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Bernadotte

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About Bernadotte

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    Warrant Officer
  1. Bernadotte

    Empire : Total War

    This is a demo, you won't get half of the features you will get in the game. I suspect the files are stripped to the minimum of what is needed. Seems to me ETW battles require more micromanagement than previous TW releases. Â I suspect that musketmen won't shoot at a flanking unit until reoriented to avoid killing the guy they are standing next to. I've been spending most of my time off the coast of Lagos, although the AI Â gets quite predictable after a short while. Â I'm hoping that weather conditions will vary enough to allow battles on rough seas, which should reduce some of the predictability.
  2. Bernadotte

    Iran Launches Satellite

    More likely a cynical plan to sell more Israeli newspapers to a readership blinded by Iran-hysteria*. Just read a bit further down in the Israeli Insider article where they try to convince us that "a recent spike in [earthquake] activity in that specific area [of Iran] significantly deviates from historical trends". Â I wonder how many of their readers compared the Israeli Insider's USGS graphic with the source data and discovered that the quake they referred to didn't even exist. Israeli Insider version... USGS version... See that 1st quake on 10 September at the top of Israeli Insider's list? Â Never happened. Â Pure fiction. Â Hysteria mongering. * To be fair, 3 of the 20 comments following the Israeli Insider article questioned the nuke claim. Â One of them even linked to a very interesting article on distinguishing quake seismics from explosions.
  3. Bernadotte

    Iran Launches Satellite

    Follow link for the full report http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/128151 Followed it. Â This 3 month old report also warns "that two nuclear rockets are currently ready - and are intended for use against Israel in the coming months." Â So... Any day now, huh? Â As a geological engineer, I enjoyed the Israeli Insider version even more. Â When I looked up their suspicious 25 October tremor at the USGS I noticed that it had occurred at a depth of 35 km. Â Most nukes are tested at less than 1.5 km with the deepest ever being 4 km deep. Â Considering that the deepest well ever drilled was 14 km I'd say that the Iranians have pulled off a significant scientific achievement if this wasn't actually a quake. And where exactly did you see mention of a quake in this Times article? Â At the risk of being labelled a fake-quake-denier, I can think of at least one other reason why a tremor happened on a fault line.
  4. Bernadotte

    International Politics Thread

    I'm inclined to agree with the Israeli intelligence assessment because it makes sense. Â To win this April's elections Hamas is desperately trying to prove that it is capable of effectively representing the Palestinian people and controlling all militants. Â So, everytime a ceasefire that Hamas signs on behalf of the Palestinian people gets broken by whoever the people lose confidence in them. Â This desire of Hamas to control the rocketfire by all Palestinian factions was mentioned again 2 days ago: On the other hand, my assessment of how Hamas will behave after this April's elections is probably quite similar to your assessment, especially if they lose power.
  5. Bernadotte

    Iran Launches Satellite

    That's what I meant - it's (just like Sputnik at it's time) a political statement... Exactly. Â Just substitute "quisling infidels" with "filthy capitalist pig-dogs" and "true disciples of Mahdi" with "red menace" to get the same fear-mongoring rhetoric used in Sputnik's days.
  6. Bernadotte

    Iran Launches Satellite

    I understand that Iran got lots of help from N. Korea, of all places. Btw, I couldn' find any thread about N. Korea launching its first satellite a few years ago. Â I'd have though that it would have drawn more attention given they were the only member of Bush's "Axis of Evil" that already had nukes.
  7. Bernadotte

    International Politics Thread

    For the gazillionth time... <span style='font-size:19pt;line-height:100%'>It's not MY assessment!!</span> Â
  8. Bernadotte

    International Politics Thread

    Of course they weren't. Â The Israelis broke it too. You're half way there now mate.... The israeli's and who else? I've already posted it twice. Â Maybe a big-print version will help: Baff1, I'm just the messenger. Â If you continue to disagree with this assessment then please take it up with the source; not me. Perhaps you could try telling them about how "micro analysing each detail puts them in danger of losing their perspective." Â * lip service n. an expression of agreement unsupported by real conviction or action
  9. Bernadotte

    International Politics Thread

    Of course they weren't.  The Israelis broke it too. Not my portrayal, mate.  It was Israel's Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center that said attacks were "sporadic" and carried out by militants other than Hamas.  They even acknowledged Hamas' vested interested in upholding the ceasefire.  Unlike you, I'm inclined to believe the Israeli think tank.  No, I have no proof that the Israeli think tank that wrote those reports wasn't lying. That really makes no sense given that it is you who refuses to believe what the Israeli think tank reported. Kinda complicated, huh?  I'm not denying anything.  I've got plenty of reasons to hate Hamas without having to make stuff up. And yes I honestly believe that a government can be bombed out of existance.  We just did it to Saddam's government the other year. We did it to Germany's. Japan's.  This has been successfully achieved time and time again throughout history. Bombing a government into surrender is very different than "bombing Hamas out of existence."  The Palestinians surrendered long ago.  That's why it's called occupied territory? The leaders of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade are in the West Bank.  Israel's recent operation against their rockets was retricted to Gaza. Trust me, if blaming every bad thing on Hamas would help get rid of them I'd also be totally cool with the lies.  However, I just can't ignore that lying and corruption is what got Hamas elected in the first place.
  10. Bernadotte

