Thursday, August 19, 2021
Must Take Doggie for a Walk First
Incendie dans le Var : le vent et la sécheresse compliquent le travail des pompiers
LE FIGARO : EN IMAGES - Malgré des renforts, le feu s'étendait toujours mercredi soir. Le bilan s'est alourdi à deux morts.
Ce mercredi matin, le feu a ravagé 6700 hectares de végétation, la moitié de la réserve naturelle de la plaine est détruite. NICOLAS TUCAT / AFP
Le bilan de l'incendie qui ravage depuis le début de la semaine la réserve naturelle de la plaine des Maures s'est alourdi, mercredi en fin d'après-midi, à deux morts et vingt-quatre blessés légers, dont dix-neuf pour des intoxications, a annoncé le préfet du Var, Evence Richard. « Il y a au moins un homme » parmi les deux victimes, a-t-il précisé lors d'une conférence de presse. Après la découverte de deux corps entièrement calcinés à Grimaud, un village dans le massif des Maures, le parquet de Draguignan a ouvert une enquête. « Le logement a été entièrement détruit par le feu », a précisé le procureur, Patrice Camberou.
Selon plusieurs proches d'une jeune femme portée disparue depuis lundi soir alors qu'elle séjournait dans un gîte à Grimaud, la seconde victime serait bien cette touriste francilienne de 32 ans. Son frère et une amie confirmaient mercredi soir sur les réseaux sociaux son décès. Contacté par l'AFP, le procureur de Draguignan, Patrice Camberou, n'a pas pu confirmer cette information, le corps n'ayant pas été encore formellement identifié: «Mais cette hypothèse est très très fortement plausible», a-t-il cependant déclaré. Avec une vidéo » | Par Amandine Hess, Clemence Diligent, Guillaume Poingt et AFP agence | mercredi 18 août 2021
Le bilan de l'incendie qui ravage depuis le début de la semaine la réserve naturelle de la plaine des Maures s'est alourdi, mercredi en fin d'après-midi, à deux morts et vingt-quatre blessés légers, dont dix-neuf pour des intoxications, a annoncé le préfet du Var, Evence Richard. « Il y a au moins un homme » parmi les deux victimes, a-t-il précisé lors d'une conférence de presse. Après la découverte de deux corps entièrement calcinés à Grimaud, un village dans le massif des Maures, le parquet de Draguignan a ouvert une enquête. « Le logement a été entièrement détruit par le feu », a précisé le procureur, Patrice Camberou.
Selon plusieurs proches d'une jeune femme portée disparue depuis lundi soir alors qu'elle séjournait dans un gîte à Grimaud, la seconde victime serait bien cette touriste francilienne de 32 ans. Son frère et une amie confirmaient mercredi soir sur les réseaux sociaux son décès. Contacté par l'AFP, le procureur de Draguignan, Patrice Camberou, n'a pas pu confirmer cette information, le corps n'ayant pas été encore formellement identifié: «Mais cette hypothèse est très très fortement plausible», a-t-il cependant déclaré. Avec une vidéo » | Par Amandine Hess, Clemence Diligent, Guillaume Poingt et AFP agence | mercredi 18 août 2021
Wednesday, August 18, 2021
A Message to You, My Followers and Esteemed Visitors
First of all I should like to thank you all kindly for all your support. Your support means the world to me. It is difficult to express in words what it means to me and how much pleasure it brings me each day. A big thank you to you all for it!
I trust that you are enjoying the blog’s content. I hope and trust that you like the changes I am making to it. My aim is to please you, my valued followers and visitors.
By now, I feel that sure you must be asking yourselves some questions about me, about who I am and where I stand on the political spectrum. I feel that the time has come to give you at least some idea about me and my place on the political spectrum. It is only fair that I do so.
Politically, I am rather moderate. I am neither right nor left. I am somewhere in the middle. Perhaps slightly to the right of centre, but only slightly so. I abhor extremism in all its forms, either in action or deed, and certainly in politics. (I have an aversion to showiness.) In fact, I rather dislike classifying myself as either right or left: I take each issue on its merit. So I can be more to the right on some issues and more to the left on others.
