Good evening all. Since my last post a lot has happened as regards the Libya situation. But for now I have had enough ranting on that front. For now I want to talk about something a bit closer to home. Those who know me well know I love reading. So much so that I have more books than I can read at once. Online shopping and charity shops have more than once been my undoing. Being a committed user of the highly efficient (more efficient than walking at least) First Group Bristol bus network I find myself with nearly an hours worth of dead travel time in which I read. In the week after work I usually sit in a nearby local coffee shop over a mocha. For the most part I read to feed my politics fix and my curiosity about the world. Got a fair few books on the Middle East. A few on US politics (including some Memoirs I'll elborate on later). But my fiction collection is growing, and I am listening out for more potential authors to get into.
The latest furniture addition to my room was a wooden book case that myself and my dear mother cobbled together from a flatpack kit. So far, so sturdy. The books are in part author's name order, with fiction on the topside and the non-fiction ones below. And a special place for my favourite author Hunter S Thompson, who you could say specialises in both fiction and non-fiction. Not sure what people may think the first time they walk into my room and see the book case. Some may think I am smart. Some may puzzle at my political beliefs and think they are bizarre, spotting Hitler's Mein Kempf on the top shelf, and then seeing books about Che Guevara at the bottom.
I am going to mention some of the books that have been on my 'to be read' list but have been there a while. Circumstance and overall awkwardness in what I read next has prevented these from actually being read. After that I'll mention some of the books I have read and will definitely read again.
My Life by Bill Clinton- This was a find in a local charity shop. A bit beaten up, but holding together and functional (a bit like the guy who his the focus of the book). I actually started this one, but admittedly I didn't have enough patience to let this book get it's hooks into me. There was just a bit too much reminiscing about his family life to keep me interested. I will get back to this though. By handcuffing myself to the book if necessary. I have been told the campaigns, scandals, random bombings and general madness of being POTUS in the 90s kicks off after a slow start.
Postwar by Judy Thomas- This is a huge book. It was in perfect condition when I bought it from a bookshop in St. Ives. And then it got almost irrepairably damaged, via a mass of mould that grew through the wall it was stacked against. This was in my old room, in a house I lived in a few years ago. I don't tend to hold many grudges, but the landlord of that place is on my small Enemies List due to their gross negligence to correct the mould problem. The book itself is an overview of how Europe changed since the end of WWWII. From the creation of the Berlin Wall, to the destruction of it and beyond. I tend to read huge amounts about the Middle East and the US. This year I am looking to re-educate myself on Europe.
Mein Kempf by Adolf Hitler- The blurb on the back literally describes it as a "book of evil". Which is pretty app. But nonetheless it is arguably an important book. It's in party a autobiography (extremely airbrushed), and a political manifesto for the infamous madman himself. A part of my interest in this book is psychological, the other political. One to scratch my beard to. Good job I'm not single anymore. I imagine sitting in a coffee shop with this book is likely to turn heads in the opposite direction.
The Devil We Know: Dealing with the New Iranian Superpower by Robert Baer-After a few failed attempts at getting this book online, I finally managed to get it. Robert Baer is an ex-CIA agent, who co-wrote the film Syriana. His first book 'See No Evil' was basically his autobiography of being a spy. A brilliant and very accessible book it was too, I thoroughly recommend it. The mechanics of spying are laid bare. In this book Baer (a Farsi speaker himself) tackles the thorny issue of Iran, and portrays the country as a hidden superpower in the Middle East. Apparently he lays out a plan that he believes may be able to lead to an alliance of sorts with Iran, taming it's aggresive at the same time. Sounds like a tall order, but I am sure if anyone can lay down a good argument, than Mr Baer can do it.
The Long Walk to Freedom-Nelson Mandela: I guess you could call this the anti-Mein Kempf, told by a lucid and very honourable man. I am still learning more about South Africa. Unfortunately I think the ANC is on the slippery slop to becoming a corrupt monolith, not unlike the Indian Congress Party. Nearly 17 years on from the end of apartheid, there are still pressing problems that need to be addressed in the country. I am particularly interested to learn about Mandela's pre-prison days with the ANC. While he was struggling for an honourable cause, many people forget that before he got arrested he was planning to go to the Soviet Union for paramilitary training. In this, he was no Ghandi. Not that I hold it against him. His cause was definitely worth fighting for. It's a mammoth sized book, but I can't put something this good off too long.
Nixonland by Rick Perlstein- Why did the Americans vote in someone as insecure and psychologically unstable as Nixon? This book apparently explains all. Perlstein portrays an electorate tired of war, tired of civil unrest and overall scared at the social shockwaves sent out by the sixties. To the rescue comes Nixon, portraying himself as a vote for stability, to assure the so called Silent Majority. Conservatives fascinate me as much as frustrate me. I am sure this will be a good read.
