I can find SimonJenkins a bit reactionary and strident sometimes (strange given he also writes for the Guardian). But I thought he made some interesting pointsin last night's Standard about the environmental argument for city living (vs. building on/living...
JUDITH MILLER AND DR DAVID KELLY AND THE MISSING IRAQI... (Free subscription) | 6 hours ago
A very British inquiry: a chat in a Whitehall club The Chilcot inquiry met its first 'hostile' witness, Sir John Scarlett, former head of MI6 SimonJenkins guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 8 December 2009 22.34 GMT The Chilcot inquiry today met its first "hostile" witness, Sir John Scarlett, former head of MI6. Mastermind of Saddam's threat of weapons of mass destruction and thus architect...
I found myself screaming at the TV last night as I listened to the utter bollocks John Scarlett had to say to the Chilcot inquiry. I am pleased this morning that SimonJenkins appears to have shared my frustration. This may be merely a prologue to the star turn, Blair, who is not due until next year. But Scarlett was the star's apprentice, and the place was for once packed and expectant....
Imposing idiot sanctions on Iran is a direct route to war By SimonJenkins, The Guardian, December 1, 2009 What is the difference between Iraq, Afghanistan and Iran? The answer, future historians may relate, is none. At the dawn of the 21st century, all three states were ruled by nasty undemocratic regimes to which America and its [...]
... were noticed abroad. "Obama's Afghanistan strategy oozes with desperation not to be there," wrote SimonJenkins in the Guardian, a left-wing British newspaper. "It was a dizzying combination of surge and withdrawal, of marching to and fro," wrote Gabor Steingart in the German magazine Der Spiegel. If Mr. Obama wished to signal toughness and resolve, he telegraphed instead the opposite....
... Not Nearly Enough On Afghanistan -- Michael Rubin, Forbes Obama Has No Stomach for This Fight -- SimonJenkins, The Guardian ANALYSIS-Obama's escalation challenges U.S. military -- Reuters Pentagon Hopes 30,000-Troop ‘Counterpunch’ Can Buy Time for Afghanistan’s Homegrown Forces -- The Danger Room Obama Afghan Decision Has Far-Reaching Implications -- Voice of America...
Obama and his allies clearly have no stomach for this fight, his Afghanistan operation is an exit strategy, and the Taliban will wait SimonJenkins guardian.co.uk , Wednesday 2 December 2009 " Barack Obama's announcement of an Afghan "surge" is his frantic bid to rescue what promises to be a stumbling re-election campaign that must start in 2011. It oozes with his desperation...
... of Soviet troops in the country during its occupation in the 1980s. Steve Bell In The Guardian SimonJenkins says that: Obama's generals are charged with giving the Taliban a "knock-out" blow sufficient to send them reeling back into the mountains. This is supposed to allow the Kabul government to establish its sovereignty over its nation or, more plausibly, at least to give Nato...