Iraq

RAF Tornado GR4, a twin-engine combat aircraft

RAF Panavia Tornado GR4 fighter bomber flies over Iraq on 3 Sep 2008, photo by SSgt. Aaron Allmon II, USAF - widescreen wallpaper 1920x1200

This photo (designed as a widescreen wallpaper, size 1920 x 1200), shows a Royal Air Force Panavia Tornado GR4 of the British No. 12 Squadron flying over Iraq on 3 September 2008.

The RAF Tornado is one of the most repeated names of fighter planes in news reports on the 2011 military intervention in Libya by the international coalition forces.

I have seen many photographs and videos of this wonderful fighter-bomber aircraft. I love its design and technical capabilities, though it pains me to note that such war machines really mean destruction of property and precious lives.

The Panavia Tornado is a two-pilot manned twin-engine driven variable-sweep wing combat fighter aircraft. It was jointly developed by the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy, and manufactured by Panavia, a consortium of British Aerospace, MBB (Germany) and Aeritalia (Italy). Currently the Tornado fighter aircraft serve the air forces of the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, and the Royal Saudi Air Force.

The Tornado GR4 is an updated version of the Tornado GR1. It has some of the most modern technical and fighting capabilities including new avionics, weapons systems including advanced missiles and reconnaissance equipments. The maximum flight speed is 1,482 km/h (921 mph) according to its published specifications.

On 20 March 2011, the United Kingdom deployed RAF Tornados and Typhoons to enforce a no-fly zone in Libya, immediately after the French Air Force fighter planes attacked Colonel Gaddafi’s forces in Benghazi. The RAF Tornados had to fly 3000-mile sorties to strike Libyan military sites using a variety of weapons including Storm Shadow missiles, Brimstone missiles, and Laser-guided bombs.

Political changes in the Arab world

Here is another video dated Mar 7, 2011 from Russia Today that seeks to have a peep into what is happening in the Middle East/ Arab World/ North Africa. They say the political changes in the Arab world, including Libya, can neither be called revolutions nor battles for establishing democracy. The Nation’s editor and publisher Katrina Vanden Heuvel and New York University professor Stephen Cohen share their views.

Here is something else to think about!

In the beginning of the 20th century, Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman, Chinese, Russian, German, and many other empires underwent dramatic changes and some collapsed during World War I. The borders of countries in Europe constantly changed in the first and second decades of the twentieth century. Nothing changed peacefully, no one gave up powers willingly and the inevitable outcome was untold destruction of life and property. And more of it was in Europe than anywhere else.

It took the time up to the Second World War, the war itself and butchers like Hitler to change the way world thinks about rule, wars and destruction of human life, etc.

The beginning of the twenty-first century is much worse. Sept 11, Afghanistan, Iraq, and many more events you may not like! Now there seems to be another wave, beginning with Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, and possibly more, with smoke already billowing out of Yemen, Bahrain, Syria, and elsewhere!

What do people want? Change of regimes? Democracy, self-determination, or something else? What do the rulers want?

RAF Tornado GR4, a twin-engine combat aircraft

Political changes in the Arab world

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