Milk by Randy Shilts- If you haven't seen the film, bugger off and do so. This is the story of Harvey Milk, one of my political idols. The first openly gay man to be elected into public office in the US (I admire politicians with conviction and unshakeable honesty, a somewhat endangered species). His political awakening came at a time the Bombs and Jesus crowd started on their warpath to 'cure' homosexuality. The film told an inspiring if ultimately sad tale. I find films made from books are good, but the book behind the film usually has hidden depth worth looking into.
Thursday 24 March 2011
Thursday 10 March 2011
Ghadaffi's Libya vs. the world (that cares)
It's rare that pretty epic and long running stories like the ongoing struggle in Libya between the rebels and Ghaddafi come about, and pick up so much attention. What started out as a few protests, turned into a protestor crushing excercise by the security forces, and then quickly turned into something else entirely within weeks if not days. Libya is now effectively in a state of civil war.
Mercifully the rebels seem to be at least for the most part of the pretty democratic variety, making claims by Ghaddafi that they are Bin Laden fans on crack somewhat unconvincing to say the least. The rebels seem to have taken control of much of the east of the country. They have a real chance at removing Ghaddafi and creating....well something else as yet undetermined in his place. There is no love lost really between us and the Ghaddafi regime. We scared them something stupid about 5 years ago with the removing of Saddam Hussein from power into giving up his WMDs, as far as we know that is. Our government even went sligthly overboard in our new friendliness towards the Libyans, by sending our elite SAS troopers over to train the army that is now slaughtering the rebels. A nice turn of political amnesia mixed pure shamelessness lead this week, to Ed Miliband calling the Coalition incompetent in foriegn affairs, conveniently forgetting among other things that particular episode with the SAS under HIS party leader's premiership. It seems everyone has an opinion on how to proceed with dealing with the current state of affairs. I applaud the enthusiasm for discussion, although the longer this goes on I wonder what will be left once we get down to options.
Last year I read a brilliant book on the Spanish Civil War by Anthony Beevor. This precursor to WWII essentially involved the Spanish Republican and Nationalist factions fighting each other. While this got on we largely took an observer approach, and tried to enforce an arms embargo and basically bullied all of Europe bar Germany and Italy from joining in and arming either side. This approach essentially lead to the Fascist powers arming (and in some cases fighting for) the nationalists (who already had good access to arms stockpiles and manufacturing centres), and the Republicans materially deprived for fear on the part of the western democracies arming commies. What we got in return was a facist dictatorship in Spain that lasted 30 years, not exactly a great legacy of keeping order in one's backyard.
In some ways I can almost clearly see a tragic and at the same time frustrating ending to this possibly eventual debacle. Some practical ideas have been floated around. One of them (at least on paper) is an idea floated by David Cameron to impose a no fly zone. Interesting point David. Sure enough, I hear from Frank Gardner the BBC Security Correspondent that Ghadaffi has a fleet of helicopter gunships, perfect for mowing down pesky rebels. But now the US all of a sudden throwing history to the wind, has actually decided to consult the UN on this before acting and may actually heed it's advice. What frustrates me is this is nearly a fortnight or so since the shooting has started, and we are still talking. Not just talking but talking ABOUT.........talking. And by the time we have done this what then? Will there even be anything to be acted on? What about arming? A Conservative backbencher this week openly advocated arming the rebels, and I have to say I am almost persuaded.
Then again one has to look at Africa and the obvious question comes: is an injection of arms and munitions a healthy solution by a continent with a depressing history of continous war? A difficult moral conundrum if ever I have seen one.
What is frustrating me more nowadays is the inverted logic used by those who reject any notion of practical action on the Libyan crisis. The name Iraq is annoyingly, and in my view quite unnecessarily on the tip of many people's lips. While there is some merit in bringing that skeleton out of the closet, it can inconveniently cloud our judgement, and make us forget that was a situation with very unique circumstances. All wars are different, just as there are similarities between them. The horrors of the Iraq one I fear, will steal away our balanced judgement today.
At times like this I feel an almost uncontrollable urge to grab Tony Blair by the collar, and punch him in the nose repeatedly, and howl at him with a bloody rage. And then in no uncertain terms express my displeasure at his past actions (and inactions) cursing this country into raising a new generation of people in this country. One that is deeply cynical in many ways, and take events for granted on the world stage. Like someone passively watching a town go by, while sitting next to a window on the train. The cynicism of some people has reduced them to the most ridiculous arguments. The so called "Arab Spring Uprisings" have lead many people to the conclusion that the Arab world largely consists of countries ruled by dictators or at the very least petulent playboys. But when it comes to dicussions about action in this crisis, it's "WHOA SLOW YOUR ROLL THERE". "Let's go and talk to those wisened statesmen over there" and those wisened statesmen just happened to be the members of the Arab League, at which that person a few minutes ago was spitting venom at. I think one only needs to look at the state of Palestine, to consider how wise the judgement of the Arab League really is. Last time I checked it was more of a warzone than a utopia.
