EU,in or out ?

Out then we could govern ourselfs, and leave all that eurocrat bullshit behind, they wont change and i dont think we get value for money out of it.

If Mali grew carrots and wasn't sitting on shit loads or uranium that could power French, British and European power stations for decades, I wonder if Europe would be so keen for its umpteenth invasion in as many years.

GOB wrote:

If Mali grew carrots and wasn't sitting on shit loads or uranium that could power French, British and European power stations for decades, I wonder if Europe would be so keen for its umpteenth invasion in as many years.

That but, more importantly I think Europe & the Staes fear the domino effect (students of Vietnam & Cambodia in the 60s will recognise that phrase). Today it will be Mali. Tomorrow it will be Nigeria, then Algeria & Morocco would be even more destabilised & the whole of West Africa is ultimately at risk of extreme Islamification.

I think we're at the point where the western governments just as well come out with the truth and say they are involved in WW3 with the Chinese over Africa and her minerals and now that we've managed to capture most of the words oil and created corridors for military intervention to defend it, we only have the minerals left to secure.

I'm getting a bit bored with the terrorist excuse.

GOB wrote:

If Mali grew carrots and wasn't sitting on shit loads or uranium that could power French, British and European power stations for decades, I wonder if Europe would be so keen for its umpteenth invasion in as many years.

I must start taking more notice of the news. I thought it was a mail crisis and skipped the details because I thought Windsor Boy would have his beard in there and be pleading with new postmen to join him and his comrades in not delivering mail. His latest speech about a new striker.

Where the feck is Mali anyway? Could be in feckin Timbuktu for all I care.

GOB wrote:

If Mali grew carrots and wasn't sitting on shit loads or uranium that could power French, British and European power stations for decades, I wonder if Europe would be so keen for its umpteenth invasion in as many years.

There is two thirds of three eighths of feck all uranium in Mali GOB, not when compared to Oz, Canada and other stable suppliers, not to mention that the extraction costs are comparatively high, maybe they are concerned about the trouble spreading to Niger a major production area but there is already plenty of grief in that region which has not affected supply, uranium isn't like oil or gas, in its raw state it doesn't catch fire. In any case there is little or no interest in expanding nuclear generation in "Europe", we are stalling, Germany has pledged to get out of it all together, Belgium, Spain and Switzerland are thinking along the same lines and even the French are debating the issue, the rest have got like one reactor each, not a major issue imho.

This little war is about Hollande having a hard time at home, it is a pointless exercise because you cannot defeat an enemy like Alqy, they have all conviction of the religious nutters allied to the nous of dyed in the wool drug traders, the West has spent tens of billions in the war on drugs, how has that gone so far ?

Cameron is kissing the Kermit Butt with the lives of our lads like Blair before him kissed the Yank Butt with the same blood. We need to be out of Europe and well out of all these military entanglements, force is no longer capable of achieving a solution in all but the most isolated places eg. The Falklands. We have been in Afghanistan for a decade fighting a disparate bunch of rag heads with their AK47s and IEDs, it took four years less to see off the Box Heads.

I think you're missing the point LT.

Whilst there maybe other more reliable sources for uranium...for the moment at least, we wouldn't want other interested empire builders to get their hands on it. I don't think it's any coincidence that it's the British and the French that are showing an interest, both have long term nucular power expansion plans with France looking to export their power to other areas of Europe.

As I am about to go to morocco for six weeks I wish they would all chill out a bit FFS! Smoke some kief!

GOB wrote:

I think you're missing the point LT.

Always a possibility Gobby, there being a first time for everything, but the French have a stated intention to reduce their reliance on Nuclear generated power by 30% by 2025, we on the other hand are piss balling about re who is going to pick up the tab as well as prevaricating due to the Indians finally getting a thorium reactor on line, thorium is potentially a cheaper and safer alternative to uranium as a power source.

I just can't believe even the French would be stupid enough to go to war to protect such a tiny and expensive source of a freely available commodity which will also become much cheaper as the world in general winds down its nuclear position, the Japanese have already cornered the world market in LPG to accomodate for their own nuclear switch off. No this is far more of a political issue than a straight economic one, over 50% of all the Heroin and coke flooding the burbs of Paris travel through this particular little piece of sub Saharan real estate.

Or I could be full of shiite.

If it wasn't for the European Working Time Directive, I would still be working ridiculous and dangerous hours. Definitely in!

Thanks to Cameron, the German press is now starting to ask questions.

Here