Word: speeches
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...have to see the whole thing as a general picture. There are so many Turkish writers who have suffered so much, and still continue to be afflicted by the same issues of free speech. Because I was internationally famous, my problem was visible, but what I suffered was nothing...
Winners of Ig Nobel prizes are allowed a one-minute acceptance speech. Every year, if and when they go over the limit, Miss Sweetie Poo walks up to them and whines, "Please stop. I’m bored." According to Isabel’s mother, Rachel Kadel-Garcia ’98, "it takes a few repetitions before she is successfully dismissed." Two to three girls from the Boston area audition each year for the coveted role...
...weeks ago, a well-known U.S. military expert gave a wise speech about the near impossibility of making a counterinsurgency (COIN) strategy work in Afghanistan. He gave two examples. The first was digging a well: "How could you do anything wrong by digging a well to give people clean water?" Well, you could create new enemies by where you dug the well and who controlled it. You could lose a village by trying to help it. And then there was the matter of what he called COIN mathematics. If there are 10 Taliban and you kill two, how many...
...this was the infamous McChrystal London speech that allegedly put the military at odds, publicly, with President Obama. Actually, the controversy was all about a comment McChrystal made during the question-and-answer session, when he said a switch from counterinsurgency to a counterterrorism strategy, in which American troops are withdrawn and the war against al-Qaeda is fought mostly with drones and special forces, would be "shortsighted." A week later, the President said essentially the same thing at a meeting of congressional leaders. And while it could be argued that McChrystal overstepped by dissing one possible course of action...
...shame that smoke and puffery have obscured McChrystal's excellent speech. Those who speak of winning or losing in Afghanistan are using a primordial vocabulary. But the essential humanity at the heart of the counterinsurgency strategy - the idea that we succeed if we work at helping people - makes it worth trying. As the man said, this is about humility. In the 21st century, real power may be all about figuring out the right place to dig a well...