six7driver
...while I miss the UAE...
The UAE Ministry of Information have for years smeared magazines, books, newspapers, etc., with opaque black permanent ink to blatently censor public consumption. Changed, has it? Are you suggesting the UAE are an example of freedom and democracy? FWIW, the UAE is a dictatorship along with, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar....shall I go on?
Come to think of it, so was Iraq.
Etisalat have shutout Blackberry (and for that matter, any foreign company they cannot control) purely and simply for their inability to censor, control or profit. I think you're giving them too much credit as to their motivation for doing so.
Blackberry will soon rectify that situation both there and in neighbouring dictatorships. So, why worry about RIM?
We could argue this point for hours, but IMHO Emirates simply DOES NOT ADD UP financially. A certain family in Dubai is spending the Emirate's future in a single generation. Where will you be when EK caves in on itself? Personally, I could care less if EK flew to every major city in Canada twice a day. It would be short lived anyway. I've been around airlines long enough to know load factors mean SFA to the bottom line. Look up facade in your Funk & Wagnall's. The locals are all about power, money and facade. How are Shk Moh and EK any different in that regard? I'm listening.
How can Flannagan or Clark tell an international audience with a straight face, Emirates is profitable in the 'true' sense of the word? Or, true sense of 'normal' airline economics? A tax break in Dubai cuts it. I'm sure. But when you connect the dots, it doesn't.
The last time I checked, (which isn't recently) the Canadians DO NOT have their own military base in the UAE. As far as I know, no foreign nation does. (I stand to be corrected) Foreign nations may 'share', or have an exclusive corner of a base for their own use...but, no. Canada doesn't have a base in the UAE.
If the ****e hits the fan again, you'll see. Just like the Gulf War, the invitations will go out to foreign forces and bases like al Dhafra will share the concrete with three or four nations (again) and the UAE will be asked to keep TacOps confined to the UAE.
A pissing contest with the UAE is nothing more than give me what I want or get out. Our CAFs should get out of the UAE anyway. Oman is a much better choice.
Willie
Last edited by Willie Everlearn; 5th Aug 2010 at 14:48.