First, if I was in charge of the US, I would try to keep a lower profile on the international scene. The US history of foreign politics is truly shocking. The fact that anywhere from 60% - 93% of Americans do not own passports shows how poorly travelled most people in the States are. (Source: http://www.gyford.com/phil/writing/2003/01/31/how_many_america.php) How can you get so heavily involved in foreign politics and policies when you have not even been to see and experience other cultures? Bush was not particularly well travelled before he gained the presidency: "Bush's foreign travels have been limited to three visits to Mexico, two trips to Israel, a three-day Thanksgiving visit in Rome with one of his daughters in 1998 and a six-week excursion to China with his parents in 1975 when his father was the U.S. envoy to Beijing." (Source: http://quest.cjonline.com/stories/121600/gen_1216007443.shtml) Indeed, Bush is not even a popular figure in foreign countries: "Among the non-U.S. nations polled in another worldwide poll by the CBC, Bush's popularity was highest in Israel, where 62% reported favorable views, however in the CBC poll, Israel was the only foreign country polled that had a net favorable opinion of Bush." (Source: http://www.aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_ID= 10215) When Bush talks, the rest of the world don't pay him a huge amount of respect. Imagine Bush's war on terror in a small African tribe: Bush would use the CIA to take out the tribe leader, as he is not democratically elected. He would then hold elections for the rest of the tribespeople to vote in somebody who would better represent their views. Completely insane. However, in our arrogance, we believe the Western way is the best way; the only way. And we will impose our views on others regardless. And by doing this, we expect peace? If it wasn't for the hypocritical policy of building even more nuclear weapons and amassing a huge military might, the States would not be the force it is and would not get away with 10% of what it does to the world. It gets involved in other peoples affairs and forces its viewpoints on people through fear. Again (as I posted it earlier,but you may have missed it), the definition of a terrorist is: "The use or threatened use of violence for the purpose of creating fear in order to achieve a political, economic, religious, or ideological goal." (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorist) That is the defintion of the United States foreign policy in my opinion. World peace will never be achieved. Differing viewpoints do not allow it. We cannot even get national peace, and we should be able to achieve that far easier (due to similar interests and cultural upbringing). Trying to disguise attempts at global domination (for political, economical and religious gain) as a war on terror is pathetic. Even Bush's speeches do not try to bring about peace: "You are either with us or against us" (Source: http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/11/06/gen.attack.on.terror/) That is not the talk of a man who wants world peace. Those words are strong words; no, they are fighting words. The evidence suggests that your Western mindset and brainwashing from your media sources prevents you from seeing the way most of the rest of the world sees the States. To summarise: world peace is a pipe dream. Even if it was achievable, letting the States manage the process is guaranteed to make it fail as the respect is not there. And just for the record, I am not a wiseguy
I would ask the israeli arabs if they prefer to live under an arab rule or under israeli rule. Where he has more freedom. But, anyone in the sunny Arizona can understand that and its very cheap and easy to write from there and bla bla bla....
I'm currently in Holland actually, and it's good to see that people here are waking up. According to recent surveys, 50% of Dutch people have said that Islam is evil. Most of the rest is unsure.
Here in Israel, two weeks ago an arab senator Wasal Taha was found on a chat saying that the palestinian terrorists should take many soldiers captive, and make more terrorists attacks on Israel. This kind of things happen very often here, a few years ago...some arab parliaments meet the Hizbollah, the lebanese and the syrian leadership...all of them considered enemies in Israel. None wasnt fired yet... Im asking myself if we are idiots....because any country in earth will not let those things happen....
Yeah, like abortion. Murdering 1.4 million innocent babies because their parents were irresponsible is an excuse to reduce world population. There's a pot calling the kettle black!
One of the finest Hilton's in Cuba! Fine, halal meals served daily, scenic views, recreational activities, comfortable living quarters, a quran (the book that got them there in the first place) in every room. The perfect "get away" for today's affluent terrorists.
I pray Israel will kick the "shit" (borrowed from President G) out of these dirt bags once and for all. God speed and good luck!