I believe in tolerance; and I believe in compassion for the less fortunate in society. However, I understand that business needs to be given the chance to grow and thrive. Without a successful commercial base, we are nothing and can do nothing to help the less fortunate.
As you are now well-aware, I am gay. But my lifestyle is anything but gay, actually. Humdrum would, perhaps, be a more accurate description! I lead a very quiet life in a relatively small town. I do not frequent bars, and I have never frequented gay bars, and nor have I have never ever engaged in cruising. My life is ‘normal’ in every sense of that word.
My interests are broad: I love international politics, languages, reading in various languages, cooking and cookery, fashion, beauty in all its forms, and refinement in all its forms, too. Good food and wines and spirits have always been a part of my existence; but only ever in moderation. I actually care for my health as best I can, but that doesn’t mean that I enjoy none of the pleasures this life has to offer. Further, I hope that the best years are yet and still ahead of me. The best is yet to come! I am still searching for my Eden.
I love France and all things French; and I love Switzerland and all things Swiss. (Naturally, I love other countries too.) Indeed, I spent four of the finest years of my life in Zürich. It is because of that time I spent there that I am as fluent as I am in German today. Switzerland is a fine country, as are its people. When I left Switzerland something of Switzerland remained in my heart. I think that God must have created Switzerland as beautiful as it is to remind us of Paradise. He must have wanted Switzerland to be a taster of what awaits us!
I think I have probably told you enough about myself for now. I shall probably say more later. But I think that suffices for the time being.
Again, please allow me to thank you so much for your loyalty and support. It means more to me than you will probably ever realise. – Mark
I trust that you are enjoying the blog’s content. I hope and trust that you like the changes I am making to it. My aim is to please you, my valued followers and visitors.
By now, I feel that sure you must be asking yourselves some questions about me, about who I am and where I stand on the political spectrum. I feel that the time has come to give you at least some idea about me and my place on the political spectrum. It is only fair that I do so.
Politically, I am rather moderate. I am neither right nor left. I am somewhere in the middle. Perhaps slightly to the right of centre, but only slightly so. I abhor extremism in all its forms, either in action or deed, and certainly in politics. (I have an aversion to showiness.) In fact, I rather dislike classifying myself as either right or left: I take each issue on its merit. So I can be more to the right on some issues and more to the left on others.
I believe in tolerance; and I believe in compassion for the less fortunate in society. However, I understand that business needs to be given the chance to grow and thrive. Without a successful commercial base, we are nothing and can do nothing to help the less fortunate.
As you are now well-aware, I am gay. But my lifestyle is anything but gay, actually. Humdrum would, perhaps, be a more accurate description! I lead a very quiet life in a relatively small town. I do not frequent bars, and I have never frequented gay bars, and nor have I have never ever engaged in cruising. My life is ‘normal’ in every sense of that word.
My interests are broad: I love international politics, languages, reading in various languages, cooking and cookery, fashion, beauty in all its forms, and refinement in all its forms, too. Good food and wines and spirits have always been a part of my existence; but only ever in moderation. I actually care for my health as best I can, but that doesn’t mean that I enjoy none of the pleasures this life has to offer. Further, I hope that the best years are yet and still ahead of me. The best is yet to come! I am still searching for my Eden.
I love France and all things French; and I love Switzerland and all things Swiss. (Naturally, I love other countries too.) Indeed, I spent four of the finest years of my life in Zürich. It is because of that time I spent there that I am as fluent as I am in German today. Switzerland is a fine country, as are its people. When I left Switzerland something of Switzerland remained in my heart. I think that God must have created Switzerland as beautiful as it is to remind us of Paradise. He must have wanted Switzerland to be a taster of what awaits us!
I think I have probably told you enough about myself for now. I shall probably say more later. But I think that suffices for the time being.
Again, please allow me to thank you so much for your loyalty and support. It means more to me than you will probably ever realise. – Mark
Tories Rebuke Boris Johnson over ‘Catastrophic’ Afghanistan Failure
THE GUARDIAN: Former PM Theresa May says country ‘may once again become a breeding ground for terrorism’
‘Where is global Britain on streets of Kabul?’: Theresa May blasts UK failure in Afghanistan – video
Boris Johnson has faced anger from MPs about the UK’s failure to prepare for the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, as he made the case that Britain could not have stayed in the country “without American might”.
