Lawrence of Afghanistan
The Times today has an article about T. E. Lawrence, who as well as his efforts in Arabia, served in the RAF as Aircraftman Shaw in Afghanistan. We should listen to what he said.
Here is an extract from the article.
With the help of Hollywood, he would become a legend, Lawrence of Arabia, but today he might more aptly be termed Lawrence of Afghanistan: he understood more clearly than any of his contemporaries (and many of our own) the futility of trying to bomb an insurgency into peace; he put into action the tactics of modern guerrilla warfare; and he pioneered the improvised explosive device (IED), the most important weapon of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In Britain Lawrence is revered as a figure of romance, the camel-mounted scholar-warrior in flowing robes, but his reputation comes tinged with a distinctly British embarrassment. Lawrence was stupendously strange: a diminutive, ruthless, obsessive, sexually repressed oddity, who spent his life striving for attention, and then rejected it.
What is too often forgotten in the mythologising (and debunking) of Lawrence is his enduring legacy as a military strategist of genius and cold-eyed guerrilla leader.
I like one particular statement.
Lawrence believed that “winning hearts and minds” (a term that would have made him snort) could only be achieved by education or cash, and never by coercion. “The printing press is the greatest weapon in the armoury of the modern commander,” he wrote. The Arab rebellion was fought with new British tactics, and bought with new British gold.
The trouble is the Americans used to think that the only good Indian was a dead one and their thinking hasn’t changed much to reflect the modern age.
Every politician and military man, from the highest general to the lowest private, should read Ben MacIntyre’s article and then be tested on it.
My father was a printer and one of the most interesting things I saw in Belarus was this battlefield printing press from the Second World War.
Battlefield Printing Press, Minsk
The Russians and Belarussians obviously know their T. E. Lawrence and it served them well, when they turned the Nazis in 1941.
I share two things with Lawrence;stature and birthday.
Snuggling Down
Today, I’d intended to do a lot more, but the cold weather was against it.
So I met my new cleaner and got her instructions on to what I needed to buy to do the cleaning! I then went to Maplins to get a long HDMI cable, so that I could watch the football on a large screen. I’ve actually mounted the television on a swivel, so that I can watch it either from the living room or the kitchen off it.
I’ll watch the football, whilst having supper of a microwaved cod Mornay from Marks and then get over the electric blanket and under the duvet. I’d like to wake a bit later, but hopefully still early enough to see the eclipse of the moon.
I
A Previous White Christmas
All of this bad weather reminds me of a tale of getting home for Christmas in probably 1978. I say probably as the BBC have said that that was a very bad winter. Ian, one of our consultants, was working in Amsterdam and joined the exodus with many fellow Brits back to the UK on Christmas Eve at Schipol. But Heathrow was closed as many aircraft were frozen to the stands. More by luck than judgement BA were able to get a Tri-Star to Schipol after finding out that East Midlands airport was free of snow. The jet then did several shuttles between the two airports to bring everybody home, albeit not to where they wanted to go. BA also hired every coach they could find to complete the passengers’ journeys.
One version of the story says that the last flight came in at three in the morning of Christmas Day.
One gets the impression, that that sort of spirit no longer exists in our transport industry. Although as I said at the time, I’ll give credit to National Express East Anglia for getting me home on Saturday from Ipswich.
Not Many Takers for Boris’s Bikes
I took this picture in Bunhill Row in the City.
Boris's Bikes in the Snow
Only five of the bikes had been taken.
But then it isn’t good weather for cycling. I did see a few runners though!
Little Things that Annoy Us All
I don’t exactly have a phobia about coat hangers, but all mine are the same simple wooden design, that holds shirts, suits and trousers without difficulty.
C used to take all her clothes on holiday still on their hangers and got annoyed if they had those clip in hangers that you couldn’t steal in hotels. They seem to be dying out in hotels, as possibly other customers feel like C did.
So it was with despair that I found that the wardrobes in this house have those awful abominations.
Those Abominable Hangers
So there was nothing left for it, but to take the rail down and reinstall it as a simple one. The hangers will go to a charity shop.
Total Eclipse of the Moon
There is a total lunar eclipse early in the morning of Tuesday 21st December. It’s not particularly well-placed for UK observers, as the Moon sets during totality, but if it’s clear it will be possible to see an eclipsed Moon setting over the north-western horizon in the morning twilight. The partial phase begins at 6:32 UT and totality starts at 7:40 UT, not long before the Moon sets at around 8:14 UT.
Somif you know a place that gives glorious sunsets and the weather is clear, you’ll know where to go.
London Water
I’ve never been a great water drinker and certainly not of the bottled variety, but since I’ve moved here I’ve taken to drinking water straight from the tap.
Perhaps it’s a child hood taste, as I was brought up in London.
The Western Curve Appears to be Going Well
At present there is no link between the new East London Line and the old North London Line, so passengers wishing to transfer have to walk down the busy road, that connects the two stations, as I did yesterday, when I needed to divert because of the snow.
But the Western Curve which connects the two lines appears to be a project that is running to time, if you read this article.
Where Are My Vests?
It’s cold and I need one of my long-sleeved T-shirts. But where are they? Probably with my shirts, which I’ve not found either in one of the boxes that are piled up without meaningful labels. So I know one moving firm, I won’t be using again.
