and Asian potentates but not the most modern militaries of the time.

Americans need to be gently remided that they didn't win the war; they simply altered the strategic balance permenantly in the Allies' favour.

Finally, I encourage readers to look at my archives and peruse my analysis of the the French Indochina war and why France was defeated. However, I remind Americans that they too lost the second Indochinese war with demoralizing effects to the soldiers and the society. One last potshot: if the French are so military inept then Kaddafi never knew it. He was spectacularly beaten in the Libyo-Chadian war of the 80s. In fact, the French task force with Chadian auxiliaries destroyed 2 Libiyan divisions and Kaddafi lost over 5 billion in arms and equipment. Not too shabby for the West's alleged Keystone cops.

El atacs en Kobar: una reevaluaci? s'imposa

Tothom ja s'ha enterat de les not?cies funestes de que un grup d'homes armats i uniformats- possiblement membres de la Guardia nacional saudita atacaren el sector residencial desl estrangers en Kobar que havia deixat un decenni de morts i almenys 50 hostages en un bloc. Finalement les for?es especiales saudita els alliberen per? no abans que 4 m?s es morissen. Els soldats capturaren el cap i 4 dels terroristes i digu? a papa que el r?gim els torturar? i els matar? per que turbaran massa la fam?lia real amb el enlla?os entre alguns membres amb Al Qu'ida.

Mentrestant, M'argadava molt el cop de teatre dels hel?s Chinnok atterrisant i d'on sortiran 40 soldadets a la vegada. ?Carai com es mobilitza el r?gim! L'estrat?gia d'Al Qu'ida es tan clar com el sol: Aterroritzar els estranger que fugin del pa?s que provoca una cr?sis de la cual cau la Casa de Saud i Al Qu'ida s'apoderaran del petrol? i aix? financen el dijad i destrue?xen l'ec?nomia dels infidels. Per? hi ha un problemet: d'on collons trobaren els tecnics per treure el petrol?. Per? aixo francament no es meu problema.

Que si ho es: ?qu? fer amb aquesta entitat geogr?fica que es pren per pa?s? L'Occident haur? de reevaluar no sols les seves relacions amb el r?gim ans tamb?e amb tot el Pr?xim Orient. Podem tallar totes les subvencions que l'Autoritat Palestina rebi, exigir a la fam?lia real saudita a elegir costats i actuar en conseq??ncia un cop que hagin escollit; imposar concessions extraterritorial per protegir els ciutadans estrangers degut que el r?gim francament el hi desinteresa completament ja que els el fa nosa si m?s no fastic.

The attacks on Khobar: impose extraterritorial concession!

Saudi Arabia is an artifical country that has become incapable of defending its own interior space. Consequently, it's time for the Western countries to impose extraterritorial concessions in the oil producing regions.

The Saudi regime doesn't like it? Too bad! The murders and hostage taking in Khobar merely underscores that the regime is completely untrustworthy in protecting the very foreign workers it depends on for its existence. Extraterritorial concessions wil ensure that the foreign workers are protected, the oil flows and there's normality. I'm fed up with both the impunity that Al Qu'ida/islamojihadist and their symphathizers that allows them to kill without savage resistence from the regime as well as the Whabbi religious bigotry that's facilitates this barbourous acts. I really want to see the democratic countries roused in righteous fury over these killings.