If you will take anything away from this rant (apart from utter confusion and bewilderment), then here it is in a nutshell. I am all for discussion. But sometimes, the worse thing to do is to do nothing, or the same things again which haven't worked before (like the sanctions we used some 20 years ago, that we are now reinstating on Ghaddafi). But Libya may be presenting us with a rare oppurtunity. We are as a nation state always apprehensive about what the Arab world think of us. I ask, what will they think of us if we are still eating crumpets and watching the fireworks when the lights of Benghazi go out? That's all for now.
Mercifully the rebels seem to be at least for the most part of the pretty democratic variety, making claims by Ghaddafi that they are Bin Laden fans on crack somewhat unconvincing to say the least. The rebels seem to have taken control of much of the east of the country. They have a real chance at removing Ghaddafi and creating....well something else as yet undetermined in his place. There is no love lost really between us and the Ghaddafi regime. We scared them something stupid about 5 years ago with the removing of Saddam Hussein from power into giving up his WMDs, as far as we know that is. Our government even went sligthly overboard in our new friendliness towards the Libyans, by sending our elite SAS troopers over to train the army that is now slaughtering the rebels. A nice turn of political amnesia mixed pure shamelessness lead this week, to Ed Miliband calling the Coalition incompetent in foriegn affairs, conveniently forgetting among other things that particular episode with the SAS under HIS party leader's premiership. It seems everyone has an opinion on how to proceed with dealing with the current state of affairs. I applaud the enthusiasm for discussion, although the longer this goes on I wonder what will be left once we get down to options.
Last year I read a brilliant book on the Spanish Civil War by Anthony Beevor. This precursor to WWII essentially involved the Spanish Republican and Nationalist factions fighting each other. While this got on we largely took an observer approach, and tried to enforce an arms embargo and basically bullied all of Europe bar Germany and Italy from joining in and arming either side. This approach essentially lead to the Fascist powers arming (and in some cases fighting for) the nationalists (who already had good access to arms stockpiles and manufacturing centres), and the Republicans materially deprived for fear on the part of the western democracies arming commies. What we got in return was a facist dictatorship in Spain that lasted 30 years, not exactly a great legacy of keeping order in one's backyard.
In some ways I can almost clearly see a tragic and at the same time frustrating ending to this possibly eventual debacle. Some practical ideas have been floated around. One of them (at least on paper) is an idea floated by David Cameron to impose a no fly zone. Interesting point David. Sure enough, I hear from Frank Gardner the BBC Security Correspondent that Ghadaffi has a fleet of helicopter gunships, perfect for mowing down pesky rebels. But now the US all of a sudden throwing history to the wind, has actually decided to consult the UN on this before acting and may actually heed it's advice. What frustrates me is this is nearly a fortnight or so since the shooting has started, and we are still talking. Not just talking but talking ABOUT.........talking. And by the time we have done this what then? Will there even be anything to be acted on? What about arming? A Conservative backbencher this week openly advocated arming the rebels, and I have to say I am almost persuaded.
Then again one has to look at Africa and the obvious question comes: is an injection of arms and munitions a healthy solution by a continent with a depressing history of continous war? A difficult moral conundrum if ever I have seen one.
What is frustrating me more nowadays is the inverted logic used by those who reject any notion of practical action on the Libyan crisis. The name Iraq is annoyingly, and in my view quite unnecessarily on the tip of many people's lips. While there is some merit in bringing that skeleton out of the closet, it can inconveniently cloud our judgement, and make us forget that was a situation with very unique circumstances. All wars are different, just as there are similarities between them. The horrors of the Iraq one I fear, will steal away our balanced judgement today.
At times like this I feel an almost uncontrollable urge to grab Tony Blair by the collar, and punch him in the nose repeatedly, and howl at him with a bloody rage. And then in no uncertain terms express my displeasure at his past actions (and inactions) cursing this country into raising a new generation of people in this country. One that is deeply cynical in many ways, and take events for granted on the world stage. Like someone passively watching a town go by, while sitting next to a window on the train. The cynicism of some people has reduced them to the most ridiculous arguments. The so called "Arab Spring Uprisings" have lead many people to the conclusion that the Arab world largely consists of countries ruled by dictators or at the very least petulent playboys. But when it comes to dicussions about action in this crisis, it's "WHOA SLOW YOUR ROLL THERE". "Let's go and talk to those wisened statesmen over there" and those wisened statesmen just happened to be the members of the Arab League, at which that person a few minutes ago was spitting venom at. I think one only needs to look at the state of Palestine, to consider how wise the judgement of the Arab League really is. Last time I checked it was more of a warzone than a utopia.
If you will take anything away from this rant (apart from utter confusion and bewilderment), then here it is in a nutshell. I am all for discussion. But sometimes, the worse thing to do is to do nothing, or the same things again which haven't worked before (like the sanctions we used some 20 years ago, that we are now reinstating on Ghaddafi). But Libya may be presenting us with a rare oppurtunity. We are as a nation state always apprehensive about what the Arab world think of us. I ask, what will they think of us if we are still eating crumpets and watching the fireworks when the lights of Benghazi go out? That's all for now.
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