It must have been the moment that Osama bin Laden had long expected. The point at which the intelligence trail eventually led US special forces, literally, to his front door. He has certainly had plenty of time to ponder his future. But in the decade that he had been the world’s most wanted man, how often had he objectively reviewed the success of his bloody campaign to rid the Islamic world not just of western influence but of any influence other than his own brand of extreme jihad? [Read more…]
The sum of human happiness
I am sitting on the Eurostar train service en route to Paris for a few days of meetings. Normally, a visit to the French capital in springtime is guaranteed to lift the spirits but I have been reading some worrying statistics about the Gallic state of mind. Apparently, the French are feeling gloomy.
In a recent Gallup poll only 15% of French people thought 2011 was going to be better than 2010, way behind Iraq (44%) and Afghanistan (45%). The Nigerians came out top of course on 80%. [Read more…]