The prime minister said a military defence of Afghanistan by the west was not possible in the absence of Washington’s support.
“I do not believe deploying tens of thousands of British troops to fight the Taliban is an option that would commend itself to the British people or this house,” he said, opening a debate in the House of Commons.
However, his position was quickly challenged by a number of high-profile Conservatives, including the former prime minister Theresa May, former defence minister Tobias Ellwood and former chief whip Mark Harper.
May pressed Johnson on whether he had spoken to the Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, about the “possibility of alliance of other forces” in order to replace American troops. The prime minister only replied that he had spoken to Stoltenberg in the last few days.
She later delivered a scathing attack on the foreign policy and intelligence failures of Johnson and the US president, Joe Biden. » | Rowena Mason and Jessica Murray | Wednesday, August 18, 2021
This Conservative government is not fit for purpose. Boris Johnson is the worst Conservative prime minister we've had in my lifetime. The man is a Trump clone – in other words, a clown! He is ill-suited to the job of prime minister, despite his so-called first-class edducation. The problem lies in the man, not in his education. The Conservative Party has had a long and proud tradition of providing this nation with prime ministers of a very high calbre. It grieves me to have to say this, but Boris Johnson doesn't fit that mould. He is unserious, self-serving and given to buffoonery. For God's sake, let's elect a decent prime minister to lead this country. This country needs to return to the European Union. Our destiny lies in Europe and with our European brethren, not somewhere out in the Atlantic, on a dinghy, on the high seas, trying to make Britain 'global', whatever the clown means by that? Whenever was Britain not global anyway? Britain's proud and long history is nothing if not global. And wasn't Britain global enough for the tw*t (fill in the vowel of your choice!) while we were members of the European Union? Enough of this clowning around! Let us get back to some serious politics. Let us re-locate our true place in the world: in Europe. – © Mark
‘This is a shame on all of us’: British MPs debate the fall of Kabul: Debate in Commons hears from former and current party leaders, and MPs who served in Afghanistan »
Boris Johnson has faced anger from MPs about the UK’s failure to prepare for the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, as he made the case that Britain could not have stayed in the country “without American might”.
The prime minister said a military defence of Afghanistan by the west was not possible in the absence of Washington’s support.
“I do not believe deploying tens of thousands of British troops to fight the Taliban is an option that would commend itself to the British people or this house,” he said, opening a debate in the House of Commons.
However, his position was quickly challenged by a number of high-profile Conservatives, including the former prime minister Theresa May, former defence minister Tobias Ellwood and former chief whip Mark Harper.
May pressed Johnson on whether he had spoken to the Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, about the “possibility of alliance of other forces” in order to replace American troops. The prime minister only replied that he had spoken to Stoltenberg in the last few days.
She later delivered a scathing attack on the foreign policy and intelligence failures of Johnson and the US president, Joe Biden. » | Rowena Mason and Jessica Murray | Wednesday, August 18, 2021
This Conservative government is not fit for purpose. Boris Johnson is the worst Conservative prime minister we've had in my lifetime. The man is a Trump clone – in other words, a clown! He is ill-suited to the job of prime minister, despite his so-called first-class edducation. The problem lies in the man, not in his education. The Conservative Party has had a long and proud tradition of providing this nation with prime ministers of a very high calbre. It grieves me to have to say this, but Boris Johnson doesn't fit that mould. He is unserious, self-serving and given to buffoonery. For God's sake, let's elect a decent prime minister to lead this country. This country needs to return to the European Union. Our destiny lies in Europe and with our European brethren, not somewhere out in the Atlantic, on a dinghy, on the high seas, trying to make Britain 'global', whatever the clown means by that? Whenever was Britain not global anyway? Britain's proud and long history is nothing if not global. And wasn't Britain global enough for the tw*t (fill in the vowel of your choice!) while we were members of the European Union? Enough of this clowning around! Let us get back to some serious politics. Let us re-locate our true place in the world: in Europe. – © Mark
‘This is a shame on all of us’: British MPs debate the fall of Kabul: Debate in Commons hears from former and current party leaders, and MPs who served in Afghanistan »
Der Jihad erlebt ein berauschendes Comeback
TAGES ANZEIGER: Die Angst vor einem Terror-Emirat in Afghanistan ist verfrüht. Aber klar ist, dass der Sieg der Taliban Islamisten in aller Welt beflügelt.