    International Politics Thread

    So, if Israel has a much more accurate overview than either you or I then which accurate Israeli overview did you get the following numbers from? Daily basis? Â And which accurate Israeli source did you get this info from? Â As I've tried to show you with the CBC report, just because you read about Hamas attacks in the news doesn't mean they were carried out by Hamas. No kidding, but anyone who honestly believes that Hamas can be bombed out of existence hasn't learned anything from the past. Â Hamas needs to lose power the same way they won it; in a national election. I hope you realise that Israel's recent invasion did far more than bomb the rocket sites. I hope you realise that Israel's recent invasion did not target the leaders of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, the faction that actually broke the ceasefire.
  11. Bernadotte

    International Politics Thread

    True. Â Here's an excerpt from an Israeli intel overview about who was to blame last year: <span style='font-size:11pt;line-height:100%'>Question:</span> Â If Israel knows it wasn't Hamas then why did they retaliate against Hamas? Â If Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade claimed responsibility for the latest rocketfire then why did the Israeli PM and news organisations like CBC News blame Hamas? <span style='font-size:11pt;line-height:100%'>Answer:</span> Â The Israelis want to get rid of Hamas and would blame the Alaskan earthquake on them if they could get away with it.
  12. Bernadotte

    International Politics Thread

    Oh really? Â What the hell did your response have to do with the part you quoted? Â How did my brief summary about a recent rocket attack lead you to think that I might "be perfectly fine with those responsible getting away with it?" Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade and other militants from the West Bank have claimed responsibility for these attacks out of Gaza. So far they've been getting away with it, and no, I'm not fine with that at all. Â Are you?
  13. Bernadotte

    International Politics Thread

    Wow... Way to miss the entire point of what I'd posted. Â I'll try to simplify the matter: If some guys in neighbourhood A shot rockets at you from neighbourhood B who would you retaliate against, the guys in A or the guys in B?
  14. Bernadotte

    International Politics Thread

    And again, Israel just got hit by a few rockets from Gaza that harmed nobody and caused no damage. Â The greater harm probably comes from 3 different news agencies for being able to report 3 different versions of events: Given that Israeli intelligence has already blamed West Bank militants for Gaza rocketfire, I'm inclined to believe the Reuters version. Â But even Reuters avoids asking the bigger question: Â How does an enemy of Hamas like the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade manage to get out of the West Bank, across Israeli territory, and into beseiged Gaza armed with rockets that ultimately do no harm except to give Israel an excuse to attack Hamas? And why wouldn't West Bank militants simply aim their rockets at targets right within the West Bank such as Israeli settlements? Hmm... Â
  15. Bernadotte

    International Politics Thread

    Obama started his first day doing exactly what I'd have done. Â His first phonecall as president was made to Palestinian President Abbas. Â He then spoke with the leaders of Israel, Jordan and Egypt. * Odd that the Times still refers to Obama as mister. If Obama has seriously tried to envision the end of this conflict as a grand peace treaty signing ceremony then he knows there's no room in that picture for a Hamas Prime Minister. Â So his first objective is to get rid of Hamas in this April's elections by providing the Palestinians with a viable alternative. At the moment, the most effective way to empower Abbas' opposition Fatah party is to give them reconstruction aid for Gaza. Â If the people of Gaza finally get the help from Abbas that they never got from Arafat then this will eliminate one of their main reasons for supporting Hamas. Â Conversely, if Hamas refuses to accept aid unless it is given directly to them then Gazans will start holding Hamas responsible for prolonging the suffering. Another interesting factor in all this is the fate of one Israeli and one Palestinian. Â The Israeli is kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit and the Palestinian is politician/ex-militant leader Marwan Barghouti, now serving 5 life sentences in Israel. Â From his jail cell, Barghouti would have defeated Abbas for the presidency during the last general election if he'd not been convinced to withdraw. Â Hamas has offered to release Shilat in exchange for Barghouti's freedom, perhaps because this would probably get rid of Abbas this April. Â Israel has said no because they refuse to deal with Hamas, but more likely because they don't want Barghouti to replace Abbas as President. Â Marwan Barghouti... Â Possible post-Hamas Palestinian Prime Minister? I've always liked Barghouti. Â He knows English and is also fluent in Hebrew (self-taught while serving time after First Intafada). Â As a militant, he's always opposed acts of resistance outside of the West Bank and Gaza. If he can be convinced to return to Fatah and run for Prime Minister this April then Hamas will be finished and Obama will be well on the way to winning his Nobel. And this just in: Â Late today, Obama appointed George Mitchell to be his administration's Middle East envoy. Â This is very good news. Â Mitchell's famous report on the causes of the Second Intafada openly placed blame on Israel's construction of Jewish settlements across Palestinian territory as well as Palestinian terrorism. Â Btw, when Mitchell served as special envoy to Northern Ireland he successfully instigated a peace process there that has held to this day.
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