Lebanese Hypocrisy

Recently watched an old interview of Bachir Gemayel back when he was president and he spoke about alliances and issues with other countries which was really just a strange telling of how the Lebanese government has been acting today and how Lebanese are now more strongly divided in views on their country's future.

Check out the video.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=lvCiEI4g0xk

Talk about straddling the fence. This guy talked about a united [sic] Christian front but wasnt even open to dialog with its opposition. (Even if you cant negotiate with barbarians[sic] doesnt mean it's right to forego diplomacy).

The sad thing is Christians in Lebanon seem to be just as f-ed as the extremist Muslim supporters of Hezbollah because they are just as prejudiced. Listen to Gemayel and tell me that's not how some Christian Lebanese feel these days. The Christians want the Muslims out but they've been outnumbered and overshadowed since ohh... the 1970's? and they dont speak out or do enough to make a difference. They just want to be left alone in the mountains. Even Aoun has become a strange bedfellow with the Muslim constituency because of his odd alliance with Hezbollah. Muslims want unity but they want it in a militant way. And what about prejudice among Arabs in general? Let's put more salt on that wound. It's no secret that male chauvinism and bigotry still exists here. This cant be the Paris of the Middle East. No wonder prosperity wouldnt last. Too many divisions and despise of diversity eventually killed the fire.

It doesnt really seem to matter anymore that a small minority truly want peace and prosperity for Lebanon. All this tells me is that prejudice is always going to be at the heart of it and the more Lebanese try to weed each other out (and the people who try to help them), the smaller their voice gets.

So recently another anti Syrian politician was assassinated. People are restless and scared about the recent violent incident. Locals are once again fearing they have to leave their country. Let's see where shall they go... the U.S., Canada, anywhere else but where they should really be.. their own country. How ironic is it that they speak vehemently against the violence one minute and then say they're leaving the next. I especially love the part when the U.S. gets blamed again by those who've left Lebanon and are currently living in parts of America that have embraced diversity better than their own Christian neighborhood. I'm not hating. Really I'm not. Just tired of the same cyclical hypocrisy.

Can't wait to see what happens in the upcoming elections.

Hypocrisy at its Best

Mahmoud wants to lay a wreath at the WTC in honor of the 9/11 victims.

I almost fell out of my chair after reading this one.



news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070920/ap_on_re_us/ahmadinejad_ground_zero



This is the same as going into a blind rampage of killing innocents and going "whoooops did I do that?" after they're all dead.



What an amazing manipulator this man is. He's better than Bush and his delusions about the war in Iraq.

A Cheesier Knockoff

http://video.msn.com/v/us/v.htm?g=b7844cc3-3bc7-4636-a539-f614616e4d3e&t=m10&f=06/64&p=hotvideo_m_edpicks&fg=&gt1=10150

First they use Mickey, now they replace him with a pathetic looking bumblebee. No rewards will come to these sick bastards except a nice place in hell.

Imagine all the children whose minds are poisoned by this filth!

This is not Islam

Zawahiri is seriously pushing bad karma on the Muslim faith if he thinks extremist claims like this are imminent.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/07/04/zawahiri.video/index.html

Al Qaeda's No. 2 says end of West imminent, video shows
Story Highlights
Ayman al-Zawahiri appears in videotape Wednesday similar to "fireside chat"
He says that the "enemy" is trying to forestall the inevitable
He urges Muslims across the globe to fight the West
(CNN)-- In a newly released videotaped message similar to a "fireside chat," al Qaeda's second-in-command issues advice and directives for the Muslim world, terrorism expert Laura Mansfield said Wednesday.
In the one-hour, 34-minute video, titled "The Advice of One Concerned," Ayman al-Zawahiri includes clips from other videos and news broadcasts, including one from al-Furqan, the video production arm of the Islamic State of Iraq, according to Mansfield, who obtained the video.
Al-Zawahiri says in the message that the defeat of the West is imminent, and that "the enemy" is trying to forestall the inevitable, Mansfield said.
"The good omens of the new dawn of victory have begun to loom on the horizon, with Allah's permission and will," he says.
"And the stage preceding victory is normally, in the history of nations, the stage in which there is most seen an increase in conspiracies, plots and inciting of discord in an attempt by the enemy, who has begun to see his defeat approach, to push back and delay the defeat as much as he can."
Al-Zawahiri does not reference the recent terrorism incidents in the United Kingdom in the video.
Mansfield said it appears to be more of a "state of the ummah [community]" style of address "intended to try and provide advice to the Muslim world in a manner similar to the 'fireside chat.' "
Al-Zawahiri advises people in Iraq and the Palestinian territory, Mansfield said, and renews his call for young men to join the jihad in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Included is a video clip of the late Sheikh Abdullah Azzam -- an extremist in Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation -- reminding Muslims that jihad is their responsibility.
Al-Zawahiri also rebukes Fatah for battling Hamas in the Palestinian territory, telling party members to "return to your religion, your Islam, your honor and your Arabness."
Last month, al-Zawahiri, in an audiotaped message posted on several Islamist Web sites, voiced his support for Hamas leaders who maintain control of Gaza after a split with Fatah, a more moderate Palestinian faction.
"We say to you, now that you are in control of Gaza, you should remember two things: One is that being in power is not a goal in itself, but the goal is, rather, to implement the rule of Allah," al-Zawahiri said in that audiotape, according to a CNN translation.
"Two, this control is incomplete and unstable, for the [Israeli] plans are being made to invade Gaza. Unite with your mujahedeen brothers in Palestine and do not stir up problems with them.
"Unite your ranks with all of the mujahedeen in the world for the upcoming battle [of Gaza] that I expect the Egyptians and Saudis to participate in."
The audiotaped message was a reversal of al-Zawahiri's previous criticism of Hamas, issued after its leaders agreed to form a unity government with Fatah leaders.
Hamas fighters wrested control of Gaza from Fatah security forces two weeks ago, prompting Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, based in the West Bank, to replace the Hamas leadership with an emergency government.
Since then, the United States, the European Union and Israel have agreed to release funds to the new Palestinian government. The money had been frozen after Hamas won legislative elections last year.
All AboutAyman al-Zawahiri



Find this article at: http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/07/04/zawahiri.video/index.html

Martyr Mouse?

Try 'Sleeper Cell Mouse'.....

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/06/29/hamas.mouse.ap/index.html

Sick SOBs.

Worsening Refugee Crisis

U.N. says world refugee crisis is worsening
14 percent increase from 2005; pope appeals for government protection
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19327834/

U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres says that in many cases the problems stems from a country's government and that the international community doesnt have the capacity to help them.

I anticipate a lot more finger-pointing in the Middle East to happen soon. Primarily Iraq ,Palestine and Lebanon.

Go Home and Support Your People

The same lament I read about from Lebanese these days. This guy has the heart but sadly not the balls to put his money where his mouth his. The blame game on Syria is getting old.

Read the comments posted on this. People are constantly expressing sympathy for Lebanon but keep asking why they don't do anything about it [aside from complain].