Nach 20 Jahren haben die Gotteskrieger die Macht in Afghanistan zurückerobert: Ein Taliban-Kämpfer hisst in Kandahar die Taliban-Fahne. Foto: Keystone | Oben ein Screenshot vom Tages Anzeiger
TAGES ANZEIGER: Die Angst vor einem Terror-Emirat in Afghanistan ist verfrüht. Aber klar ist, dass der Sieg der Taliban Islamisten in aller Welt beflügelt.
Die Welt schaut entsetzt nach Kabul: Langbärtige Taliban-Kämpfer flegeln mit Gewehren und Panzerfäusten im Präsidentenpalast, Familien stürmen panisch den Flughafen, verzweifelte Afghaninnen flehen via Twitter und Facebook um Hilfe. Doch nicht alle sehen in der Eroberung Kabuls ein Unheil. Manche frohlocken.
Der Sieg der afghanischen Islamisten komme der Rückkehr des Propheten Mohammed nach Mekka gleich, schrieb ein Begeisterter in den sozialen Medien. Der Religionsstifter hatte 622 n. Chr. mit seinen Getreuen aus seiner Heimatstadt ins 300 Kilometer entfernte Medina fliehen müssen. Wenige Jahre später eroberten die Muslime die heidnische Metropole zurück. Die Rückkehr nach Mekka steht für den Siegeszug des Islam, der nach Asien, Afrika und Europa hineinführte. (Lesen Sie den Artikel «Bilder des Zusammenbruchs».) Die Taliban sind zurück in Kabul: Ihre Sache muss also gottgefällig sein. » | Tomas Avenarius | Mittwoch, 18. August 2021
TAGES ANZEIGER: Die Angst vor einem Terror-Emirat in Afghanistan ist verfrüht. Aber klar ist, dass der Sieg der Taliban Islamisten in aller Welt beflügelt.
Die Welt schaut entsetzt nach Kabul: Langbärtige Taliban-Kämpfer flegeln mit Gewehren und Panzerfäusten im Präsidentenpalast, Familien stürmen panisch den Flughafen, verzweifelte Afghaninnen flehen via Twitter und Facebook um Hilfe. Doch nicht alle sehen in der Eroberung Kabuls ein Unheil. Manche frohlocken.
Der Sieg der afghanischen Islamisten komme der Rückkehr des Propheten Mohammed nach Mekka gleich, schrieb ein Begeisterter in den sozialen Medien. Der Religionsstifter hatte 622 n. Chr. mit seinen Getreuen aus seiner Heimatstadt ins 300 Kilometer entfernte Medina fliehen müssen. Wenige Jahre später eroberten die Muslime die heidnische Metropole zurück. Die Rückkehr nach Mekka steht für den Siegeszug des Islam, der nach Asien, Afrika und Europa hineinführte. (Lesen Sie den Artikel «Bilder des Zusammenbruchs».) Die Taliban sind zurück in Kabul: Ihre Sache muss also gottgefällig sein. » | Tomas Avenarius | Mittwoch, 18. August 2021
Ex-Official Matthew Hoh, Who Resigned over Afghan War, Says US Mistakes Helped Taliban Gain Power
Revolverheld im Interview | #Mundpropaganda
Information about Revolverheld in English here.
Informations sur Revolverheld en français ici.
Information über Revolverheld auf Deutsch hier.
Mozart - Piano Concerto No 23, A major | K 488 | Maurizio Pollini, Karl Böhm – Wiener Philharmoniker
Renaud Girard: «L’Europe paiera l’inconséquence des États-Unis en Afghanistan»
LE FIGARO : CHRONIQUE - À moyen terme, la victoire talibane agira comme un élixir de force pour tous les mouvements de Frères musulmans qui ont secrètement juré la perte de la civilisation occidentale, argumente l’auteur.
