"In later times... growth [of governmental authority] has continued at an accelerated pace, and its extension has brought a corresponding extension of war. And now we no longer understand the process, we no longer protest, we no longer react. This quiescence of ours is a new thing, for which Power has to thank the smoke-screen in which it has wrapped itself. Formerly it could be seen, manifest in the person of the king, who did not disclaim being the master he was, and in whom human passions were discernible. Now, masked in anonymity, it claims to have no existence of its own, and to be but the impersonal and passionless instrument of the general will.
But that is clearly a fiction." - On Power, Bertrand De Jouvenal
I thought that quote was appropriate as the drumbeat for a new conflict in the Middle East intensifies:
- Netanyahu to U.S.: Time is now for action on Iran nukes
- UN chief, Europeans chide Iran's new Atom plant
- Iran must show its 'peaceful intentions': Obama
- The Iran Attack Plan
- There are Only Two Choices Left On Iran
"We are ending where the savages began. We have found again the lost arts of starving non-combatants, burning hovels, and leading away the vanquished into slavery. Barbarian invasions would be superfluous: we are our own Huns" - ibid
UPDATE: According to MI6 the venal, ruling oligarchy of Saudi Arabia gives the nod to Israeli flyovers
