kiltboy

I think it's the other person's computer that is infected and they are emailing you. I think the email is written so that you open the attachment (trying to figure out what couldn't be delivered) and launch the virus. At least that's what my dad did and he was pretty oblivious until I told him.

I should have mentioned as well that the UK didn't extradite Pinochet to Spain as they thought he was unfit to stand trial. I also think there was a case of Russia wanting someone and the UK said no as they believed he wouldn't get a fair trial. Question to anyone that could answer. I am under the impression that a US court (we're talking about OBL so I can assume the US would be very interested in his extradition) does not take into account the legality of how you end up in front of the court with regard to extradition i.e. if it was a legal extradition or if you were taken by force. Is that the case or am I wrong? David

The UK is another country won't extradite anyone that faces the death penalty.

I knew a guy that was posted in Berlin who stated that Hess was treated reasonably by the Brits and US but was given sod all by the Russians when it was their turn to guard him. According to him the Russians gave Hess a straw mattress, bread and water and took away his electricity. The Brits would then have to send in Linemen to replace the electrical power to his cell so he could have some prison comforts. I don't know how much truth there is to that, could be all talk, but I did see the cell where he believe he was held when he first jumped into the UK. Cultybraggen camp or the black camp of the north. David

I had been staying out of this thread for a while but I have a couple of questions I had a look at Afghanistan and it appears that Spain contributes troops to that area and continues to do so. Question #1 will Spain continue to provide troops to that area after the troops leave Iraq? I haven't heard anything, as the focus has been on Iraq, so I'm looking for information here. As Al Qaeda (sp?) is still active around Afghanistan, as the search for OBL continues, is it possible that intelligence that could have prevented the Madrid bombing was not gathered because assets were diverted to the war in Iraq? Is it possible that had Spain not been in Iraq that the bombing in Madrid would have been in response to Spanish troops in Afghanistan? If so who believes that the Spanish troops would withdraw from Afghanistan? David http://www.afnorth.nato.int/ISAF/structure/structure_structure.htm

The sad part is there were points I could agree with wrt to Afghanistan. The transition/link to Iraq was more of a stretch and he looked at parts as if he didn't believe it himself. The planted questions were pretty obvious and the answers were certainly repetitive. Hasn't changed my opinion. David

OK, Am I the only one that was waiting for Kwame to fire Omarossa last night? Next week should be entertaining. David

No there will be no beating to death of N. Ireland. I didn't mean to imply that you can't bring previous administrations into the debate i.e historical perspectives, how we got to where we are kind of thing, as that's all important stuff. But the idea of "The US wasn't concerned with Rwanda why are they interested in Iraq?" and asking this current US administration to justify the actions/inactions of a previous one is pretty unfair in my opinion. Note I'm not implying you have done this but that's where I was trying to go with my explanation. David

I'm not about to open the can of worms that is N.Ireland as it's been done here before. As for the other examples I think it is only fair to criticise a current government and not prior ones. I'm not about to criticise the current US administration for the decisions of the prior Clinton administration. However the decisions of the US government do directly influence me as I live in the US and the US government policies also influence the UK (my nationality) as Tony goes along for the ride. David

N. Ireland is part of the UK it's not a foreign policy screw up. The majority of the population vote to remain part of the UK that's democracy not a foreign policy screw up. There are a bunch of terrorists in N.Ireland , loyalist and republican and both as bad as each other. Could the US please send lots of troops and planes to kill them as part of the war on terror? . I think this thread is discussing the current foreign policy of a bunch of countries i.e. the coalition of the willing. David

My mistake From the Telegraph The force will come from the west London based Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment. One hundred and twenty troops have already been deployed, with a further 600 ready to go. And Blair, Brown and Hoon are still talking about cutting the infantry, armour and artillery. David

I think the UK is sending 350 guys. David

What's this about rebellious colonists taking the King's shilling? Could the guy have reported, stated his objections/refused to soldier and went straight to jail instead of deserting? David