One said something that echoed my sentiments...

hal_thresher wrote:
Mr. Abdul-Hussain,I am not sure why you think you should present this case to the American people. Do you want America to act like Syria and get involved in Lebanon's local politics. I think you need to return home and figure out what you can do to keep your country free of foreign interference.
6/14/2007 9:27:49 AM
---------------------

Here's what I think:

1. I hope the U.S. doesnt waste their time supporting another investigation into this by releasing press, condemning Syria on how unjust this act was. At this point, it's got to be more than Syria; it's an equally corrupt Lebanese government.
2. If many Lebanese outside of Lebanon comment on this with disdain and start condemning other countries again , they should first realize that talk will get them nowhere and they should fly back home and turn the situation around themselves by living home and straightening out their own constituency's weaknesses, instead of complaining and soaking up benefits that they originally sought after the civil war in 1975. Enough of the hypocrisy.
3. As for Mr. Abdul-Hussain, yes you will prevail. When you start to accept the reality that your people equally deserve the blame for leading Lebanon into a downward spiral. There are just as many Lebanese who are prejudiced and hypocritical about the situation there. People who don't give a rat's ass about the Palestinian refugees; people who appreciate little of what U.N. workers within Unifil have been doing to help; people who are apathetic about peace and just want to retreat to the mountains; and people who just want to complain while they live abroad and do NOTHING but talk.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/13/AR2007061301982.html

Standing Up to Killers
Syria Must Answer for Its Murders in Lebanon
By Hussain Abdul-Hussain
Thursday, June 14, 2007; A27

A bomb in Beirut yesterday killed Walid Eido, a member of the Lebanese parliament, and his son, Khaled, one of the smartest, sweetest and most delightful friends I have ever had.
I should wait for the results of an investigation into the explosion to learn who killed Khaled and his dad. But I will not wait. I am tired of the murders in Lebanon. I accuse the Syrian regime, headed by President Bashar al-Assad, of killing Khaled. As a friend of the family, I want to press charges against Assad and his Syrian and Lebanese associates. Enough is enough with the Syrian regime and its Lebanese puppets.
Walid Eido was a member of the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority. Before his untimely death, the majority bloc comprised 69 of the legislature's 128 members. Now, the majority's margin has been narrowed to five, and there is no reason to believe that Syria will not go after these people and kill them, one after another, until it forces the government to collapse.
For the past few months Eido had been the target of a demonizing campaign by Syria's foremost ally, Hezbollah. Similar Hezbollah campaigns against other anti-Syrian lawmakers preceded their assassinations.
Hezbollah has been a supportive partner to Syria, often thanking the Assad regime for what it has "offered" my country. In truth, Hezbollah has sold out Lebanon's national interests to the regional autocrats of Syria and Iran.
Hezbollah might not have started the streak of assassinations of anti-Syrian Lebanese politicians that began with the killing of former prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri in February 2005, but the militant group has certainly been complicit with the criminal Syrian regime.
Since Hariri's murder, we in Lebanon have seen the best of our politicians and journalists murdered, one after another.
Before Khaled's death, I had already lost one of my most inspirational friends, journalist Samir Kassir. He was murdered by a car bomb on June 2, 2005.
Gebran Tueni, who had been my boss at the Arabic daily An Nahar, was killed that December, also by a car bomb.
With each murder, we Lebanese have swallowed our anger and fought hard for an international tribunal, which the U.N. Security Council approved last month. We hoped the tribunal would deter the Syrian regime and its Lebanese puppets from further killings. Yet a murderer is a murderer, with or without a tribunal, and the killings don't stop.
As I write these words, I understand that I am risking my personal safety. Speaking out could jeopardize my security during visits home.
But I owe it to Samir, Gebran and now Khaled to write this. I want to tell the Syrian regime and its Lebanese cronies that the Lebanese are willing to fight for their freedom despite the heavy cost.
And while I'm at it, I have some words for our Syrian brethren living under the tyranny of the Damascus regime: Stand up for your rights and say no to dictatorship. Tyrants might kill some Lebanese politicians and throw other Syrian human rights activists in jail, but they cannot kill all of the Lebanese or imprison all Syrians.
We shall prevail. We shall prevail for Kamal Jumblatt, Rene Moawad, Rafiq Hariri, Samir Kassir, George Hawi, Gebran Tueni, Pierre Gemayel and all other Lebanese killed at the hands of the Assad regime. We shall stand up for the Syrian freedom lovers Anwar and Akram al-Bunni, Aref Dalila, Riad Seif, Mamoun Homsi and Kamal Labwani, among others, no matter how ruthless and ugly the Syrian dictatorship can get.
There will come a day when Lebanon is free and Syria democratic.
The writer, a media analyst, is a former reporter for the Daily Star of Lebanon.

Who Wants Peace?

I do. But obviously it would take a miracle for the entire world to experience peace at the same time. It's all relative.
And for the Middle East, let's just say at this point it's just not going to happen for a while.
I firmly believe that if someone wants something so bad, they'll find the strength and the courage within themselves to achieve it even if it means having to put up or shut up.
We all know the conflicts in the Middle East open up huge (HUGE) cans of worms and it appears that each time a country steps up to get involved whether to help or attempt to forge resources for economic or political reasons, it never achieves anything relatively positive. Everyone is always viewed from an extremist point of view. Seems like a majority of Arabs today feel like they've been served up an eternal lemon of life and they do not want to make lemonade. They just want to kill anyone who comes in their way. It feels like pages from the bible have been exhumed and reenacted into history again. I mean come one already.
Take this recent editorial from Shimon Peres. http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2007/06/08/2003364361
Good, rational commentary. (I couldn't agree more on the part about Iran's motives to increase influence in the Middle East. ) But I bet if a non-Jewish Arab or Anti Israel were to comment, this piece would get reamed. It's like a dead-end marriage. Constant bickering and no one comes close to an amicable agreement. The goal towards peace is gone. Point is, biases are starting to build up. Even I find myself these days fighting to suppress opinions that border on prejudice against Arabs because the hardcore ones have so strongly built their own bigoted views on Americans. I'm not perfect but at least I make an effort not to act on them. All this madness about how the U.S. has been getting unnecessarily involved in the Middle East may be true but I think it's secondary to the real reason that alot of Arabs are blinding themselves with old grudges. And don't get me to elaborate further on sectarian conflicts. That's a whole other blog entry to struggle with. The frightening conclusion is that achieving peace seems to mean an entirely different thing in the Middle East.

Chaos in the Gaza Strip

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19201967/

Madness. Total madness. Mediators tried to shout protests calling for unity and to stop the shooting but to no avail. Hamas gunmen shot at them instead.

Hamas and Fatah are obsessed with wiping each other out. Forget the innocents. Hamas has even gone to the extreme of breeding followers by starting them out young, turning schools into secular institutions.

