Is Bin Laden Winning?

[J'Pol]

Biggles,

I think we both know that these posturings are more for the masses than anything else.

John Q Public needs to aim his bile somewhere, he does not wish to consider the intricacies of international diplomacy, nor does he wish to consider that there are shades of grey. He needs a White Hat vs Black Hat "Western" scenario.

To that end our leaders are forced to play to this lowest common denominator need, for simplicity of cause. I do not for one second believe that either of them actually believe the press releases. One would hope that they are more au fait with the actual intelligence. They will rarely be able to speak about the reality of the situation, they would not be allowed to.

It reminds me of the Jack Nicolson court scene in "A Few Good Men". It is more accurate than most people would like to believe.

[Biggles]

Yes, I think that is fair comment.

Rumsfeld always strikes me as someone who can barely be bothered to even pretend for the game any more. I actually quite like his candour although some of his ideas seem a tad... well extreme.

I was a great fan of Yes Minister and I thought it summed up the corridors of power rather well. The "ok, that is what is happening but what do we tell them that sounds plausible?" struck a chord somehow.

[J'Pol]

Originally posted by Biggles@12 December 2003 - 01:33
Yes, I think that is fair comment.

Rumsfeld always strikes me as someone who can barely be bothered to even pretend for the game any more. I actually quite like his candour although some of his ideas seem a tad... well extreme.

I was a great fan of Yes Minister and I thought it summed up the corridors of power rather well.  The "ok, that is what is happening but what do we tell them that sounds plausible?" struck a chord somehow. 

I too am a great fan of the ultimate Whitehall Farce. There was felling, deep down of .... Yes, that seems about right. It just kind of makes sense that it works that way. God is in his heaven and all is well with the world.

We seem to have spiraled to accord. Without a fresh injection of opinion there is little left to say but ....

[Alex H]

Originally posted by J'Pol@9 December 2003 - 18:23
The same goes for the entire regime which ruled a country through terror (and had the manuals to show how to do it).

Do you mean the ones with "CIA Operations & Training Manual" written on the front cover?

I'm a big fan of Yes Minister too. You know how Jay and Lynne found the inspiration for the episodes they wrote 25 years ago? They went to the library archives and looked at the papers from the 40s and 50s. Funny how the issues and poitics are still the same.