On the topic of last week, namely, the Will-Kate wedding, what hats!
This post is by Neelima Gupte and Sumathi Rao.
Friday, May 6, 2011
Tere bin laden (and millinery too)
Just so as not to be the only blog that hasn't mentioned the topic of the week,
here is a slightly skewed take on Osama bin Laden and his death. There will be arguments ad infinitum on whether bin Laden's death really changes anything, and whether Pakistan first concealed his whereabouts and then threw him to the wolves when the U.S. made things too hot; to say nothing of whether U.S. policy towards states which sponsor terrorism will change after this. This post is only to admire the classic intelligence legwork and tailing of small fry which led to the discovery of Osama's hiding place. It is to be hoped that no part of this success will get tainted by identification with the inhuman interrogation techniques of Guantanamo Bay (although one can't be sure at this point). If not, George Smiley would surely rejoice!
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7 comments:
Thanks for continuing one of the few blogs that I used to follow regularly - I can't help but muse about what witty one-liners Rahul would have come up with on L'affaire Laden during the coffee break at IMSc and can almost hear the raucous laughter that would have surely followed in the fourth floor lounge :-) - we miss you Rahul, in so many ways, big and small, every day...
. It is to be hoped that no part of this success will get tainted by identification with the inhuman interrogation techniques of Guantanamo Bay (although one can't be sure at this point).
In fact, the right wing is frantically trying to make the connection. But it seems that torture largely yielded misinformation, not information. NYT here. Sullivan here.
Did you people see Musharraf on CNN-IBM? It was an amazing performance. Given the choice between declaring the Pakistan army complicit or incompetent, he chose incompetent. Then he accused Karan Thapar of gloating. Even if he was, he wasn't the only one. It was exactly the right ten minutes to turn on the TV.
Rahul would have been very amused. He always considered the General truly something!
Luckily, we don't have TV :) Regarding Musharraf's role in this, Pervez Hoodbhoy has some interesting comments.
I can never look at English 'upper class' formal hats (the elaborate creations worn by women and the top hats worn by men) without the Ascot scene in 'My Fair Lady' passing before my mind's eye once again:-)
Bala, we saw the revival of My Fair Lady on Broadway 30 years ago. Rex Harrison was a very old Higgins and his mother was the original actress who had played Higgins' mother (she was 90!). However, the hats were as spectacular as ever.
Similarly the Serb killer has been unearthed among surprised locals. I think it is a hindsight fallacy to think Pak should have known. I think there must be many such unknown warlords there. Pakistan makes the optimally bad mix of democratic freedoms and totalitarianism.
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