Un soldat américain pointe son arme vers un Afghan lors d’une scène de chaos à l’aéroport de Kaboul, le 16 août 2021. WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP
Vingt ans après qu’elle eut commencé une guerre contre eux, l’Amérique a donc rendu aux talibans l’Afghanistan. Elle aurait préféré qu’il y eût un délai de carence et qu’elle ne fût pas obligée de revivre, à Kaboul, les scènes de chaos de l’évacuation de Saïgon en 1975.
Plus Biden et Blinken s’expriment dans les médias pour tenter de justifier leur abandon précipité d’un allié, plus ils s’enfoncent, plus ils se ridiculisent, plus ils soulignent la honte américaine. Car l’histoire retiendra la date du 15 août 2021 et cette reprise de Kaboul par les talibans comme le premier grand revers géopolitique des États-Unis au XXIe siècle. Quant aux interventions de Pompeo, l’ancien secrétaire d’État de Trump, qui se permet de critiquer l’Administration présente et s’indigne que les talibans n’aient pas été obligés de respecter toutes les clauses de l’accord qu’il avait négocié avec eux en 2020, elles sont pathétiques. Mais on sent surtout, chez les responsables américains, la volonté de faire le dos rond, en attendant que les médias optent pour un autre festin. Car ils savent que, finalement, ce sera l’Europe - et non l’Amérique - qui paiera le prix fort de leur inconséquence. » | Par Renaud Girard | Publié : lundi 16 août 2021 ; mis à jour : mardi 17 août 2021
Réservé aux abonnés
Vingt ans après qu’elle eut commencé une guerre contre eux, l’Amérique a donc rendu aux talibans l’Afghanistan. Elle aurait préféré qu’il y eût un délai de carence et qu’elle ne fût pas obligée de revivre, à Kaboul, les scènes de chaos de l’évacuation de Saïgon en 1975.
Plus Biden et Blinken s’expriment dans les médias pour tenter de justifier leur abandon précipité d’un allié, plus ils s’enfoncent, plus ils se ridiculisent, plus ils soulignent la honte américaine. Car l’histoire retiendra la date du 15 août 2021 et cette reprise de Kaboul par les talibans comme le premier grand revers géopolitique des États-Unis au XXIe siècle. Quant aux interventions de Pompeo, l’ancien secrétaire d’État de Trump, qui se permet de critiquer l’Administration présente et s’indigne que les talibans n’aient pas été obligés de respecter toutes les clauses de l’accord qu’il avait négocié avec eux en 2020, elles sont pathétiques. Mais on sent surtout, chez les responsables américains, la volonté de faire le dos rond, en attendant que les médias optent pour un autre festin. Car ils savent que, finalement, ce sera l’Europe - et non l’Amérique - qui paiera le prix fort de leur inconséquence. » | Par Renaud Girard | Publié : lundi 16 août 2021 ; mis à jour : mardi 17 août 2021
Réservé aux abonnés
Wok de légumes par Pierre-Dominique Cécillon pour Larousse Cuisine
Ingrédients:
2 carottes,
1 petit morceau de gingembre frais,
150 g de haricots verts,
2 branches de céleri,
1 botte de radis roses,
100 g de champignons de Paris,
100 g de germes de soja,
50 g de tomates cerise,
1 gousse d'ail,
2 cuill. à soupe d'huile d'arachide ou de pépins de raisins,
1 cuill. à soupe de sauce soja,
1 cuill. à café de fécule (facultatif)
, 1 poignée de pignons de pin, poivre,
1 bouquet de coriandre
Préparation:
1.Préparez les légumes : lavez, épluchez les carottes et découpez-les en bâtonnets. Épluchez le gingembre (comme une pomme de terre) et râpez-le. Lavez les haricots verts, effilez-les et coupez-les en deux. Lavez les branches de céleri, effilez-les et coupez-les en petits bâtonnets. Découpez les radis en rondelles. Émincez les champignons. Lavez et séchez les germes de soja. Lavez les tomates cerise et coupez-les en deux. Épluchez la gousse d'ail.
2.Faites chauffer l'huile dans le wok. Ajoutez les carottes, faites-les revenir en les répartissant bien dans tout le wok. Ajoutez ensuite les haricots verts puis le céleri, les radis, les champignons et les germes de soja. Faites sauter quelques minutes puis ajoutez le gingembre, les tomates cerises et l'ail. Faites sauter délicatement pendant 5 minutes environ, en remuant pour bien mélanger les légumes. Parsemez d'une poignée de pignons de pin.
