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Istanbul - I am overseas as the whole Abu Qatada hate fest unfolds back in London. And from my seat over-looking the Bosphorus I am cringing with embarrassment and wondering what on earth has happened to my country.
I felt quite uneasy when our man in Tehran, Dominick Chilcott, said the attack on the British Embassy was state-supported. What doesn't he understand about people power? Surely he should have learned a lesson from the Arab Spring that when angry people rebel it's impossible to stop them.
Well the tabloid media is going to have a real feeding frenzy over the next few days after international soccer star Ryan Giggs was dramatically revealed as the figure behind the so-called super privacy injunction.
I wonder what the US Administration makes of the idiom that includes the words pot, kettle and black.
As the news of Osama bin Laden's death filtered out onto the streets of America it triggered unsightly scenes of undiluted hysteria, chest-thumping and back-slapping which has sadly become a trademark of the vengeful 'hang'em high' lobby that emerged from the rubble of 9/11.
US Army Private Bradley Manning was arrested, tortured and put in solitary confinement based on the absurd allegation that he is a threat to American national security.
US Administrations have been blighted since 9/11 by a deadly cocktail of arrogance and ignorance with a twist of the strong desire for revenge. But before you take aim and fire you have to know your enemy, and the scattergun policies of the Bush and now the Obama regimes have served only to create hatred and mistrust against the US in areas where it was never present.
The Arab world's sleeping giant has finally woken from its slumbers after years of being drugged and mugged by the West.
The Western media has been somewhat caught out by the rapid demise of one of the most brutal dictators in the world.
He might still be living in the lap of luxury, but make no mistake Tunisia's former President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and his family are prisoners.