Destroying critical civilian infrastructure, targeting facilities for the deaf, pitching hospitals and charities into the dark, creating a massive refugee situation—it is all in a day’s work for the neocons and their Likudite masters, from Gaza and the West Bank to the whole of Iraq. In a brazen attempt to sugar coat Israel’s flagrant violations of the Geneva Convention, specifically Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which is intended to protect civilians, the corporate media continues to spin the situation in the Gaza Strip. “Israel Steps Up Raids in Bid to Free Soldier,†headlines the New York Times, reporting that “Israeli aircraft intensified their attacks on Palestinian targets in Gaza.†In fact, the Israelis are inflicting relentless collective punishment on the Palestinians, as B’Tselem, the Israeli human rights organization, documents. “During its operation in the Gaza Strip following the abduction of Cpl. Gilad Shalit, Israeli air force jets have carried out low-altitude sorties over the Gaza Strip in which they intentionally cause powerful sonic booms,†explains B’Tselem. “The sole purpose of these sorties is to prevent the residents from sleeping and to create an ongoing sense of fear and anxiety. Regarding the sonic booms, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that, ‘thousands of residents in southern Israel live in fear and discomfort, so I gave instructions that nobody will sleep at night in the meantime in Gaza.’ The clear intention of the practice is to pressure the Palestinian Authority and the armed Palestinian organizations by harming the entire civilian population.†No mention of this in the Israel-friendly New York Times, or the Washington Post for that matter. Of course, we shouldn’t expect the New York Times to report this, as they have functioned obediently as a propaganda tool for the neocons, who are joined at the hip with the Likudites in Israel and have the unwavering support of millions of Stepfordized Christian Zionists who believe the Palestinians must be ethnically cleansed in order that they may realize their delusional and selfish pretribulationist rapture. “Children, in particular, suffer from the sonic booms. In the past, the Gaza Community Mental Health Center reported that the supersonic sorties caused fear among many children, which led to a loss of concentration, loss of appetite, bedwetting, and other disorders. The Center also reported that sonic booms caused headaches, stomach aches, shortness of breath, and other physical effects that appeared among both children and adults…. The use of sonic booms flagrantly breaches a number of provisions of international humanitarian law. The most significant provision is the prohibition on collective punishment. Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which is intended to protect civilians in time of war, categorically states that ‘Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.’ The article also states that, ‘Reprisals against protected persons and their property are prohibited.’ Air force supersonic sorties also breach the principle of distinction, a central pillar of humanitarian law, which forbids the warring sides to direct their attacks against civilians.†The Palestine Media Center (PMC) writes the following: “Using the release of the Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit as pretext, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert unleashed his occupation forces to reoccupy Gaza Strip, terrorize Palestinian civilians with sonic booms, thin them to starvation, disrupt traffic, electricity supply, and access to water, bomb soccer fields, schools, TV stations, cultural centers and charities, vandalize hospitals, and kidnap mafia-like cabinet ministers, mayors and parliamentarians, revoke Palestinian residency in Jerusalem, and bomb the offices of prime and interior ministers.†PMC, filling in where the disgusting Israel-friendly corporate media has left off, notes specific incidents: IOF warplanes bombed the soccer field of the Islamic University in Gaza late Wednesday after destroying the only power plant in the strip early in the day, plunging Gaza Strip into darkness and depriving about one million Palestinians from electricity for months to come, hitting very hard not only households but also hospitals and schools. Water supplies were also cut early Wednesday by bombing water pipelines, after destroying three bridges linking the south and north of the Gaza Strip. Al-Arqam school, a cultural center and a charity in Gaza city were bombed to rubble by the IOF warplanes. The IOF also damaged the Atfaluna Society for Deaf Children’s facilities in Gaza City. When IOF warplanes caused massive sonic booms and nearby explosions in air strikes, the Palestinian NGO’s building windows shattered. As a result, several deaf vocational trainees were injured from the shattered glass. According to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights six power transformers were destroyed, which provide an estimated 45 per cent of the electricity in Gaza for approximately half the population. