Operation Cast Lead
As the Israelis continue to escalate the conflict in Gaza and attempt to blame the Palestinians indirectly, Hamas directly, for the escalation, it seems that the international media are swinging behind the Palestinians. The question is whether Israel is trying to start a massive conflict with the surrounding Muslim countries.
There are reports coming out of southern Lebanon of Israeli jets flying low over the area, while other countries in the region deal with public protests and outcry over the inaction of the Arab leaders. This morning, there was also a rumor circulated that Iran’s government was recruiting people to fight the Israelis, but after a Farsi speaker checked the website in question, it was found to be a survey.
Sadly, while the world hoped that the election of Barack Obama would bring change not only to America, but to the world, the Obama camps’ position has been to take the side of the Israelis while Palestinians die.
Obviously, the US will speak out when countries like Georgia are being bombed by Russia, but when a defenseless country is bombed by a regional super-power, America is quiet.
I have tried to collect some interesting stories about the conflict to share:
Operation Cast Lead - A Familiar Story in Gaza
Obama’s Silence on Gaza is Deafening
Hamas is Hoping for an IDF invasion
Palestine’s Guernica and the Myths of Israeli Victimhood
The West’s Pathetic Response to Israeli Massacre
And 2 posts that I wrote during the last conflict with the Israelis.
Israel Seizes US$ 1 Million From West Bank Banks
For America, it’s very simple.
MEMRI TV
I stumbled on this website today and it has really gotten my attention for a few reasons. Before I get into the reasons, let me share a little about MEMRI TV.
MEMRI TV based on the information listed at the About page:
The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) was founded in 1998 in Washington, DC to bridge the language gap between the Middle East and the West by monitoring, translating, and studying Arab, Iranian and Turkish media, schoolbooks, and religious sermons. MEMRI is headquartered in Washington, D.C. and has branches in Baghdad, Tokyo and Jerusalem, and a staff of over 70 working around the globe. MEMRI’s research is translated into English, German, French, Italian, and Spanish with a subscriber list of over 75,000. MEMRI is a 501 (c)3 organization and is incorporated in Washington, D.C.
Seems like a simple media monitoring organization that is funded through donations. But when you start to browse the site, you realize that it is nothing more than a collection of speeches, schoolbooks and media stories that are geared at pointing out that Muslims are terrorists.
Check out the page that has been created for Pakistan. The videos posted are from Baithullah Mehsud and others that the Western world consider terrorists translated from our national languages into english for the Western media to reference when creating biased stories.
Why don’t the Muslim bloggers do the same thing for the Christians? Many Christians say that if Jesus Christ were to come back today, most of the Christian world would not recognize Him.
Watching what is happening in Gaza, I find it hard to dispute that belief.
Sphere: Related ContentUnderstanding Gaza
I am a regular reader of The Palestine Chronicle for information and analysis of the ongoing situation in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. I stumbled on these cartoons on their website and had to share because they speak volumes.
Before sharing the cartoons, I wanted to point out a couple of articles that are must reads:
Israel’s Belligerence and The Art of War
The savage brutality of the Israeli war machine (not the entirety of the Israeli population, certainly there are peace-loving human beings there) is mind-boggling. Israel often claims it has one of the world’s best and most “skilled” armies and air force. This propagandistic nonsense has been disproved most recently when Hezbollah humiliated their forces out of the South of Lebanon (with no air force and a fraction of the modern technology Israel enjoys).
It is a fundamental derangement of the Israeli mind that it relies on bombing unarmed, defenseless civilians to establish its military might and any sort of credibility in any “fight” it may have. Though herein is their biggest error, and what I hypothesize will cause a stinging military defeat of the “mighty” IDF by these unarmed civilians. Namely, they have violated one of the most fundamental tenets of the “Art of War” by Sun Tzu:
“When you surround an army, leave an outlet free. Do not press a desperate foe too hard.”
