Mettle fatigue
Australia’s Man of Steel, Prime Minister John Howard, apparently declined to fly with Pervez Musharraf on the Pakistani President’s helicopter during a visit to an earthquake zone in late-2005.
Citing “security concerns”, Mr Howard instead flew on a US Black Hawk helicopter.
posted by Jacob A. Stam at 5/01/2007 09:09:00 PM
4 Comments:
Hmm, not unusual though?
You wouldn't want more than one leader of a country on any kind of aircraft?
In the is instance, nuh, I'd decline to fly with the Pakistani polli too ...
But I'm a 'fraidy-cat from way back.
Good point.
Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if the whole story was apocryphal. Or at least, certain elements given a certain spin.
Ah well, never let the facts get in the way of a smarmy headline.
Must admit I feel a tad puzzled at times Jacob.
All this "urging" of other countries - other strife ridden & not at all rich countries, with wobbly internal politics - to "do more" about terrorism.
As if "we" are doing such a great job of it ourselves.
Yes, yes, I know: the fact that I can't take my lip balm or my hair gel on a plane is a gigantic step toward world peace and a cure for cancer, but, apart from that massive contribution, I sometimes wonder who should be urging who to "do more".
In some instances, "do less", might almost be a tempting suggestion too.
Doing the right things, and doing them well ... a fantasy thought.
I don't think any country is getting either side of that coin "right".
Our entitlement to "urge" other countries to do anything (about anything) might look less silly if we were had more to boast about, other than being rich & comfy.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.
I've seen that glib one-liner a number of times recently, and there does seem a kernel of truthiness to it.
There've been a number of assessments released recently by international/security-type think-tanks that have suggested a reappraisal of approach to international terrorism is in order. In particular, emphasising so-called 'soft-power' against the 'hard' variety.
The current approach seems to be: If what you're doing ain't working... try harder!!
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