Lessons the Extremist Arab World has Taught Us

Came across this article. I don't particularly believe muslims in most parts of Asia are as heinous as Arab muslims knowing this firsthand. The Arab world has been angry for a long time with their longtime conflicts with Israel and it's becoming increasingly obvious that they've been trying to infuse other countries with bitter pieces of their twisted culture. Despite the beauty of their countries and their people, they're doing nothing today but breed prejudice and a dishonorable reputation by raising past issues. It takes alot to get past the anger and the feeling of injustice but to succumb to their own internal conflicts and drag others into this madness will only cause them to further spiral down into their own demise.

I've highlighted spots below that strike a chord.

No one really knows even Arabs themselves I dont think at this point, what they are angry about anymore. If you poll Lebanon, they'll probably say because of the Israeli's using their land as a warzone, Syrians manipulating their government and economy. If you poll Iraq, it's about sectarian conflicts, the U.S. and growing unrest that have no signs of calming down. I think the moderate Arab countries are in the right path but they sadly get misrepresented because the extremists always overshadow their agendas with more unjust views of how this world should evolve. Curiously, what the hell is Iran doing in the midst of this but constantly playing devils advocate to the Arab world while it builds its own arsenal of bombs and proliferating propaganda. With Ahmadinejad's help, they're on a one way ticket to Nazi-ville and God forbid obliterating millions of innocents from this earth.


Asia's Islamic extremists add beheadings to their arsenal
POSTED: 9:21 p.m. EDT, June 2, 2007

Story Highlights• 25 beheadings have been reported in Thailand since 2004• Islamic-inspired insurgency has claimed 2,200 lives• Thai authorities say jihad videos from the Middle East may inspire the killings• Videos transmitted via Internet or DVDs
NA PRADU, Thailand (AP) -- It took two days for the young Muslim assassin to calm his nerves before the slaying.
Then, Mohama Waekaji says, he walked one cool morning to a rice mill, carrying a knife and following orders from a guerrilla commander to behead the 72-year-old Buddhist owner.
He asked the elderly man, Juan Kaewtongprakam, for some rice husks. As he turned to collect them, Waekaji says, he slashed the blade through the man's neck.
"I didn't dare to disobey," the 23-year-old Waekaji said in an interview with The Associated Press -- the first time a Thai militant accused of a beheading has spoken to the Western media. "I knew they would come after me if I did not do what I was told."
The killing in February was one in a spate of beheadings that has shocked Thailand, a nation with no past history of the practice, and fueled fears that the brutal terrorist tactics of the Middle East are spreading in Asia.
Twenty-five beheadings -- including 10 already this year -- have been reported in southern Thailand since an Islamic-inspired insurgency erupted in 2004, claiming more than 2,200 lives. Militants in the heavily Muslim region seek independence from mostly Buddhist Thailand.
"Beheadings are certainly on the rise outside of the Middle East proper," said Timothy Furnish, professor of Middle Eastern history at Georgia Perimeter College. "These groups do take their cues from ... hardcore Islamic thought coming out of the Arab world. Beheading infidels not only shocks, but also demonstrates Islamic bona fides to other groups."
Thai authorities say jihad videos from the Middle East, captured from rebel training camps, may be inspiring young men like Waekaji. One clip said to have come from Iraq shows a woman lying on her side on a patch of grass as a man slowly cuts her throat with a long knife. Blood spurts from the wound, the screaming finally stops and her head is completely severed.
"The inspiration is clearly coming across the Internet or through DVDs clips," said Zachary Abuza, an expert on terrorism in Southeast Asia at Simmons College in Boston.
"Islamist militants in Southeast Asia are very frustrated that the region is considered the Islamic periphery," Abuza added. "Militants of the region are actively trying to pull the region into the Islamic core. They want people to understand that their jihad is a part of the global jihad."
Beheadings have been linked to other militants across Asia, including groups in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Indian-held Kashmir and Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation. In the mostly Roman Catholic Philippines, at least 37 people have been decapitated in the last decade by the al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf.
Beheadings are not solely a tool of guerrillas. It's imposed as punishment under some strict interpretations of Islamic law such as in Saudi Arabia and under the former Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
The odyssey of a Muslim student
Waekaji's account of his journey -- from quiet, average student to a confessed killer -- offers insights into how young Muslims fall under the influence of militant Islamic thinking.
He was attending a private Islamic school in Pattani province when a school buddy persuaded him to join a religious event at a mosque. There "ustad," or teachers, told him about an organization to liberate southern Thailand, asking him to take an oath to become a servant of Allah, obey the teachers and take the secrets of the organization to his grave.
Although confused and with little knowledge of politics, he took the oath and began secret training at age 19.
His teachers stressed the sufferings of Muslims in the Palestinian territories and Afghanistan and also in Thailand, where many Muslims feel they are second-class citizens in a Buddhist-dominated land.
The teachers detailed the Tak Bai tragedy of 2004 when Thai security forces confronted Muslim protesters, resulting in the deaths of 85. The victims died of suffocation when authorities arrested 1,300 people and stacked them on top of each other in trucks.
"I was shaken when I heard the story. I was revengeful, and I did hate them, those who did this to us Muslims," Waekaji said at the prison in Na Pradu, about 680 miles south of Bangkok.
His story could not be independently confirmed, but Waekaji has made a formal written confession and the police have filed a case against him in criminal court.
'It was either me or him'
During rigorous training, Waekaji learned how to do knuckle push-ups, wield knives, swords and guns and how to take a life by squeezing an opponent's Adam's apple with his hands or breaking a victim's neck.
After two years, he was sent out to burn tires and spread nails on roads to puncture tires and distract police before attacks staged by his comrades.
"They recruit responsible, tightlipped and trouble-free teenagers ... people who can carry out orders and who don't attract attention to themselves," said Thai army Col. Shinawat Mandej. "They train their minds before training their bodies. They get them at the most vulnerable age when they need something to believe in and turn them into cold-blooded killers."
When the order came to slay the mill owner -- a person he had seen but didn't know -- Waekaji said he was frightened, both by the orders and what his leaders would do to him if he failed.
"It was too late to want out," he said, his eyes closed and his head downcast. "It was either me or him."
Police found the man's headless body at the rice mill and his head in a nearby field that separates Muslim and Buddhist villages. Waekaji was arrested and charged with the killing about two months later.
Leaflets left in mailboxes and motorcycle baskets in Pattani the day of the beheading warned: "We will give Thai Buddhists three days to leave our land. Otherwise, we will kill you and burn your houses. ... Thai Buddhists will never live peacefully. You will be killed cruelly."
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Find this article at: http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/06/02/asia.beheadings.ap/index.html

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Money well spent.NOT

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070525/ap_on_re_mi_ea/lebanon_violence

This is absolutely money well spent. (Am I being sarcastic?) For forty million dollars we get to help a country that barely has a stance on what to do about its government. Who might possibly turn on us while part of its constituency covertly aligns with Iran and Hezbollah. Who as most people dont want to realize is a country that is at the brink of yet another civil war. Should we really help? I hope enough people are saved from this. And I hope that for once, the U.S. doesnt get reamed for getting involved after arms are shipped. We have enough problems to deal with and we can't save the world. Sometimes you just have to let others fight and squeeze out all the rage they have inside and hope you don't get wiped out while helping in the process.