The Art of War, by Sun Tzu, is still required reading in military academies. It is timeless.
The above principle carries truth for if you completely surround an army, or a people, where they truly feel there is no way out, they will fight stronger, and harder, and to the death. It is in these situations that vastly smaller, or large but poorly equipped, armies can inflict incomprehensible damage on a foe. Many times, they can completely defeat that foe. Israel is violating one of Sun Tzu’s most fundamental tenets, you never surround a people, subjugate them, and leave no outlet. At some point, this entire population in Gaza will be willing to give their lives.
And all they have to do is walk.
Sphere: Related ContentUS Will Split by 2010
The Wall Street Journal carried a story today about a Russian professor, Igor Panarin, who for the last decade has been predicting the collapse of the United States in 2010. For a long time, there were no listeners to his prediction; now, the situation is a bit different.
Prof. Panarin, 50 years old, is not a fringe figure. A former KGB analyst, he is dean of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s academy for future diplomats. He is invited to Kremlin receptions, lectures students, publishes books, and appears in the media as an expert on U.S.-Russia relations.
Mr. Panarin posits, in brief, that mass immigration, economic decline, and moral degradation will trigger a civil war next fall and the collapse of the dollar. Around the end of June 2010, or early July, he says, the U.S. will break into six pieces — with Alaska reverting to Russian control.
He based the forecast on classified data supplied to him by FAPSI analysts, he says. He predicts that economic, financial and demographic trends will provoke a political and social crisis in the U.S. When the going gets tough, he says, wealthier states will withhold funds from the federal government and effectively secede from the union. Social unrest up to and including a civil war will follow. The U.S. will then split along ethnic lines, and foreign powers will move in.
California will form the nucleus of what he calls “The Californian Republic,” and will be part of China or under Chinese influence. Texas will be the heart of “The Texas Republic,” a cluster of states that will go to Mexico or fall under Mexican influence. Washington, D.C., and New York will be part of an “Atlantic America” that may join the European Union. Canada will grab a group of Northern states Prof. Panarin calls “The Central North American Republic.” Hawaii, he suggests, will be a protectorate of Japan or China, and Alaska will be subsumed into Russia.
Sphere: Related Content
Laura Bush On Fox News
As the Bush legacy comes to a close in the United States, Laura Bush took to Fox News to defend her husband’s legacy and brand the Iraqi shoe-thrower with the charge “assault.”
What I find humorous is that after 8 years in the White House, with the American people hating this president more than any ever, Ms. Bush doesn’t realize that neither her nor W’s perception of success matters to anyone. If the Iraqi show-thrower would be charged with assault, then what would your CIA operatives that were involved in torture exercises be charged with?
Oh, yeah, nothing because America, like Israel is above humanitarian and international law.
Anyway, Laura on her husband’s legacy.
“I know that if Saddam Hussein was still alive, he would have never been released. So we can see that Iraq’s are more free.” Correction, Ms. Bush. If Saddam Hussein were still alive, there would be no war, and the shoe would not have been thrown at your husband. If you are going to try to make a point, make sure you understand the dynamics.
First, understand that the US would not be in Iraq had your husband not created false evidence of WMDs.
Second, understand that had the US actually investigated the 9/11 attacks, the fingers might have been pointed somewhere else. Rather, to get revenge, the US attacked Afghanistan (and ran away), then attack Iraq (and can’t get away).
Third, understand that had the US actually believed that they could do some good, they would never have asked Iraqis and Afghanis to sign away their right to justice. Under the invasion agreement, no American soldier can be charged with war crimes for anything that they do in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Justice is a wonderful word, just like freedom and democracy. Words like Patriot Act, Gitmo, and military tribunals have no place in a free and democratic nation. But under your husband, they became common place as the rights of Americans were limited to assure that your husband could pretend to be a good president.
And the interview, itself. Read more…
Sphere: Related ContentPrivatize America!