3.Versez de la sauce soja (qui va saler le plat). Remuez, ajoutez un peu de poivre selon votre goût et la fécule, si vous voulez faire épaissir la sauce. Faites chauffer pendant 5 minutes encore. Pendant ce temps, ciselez la coriandre. 4.Parsemez le wok de coriandre fraîche et servez bien chaud.
Sous pression de Bruxelles, Varsovie promet de revoir sa réforme de la justice
LE FIGARO : DÉCRYPTAGE - Le bras de fer entre l’UE et le gouvernement nationaliste-conservateur semble cependant voué à se durcir.
Mateusz Morawiecki, premier ministre polonais, le 13 juillet, à la Commission européenne à Bruxelles. PASCAL ROSSIGNOL/AFP
Bruxelles
Entre Bruxelles et Varsovie, l’humeur est électrique. Si le gouvernement de Mateusz Morawiecki semble céder dans le bras de fer sur la chambre disciplinaire des juges polonais, le sentiment est celui d’une confrontation chaque fois plus frontale.
Justice, droit des LGBT, médias… Les différends se sont intensifiés ces derniers mois, avec comme point d’orgue la décision de la Cour de justice de l’UE (CJUE) du 14 juillet, ordonnant la suspension immédiate des activités de la chambre disciplinaire utilisée pour museler les juges. La Commission européenne avait donné à la Pologne jusqu’au 16 août pour appliquer l’ordonnance. Sans quoi, des sanctions financières seraient imposées. Gagner du temps » | Par Leonor Hubaut | mardi 17 août 2021
Réservé aux abonnés
La Hongrie et la Pologne s’éloignent encore des valeurs communes de l’UE : L’Union européenne s’inquiète des dérives de l’État de droit et multiplient les mises en garde face aux tentations autoritaires des deux États membres. »
Bruxelles
Entre Bruxelles et Varsovie, l’humeur est électrique. Si le gouvernement de Mateusz Morawiecki semble céder dans le bras de fer sur la chambre disciplinaire des juges polonais, le sentiment est celui d’une confrontation chaque fois plus frontale.
Justice, droit des LGBT, médias… Les différends se sont intensifiés ces derniers mois, avec comme point d’orgue la décision de la Cour de justice de l’UE (CJUE) du 14 juillet, ordonnant la suspension immédiate des activités de la chambre disciplinaire utilisée pour museler les juges. La Commission européenne avait donné à la Pologne jusqu’au 16 août pour appliquer l’ordonnance. Sans quoi, des sanctions financières seraient imposées. Gagner du temps » | Par Leonor Hubaut | mardi 17 août 2021
Réservé aux abonnés
La Hongrie et la Pologne s’éloignent encore des valeurs communes de l’UE : L’Union européenne s’inquiète des dérives de l’État de droit et multiplient les mises en garde face aux tentations autoritaires des deux États membres. »
Making of #Mundpropaganda
The Guardian View on Britain’s Afghan Failure: A Military and Political Disaster
THE GUARDIAN: The fall of Kabul to the Taliban should spark a more honest debate about the UK’s unconditional support for US plans
The UK’s latest Afghan war, the fourth since 1839, has ended in failure. There is no consolation in claiming that this shameful retreat was down to a bungled withdrawal of US forces by Joe Biden. Britain scuttled out at the same time, the prime minister telling MPs on the day of Mr Biden’s announcement that “there is no military path to victory for the Taliban”. As events subsequently proved, Boris Johnson’s assessment of the situation was badly wrong. The extent of the military and political catastrophe for the UK that the blitzkrieg Taliban takeover represents is hard to overstate.
