1. Who is this guy?
2. At whose funeral were arrangements made?
3. Who was the matchmaker?
4. How much did Brash pay and who funded it?
5. Was support for Joyce part of the agreement?
ps. Might end up being more than twenty questions at the rate the tips are coming in.
Incidents such as that being reported over the last couple of days highlight the danger of involvement in a war which is winding down and where our reason for involvement has long past. The previous government decided to stop SAS involvement – a decision John Key reversed.
I want to make it clear I am not joining calls for Kiwi troops to be punished. If mistakes were made then, in my opinion, they are an inevitable consequence of being involved in what is becoming is now not much more than propping up an illegitimate government.
Stuff, based on NYT original reports :-
The owner of an Afghanistan factory attacked by elite New Zealand soldiers is calling for them to be punished after two of his workers were killed.
Special Air Service soldiers led by men identified as “Sean” and “James” spearheaded a night raid on the Kabul premises of Tiger Armour on Christmas Eve. Officials said it was an attempt to prevent an attack on the United States embassy.
Two security guards died and two were wounded in the raid, which Nato described as a fire-fight and the Afghan interior ministry called “a heart-rending and tragic incident”.
Meanwhile Wikileaks is providing some insight into the way the Key government is being pressured both around the substantive issue of the provision of troops, the provision of information to New Zealanders and being a cheerleader to US policy on the issue.
The Dalai Lama causes diplomatic staffers to lose sleep. Helen Clark saw him in Sydney Airport, took the initiative, had a meeting and avoided months of Chinese Embassy pressure not to meet.
By way of contrast Key has once again, until now, got away with playing both sides of the road. But that means that in the end he will get run over. David Fisher in the Herald.
Prime Minister John Key has not broken his promise to meet the Dalai Lama – he just doesn’t feel like fulfilling it yet.
That’s the official position on the exiled Tibetan leader, from foreign minister Murray McCully.
The Herald on Sunday last week revealed a leaked US Embassy cable that said Key had assured the Chinese premier he would not meet the Dalai Lama. But Key promised voters he would meet him.
McCully insists there was no “official” instruction to senior politicians to avoid meeting the Dalai Lama. Key decided himself to dodge a meeting – and his Cabinet ministers made the same decision, all at the same time, all by themselves.
McCully insists he did not mislead Parliament when he said there was no “official policy” on the issue.
Yeah right Muzza – give the man a Tui.