It seems that the ever expanding financial meltdown in the US is much more grave than the Bush administration would like to believe. Reports in different financial journals have put the potential collapse at US$ 700 trillion, assuming that along with sub-prime, credit cards, car loans, mortgages, and student loans become due immediately. But that is the cost to the American corporations and tax-payers. Over the past few days, many US states have been calling up their Senators and Representatives to get hold of some bailout money for their states, as they are facing bankruptcy.
Now, I remember back just a few weeks ago as Pakistan was dangling on the edge of bankruptcy and many Americans were more than happy to see Pakistan collapse.
Today, as the same faces the US government and American taxpayers, I am pleased to see that the troubled US states are adopting a policy that has worked very well for taking national assets of 3rd world countries and buying them for dirt cheap prices.
According to a report posted on the Huffington Post website, Minnesota, New York, Massachusetts and Illinois are thinking of selling or leasing toll roads, parks, lotteries and other assets to raise desperately needed cash, while 44 other states are looking for ways to cope with widening deficits:
Minnesota - $5.27 billion deficit without raising taxes
- privatize the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and the state lottery
- one lawmaker estimated an airport deal could bring in at least $2.5 billion, and the lottery $500 million
Massachusetts - $1.4 billion deficit
- considering putting the Massachusetts Turnpike in private hands and save on highway operating costs
New York
- looking into leasing state assets, including the Tappan Zee Bridge north of New York City, the lottery, golf courses, toll roads, parks and beaches
Australia to Re-Settle Gitmo Detainees
Bloomberg is reporting that a deal is in the works that will move the prisoners from Gitmo to Australia on a case-by-case basis, said a spokeswoman for acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
Amanda Lampe, spokeswoman for acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard, said that the US had approached Australia and about 100 other countries in regards to resettling the detainees, but was clear to point out that each individual would be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Lampe went on to say that “for anyone to be accepted, they would have to meet Australia’s strict legal requirements and go through normal rigorous assessment processes.”
This all comes on the heels of President-elect Barack Obama’s promise to shut down Gitmo when elected president. Obviously, the world view was that Gitmo would be shut down and the detainees transferred into the US judicial system where prosecutions would be continued. Sadly, it doesn’t seem that will be the case.
According to the article at Bloomberg.com, Australia joined Germany and Portugal in voicing a willingness to take some Gitmo detainees, making it easier for Obama to fulfill his campaign pledge.
David Hicks, an Australian who trained at al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and 5 years at Gitmo, was the first so-called enemy combatant to be convicted by the US “military commission” and allowed to spend some of his prison term in his home country of Australia. Hicks was released into Australia’s population on the 21st of December.
According to reports, there are about 250 detainees at Gitmo, which the US military prosecutors categorize as:
- 80 that will be charged with war crimes
- 60 are deemed eligible for resettlement
- 100+ pose security risks too serious to be released and cannot be tried on war-crimes charges
80 will be charged with war crimes and over 100 are such serious security risks that they can never be released into public life, but the can also never be charged with war crimes.
That is over 100 people that will never see the freedom again because of the perceived “risk they pose” to society.
Do you ever wonder if maybe, just maybe, we need to re-asses our terminology and understanding of what a terrorist really is?
Is it the person that reacts to years of injustice violently? Or is it the person that causes the years of injustice to cause the violent reaction?
Sphere: Related ContentMake Love, Not War REALLY!
I stumbled on this article while reading through an Israeli english daily and thought - well there’s a novel idea.
The alien-centered religion of the Raelians (named after leader Rael) had planned a special event to mark World Orgasm Day - a mass orgy for peace in Tel Aviv.
However, the event, scheduled to coincide with the Winter Solstice on December 21, was canceled after organizers received multiple threats.
A mass orgy for peace - in Israel and that to by an alien-centered religion.
What are they trying to do?
The orgy - intended to “try and bring world peace through mass orgasm, this by experiencing consensual sex and natural, uninterrupted pleasure” - was to be the first of events to take place in Tel Aviv. In January, a conference on sexuality and masturbation will feature experts and writers in the field.