The UK is currently driven by a desire to stay close to the US. But America is a superpower, able to shrug off defeats and move on. The blow of losing Kabul is felt more deeply in a Britain shorn of substantial global influence. This has led the UK to take Washington’s lead in military affairs. In Afghanistan, the US judgment that a combination of special forces, local proxies and air power would wipe out domestic resistance to a military occupation was flawed. The Afghan security forces that Nato trained were exposed as a shell. In 20 years, according to Brown University’s Costs of War project, more than 170,000 Afghans have lost their lives. The death toll was rising. In June almost 1,000 Afghans were killed in the simmering civil war. A few weeks later half the country was under Taliban control. » | Editorial | Tuesday, August 17, 2021
Biden Rattles U.K. With His Afghanistan Policy: Britain was the second-largest supplier of troops to Afghanistan, and the United States’ rapid withdrawal from the country has left some embittered. »
We are being led by clowns, fools and idiots! These so-called leaders have absolutely no understanding of so many important geopolitical matters; further, they never think through the impact of their stupid policy decisions on the lives of others, especially the lives of others living in foreign lands. As for understanding Islam and the Islamic world, they are totally and utterly clueless!
As far as the US is concerned, it is high time that American voters started electing leaders of a higher calibre. They need to choose leaders of distinction. There are very many Ivy League university graduates in America who would surely qualify. In addition, why do Americans always choose such old presidents? Trump was an old clown; Biden is … © Mark
The UK’s latest Afghan war, the fourth since 1839, has ended in failure. There is no consolation in claiming that this shameful retreat was down to a bungled withdrawal of US forces by Joe Biden. Britain scuttled out at the same time, the prime minister telling MPs on the day of Mr Biden’s announcement that “there is no military path to victory for the Taliban”. As events subsequently proved, Boris Johnson’s assessment of the situation was badly wrong. The extent of the military and political catastrophe for the UK that the blitzkrieg Taliban takeover represents is hard to overstate.
The UK is currently driven by a desire to stay close to the US. But America is a superpower, able to shrug off defeats and move on. The blow of losing Kabul is felt more deeply in a Britain shorn of substantial global influence. This has led the UK to take Washington’s lead in military affairs. In Afghanistan, the US judgment that a combination of special forces, local proxies and air power would wipe out domestic resistance to a military occupation was flawed. The Afghan security forces that Nato trained were exposed as a shell. In 20 years, according to Brown University’s Costs of War project, more than 170,000 Afghans have lost their lives. The death toll was rising. In June almost 1,000 Afghans were killed in the simmering civil war. A few weeks later half the country was under Taliban control. » | Editorial | Tuesday, August 17, 2021
Biden Rattles U.K. With His Afghanistan Policy: Britain was the second-largest supplier of troops to Afghanistan, and the United States’ rapid withdrawal from the country has left some embittered. »
We are being led by clowns, fools and idiots! These so-called leaders have absolutely no understanding of so many important geopolitical matters; further, they never think through the impact of their stupid policy decisions on the lives of others, especially the lives of others living in foreign lands. As for understanding Islam and the Islamic world, they are totally and utterly clueless!
As far as the US is concerned, it is high time that American voters started electing leaders of a higher calibre. They need to choose leaders of distinction. There are very many Ivy League university graduates in America who would surely qualify. In addition, why do Americans always choose such old presidents? Trump was an old clown; Biden is … © Mark
Taliban Promise Peace, but Doubt and Fear Persist
THE NEW YORK TIMES: In their first statement since taking control, the Taliban hinted at a rule unlike their brutal regime a generation ago, trying to placate skeptics.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s chief spokesman, speaking Tuesday at their first news conference since taking control of Kabul, Afghanistan. Credit...Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times
KABUL, Afghanistan — For the first time since retaking power in Afghanistan, the Taliban’s leaders on Tuesday sketched out what their control of the country could look like, promising peace at home and urging the world to look past their history of violence and repression.
“We don’t want Afghanistan to be a battlefield anymore — from today onward, war is over,” said Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s longtime chief spokesman, in a news conference in Kabul, the capital.
Mr. Mujahid, a high-ranking leader, said the Taliban had declared a blanket amnesty, vowing no reprisals against former enemies. And the group has in some places appealed to civil servants — including women — to continue to go to work.
After days of uncertainty around the world over Afghanistan’s swift fall to a group notorious for its brutality, Mr. Mujahid’s words, delivered in a restrained tone, were a glimpse into a Taliban desire to portray themselves as ready to join the international mainstream.