Ok here's the story from my standpoint. Firstly I have several friends on H1 visas. Some are doing post-docs some are in industry while others are working in state type jobs (public health labs etc.) H1 visas are not just issued to the Techie type people that you mention, the IT industry is just a small part of a bigger picture. Most of my friends progressed onto H1 visas after grad school when the one year optional practical training, post-graduation, expired. Certain companies such as Pfizer, Merck etc. will only sponsor H1 visas were there is a genuine lack of the skills required i.e. solid state NMR etc. and not to dime a dozen chemistry graduates. For 2001, 2002, 2003 there were 195,000 visas issued each year. This year (2004) saw 65,000 issued and they were all snapped up at the beginning of February and the next quota starts in October. The visas are required. Better vetting of the applications would reduce the number of visas issued to those industries that are not in a skill shortage such as IT. David

I was even spammed with a text message at 3am, the bloody phone woke me up with the ringtone. I wonder if there's anyway to nail the bastard? I should check with Sprint. David

Congratulations! David

Fair enough, no apology needed as no offense was taken but thank you for the reply

Not a troll at all. I started in Scotland and I'm currently in Connecticut. Know a guy who was there when the shooting was going on and he's now in Kabul. I won't go into more detail as this is an open forum but I've heard some of what happened from folk that were there. I was merely pointing out the scale of the contribution of the various countries and from what I've read the minor contributors have been liaison officers. Not sure how effective that is other than as show of solidarity to the US i.e. more political than militarily significant. From your post 2 Icelandic officers and 3 Lithuanian officers. I'm not going to dig for their role but I've not seen mention of engineer companies, field hospitals etc from those countries so I'm assuming that they haven't deployed as part of a formed unit in it's normal role. Is that the sole contribution from those countries? Not digging just explaining what I've read and my interpretation. Some of the stuff I've seen regarding the coalition had more detail on Afghanistan and I linked to Op Fingal to show those forces in Afghanistan but did you not read that far down the post or did that not come across? There seems to be a merging of Iraq and Afghanistan in media reports here so I was trying to split the difference. And while "you can't learn everything sitting on your bum over the internet" you can read between the lines if you go to some decent sources. Or is the MoD not a decent source? Would you prefer the Sun? The Telegraph has been more fun of late with th KHR sex scandal as they seem to have overtaken the RLC on that account. It wasn't a troll it was an attempt to put a perspective on the 40 countries claim and what the actual contributions from those countries were. Take it easy and stay out the sun. David

Eh? I had a look at the UK contingent; http://www.operations.mod.uk/telic/forces.htm Which provides a pretty good idea of the forces contributed. I tried to track down Lithuania and as far as I can tell they allowed for overflights and that's it. Iceland has a defense force that is mostly from NATO countries (primarily the US) so I didn't see a standing army from which it could contribute. I've already guestioned the crack Uzbecki light infantry??? Or the mongol horde??? I've also noted that the significant contribution for most of the countries listed is to Afghanistan and not Iraq. I should also point out that there are French and German troops in Afghanistan as most folks tend to forget that and go off on a French bashing tangent. http://www.operations.mod.uk/fingal/orbat.htm That being said the forces in Iraq are not the mix of over 40 that you suggest. David

Nope! David

I saw most of the Gibson interview with Bill O'Reilly on Tuesday and it was interesting to hear the points that both men made about the movie. There was the possibility that certain parts were not historically accurate e.g. carrying the full cross instaed of the cross beam but he did address the character of Pilate and a couple of other points. I was impressed by Mel Gibson's answers and certainly don't doubt that his personal beliefs on the gospels are very secure. A lot of thought, emotion and belief went into the movie and I would like to see it. David

You could add to that the conscientious objectors who served as stretcher bearers on the front line. They were not eligible for any decoration as they were objectors but were exposed to the same risks all the same. I don't like the term war hero. I prefer to recognise what old servicemen have survived and not forget what was asked of them. I remeber one veteran of the Arctic convoys who would go to several memorials on Remembrance day and lay a wreath. I was more impressed by his demeanour at those ceremonies than the local councillor who was there for show. David

I'd be guessing Pinewood studios in the UK. Didn't they fly in a bunch of palm trees to make the wrecked town for the final scenes? David

I tried to fly helicopters for the UK Army Air Corps. Damn pesky medical requirements. David

I think it would backfire horribly on him if he were to do that. The number of experts that have said there is nothing who couldn't find infrastructure and the Iraqi's that have stated on the record that it was all a lie to keep getting money would make it impossible to pull off. If the credibility is already shaky trying something as risky as that could possibly drive supporters away. David