Miliband in another wee warmer.

Miliband in another wee warmer.

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F i F

Original Poster:

45,255 posts

257 months

Monday 17th August 2009
quotequote all
What a prize idiot.

As Foreign Secretary he says "that there are certain circumstances in which terrorism is 'justifiable' as well as 'effective'.

I apologise that the link is to the Daily Wail here

So Miliband you clown.

What... The... F**k...???...!!!

You are Foreign Sec and you come out with an idiotic statement like that when 9000 are out in Afghanistan facing bombs and suicide bombers.

You should resign now you idiot!

Un-fricking-believable!

edited to add a non Wail link > here

Edited by F i F on Monday 17th August 09:39

Eric Mc

122,699 posts

271 months

Monday 17th August 2009
quotequote all
I heard the interview in full on Friday and was rather amazed he actually said this.

HOWEVER, he isn't altogether wrong. One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. The interview was in the context on a discussion on the life of Joe Slovo, one of the Anti-Apartheid activists who was a close friend of Nelson Mandela.

Making a link between Joe Slovo and the Taleban is rather like likening the French Resistance to Al Quaeda.

plasticpig

12,932 posts

231 months

Monday 17th August 2009
quotequote all
I don't see it as an idiotic statement. I can certainly think of circumstances where terroism is both justifiable and effective. One man's terrorist is anothers freedom fighter,

JJCW

2,449 posts

192 months

Monday 17th August 2009
quotequote all
How surprising that the Wail managed to take one tiny snippet of an interesting radio programme and make a stupid headline out of it rolleyes

I thought it was a very interesting programme.

F i F

Original Poster:

45,255 posts

257 months

Monday 17th August 2009
quotequote all
The problem is where Miliband says terrorism is effective. Do you really want your Foreign Secretary to be saying that? Serious misjudgement, he has to go.




audidoody

8,597 posts

262 months

Monday 17th August 2009
quotequote all
Of course there are times when terrorism is justified and effective. That is what every terrorist believes. Otherwise why would they bother? Our useless little twerp of a Foreign Secretary has just given a thumbs up to Terry Taleban who hides the IEDs that blow up our soldiers on a daily basis. I would dearly love to have the power to send him on foot patrol in Helmand on point position. Full body armour of course.

audidoody

8,597 posts

262 months

Monday 17th August 2009
quotequote all
Of course there are times when terrorism is justified and effective. That is what every terrorist believes. Otherwise why would they bother? Our useless little twerp of a Foreign Secretary has just given a thumbs up to Terry Taleban who hides the IEDs that blow up our soldiers on a daily basis. I would dearly love to have the power to send him on foot patrol in Helmand on point position. Full body armour of course.

Jezza30

264 posts

185 months

Monday 17th August 2009
quotequote all

I heard this - what an idiotic thing for him to say while our troops are out in Afghanistan mad
Typifies this moronic, hypocritical governement we have at the moment.
Slovo was a paid up communist and a terrorist. No ifs, no buts.

Odie

4,187 posts

188 months

Monday 17th August 2009
quotequote all
plasticpig said:
I don't see it as an idiotic statement. I can certainly think of circumstances where terroism is both justifiable and effective. One man's terrorist is anothers freedom fighter,
Id have thought that their was a difference between freedom fighters and terrorists

Terrorists use fear, attacking the civilian population and the civilian infastructure (9/11 attacks etc)

Freedom Fighters fight, attacking stategic targets and fighting against combatants, generally government forces or a militia fighting against an invasion forces. (The french resistance during WW2 etc)


Terrorists = Bad Mkay

Edited by Odie on Monday 17th August 10:23

JJCW

2,449 posts

192 months

Monday 17th August 2009
quotequote all
Of course it's effective, Hiroshima was effective too but that doesn't mean it's a good thing.

Terrorism is all to do with point of view.
Did you hear the broadcast of have you just read the Wail summary?

F i F said:
Serious misjudgement, he has to go.
I disagree, it's nice for Politicians to actually talk properly for once and not just tow the same soundbite line.
DM saying that terrorism can, in some circumstances, be justified and effective changes nothing.
As the lady on the broadcast said, the Bush administration used terror, does that make them terrorists? From some points of view almost certainly.

Edited by JJCW on Monday 17th August 10:28

plasticpig

12,932 posts

231 months

Monday 17th August 2009
quotequote all
Odie said:
plasticpig said:
I don't see it as an idiotic statement. I can certainly think of circumstances where terroism is both justifiable and effective. One man's terrorist is anothers freedom fighter,
Id have thought that their was a difference between freedom fighters and terrorists

Terrorists use fear, attacking the civilian population and the civilian infastructure (9/11 attacks etc)

Freedom Fighters fight, attacking, stategic targets and fighting against combatants, generally government forces or a militia fighting against an invasion forces. (The french resistance during WW2 etc)


Terrorists = Bad Mkay
Well the Taliban are fighting an invasion force. So are they freedom fighters or terrorists?

