AQAP, The CIA And Underpants - Robert Fisk

Hey, CIA. Thanks a pantful.

Haven't I heard this before? Why yes, I have. Back in 2009, Robert Gates was getting very exhausted with North Korea and its nuclear weapons. And what did he tell us, on 30 May to be exact? "We will not stand idly by" as Pyongyang developed nuclear weapons. Last year, Barrack Obama said America would not "stand idly by" when a tyrant (to whit, Muammar Gaddafi) "tells his people there will be no mercy". Earlier this year, we had the German Foreign Minister telling his egregious Israeli opposite number, Avigdor Lieberman, that Germany "will not stand idly by" if Israel's right to exist is questioned. And if you think the phrase is reserved only for the powerful, a certain N. Clegg announced just 18 months ago that the Government would not "stand idly by" if banks didn't rein in bonuses. Clegg is in good company. Homer used the expression in The Simpsons: "I will not stand idly by and watch you feed a hungry dog."