Author: Brian

The case for war

Was the government’s public case for joining the Americans in invading and occupying Iraq firmly based on reliable information in its possession, or did the government dress it up, embroider or otherwise misrepresent it in order to gain public support for the war?

On David and Tom Kelly

The affair of The Kellys, Tom and David. Likeliest scenario: Dr Kelly did make allegations as reported by Gilligan, but was forced to deny it by threats to his job and possibly pension. Unfortunate that this affair diverts attention from more serious questions about the real reasons for the attack on Iraq.

The Security Council and the world community

On the need for us all, especially in the EU, to resist Professor Glennon’s demand in Foreign Affairs that we all recognise the failure and lapse of the Charter rules on use of force, now the most important issue facing the world; need to re-admit the US into the international community.

Apologies for absence

Once again I have to say I’m sorry that this is the first new entry in Ephems for several weeks, indeed months. It has taken even my hi-tech son and his arcane skills this amount of time to re-establish the ability to upload fresh material to the web site. However, I’m back at last, hoping I haven’t permanently lost too many previously loyal and regular visitors during the closure.

Going on a cruise

Just time to scribble a few notes before J. and I go off tomorrow for three weeks on our third cruise — this time to the Mediterranean, the Dardanelles and the Black Sea (including Yalta as in Conference and Odessa as in Steps), stopping off at Istanbul among other places on the way. I’ll try to write a cruise diary on the laptop as we go along and put it on the web site when we get back. The diary of our last, all-too-eventful cruise last year is a reminder of what can easily go wrong during a life on the ocean wave. Better luck this time, we hope.