I’m actually hoping that the Dalai Lama will give up the nice guy routine and sock it to China with his superpowers.

Best counterfactual history line on this thread so far.

“And in other news today the National People’s Congress of the PRC was last seen apparently and involuntraily levitating to an undisclosed location in the Taklamakan Desert. We now return you to King Harry’s deathbed watch. The blood sugar levels are not looking good.”

Discuss to what extent the symbology and terminology of the Sino-Indian Stratosphere-based Water Resources Control Initiative was influenced by HG Well’s concept of “Wings Over The World” in “Things To Come.”

Draw parallels between the current debate over the People’s Republic of Antarctica shipping grain to the Southern States and previous sanction-busting attempts in the late 20th century and early 21st century.

Islam, Christianity, Elvisism and Judaism still retain some appeal as chiliastic cults despite the Ursa Major transmissions of the late ’40s. Why do you think this is? Points will be deducted for referencing the Minogue doctrine without appropriate supporting data in mp9 format.

Multiple choice.
The Circumlunar Republic’s statement of self-determination draws mainly upon:
- the former USA’s 1776 Declaration of Independence;
- the EU Frankish Administration Zone’s 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man;
- New Tasmania’s notorious “Fuck the rest of youse, we’ve got the H20″ manifesto;
- Greater Korea’s Chaebol Juche corporate mission statement; or
- that bloody appalling “Free Siberia” networm.

NB:
All test interactions are SQUID monitiored. Access to approved Mumbai Treaty technologies like GoogleThink TM is accepted but do not attempt to enter data on both sides of your personal wetware at once. Strict penalties apply, up to and including public genomic shaming.

You will lose points in the 2057 exam if you keep referring to eastern Great Araby and to Jumhuriya Islamiya an-Najafiya by the old-fashioned term “Iraq”. You will lose points too if you call the Third Campaign of the Start of World War III, the “Iraq War”.

You will gain points if you mention that The Surge was inexplicably delayed for four years and that the Civil Affairs programs and Political Warfare operations were never implemented by the losing side [[no matter what rumours your grandmothers might have heard when they were young girls]].

You will gain marks too if you use at least two lines for the blessed honorifics of The Glorious and Ever-Merciful True Servant of Allah, The Caliph, whenever you speak of His Greatness in your exam paper. [He should be mentioned at least three times]. Since the story of how Bush The Incompetent came to a sticky end is so well known to all kindergarten students, there is no point in retelling it in your exam paper. Arcane historical trivia, such as the name of the ruler of the former Australia who caused the collapse of his country’s economic and military power, has no place in your exam paper either.

I heard Howard make this statement in a radio interview and was gobsmacked by how unsure he sounded,

Eventually reality intrudes into even the best-constructed fantasy.

Moreover, opinion polls conducted since then show three-quarters of Iraqi respondents demanding the withdrawal of the Anglo-American troops within six to twelve months.

Which poll was that, please? The two polls I’ve studied closely in the last few months show that a majority of Iraqis want US forces to stay until the security situation improves.

If you have a link to the actual poll results, and not merely a media report of it, that would help to check the reported figures.

Meanwhile in Iraq things continued to go very badly for the strange menage of Maoists and Methodists. Well might the Popular Front claim that al Sadr had made a blunder by withdrawing from the regime of al Maliki. However, the Popular Front were in denial of the fact that Sadr himself initated the split only one week after the huge demonstrations in Najaf.

In Najaf, unprecedentedly:

over a million Iraqis, holding aloft thousands of national flags, marched, chanting, “Yes, yes, Iraq/No, no, America” and “No, no, American/Leave, leave occupier.” The demonstrators arrived from all over the country in response to a call by Muqtada al-Sadr, a radical Shiite cleric, to demand an end to foreign occupation on the fourth anniversary of the end of Baathist rule in Baghdad. Both the size of the demonstration and its composition were unprecedented. “There are people here from all different parties and sects,” Hadhim al-Araji, Sadr’s representative in Baghdad’s Kadhimiya district, told reporters. “We are all carrying the national flag, a symbol of unity. And we are all united in calling for the withdrawal of the Americans.” The presence of many senior Sunni clerics at the head of the march, which started from Sadr’s mosque in Kufa, a nearby town, and the absence of any sectarian flags or images in the parade, underlined the ecumenical nature of the protest.

Moreover, opinion polls conducted since then show three-quarters of Iraqi respondents demanding the withdrawal of the Anglo-American troops within six to twelve months.

Far from being reactive and defensive, al Sadr has taken the initiative. He is no longer merely a sectarian figure. Rather he represents a voice of multi-faith Iraqi nationalism, and the vision of an Iraq utterly inimical to the designs and desires of the Coatlition of the Willing.

Little wonder Howard sounded like a distraught and defeated man.

I don’t see how this question could possibly be considered relevant to a History examination, unless it relates to data on how the Australian people regarded his tone of voice, and how that affected national policy.

David, the examinee is simply being asked to give their own opinion on this matter, in much the same way that historians analyse Hitler’s speech-making, including use of his voice (no, I’m not likening Howard to Hitler).

I heard Howard make this statement in a radio interview and was gobsmacked by how unsure he sounded.

At what point in the Iraq civil war did the then prime minister of Australia make his highly qualified statement?

At the point just a few days before Moqtada al-Sadr withdrew from the coalition Government ruling Iraq, making it easier for that Government to put pressure on his militias and therefore convince previously armed, but moderate Sunnis to come to the negotiating table.

What would his use of the words â??ifâ?? and â??couldâ?? have indicated to listeners at the time?

That he was uncertain that it would work.

On listening to the archival recording of his statement, would you say Howardâ??s voice expressed a lack of conviction?

I don’t see how this question could possibly be considered relevant to a History examination, unless it relates to data on how the Australian people regarded his tone of voice, and how that affected national policy.

Did the US surge of early 2007 in fact become a turning point and if so, in what direction did the war turn?

Yes, it was directly related to the peace deal signed between the warring factions in early 2008 that allowed the Iraqi Government to take full control of the country and tell the USA to remove its forces, as they were no longer needed.