SANCTIONS NOW

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/05/24/iran.nuclear.ap/index.html

Forget rhetoric. There are lunatics manipulating operations in Iran. This has Ahmadinejad's extremist mastermind plan written all over it.

This man clearly has propaganda proliferation down to a science. Recently he started threatening that if Israel were to attack Lebanon, then he would send orders to rain destruction on Israel. Where did he start this new assumption? Israel has been retaliating with aerial assaults in Gaza due to recent attacks from Palestine and all of a sudden he's getting defensive on Lebanon. Yet another tangent ladies and gentlemen.

Isn't it SO obvious?

http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/international/ticker/detail/IAEA_says_Iran_building_up_atom_programme.html?siteSect=143&sid=7851435&cKey=1179932009000

Obvious to sum up that this could be where Iran is headed..destruction. I still hope that sanctions will wake up the entire country and get off Ahmadinejad's tainted agenda but is it enough?

This is scary stuff.

Still hoping for life

I swear to God I don't know why we even bother to fight but we have strong convicted men who more valor than most mistake us not to have.

U.S. checking if body found in river is missing soldier
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/05/23/iraq.main/index.html

Their own vested interests

After 3 days of violent exchange between Fatah Islam and the Lebanese army, now Hezbollah is backing the army. Very interesting.

Yes Fatah Islam is Sunni. So let's not forget that Hezbollah is predominantly Shia and was involved in conflicts with the Lebanese government for tensions between the opposing sect. They've also been suspected to be backed by Iran who are predominantly Shia.
Yes, yes, we are BACK to talking about sectarian agendas. But should this come as a surprise in the complex Arab world? This has been going on for centuries and people still are trying to hope for the best that it will get any better.

What's likely to turn out is that Hezbollah will back the army just like they did in last summer's conflict with Israel. They get in good graces and win the Lebanese people's confidence that they are just as credible as any other political party among the already fractious groups within their government. Then after they help, and other groups make nice for a while, internal agendas will resurface once again. Sooner than Lebanon can breathe a sigh of relief, they will quickly realize they've compromised their people to a majority Shia agenda. Now I don't know how Sunnis and Christians will take it but let's just wait and see.

The start of the fighting came from oppressed and depressed Palestinians living in desolate conditions in refugee camps in Tripoli. When someone takes to heart that they are not only poor and hungry but belong to a specific sect (Sunni for this matter) , then all of a sudden it becomes a religious issue. This is where the propaganda starts to proliferate. The Lebanese on the other hand just plain want non-Lebanese out of their country. They feel like this with Syria manipulating their government and economy, now with Palestine for camping out and seeking refuge for Israeli oppression. The problem is they don't have the manpower or the political stability to gain autonomy from other countries. Seems like some people just can't decide on who to trust; especially themselves.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070522/ap_on_re_mi_ea/lebanon_violence_hezbollah

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=15&entry_id=16826

New Clashes in Lebanon

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1623480-2,00.html

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/05/21/lebanon.violence/index.html

If the militia takes control of the situation, Lebanon as a whole will further weaken. The press doesnt cover enough of the fact that the Lebanese are just fed up with internal clashes and outside influences. I think they are pissed that for years there have been thousands of Palestinian refugees camped in their territory, Syria constantly manipulating their economic and political freedom and basically other countries who have their their own agendas slowly sucking the life out of Lebanon. This is prime breeding ground for prejudice and bigotry. The complications that have been woven into the very fragile threads of Lebanon's culture may likely cause them their demise. Ironically, they can't seem to face the reality that they themselves have bred these divisions. 20 years after the the civil war, they still refuse to recognize that their people now represent a different religious and ethnic constituency. Sadly not enough has been done to foster diversity in this country that once called itself the Paris of the Middle East.

I am an American

Someone at work asked me one day what my nationality was. I said I without hesitation I am an American. Actually the pc question should have been what my ethnic origin was. Then I would have responded unhesitantly to explain my features.
I may not have been born here but I have learned so much more about myself here in America than I could have in my native country. So when people ask me this question, I don't second guess myself. I don't hesitate to think about whether I'll get judged because of what I stated based on how I look.
Why do I rant about the middle east? Because I'm just sick of the hypocrisy. I'm sick that the U.S. has become such a overused target for all the problems that have been occurring there for centuries. I'm sick of justifying our country's economic and political interests while other countries essentially have the same motivations as we do. We just happen to be bigger and annoyingly patriotic about our homeland.
I've been living here long enough to see that citizenship or any permanent status of residency doesnt make an American. It's really very typical these days to bash the government as often as possible for all its missteps in protecting its interests in the middle east and national security but I seriously think we could be silently breeding self destruction if we fail to recognize our responsibility to respect the same country that offered us a chance to be free[to be ourselves]. I mean didn't we really all come here to America from different countries anyway?
Many people increasingly treat this country as a temporary stomping ground and leave like an ungrateful bastard child. I'll work here and earn my money. I'll breed my sub-cult and leave after I proliferate apathy. Sound familiar? Where the heck have down to earth, and grounded respect for your country values gone? I am no screaming patriot let me reiterate but to not honor your American experience is just plain unsettling. If I had moved to and lived in France instead of the U.S. I would likely be saying the same thing.
It's time to make a difference. No matter how small.

What for democracy?

Here's what it comes down to. In a year, America will be electing a new president. This president will bear the biggest burden of responsibility in easing the country out of this huge mess in the Middle East. More soldiers will die, more people will die and oil prices will fluctuate like a mother. Americans will get blamed more. And for what. It's sad that our country is in this mess that's been going on for centuries. And it's substantially more tragic to see the reality that a majority in the Middle East still just can't hold their peace. Do the Iraqi majority really want democracy? Seems like for a time, Saddam Hussein had sectarian violence fractionally under control. But he was a dictator and did get his hands bloodied by killing many innocents while in the process of quelling unrest. Now that he's gone and the U.S. military has gotten involved, we might as well have painted bullseyes on our soldiers' foreheads. Look at Lebanon. After 20 years, they're at it again. Last summer's war is proof that there are more people living there who have no strength in upholding economic or social progress, undecided and at the brink of another civil war. Two years after Hariri's murder, their government is deadlocked into moving towards a tribunal that was supposed to prosecute those involved in his untimely demise. Let's see what it's government and divided people will do next to set the country back another twenty years when elections come around. As for Palestine, Hamas and Fatah just broke their truce again. So far eighteen Palestinian people died after three days of fighting and Israel was also taunted into this clash by causing an airstrike since it took place along their border. People here are so disillusioned that it's futile to hope that this eye for an eye strategy is clearly doing excessive damage. This is not a holy war. This is about power and the use of religion to proliferate propaganda over nothing more than a struggle to shift power to other selfish politicians. Sad it is that Bush and Cheney arethe worst people to carry out diplomatic missions on our behalf but one thing's for sure. These men don't have a mind sick as that of Ahmadinejad who will twist things around to benefit his agenda. Yes, his agenda. What makes me so ill that the Muslim community is blind to his politics. Doesnt anyone see his predominantly Shiite agenda? He is Shiite, people. Who doesnt see Iran's involvement in smuggling arms to Iraqi insurgents and to Hezbollah(who are predominantly Shiite) in Lebanon? Iraq's future will literally disintegrate if it fails to make a decision on its alliances. They dont have to love Americans; they just have to understand that we are not out to get them the way Iran has plans to manipulate and conquer them. I dont see Iran proactively helping to quell the violence in Iraq. Did they deploy troops trying to quell the sectarian divide? NO. This concludes my latest entry. No disrespect to Shiites on my last comment. But anyone like Ahmadinejad who has a lofty agenda and is Shiite is highly likely to take advantage of his religious status to gain votes. In the end, if Shiites continue to follow him blindly, they'll realize he is no longer the man for the masses like he originally claimed.