But much of the world is wary of their reassurances. After taking over Afghanistan in 1996, the Taliban imposed their harsh interpretation of Islam with punishments like floggings, amputations and mass executions.
On Tuesday, a Biden administration official confirmed that any central bank assets the Afghan government had kept in the United States would not be available to the Taliban.
Many Afghans, too, remain utterly unconvinced by the new face presented by the Taliban, and its promises of political pluralism and women’s and minority rights. » | Mujib Mashal and Richard Pérez-Peña | Published: Tuesday, August 17, 2021; Updated: Wednesday, August 18, 2021
The first outpouring of public anger is met with Taliban force »
I Was a Marine in Afghanistan. We Sacrificed Lives for a Lie »
KABUL, Afghanistan — For the first time since retaking power in Afghanistan, the Taliban’s leaders on Tuesday sketched out what their control of the country could look like, promising peace at home and urging the world to look past their history of violence and repression.
“We don’t want Afghanistan to be a battlefield anymore — from today onward, war is over,” said Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s longtime chief spokesman, in a news conference in Kabul, the capital.
Mr. Mujahid, a high-ranking leader, said the Taliban had declared a blanket amnesty, vowing no reprisals against former enemies. And the group has in some places appealed to civil servants — including women — to continue to go to work.
After days of uncertainty around the world over Afghanistan’s swift fall to a group notorious for its brutality, Mr. Mujahid’s words, delivered in a restrained tone, were a glimpse into a Taliban desire to portray themselves as ready to join the international mainstream.
But much of the world is wary of their reassurances. After taking over Afghanistan in 1996, the Taliban imposed their harsh interpretation of Islam with punishments like floggings, amputations and mass executions.
On Tuesday, a Biden administration official confirmed that any central bank assets the Afghan government had kept in the United States would not be available to the Taliban.
Many Afghans, too, remain utterly unconvinced by the new face presented by the Taliban, and its promises of political pluralism and women’s and minority rights. » | Mujib Mashal and Richard Pérez-Peña | Published: Tuesday, August 17, 2021; Updated: Wednesday, August 18, 2021
The first outpouring of public anger is met with Taliban force »
I Was a Marine in Afghanistan. We Sacrificed Lives for a Lie »
Nicht einmal in Burka traut sie sich raus
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Eine Tätowiererin, ein Breakdancer und eine Fotografin fielen in Kabul auch vor dem Einmarsch schon auf. Jetzt bangen sie um ihr Leben und ringen mit der Frage: Fliehen oder anpassen?
„Seit Sonntag verstecken wir uns“, erzählt Nargis in einer Whatsapp-Nachricht. Sie ist 27 Jahre alt und alleinerziehende Mutter, sie lebt in Kabul und hat in den vergangenen zwei Jahren als Tätowiererin gearbeitet. Zudem betrieb sie ein Kosmetik- und Massagestudio. Die Wände schmückte sie mit Postern von stark geschminkten Frauen in glitzernden Kleidern.
Damit war Nargis, die in Wirklichkeit anders heißt, auch schon vor der Machtübernahme der Taliban eine schillernde, für manche vielleicht sogar verpönte Person. Doch das Geschäft lief gut – so gut sogar, dass sie, die vor Jahren einer missbräuchlichen Ehe entkommen war, ihrem neunjährigen Sohn einiges bieten konnte: Privatschule, Fremdsprachenunterricht, eine Schildkröte als Haustier.
Jetzt haben beide Angst. „Das Studio habe ich abgeschlossen, selbst in die Nähe des Gebäudes und in den Stadtteil traue ich mich nicht, weil ich schon in der Vergangenheit Drohungen von den Taliban erhalten habe“, berichtet sie. Wir sind völlig untergetaucht, nicht einmal zum Einkaufen gehe ich nach draußen, und auch mit anderen Familienmitgliedern spreche ich kaum – nur mit denen, bei denen wir uns verstecken.“ » | Von Stefanie Glinski | Mittwoch, 18. August 2021
For Afghan Women, Taliban Stir Fears of Return to a Repressive Past: Since the U.S. ousted the Taliban, women and girls have rejoined society in ways that would have been unimaginable under their rule. Now those gains are threatened. »
Afghanistan: The 'pure devastation and guilt' of British-Afghans »
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