Nothing of interest; just mindless links to bikes Birmingham City Football Club and useless junk

Blogs I read
Titch
Fat Buddha
Nick's Rants
El Mayor
Archives

 

Maybe I'm getting cynical in my old age. But this picture says more about Bush wanting to get back into the White House (please God, no) than Bush the caring compassionate person he would us (and him) believe he is.

This week has been dominated with the news that US and British troops have been abusing prisoners of war. I'm surprised that people are surprised. The moment someone is held captive, for whatever reason and regardless of the circumstances, they are open to abuse. The policeman giving a slap to the arrested. The accidental fall down the stairs. Limbs and lives lost as captor torments captive. Children raped. Women burnt. It's always gone on.

There are two disturbing elements in all of these allegations. The first is that someone was dumb enough to take pictures. The second is that people were dumb enough to pose.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not condoning the actions of these idiots. How on earth can you hope to promote Western style freedom and democracy if you ape the capitulated? How can we forge stronger bonds between the Middle East and the Old World if we're no better than those we say we've replaced? The notion of trust is quickly lost. New freedom fighters (or terrorists, depending on the side you stand on) are born. Maybe someone should send Bush a copy of The Zionist Fingerprint on the Post-September 11 World: America' Posture Toward Terrorism, Israel, and the Muslim-Arab Community

This book, with introductions by Congressman Paul Findley, Rabbi David Yisroel Weiss, and Attorney Stanley Cohen was written to shine a light on two current trends affecting the course of America's relations with the Middle East region. The first trend has been the exponential increase in violent acts conducted by Arabs and Muslims against the United States specifically. The second trend has to do with the role of the pro-Zionist sector in the United States in having led Washington to undertake actions that appear to be custom tailored to inflame the Arab-Muslim popular sentiment toward the United States in a manner that inevitably results in terrorism.

There are three separate sections, each of which deals with the problem from a different angle. The first of these, entitled "Terrorism and the Future of East-West Geopolitics," acknowledges that terrorism is a geopolitical phenomenon and advocates a dialogue between mainstream political Islamic figures and the US establishment with a view toward attacking terrorism by rooting out its causes. Specifically, it details how the US posture of hegemony is received in the Middle East and why it is perceived as hostile by the region's inhabitants, while also outlining the Zionist fingerprint on America's decision to project a threatening posture uniquely toward that part of the world.

The second section, entitled "Israel's Defense Ministry: The United States of America," deals specifically with the US-Israeli relationship in its present-day form. It addresses the reasons why America sees its relations with Israel as sacrosanct, focusing strongly on the alliance between the American Zionists, the Israeli government, and some powerful Christian fundamentalists as playing a major role in America's regional policymaking.

The premise is that US policy has been hijacked by these interests, and given that result, the reaction from Arabs and Muslims could not possibly have been anything other than a 100 percent conviction that the United States is out to harm them.

The final section, entitled "The Persecution of Arabs, Muslims, and Their Supporters inside the United States" addresses how the new American posture has affected politically active Arabs and Muslims inside the United States, as well as America's own previously cherished freedoms. It begins by discussing the saga of Palestinian Islamist individuals and charities and how they have been hunted down and persecuted on behalf of these Zionist interests. The discourse then moves on to discuss the activities of powerful Zionist figures based in America in subverting the formerly objective role of American journalism and in persecuting dissident thinkers in American academia. The section concludes by addressing what Muslims in the United States might eventually be able to do to restore their position in the far future, after the strategic situation has calmed down.


In OCCUPIED JERUSALEM - Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) shot dead a Palestinian man in the West Bank city of Hebron early Thursday, raising the Palestinian death toll to 17 since Sunday, including four children aged 9-16 years, while seven of them were extra-judicially assassinated in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Early Thursday, IOF shot dead a Palestinian man near Al-Haram Al-Ibrahimi mosque in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, claiming he tried to snatch the weapon of an occupation soldier, Israel Radio reported.

Late Wednesday, IOF extra-judicially killed Imad Mohammad Janajrah, 32, in the northern West Bank village of Tallouza, north of Nablus.

IOF troops from the Golani Brigade’s elite Egoz unit claimed the soldiers spotted Janajrah carrying arms and approaching them near his village, adding that they also detonated a bomb planted nearby.

IOF attempted to assassinate Janajrah last Tuesday, but the Israeli troops mistakenly killed Dr. Yaser Abu Laimun, 32, a lecturer in hospital management at the Arab-American University in the northern West Bank city of Jenin. The IOF apologized publicly for the death of Abu Laimun but the soldier who killed him has not been charged.

Earlier Wednesday, IOF announced that they had killed two Palestinians allegedly “in fighting with the Israeli army.”

However, Palestinian officials said one person was killed after entering an area declared a closed military zone by the IOF near the Gaza Strip border with Israel.

Only one body was found, they said.

In the central Gaza Strip town of Deir al-Balah on the same day, a Palestinian police officer was killed by sporadic Israeli gunfire that targeted dozens of young stone-throwers and wounded at least six others, including two journalists.

Abdullah Abdulfattah al-Jamal, 25, a resident of Al Bureij, sustained wounds in his stomach and died shortly afterwards in a local hospital, said the Palestinian official WAFA news agency.

Mahmud al-Hams, 24, an AFP photographer was moderately wounded by a live bullet in the leg while Reuters cameraman Suhaid Salem, 24, was lightly injured.

Both journalists were covering an Israeli raid into Deir Al-Balah on Wednesday.

posted by kwacky at 10:18 am