The ceasefires do not hold

Fatah and Hamas are at it again. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070515/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_palestinians

But not surprisingly, Israel gets dragged into this ruckus because fights broke out along their border and now they too are part of the conflict.

The ceasefire collapsed between the two Palestinians parties but is back on again. http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/05/14/palestinians.cease.fire/index.html

Now Israel is exchanging bullets with Hamas. http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/05/16/mideast.ap/index.html

Who knows how long it will last.

It's interesting that the collapse of the ceasefire between Hamas and Fatah didn't get enough press as that of Israel's retaliation even though Israel didnt start it to begin with.

Iranian-American Investigated and Detained in Tehran

Esfandiari is an academic for pete's sake and visited her old mother occasionally. How more extreme do acts have to get before Iranians wake up to the reality that their government is treading into far worse levels of extremism? http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/05/15/iran.academic.reut/index.html

Ugly Extremist Islam

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/05/10/afghan.buddhas/index.html

Just another part of the extremist sick propaganda and power hungry acts of the Taliban. They destroy historical relics as part of proliferating this sick holy war they've conjured in their minds.

Flagrant Propaganda

These sick SOBs are just out of their MINDS.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18580878/?GT1=9951

Whoever seeks to achieve graces with Allah and poisons the mind of children by convincing them to fight for a cause that is not truly theirs is SICK SICK SICK. They start them young and then they blindly turn to faith. Soon enough, they hatch full fledged terrorists who are cursed with ignorance.

Anyone who passes on hatred and prejudice eventually gets it back in return a thousandfold.

How can the entire world even respect the Palestinian struggle at this point when they are represented by militant groups who degrade the true origins of their plight?

They are at it again

Hezbollah builds a Western base
Link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17874369/

This is just another example of sickness corrupting the minds of frustrated Lebanese. This has Iran's involvement all over it. But I wouldnt stop to limit just them or Shia Muslims. The ambiguity of Lebanon's societal makeup increasingly covers the tracks of where these generally prejudiced bastards come from. You'll see them from those who immigrated back in the 80s to escape civil war and who still harbor the bitterness of leaving their motherland. No one told them to leave and yet they blame others instead of facing their conscience and defending their own country. Where's the nationalism in that?

Dead or Alive?

Is Al Masri dead or alive?
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/05/02/iraq.main/index.html

Without a lifeless corpse the bloke is probably still breathing and plotting against the so called enemies of his God.

Update: Tribes say he's dead but no body has been retrieved to prove it.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/05/01/iraq.main/index.html

Have pen, will veto

Democrats send Iraq timeline to Bush

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070501/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_iraq;_ylt=AqDgMpGSC3DNHSgTFDJ14sKs0NUE

Bush says that failure in Iraq is not option and he'll veto whatever comes to the table that sets a limit to fighting the war in Iraq. While the sad truth is it's all downhill from here. People are counting the days until he leaves office. He just wants his swan song played out. I'm sad for all the lives that were lost but we have to soldier on despite the futile attempts to quell violence in the middle east. I have family and friends fighting this war. There are people who fight and dont fight to make a difference. I belong to the latter. I hate guns. But if I have to as a last resort I 'd use it to defend my country. I'm proud of the military persevering despite this ill-fated agenda but it's time for a different strategy.

Sectarian divisions further deepening

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/05/01/iraq.office/index.html

New revelations. But this isnt new. The U.S. is just caught in a big mess it can't handle at this stage. Everyone deserves justice but Iraqis have no definition and cannot get to an agreement on how to achieve it. No matter how many times the U.S. gets blamed for getting involved, the issue that sticks out like a sore thumb is the glaring reality of sectarian divisions.

The Crippling Effects of Racism and Discrimination

Old article, largely relevant today. I'm sure we'll find alot of new prejudices these days. And while these biases slowly creep through the cultures of the Middle East, Europe and America, we'll likely find the common themes of sectarian divisions, sexual discrimination, and racial supremacy. Pretty soon, we'll all absorb the tragic presumption that American's take over everything, Muslims like to blow up people, Arabs treatment of women as princesses is just code for 'bird in a cage', and religion is the supreme guide to logic (as opposed to faith) in this complex world. Ahh what a world we live in.

Bias taxes brain, research finds
Dartmouth scientists look at effects of racism
By Gareth Cook, Globe Staff November 17, 2003
To the litany of arguments against prejudice, scientists are now adding a new one: Racism can make you stupid.
That is the message of an unusual and striking new series of experiments conducted at Dartmouth College, with the help of brain-imaging equipment and a crew of undergraduate volunteers.
According to the findings, the more biased people are, the more their brain power is taxed by contact with someone of another race, as they struggle not to say or do anything offensive. The effect is so strong, the team found, that even a five-minute conversation with a black person left some of the white subjects unable to perform well on a test of cognitive ability.
"Just having a prejudice makes you stupider," said John Gabrieli, a professor of psychology at Stanford University who was not involved in the research. "It is really interesting."
Researchers cannot yet predict how racial bias as measured in the lab will translate into overt racist attitudes or actions. But the new brain-imaging work, reported in today's edition of the journal Nature Neuroscience, represents the most detailed look yet at the way racial biases function in the brain.
The work also paints a dispiriting portrait of the state of the nation's race relations, the lead researcher said, even among the well-educated, well-meaning Dartmouth undergraduates whom the scientists studied.
"I think people are getting caught in this trap where they are trying not to do the wrong thing, rather than trying to act natural," said Jennifer A. Richeson, an assistant professor of psychological and brain sciences at Dartmouth College. "Somehow we have to get past this awkward phase."
Richeson and her colleagues began by recruiting a group of white Dartmouth undergraduates and asked them to perform an "Implicit Association Test," a test that is widely used to measure unconscious racial bias. The subject is given a screen and two buttons. First, the subject is asked to push the button on the left if the word that appears on the screen is a positive word, like beauty, or a common first name for a white person, such as Nancy. Otherwise, they are instructed to push the button on the right.
After a session, the test is changed slightly, and the names given are those more common for a black person, such as Tyrone. The greater the difference between the reaction times in the two sessions, the more the person has trouble associating black names with positive concepts.
Next the team had each of the students speak briefly with a black experimenter and then perform a test of cognitive ability called the Stroop test. They showed that the higher a bias score the student had in the IAT test, the worse they did on the Stroop test after speaking with the black experimenter.
To uncover what was behind this effect, the team used a functional magnetic resonance imager, which is able to peer inside the brain and measure the level of activity in different areas.
Each student was then shown a series of photographs, some of white males and some of black males. The more biased a student was, the more the team saw a certain area of their brain activate, an area associated with "executive control," conscious efforts to direct thinking. This, Richeson said, is a sign the brain is struggling not to think inappropriate thoughts.
Based on the findings, the team suggested that when a biased person interacts with someone of another race, even briefly, it exhausts the part of the brain in charge of executive control, leaving it temporarily unable to perform as well on the Stroop test and, presumably, other tasks.
The report is the first time that researchers have shown a connection between racial bias and the parts of the brain responsible for higher functions, according to several neuroscientists who were not involved in the research.
It is part of a nascent movement to study the neurological basis of social phenomena, in particular racism. One study, by Elizabeth A. Phelps at New York University, found that biased people are more likely to have greater activity in their amygdala, a portion of the brain associated with negative emotions like fear, when shown the picture of a black person they don't know.
Another, conducted by Stanford's Gabrieli and other scientists, showed that the brains of white people process white and black faces differently from the moment they see them.
Gareth Cook can be reached at cook@globe.com.

