I’ve Moved!
November 20, 2008
So I’m sure that most people have noticed that the site has been offline for a few days. There’s a reason for that, which I will get to shortly. But first, let me just say this:
In fact, I am blogging at a new site I have just finished setting up: kennethhynek.net. A full explanation for the reasons behind the move can be found here
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That said, this is not the end of Time Immortal. My wife Grace has expressed interest in taking over blogging at this domain, and I am working to make sure that she gets set up here as soon as possible.
Also, my profound apologies for the modification to the site face; the move was not as seamless as I would have hoped, and many of the image files for this theme, and in the gallery, were corrupted during the course of their evacuation from my previous web host’s servers. Until such time as I have repaired them, I’ve put a clean-looking template in place of the previous one.
Update: for the purposes of further traffic shaping, new posts from kennethhynek.net will be excerpted below. Full articles can be read at the new blog.
Stephane Dion is in hot water over his Pakistan remark
January 18, 2008
For suggesting that NATO forces should intervene in Pakistan, the leader of Canada’s is taking a lot of flak. Rightly so, given that his statements were not only hypocritical (given his advocacy for a Canadian military withdrawal from Afghanistan), but also highly offensive (from a diplomatic standpoint).
“He has managed to, in one breath, demonstrate his complete ignorance and poor judgment about the most important foreign policy issue for Canada, while at the same time insulting a critical ally in the war on terror,” said Jason Kenney, secretary of state for multiculturalism and Canadian identity.
Mamoona Amjed, press attache to the Pakistan High Commission in Ottawa, also issued a sharply worded statement, saying Dion’s comments show a lack of understanding of on-the-ground realities, and insisted no foreign troops would be allowed to operate in the country under any circumstances.
It also said Pakistan is an equal partner in the fight against terrorism and is doing all it can to counter insurgent activity on its soil. “The price paid by Pakistan being a frontline state cannot be undermined by certain irrational comments,” it concluded.
Dion said he was “very, very surprised” by the way his comments were reported.
He insisted that all he was saying is that NATO countries should apply diplomatic pressure on Pakistan to have its military deal more forcefully with Afghan insurgents who take advantage of the porous border between the two countries to evade NATO and Afghan forces in Afghanistan.
As has been pointed out elsewhere, if Stephane Dion does not know the difference between “NATO forces” (his words, not mine) and a diplomatic mission, he’s even less qualified to be a leader than he has ever seemed to be.
NATO is a military alliance, not a diplomatic entity. That’s basic knowledge for a Social Studies student in high school. It should be basic knowledge for any man (or woman!) who wants to become Prime Minister of Canada, as well as for any man or woman who leads a national-level political party in Canada. When someone talks of sending “NATO forces” into a region, he or she is not talking about diplomatic envoys; he or she is talking about troops and tanks, airplanes and (if applicable) warships.
It speaks, I think, volumes about just how unfit for his leadership role Stephane Dion truly is that he made these comments in the first place, and that he is now attempting to backpedal by hiding behind the lie that he was talking about diplomacy. Does he suppose we’re all gullible morons? Or does he genuinely have such a poor understanding of international politics and treaties that he doesn’t know what NATO is?