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the Gaza Electrical Distribution Company estimates it will take nine months to procure replacement transformers. The Coastal Municipalities Water Utility manages the 132 water wells in Gaza, which is powered by GEDCO. Since back-up generators are needed to keep water flowing, there is concern about the financial and physical stability of using back-up generators because the IOF closed off the energy pipeline into Gaza. Destroying critical civilian infrastructure, targeting facilities for the deaf, pitching hospitals and charities into the dark, creating a massive refugee situation—it is all in a day’s work for the neocons and their Likudite masters, from Gaza and the West Bank to the whole of Iraq. “I take personal responsibility for what is happening in Gaza. I want no one to sleep at night in Gaza,†declared Olmert, who should also take responsibility for the fact Palestinians on life support and other critical health care systems will now die; he should take responsibility for all the miscarriages and mental problems caused by sonic boom warfare; he should take responsibility for terrorizing hundreds of thousands of innocent Palestinians, the vast majority who have nothing to do with the capture of IOF soldier Shalit, who is a prisoner of war. Ehud Olmert, claiming responsibility for crimes against humanity, should face a tribunal immediately. But then, as Olmert’s predecessor, the scurrilous terrorist leader (of Irgun) Menachem Begin, told Israel’s mafia, otherwise known as the Knesset, the Palestinians “are beasts walking on two legs.†As such, according to the Israelis and their neocon co-conspirators, the Palestinians do not deserve hospitals, charities, clean water (or any water at all, as there is no electricity to drive well pumps), food, or even a night’s rest. The Fourth Geneva Convention applies to humans, not beasts on two legs. Obviously, as well, the New York Times believes the Palestinians are beasts, although as “liberals,†they would not state such outright, as the leader of the terrorist Irgun Zvai Leumi, Menachem Begin did http://www.pej.org/html/modules.php...=article&sid=4969&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0
Nothing about your terrorist buds (hezbollah and hamas) starting things off by firing rockets into Israel daily, eh? Oh, the outrage, Israel is finally fighting back! This one's for you, new
If you are supporting Israel's actions, you are saying that it is ok to fight terrorism with terrorism. Therefore, terrorism is an ok way to fight a war. If you are supporting Israel's actions, you are saying it is ok to go against international law, and deliberately harm innocent civilians. Therefore, international law is irrelevant. If you are Islamophobic (obviosuly, this does not apply to you Blogmaster), you are simply ignorant. For Israel to fight back against their attackers (assuming their "attackers" are not the ones who are actually fighting back against their "occupiers"), they must send troops in on the ground to take out their attackers. This is a high-risk strategy as they are bound to suffer infantry casualties - and probably quite a lot of them. Better for them to blanket bomb areas, like south Lebanon, and kill innocent people - as long as they are not Israeli people? That, as far as I am concerned, is a disgusting attitude. Anybody who tries to defend that course of action is condoning murder - plain and simple. So be honest guys and say it loud and proud: "I support the slaughtering of innocent people, as long as they are not my own people." Both sides are doing things wrong. My issue comes down to the fact that the Israeli's have such advanced technology that they can accurately target their weapons. Unguided missiles used by the other side are just that - unguided. You don't know where they are going to hit. That is not an excuse for hitting civilian targets though. But it does not give Israel the right to use its targeted weapons in an irresponsible manner.
Thanks for crediting me with that quote, but it was my buddy GTech You guys definitely turn to insults quickly and try to suggest that we "just don't understand" when you disagree, like your irrelevant post about Americans not traveling enough (ummm, we have 2 border states and traveling internationally involves a lot more than for Europeans who have 20 countries within an area the size of California), or telling me I'm ignorant. That of cause is the way the British media likes to sell Americans, appealing to the lowest human instinct within Brits and trying to make them feel better about themselves. Shame But then again, according to your posts, you would probably sit back and snicker should Israel be wiped out. Heck, I have Jewish friends in Britain, and according to them, you are still not accepted into society, even if you are British citizen, when you are a Jew. Maybe you should first look into the mirror, clean up your own backyard and then worry about where your neighbors dump their garbage. Anyways, on a lighter note: has anyone seen this yet? http://the-moviebuff.blogspot.com/2006/07/looking-for-comedy-in-muslim-world.html