randlemarcus

13,588 posts

237 months

Monday 17th August 2009
quotequote all
Odie said:
plasticpig said:
I don't see it as an idiotic statement. I can certainly think of circumstances where terroism is both justifiable and effective. One man's terrorist is anothers freedom fighter,
Id have thought that their was a difference between freedom fighters and terrorists

Terrorists use fear, attacking the civilian population and the civilian infastructure (9/11 attacks etc)

Freedom Fighters fight, attacking, stategic targets and fighting against combatants, generally government forces or a militia fighting against an invasion forces. (The french resistance during WW2 etc)


Terrorists = Bad Mkay
The difference is purely semantic, and cast in stone when the victors write the histories. Thus Umkonto We Sizwe were freedom fighters in SA, the resistance were freedom fighters in France, and judging by the historical perspective in Afghanistan, those who fought against Alexander the Great, the British, the Russians and now the Allied forces may well end up that way.

Doesnt stop PIRA and the Taleban being terrorist scum, and I'm minded to agree with FiF that while the Milliburke may have had high minded intentions about one of his political heroes, its politically naive, and gauche to be saying things like this now.

The Black Flash

13,735 posts

204 months

Monday 17th August 2009
quotequote all
JJCW said:
I disagree, it's nice for Politicians to actually talk properly for once and not just tow the same soundbite line.
DM saying that terrorism can, in some circumstances, be justified and effective changes nothing.
Generally, yes, it's not a simple issue and it is good for politos to actually engage in a serious debate.

BUT as foreign secretary, when we are at war with what the government has chosen to dub "terror", it is as dumb as dumb can be. There is a time and a place, and he should have the nous to realise that this is neither. Anyone in his position MUST realise that letting themselves be quoted as saying "terrorism is justified", regardless of the nuances of his actual argument, is stupid in the extreme and a PR victory to the other side.

The fact that he has apparently not realised this just shows again how unfit he is for such an office.

Eric Mc

122,699 posts

271 months

Monday 17th August 2009
quotequote all
Like the Alan Duncan situation - politicians are now in a position that, no matter what they say, it can be guaranteed that their words will be recorded and later on used against them.

Whilst we all need a free press, we also need to judge what the press themselves do and what theirm motivations are too and not swallow absolutely every line they write or campaign they launch.

Jezza30

264 posts

185 months

Monday 17th August 2009
quotequote all
Eric Mc said:
Like the Alan Duncan situation - politicians are now in a position that, no matter what they say, it can be guaranteed that their words will be recorded and later on used against them.

Whilst we all need a free press, we also need to judge what the press themselves do and what theirm motivations are too and not swallow absolutely every line they write or campaign they launch.
I don't know if you heard the interview or not, but this was no misquote or slip of the tongue.

F i F

Original Poster:

45,255 posts

257 months

Monday 17th August 2009
quotequote all
That's my point really, the two posts above, Black Flash and randlemarcus.

He's Foreign secretary ffs. He should know that every word will be picked over and analysed by somebody looking for their slant on it. No good blaming the Wail.

I listened to it all on iplayer after being phoned about it.

Just over a month ago he was saying that forces were in Afghanistan on "a mission that has been developed with a very clear strategy, above all to make us safer here, because we know that these areas of Afghanistan and its neighbour pakistan are used to launch terrorism around the world. So the mission for us is clear."

Not that clear to him obviously, as two of FCO's key counter terrorism strategies are

PREVENT terrorism by stopping people becoming or supporting terrorists or violent extremists

PURSUE terrorists and those that sponsor them.


I can't believe that he used the word effective.


But still why should anyone think a Miliband would have joined up thinking.


Eric Mc

122,699 posts

271 months

Monday 17th August 2009
quotequote all
Jezza30 said:
Eric Mc said:
Like the Alan Duncan situation - politicians are now in a position that, no matter what they say, it can be guaranteed that their words will be recorded and later on used against them.

Whilst we all need a free press, we also need to judge what the press themselves do and what theirm motivations are too and not swallow absolutely every line they write or campaign they launch.
I don't know if you heard the interview or not, but this was no misquote or slip of the tongue.
Whatever about me hearing the interview, you obviously didn't read my first post smile

Yes, I did hear it and, as I have already said, was quite surprised by what he said.
Politicians, especially ministers, have to be SO careful about what they say ALL THE TIME.
We are getting to a situation where they will not say ANYTHING for fear of their words being thrown back at them all the time.

JJCW

2,449 posts

192 months

Monday 17th August 2009
quotequote all
Eric Mc said:
We are getting to a situation where they will not say ANYTHING for fear of their words being thrown back at them all the time.
Yep, they're screwed either way.

Say something and be slaughtered for it.

Say nothing and get moaned about:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Politicians are always wrong, it's just which side they've irritated that changes.


elster

17,517 posts

216 months

Monday 17th August 2009
quotequote all
No Terrorism never works.

Mandella never did get to be President and there are definitely no terrorists in Northern Ireland parliament.

alfabadass

1,852 posts

205 months

Monday 17th August 2009
quotequote all
Milliband just stated the obvious.

Would there have been a peace process in South Africa or Ireland without years of fighting?

If someone invaded the UK and neutralised our army, would you expect every Briton to just give up and not fight?