Why are they doing it?
Drori said the group will not be deterred by this setback. “We wanted to put into practice the saying ‘make love, not war’,” he said, adding, “Several years ago an Iraqi boy whose limbs were amputated was shown on TV and everybody treated this as if it was okay, but when Janet Jackson exposed her breast during the Superbowl the American nation was appalled.”
Little did they know, Israeli was about to do something more appalling.
Sphere: Related ContentBuy Their Nukes Says WSJ
In a badly researched article in the Wall Street Journal, Bret Stephens as presented a proposal that the West buy Pakistan’s nuclear weapons. While the argument he makes is weak, it shows us that the US media is completely uninformed when it comes to the conflicts and challenges in the region.
Mr. Stephens believes that:
A.Q. Khan, father of Pakistan’s nuclear program (and midwife to a few others), likes to point out what a feat it was that a country “where we can’t even make a bicycle chain” could succeed at such an immense technological task. He exaggerates somewhat: Pakistan got its bomb largely through a combination of industrial theft, systematic violation of Western export controls, and a blueprint of a weapon courtesy of Beijing.
Still, give Mr. Khan this: Thanks partly to his efforts, a country that has impoverished the great mass of its own people, corruptly enriched a tiny handful of elites, served as a base of terrorism against its neighbors, lost control of its intelligence services, radicalized untold numbers of Muslims in its madrassas, handed the presidency to a man known as Mr. 10%, and proliferated nuclear technology to Libya and Iran (among others) has, nevertheless, made itself a power to be reckoned with. Congratulations.
But if Pakistanis thought a bomb would be a net national asset, they miscalculated. Yes, Islamabad gained parity with its adversaries in New Delhi, gained prestige in the Muslim world, and gained a day of national pride, celebrated every May 28.
Miscalculated? Are you not suggesting that the US pay Pakistani US$ 100 billion to buy those same nuclear weapons? Additionally, there would have been a war between Pakistan and India on more occasions, if the nuclear card was not in Pakistan’s arsenal.
In 2007, some 1,500 Pakistani civilians were killed in terrorist attacks. None of those attacks were perpetrated by India or any other country against which Pakistan’s warheads could be targeted, unless it aimed at itself. But Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal has made it an inviting target for the jihadists who blew up Islamabad’s Marriott hotel in September and would gladly blow up the rest of the capital as a prelude to taking it over.
Mr. Stephens, prior to Pakistan joining the War of Terror, there were no terrorist attacks inside of Pakistan. Yes, we had our own insurgencies to deal with, but no terrorist attacks against Pakistan. Additionally, if you have the pleasure of being from one of the areas currently at war (I am from Swat), you know that every funeral that has been held for the supposed suicide bombers have been non-Muslim funerals.
Mr. Stephens, if you had looked into the extremist problem in Pakistan, you would know that they are not Pakistanis, but from Central Asia states like Kazakstan and Uzbekistan, and yes there have been a few Indians. Get your facts right, the Wall Street Journal is supposed to be a respected newspaper.
And here is Stephens’ justification:
The day that happens may not be so very far off. President Asif Ali Zardari was recently in the U.S. asking for $100 billion to stave off economic collapse. So far, the international community has ponied up about $15 billion. That puts Mr. Zardari $85 billion shy of his fund-raising target. Meantime, the average Taliban foot soldier brings home monthly wages that are 30% higher than uniformed Pakistani security personnel.
Remember Zardari’s interview with the Wall Street Journal during the UN General Assembly session? Where he called Kashmiri Freedom Fighter terrorists and that Pakistan had “never considered India an enemy?” Read more…
Sphere: Related ContentBush Dodges Shoe Attack in Iraq
US President George W. Bush narrowly survived an attack by an Iraqi reporter during a press conference with Iraqi President Nuri al-Maliki.
The weapon of choice: his shoes.