Iraqi government failing

Finally Iraq taking responsibility...

With sectarian violence continually on the rise, this has to be dealt with by the Iraqis on their own. The U.S. can continue to assist and lose more troops but they are just moving targets like the locals amidst the chaos. It's so sad.



BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi politicians -- frustrated by violence throughout the country and the glacial pace of parliamentary lawmaking -- say the nearly one-year-old government is failing.
Iraqi lawmakers told CNN the government's impotence and inability to bring peace to the chaotic environment is basically structural, and not the product of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish legislator, was quoted in the USA Today newspaper as describing al-Maliki as weak, but in an interview with CNN, he said, "It's not Maliki, it's the whole government."
That government, he said, is failing on many fronts, such as providing security, fostering reconciliation and offering public services. (Watch patrol in 'no man's land' help dying woman )
He believes Iraq, not the U.S. government, should set deadlines for goals, and the government must "deliver" them or resign.
Hasan al-Shimmari, a Shiite member of the United Iraqi Alliance's Fadhila party, said the government is weak because the political process and the government's structure are "based on partisan allocation of ministries."
"The Maliki government should be strengthened by correcting the political process and allocating ministries democratically," he said.
Hasan al-Sneid, a UIA parliament member who is close to al-Maliki, blamed political forces and parliament for problems, but he praised al-Maliki's efforts to foster reconciliation among Sunnis and Shiites.
Another legislator pointed to Baghdad's two-month-old security plan as evidence of the government's inefficiency.
The plan is "not working," according to Maysoon al-Damalouji, a secular Sunni lawmaker.
She said many people believed that services would be restored to neighborhoods "cleansed" by U.S. and Iraqi troops. However, once troops leave a cleansed region, militias move back in and take revenge on people who have cooperated with the troops.
Al-Damalouji believes that the essential problem is the division of parties by sectarian affiliation.
Suicide bombers kill 9 U.S. soldiers
Nine U.S. paratroopers were killed Monday when a pair of suicide bombers attacked a small U.S. patrol base in Diyala province, the U.S. military said. (Watch how Diyala province is becoming a major battleground )
It was the deadliest attack on U.S. ground forces in Iraq since December 2005.
U.S. military officials said initial reports indicate insurgents used two 30-ton dump trucks full of explosives to attack what they call a combat outpost. The massive blast resulted in the northern and western walls of the compound collapsing. Remains of several troops were recovered from the rubble.
An additional 20 U.S. soldiers were wounded in the attack.
The direct assault is a departure from the usual tactics of the insurgents, who in the past have been more inclined to use hit-and-run sniper attacks, or launch mortars from a distance.
The Islamic State of Iraq, the insurgent umbrella group that includes al Qaeda in Iraq, claimed responsibility for the attack in a posting on an Islamist Web site.
The same insurgent group claimed responsibility for the suicide attack at Iraq's parliament complex two weeks ago.
The insurgents said that the U.S. confirmation of the Diyala attack "is a rare confession by the Americans about an operation against their soldiers" and that "God guided the soldiers of ISI to a new method of explosion."
The Diyala region is emerging as a major battleground in the Iraq war, along with Baghdad and Anbar province, with insurgents shifting their operations into the area.
The Diyala attack has jolted the Army's 82nd Airborne Division, based in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where all the dead and wounded soldiers are based, according to the U.S. military.
A Fort Bragg spokesman, Maj. Tom Earnhardt, said the Diyala attack is "the worst incident we've had in the whole global war on terrorism."
Other developments
At least 15 people were killed and 25 were wounded Tuesday in a suicide truck bombing north of Ramadi, police in the Anbar provincial capital said. The bomber struck a police patrol, killing at least four officers. Women and children were among those wounded, police said.
President Bush said Tuesday he will veto a war spending bill that sets a deadline for U.S. troop withdrawals to begin. The House of Representatives and Senate agreed Monday on a bill that requires a pullout of troops to begin by October 1. (Full story)
Thousands of Iraqis took to the streets of Baghdad on Monday to protest a concrete wall surrounding Adhamiya, a Sunni neighborhood in Baghdad. The U.S. and Iraqi militaries said the wall is a temporary structure to prevent insurgent attacks. But many Baghdad residents fear walls will exacerbate the sectarian divide fueling the insurgency in the Iraqi capital. (Watch why the wall is controversial )
CNN's Yousif Bassil, Arwa Damon, Jomana Karadsheh, Octavia Nasr, Jomana Karadsheh and Brian Todd contributed to this report.

A killing causes you to take the blame

A Palestinian bystander was killed today by an Israeli aircraft that fired at a car carrying Islamic Jihad members.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/14AD86E7-A96F-436E-A1F7-B3BABDBD5623.htm

But read closely. This happened because Palestinian groups , Islamic Jihad, the Popular Resistance Committees and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades fired rockets in to Southern Israel. It didnt cause any injuries but the Israeli retaliation did.

Then to further slice the wound and deepen the pit of resentment, this appears to be yet another act of retaliation to avenge the deaths of Palestinian fighters who were killed earlier on Saturday by an Israeli undercover unit.

This is just classic press bias. We all know both sides are just involved in a bitter cycle of revenge killings but Israel happens to be the frontline lucky contestant who takes the blame on this article's headline. This was taken from Aljazeera news. The sad thing is, if this were BBC or CNN, it would be laced with hints of its own biases.

Generally I'm growing less and less sympathetic for the Arab world because the more it shouts for justice the louder it fires its guns and sends ambiguous messages on what they want. I feel bad for the moderates who are constantly struggling for common ground and diplomacy while they keep their culture intact but the extremists who bear sectarian divides and prejudice are just disgusting.

EU to criminalise Racism

So does this mean that we can throw Ahmadinejad in the slammer for all the anti zionist remarks he's made especially when he said the holocaust never happened? Wouldnt that be easy.

