Periodic World Craziness Update # 13

The latest month’s wackiness in the world of international relations, politics, and  brinkmanship.

Egypt’s Islamists aim to build on constitution vote:  We are now starting to see the logical outcome of the “Arab Spring.”  I would guess that more Islamist regimes will come to power but they will at first cloak themselves with legitimacy of Democracy.  We are seeing a repeat of the patented Arab “one man, one vote, one time” phenomenon that occurred in the wake of WWII.

Mexico urges US court to block part of Arizona law:  I just wonder why we don’t hear any US politicians or the administration telling a foreign nation to stay out of internal US affairs. I also find the Mexican position that combating illegal immigration from their country to ours can harm diplomatic relations to be amusing at best.

Death of Hugo Chavez could set off shock waves across region (he aint dead yet):  I am not sure what if any repercussions there would be from his death.  I would be willing to bet he has a succession plan in place.  The only big event I could see coming from his death is a renewed push by the opposition to get rid of the regime he has put into place.  If they do so, I predict the opposition will get zero support from the US.  The Monroe Doctrine is a dead letter in American politics at this point in our history.

Defiant Assad Pledges to Continue Fighting:  I hate to sound like I am supporting Assad, who is a tyrant by almost any definition but the fact remains that he has a point.  Even according to the Western media there has been significant infiltration of the Syrian rebels by Islamic extremists.  Given that, I fail to understand how the West can support the rebels.  They are no more home grown rebels anymore than were those who finally toppled Ghaddafi two years ago.  I fully expect Western leaders to bury their heads and ignore the unsavory elements of Islamism and continue support the Syrian rebels. The “Islam is a Religion of Peace” trope keeps stumbling along in Western liberal circles despite all the evidence that it is a lie and I don’t expect that to change anytime soon either.  Never underestimate the post-modernists ability for self-delusion.

Marriage or rape? 90-year-old Saudi weds 15-year-old girl:  Just the comments on this article are hilarious.  I make no statement about the content.

Defence chiefs prepare new plans to defend Falkland Islands:  I highly doubt that these plans are new, if anything they are preexisting and are updated on a regular basis.  I also doubt that Kirchner or the Argentinians will make a serious play for the islands.  The Argentinians would only get kicked off again.  Kirchner’s posturing is for domestic consumption only in order to improve her position domestically.  Argentine noises are a case of the tail wagging the dog.  What I find most shocking is the comparison of British forces today with those that existed in 1982 at the bottom of the article.  I was not aware that Britain had emasculated their military to such an extent.  I thought Britain was the one EU country to keep a decent sized military.  At least the British still know how to fight as they have proven in both Iraq and Afghanistan over the past decade+.

Civilians killed in French Somalia raid:  I suppose I could pull out some French jokes here but I will not.  I will instead just express regret that the French could not get their man back, lost at least one (possibly two) men in the attempt, and did not kill more AQ fighters while they were at it.  The only military critique I will make is apparently they did not deploy enough force and had faulty intelligence.  The latter can happen and the first is inexcusable although understandable given current European views of the use of military force.