I did discuss the Wikileaks memos with a number of people yesterday, as to whether I should do an analysis. But, scanning the diverse reports, one can only conclude that the papers offer something new, in principle, only to those who have not already been paying attention.
Thus, the main effect of the "stolen" memos is to give the anti-war media – which accounts for most of the media these days – an opportunity to ramp up the rhetoric which, in the not too distant future, will have us out of there.
Certainly, my attitude to the war changed, gradually over time. Our original stance was supportive, but taking the view that we should either do things well, or not at all. The emphasis, therefore, was on exploring what might be done or should be done, to help us prevail.
By this time last year, short of a couple of weeks, it became clear that nothing we are doing or can do will have the desired effects. Our politicians and military are living in a fantasy world, the only escape from which is to pull out our troops entirely.
Once that Rubicon is crossed, there is no going back. There can be no real debate or discussion as, to borrow from the warmists' litany, this is "settled science". The Wikileaks memos cannot change the minds of those whose minds are already made up, and determined that we should leave, so the net impact on us is nil. We have already bought the proposition.
But, if the "leaks" make the lives of politicians that little bit harder, that is a good thing, especially if it brings us closer to the day where we stop wasting lives and money on a futile endeavour.
Patrick Cockburn in The Independent says that the battle to justify this as a war worth fighting "just got a lot harder." He's dead wrong there. It didn't just get harder. It just got impossible. The sooner we all recognise that, the sooner our troops can go home.
COMMENT THREAD
This Friday, 70 years ago, low dark cloud and heavy rain all over Britain made any flying if not impossible, certainly more than usually difficult and dangerous. But still the Luftwaffe came.
As before, the convoys took their attention, with shipping south of the Isle of Wight providing a meaty target. Hurricanes from No. 601 Sqn were sent up to deal with the intruders, shooting down two bombers, at a cost of one of their own.
Read more on DAYS OF GLORY
Although it is now nine years old, writ large here is the tranzi agenda, in plain sight, for anyone who wants to see it. There are no secrets. It is a "conspiracy in plain sight".
Three main messages emerge, we are told. Firstly, "old forms of governance in both the public and private sectors are becoming increasingly ineffective." Secondly, "the new forms of governance that are likely to be needed over the next few decades will involve a much broader range of active players." Thirdly, key attributes of today's governance systems "look set to undergo fundamental changes."
This is a silent revolution in the making. We know nothing – or little – about it, but largely because the majority of people are not interested. From the very top to the bottom of this land, there are very few people who are in the least bit concerned about how we are governed.
So it is that those who are interested, mainly because they are paid to be or because they stand to benefit hugely from the changes, have the field to themselves, writing arcane 218-page reports that only a handful of people will ever read cover to cover.
But when the revolution comes, they can quite honestly say that they warned us, that their discussions were out in the open, accessible to all who wanted to participate. By the same token, however, we can also say, when the mobs rule the streets, that we too warned them. But no more do they read our stuff than we read theirs. So, as always, events will take their course.
COMMENT THREAD