EU to criminalise racism and xenophobia
Thu Apr 19, 12:16 PM ET

The European Union has agreed to make inciting racism and xenophobia a crime across the 27 member states, EU diplomats said Thursday.
The agreement allows for between one and three year prison terms for public incitement to violence or hatred directed against people according to their race, colour, religion, descent or national or ethnic origin.

Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AFP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Agence France Presse.

More deaths in Baghdad

This article headline reads "At least 45 die in Baghdad sectarian bombings ".
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18116217/


How about adding the word "more" after 45? And does anyone notice how many times reports like this note which sects were targeted?

The U.S. is just caught in the midst of a lost cause in Iraq. Sad.

Ironic quote on War

Picked this up from the web.


War does not determine who is right, war determines who is left.

U huh We did it--Al Qaida

Al-Qaida-linked group claims Iraq blast
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070413/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq;_ylt=AgFuIE82uiTxwQ7LKtaNxQVvaA8F

An inside job? This took place in the Green zone. Lots of possibilities.

Happy Anniversary Lebanon

Thirty two years marks a glaring reminder that the Lebanese are still as blind about the nature of their conflicts as ever.
They'll blame the Americans for their involvement, which is not insignificant, but come on. They can only blame themselves for their infidelity towards their own country by not recognizing that their own government is receiving aid from other countries (like Iran and Syria) who have their own agendas.

America is no saint country but it wasnt the one who started sectarian conflicts in Lebanon.

Tensions have in fact not only produced a divided government but a divided people. What makes me sick are those who are living in the U.S. and bash the American government while they continue to complain and collect paychecks without making a difference. (I apologize to any Lebanese who read this but you know who these people are and if you dont share this view, then please respect that this is a mere observation. There are other hypocrites out there who dont want change. ) Looming in the background too are archaic Arab traditions that continue to demean women in society and extremists who misinterpret the Koran. People who misshape perceptions of the West and consider America as a temporary haven until they can return to their land carrying their wealth and breeding yet more prejudice over a country that had nothing to do with their centuries old battle over sectarian issues.

Lebanon marks civil war anniversary
By SAM F. GHATTAS, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 32 minutes ago
Lebanon marks the anniversary of its civil war this week, a conflict that began three decades ago under circumstances that, to some, are starkly reminiscent of the political divisions and sectarian violence seen today.
On April 13, 1975, an ambush by Christian gunmen of a busload of Palestinians sparked a civil war that lasted 15 years, killed 150,000 people and caused $25 billion in damage.
Marking this year's anniversary, the rusted bullet-scarred bus was displayed at a former crossing point on the line that separated Beirut's Christian and Muslim sectors during the war.
Ibrahim Eid, a Lebanese civil society coordinator, said the bus was "a symbol of this day" and should "raise awareness after what we've seen in the last year."
Sectarian tensions have been out in the open, and there is incessant talk in the media and by rival politicians of various groups rearming. The situation seemed especially perilous in January when nine people were killed in sectarian violence between government and opposition supporters.
The current instability started in 2005 when former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was killed by a massive truck bomb in Beirut. Since then, a series of bombs have targeted politicians, journalists and commercial centers.
Tensions have produced a divided government. The opposition, led by the Shiite Muslim militant group Hezbollah, has camped outside Prime Minister Fuad Saniora's office since Dec. 1 in an effort to force him to step down, and six members of the opposition have resigned from the Cabinet.
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally, has refused to convene parliament, and both he and President Emile Lahoud no longer recognize the Cabinet as legitimate.
The investigation into Hariri's assassination is yet another issue pulling the government apart. The U.N. Security Council has authorized the creation of a tribunal to try the suspects, but the opposition has refused to endorse it. In response, the government has asked the U.N. Security Council to impose the court, a request New York has said it is studying.
Analysts warn the current political crisis could leave the country with two rival governments who battle each other, as was the case in the last two years of the civil war.
Both the government and opposition are sticking to their positions, drawing strength from ties to foreign powers. The government is banking on support from the U.S. and its allies, while the opposition is backed by Syria and Iran, key opponents of Washington's policy in the Middle East.
However, none of the major political parties advocate going back to a time when kidnappings, car bombs, mortars and assassination were regularly used to subdue the other side. Nor do foreign armies that have intervened in the past — those of Syria, Israel and the U.S. — seem eager to get sucked into another Lebanon quagmire.
While Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned at a rally last week that political solutions were at a dead end, he said he would not resort to violence.
"We don't want civil war ... No one wants to burn down his country over political differences," said the leader of the heavily armed guerrilla force that fought Israel in last summer's war and is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S.
On the Christian side, a deputy leader of the Phalange Party, which led the Christian militias during the civil war, discounts a rekindling of the conflict despite the rising tensions.
"No one wants to start a civil war. No one has an interest," said Joseph Abu Khalil in an interview on LBC television Thursday.
In this spirit, the Lebanese group Joy of Giving has asked citizens to assemble in downtown Beirut on Friday to remember the civil war's outbreak in "a day of prayers, forgiveness, unity and a return to dialogue."
However, many analysts predict the violence and instability that has plagued the country for the past two years will continue, even if it falls short of all-out war.
Columnist Zayan warned in the leading An-Nahar daily Thursday that Lebanon faces an uncertain future, where "talk about divisions and the possibilities of civil war has become part of the discussions in the cafes, the morning gatherings and on buses."
Copyright © 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

Iraq's Sectarian Divide

No one wants to see the sectarian divide that erodes Iraq's road for peace. Take a look at the map posted on CNN.http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2005/iraq.transition/

(click on the link on this page called Baghdad's sectarian divide) Doesnt this give you dejavu on similar divisions in Lebanon during last summer's war between Israel?

At this point, I think no matter what the U.S., Britain or any stereotypically branded Western country does (thank you radical Islam), there is no recognizable period of stability for a majority of countries in the Middle East these days that signify that they do want democracy. There will always be this terribly frustrating mix of cultural dichotomies, religious beliefs and archaic traditions that plague countries like Iraq, Lebanon and Iran to name a few. So why should the U.S. stay in Iraq? As an American I feel proud knowing that I live in a democracy and that despite all the prejudices that are still evident in this country, a majority DO have an awareness that things are far better here than they are in the Middle East. I think it is downright unfair to convince Americans to believe that they're fighting for Iraqi people's rights to a fair democracy when these people are still closely tied to nations who continue to undermine their desire to achieve freedom. It's like treating a victim who still cherishes the victim mentality and uses it for their own benefit. One minute they're friends to the U.S. and the next the U.S. becomes this evil force that invaded their country for political gain. Everyone is scum while they remain the victims.

Sanctions now

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6538957.stm

Why wait until the end of May? They can continue to increase nuclear fuel production but the U.N. member countries need to apply sanctions now. Who ever said it was easy dealing with people who are out of touch with reality? This isnt about the West anymore, this is about insane political deviants who are blowing things out of proportion and shifting attention towards themselves because of past grievances and more importantly because of extremist sectarian issues that have nothing to do with the welfare of its people anymore. If Iran really wanted peace defying other possible resolutions and suppressing its society is not the way to prove it.

