chappers turkmenistan thread...

[Raphael Meade]

well....

 

[CHAPPERS]

Thanks mate.


Here's a serious one - Turkmenistan

On the news last night there was a report from Turkmenistan about their human rights record. They have an old skool Communist regime and they are forced to do Parades and stuff and look at their leader as a 'god'. There are golden statues of the 'leader' everywhere including one that rotates so it is always facing the sun, there is also a statue of his book (full of ideological bollocks no doubt) that opens and loud music is played when it does so.
The reporters could not find someone with anything near a bad word to say about the President and when they found one the had to sneak out of their hotel to meet up under cover of darkness.

They are complete distant from the outside world.

All very weird. Anyway, my question, should we be allowed to intervene in cases such as this or let them go mental?

 

[Raphael Meade]

and.... (deja vu?) the mad man incharge a while back renamed the months after things he liked. including his mother.

 

[Locky]

Do they have any Oil ?
If so I think we should go in and free the people from this regime............then nick all their Oil..........................
If not then leave well alone......Its their problem.

 

[CHAPPERS]

Really, you don't find it all a bit '1984'.

They torture and kill anyone who goes against the regime apparently.

 

[Locky]

Really, you don't find it all a bit '1984'.

They torture and kill anyone who goes against the regime apparently.

Chappers, what do you think we should do?

 

[CHAPPERS]

I don't know, it's got me a bit puzzled. At the moment it should be left alone, they aren't doin anything wrong really but it just all seems very strange. They have no freedom whatsoever and watching the scenes on tv last night disturbed me a little to be honest, having to parade all the time and treat someone as a god is just plain wrong.

 

[Raphael Meade]

anyone watch stargate?

sounds a bit like the goa'uld to me...

 

[CHAPPERS]

I thought this would be quite an interesting thing to talk about with the implications on peoples rights but also a country's rights to look after its people in their own way......

 

[Lammy]

If they don't pose a threat to an outside nation then I'm afraid it is their problem. The people need to rise up! If they then ask for help it is another matter, but they're not.

At the end of the gulf war the Iraqi people rose up and we pissed off!

 

[NMH]

I am starting to think they have WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION ..... or some catchy phrase like that.

'BIG NOISY BLAST THINGS'
'BANG-MAKING DESTRUCTIVE ITEMS'
'NASTY LUMPS OF LARGE DEMOLITION'

Surely they have SOME catchy phrase.. ...George ??

 

[Sorrel]

I've heard lots of bad things about Turkmenistan too. But are they any worse than China? And China has been a nightmare for over 50 years now.

 

[Lammy]

Yeah but the difference is that China would win any war!

 

[CHAPPERS]

Yeah but this like the people are beng brainwashed. Chinas leader does not try and come across asa 'god' to them.

 

[fatbadger]

I've spent some time in Turkmenistan (Health! Work! Turkmenbashi!)

As it is, we are very, very involved in what is going on over there. That's the problem. We support the scum in charge.

 

[CHAPPERS]

We do? Is taht because he supports us in the 'War on terrorism'?

 

[fatbadger]

We do? Is taht because he supports us in the 'War on terrorism'?

Well, Turkmenbashi supports the 'war on terrorism' because he President of an oil-rich client nation of the west. We support him, obviously, for the oil-wealth (and the Caspian port of Turkmenbashi, renamed in true Stalinist fashion, by the President after himself, who had renamed himself Turkmenbashi first!)

 

[Easy 10]

Its a tricky one. Do we go in and help them or not ? From what I gather, they are not posing any threat to anyone outside of their own country, so its probably not really anyone elses business to go charging in and "liberate" them.

Its like if there was a family who lived in the same street a few houses down, and the bloke there knocks his wife and kids about, and rules the house in a way we perceive as being violent and oppressive. Would you feel obliged to take the law into your own hands, go round there, give the bloke a good battering and kick him out of the house, before patting the woman and kids on the head and going back home in time for Eastenders and a Stella ? Leaving the newly "liberated" woman and kids to their own devices to sort their lives out with the big bad man there any more ?

Dunno. I suppose if the oppressed are not crying out for help, then I think we just have to stand back and accept that some people and cultures are totally different to ours, and leave well alone.

 

[DTES]

Its like if there was a family who lived in the same street a few houses down, and the bloke there knocks his wife and kids about, and rules the house in a way we perceive as being violent and oppressive. Would you feel obliged to take the law into your own hands, go round there, give the bloke a good battering and kick him out of the house, before patting the woman and kids on the head and going back home in time for Eastenders and a Stella ? Leaving the newly "liberated" woman and kids to their own devices to sort their lives out with the big bad man there any more ?

But would you feel justified in this instance to call in the police, without taking it into your own hands? Slightly different, unless you want to get big George to send his boys in.

 

[fatbadger]

The oppressed are crying for help; the best way to help is to stop funding the guy and stop giving him diplomatic recognition. We don't have to attack the country (indeed, we shouldn't attack the country) - just stop helping him.