Despite the jolly smiles of the panelists, there was a hint of tension.  I wondered, was it because of the shadow cast by the recent exposure of US of war crimes in Baghdad as the show launched into a tedious discussion on the difficulties of being a politician's partner? On and on it went, an orgy of waffling, eliciting tears from the panelists and yawns from viewers.

Finally, a question from the audience raised the temperature.

From a HPD Correspondent 

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Yet, in an article written by Gordon Brown on last week’s failed plane bombing there are already signs that the worst may yet be to come. Brown stated that:

“The new decade is starting as the last began- with al-Qaeda creating a climate of fear… [revealing] an evolving terrorist threat”

Now I’m still trying to work out the similarities between the highly co-ordinated 9/11 attacks and a guy with a bomb stuffed down his underpants, but there are similarities in Brown’s response- one of fear and over-reaction.

Yes, a terrorist attack was very nearly carried out which would have resulted in mass murder and untold sadness and devastation- but terrorist attacks are happening every day in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq, and they’ve also been occurring for decades (if not centuries).

What we have to focus on is that the weakness of this attack must suggest that al-Qaeda hasn’t got the resources or expertise it once had.

And similarly, we must- if this decade is to become one of greater understanding and problem solving- learn that thinking as we have has only made us more unsafe, more amoral and more hated in the eye's of the world, and we must change. 

Whether you think Bradley Manning- the man suspected of releasing 'Collateral murder' and 260,000 embassy cables to WikiLeaks- is a hero or not, there is one thing I'm still a little hazy on.

How does a 23 year old Private who is working as a security analyst at the Pentagon have access to all those files and how was he able to leave the building after either sending them or saving them to a portable drive?

I know it's the fault of Hollywood but I would have assumed that if someone had have hit ctrl + S while looking at 260,000 secret documents that some sort of alarm would have rung out in some higher-up's office and CIA agents would have been standing over Manning's desk with guns in arms. 

Apparently Intelligence is a name with no apparent connection to its meaning. 

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There are few people in this world who would defend Gaddafi as a sane and viable leader of Libya; but I think there would be even less that would see the logic in the U.S selling guns to someone as psychotic as him and then parading about as world police.

It's the equivalent of a sheriff giving an outlaw a six-shooter and then acting surprised when he starts popping off the town folk. 

The second one U.S plane gets shot down by one U.S surface-to-air missile, all the military big wigs should get together and make a decision once and for all - "we have to stop shooting at tyrants we've given guns to".

What do you think about Libya? What do you think about the obvious contradictions in U.S foreign policy and how do you think they should be addressed? Tell us and remember...Disqus!  . . read more