Pelosi in Syria

Bush kind of has this one right but I'm still waiting to see what happens altruistically because I'm still in the mindset that things will still work themselves out in the end. (we can only hope)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6522743.stm

What is Pelosi doing? Either she's in Syria as a decoy or that she wants to keep her enemies close that she gets killed in the process.

There's a TON of politics and deception going on in Syria. Assad definitely is keeping close guard for Lebanon not to move towards a more democratic government for economic and political purposes . There's also it's ties with Iran and it's questioned involvement with Hezbollah supposedly arming it with weapons to support it's cause against the West.

So here comes Nancy with an agenda that somehow diffuses the utterly Republican views of the West yet I cant help feeling concerned that she could possibly help further deteriorate relationships between the U.S. and Syria.

I'm crossing my fingers that this doesnt happen.

Does anyone remember David Bonior's similar efforts in Baghdad back in 2002?

A gift from Iran

So thank you Ahmadinejad for releasing the British soldiers as a 'gift'. It's so great to be powerful and condescending because the common folk dont really have the time or patience to stand it; they just walk away shaking their heads in despair.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6525905.stm

Regardless of whether they were in fact inside Iranian waters or not, it's such a great gesture for this gracious president to gift the Brits back their people intact instead of in shreds. As for the soldiers' state of mind, well time will tell when they get back and get their heads reexamined for any traces of intimidation and brainwashing.

Please.

One wonders whether this is just another propaganda effort. All this took place shortly after the U.N. approved further sanctions on Iran for defying orders to halt intense efforts on nuclear proliferation.

300

Iran is angry. Again. At Hollywood, at the U.S, at anyone. This is a movie people. If anything shouldnt they be angry with the Greeks who came out looking noble in this depiction of the battle at Thermopylae? It's not the point. This is a movie. But I suppose anything to point fingers at the U.S. ... Here's a thought. You dont like it? Dont watch it. Tell your other friends. And let them make their own decision. It's called freedom of speech.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17599641/?GT1=9145

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/2A62C583-E1C7-454E-B0B3-16DB56E3C4FD.htm

So this is what I dont understand. Ahmadijenad blames the U.S. for its involvement in Iraq and Lebanon while it supports the Hamas government in Palestine to rally against Israel. Not to mention it supports Hezbollah as well by arming its militia from its own arsenal. So I dont understand why the U.S. is oh so bad while Iran comes out smelling like roses when it's doing its own to protect its interests. Ahh double standards.

Politics is after all the art or science of getting what one wants.

Iraq VP dodges death

So if anyone says this is the work of the West then this is a new stretch to go at greater lengths to pin everything against us.

Iraqi vice president dodges bomb; 10 die click here for article

Iran aiding Lebanon and Sectarian alliances

Came across this article on Time. Yes it's several months old but it's kick-you-in-the-head great to read how hypocrisies that Azadeh writes about dont get published in mainstream news often enough.

So where do Iranians and Lebanese stand? Who knows. There has to be a direction right? Not in the conflict-riddled Middle East. The clear message these days is that sectarian divisions are clearly fueling the fire for more unrest and confusion.

I highlighted my favorite sections..;-)


Thursday, Aug. 31, 2006
The Backlash Against Iran's Role in Lebanon
By Azadeh Moaveni
This is the first installment of Lipstick Jihad, a regular column by Azadeh Moaveni, TIME's Tehran correspondent and author of Lipstick Jihad: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America and American in Iran.
One very early morning this week, the people in my neighborhood who wanted fresh bread for breakfast congregated outside the local bakery, wondering why the doors were locked and the stone oven cold. Fifteen minutes later, when it became clear there would be no bread that day, people began speculating why a bakery that has been open every weekday for literally decades should mysteriously be shut. The small crowd swiftly concluded the worst: the Iranian government had sent all the country's flour to Lebanon.
By noon, when I was up and contemplating a sandwich, word had spread around the neighborhood. Everyone blamed the dearth of fresh bread on the government's over-generous aid to the Shi`ites of Lebanon, displaced in the recent fighting between Israel and Hizballah. I should point out that my neighborhood is split between religious and secular families, and that the most pious of the bread-deprived were just as quick to shake their heads with resentment. No one said "let them eat cake," but it came pretty close.
Two days later, a gleaming new counter arrived outside the bakery. The baker was remodeling, and as far as he knew, there had been no massive delivery of grain to Lebanese Shi`ites. But as is so often the case in such matters, the truth is almost less relevant than what becomes the prevailing belief. That people so readily accepted that their government would forsake their daily loaf for a distant Islamic cause just speaks to the overwhelming bitterness these days in Tehran. Most people are convinced the government is spending outrageous sums on the Lebanese, and ever since the Iranian government declared a "victory" for the militant group Hizballah, rumors of what the Lebanese are 'getting' have been flying. Free SUVs? Plasma televisions? Nothing seems out of the question. Nightly news broadcasts that Iranians watch on their illegal satellite dishes have shown Hizballah doling out thick stacks of cash, courtesy of Iran. "Did you see the cash? They're giving each family ten thousand dollars!" one of my relatives phoned to tell me.
For the majority of Iranians who are barely scraping by, such news is infuriating. In fact, unpopular government spending on a faraway Arab community brings out a rather ugly Persian chauvinism. One story has Mrs. Nasrallah, the wife of Hizballah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, receiving a gift of Iranian caviar, and thinking it some sort of jam. There is no jam that looks like tiny eggs, I told the friend who repeated the story to me. Her look told me I was being obtuse. The fact is, the more President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his government pander to public sentiment in the Arab world, which is ecstatic over Hizballah's defiant stand against Israel, the more Iranians feel neglected.
The government of former President Mohammad Khatami was much more sensitive to Iranians' feelings, in particular their ripe tendency to fume when state money is spent outside Iran's borders. It underplayed the amount of cash and aid Iran pumped into Afghanistan after the removal of the Taliban. As a result, Iranians had no idea that for once, their government played a noble role in rebuilding a war-ruined neighbor. But it also saved them from resentment. Earlier this week, a front page headline in an Iranian newspaper read: "In Arab countries, they call the president Mahmoud." Iknow the president is popular in the Arab world. My Arab friends grin like Cheshire cats when he appears on Al-Jazeera, fire breathing his revulsion for the U.S. But would they like him to appoint him as honorary head of the Arab League? I hardly think so.
The main reason Iranians dislike the government's Islamic generosity is because in general, they believe their leaders use Islam as a cloak for their own economic greed. When police started confiscating illegal satellite dishes earlier this month — ostensibly satellite is banned for its impure Western content — in about two days the whole city knew exactly why. The story went like this: the son of a prominent regime-connected ayatullah had recently begun importing small, laptop-size satellite dishes. If the government rounded up the ungainly, rooftop dishes, and flooded the market with the discreet little one, everyone would be forced to buy the ayatullah's son's dishes. This connection between regime piety and corrupt wealth dominates how Iranians see the world — the little events that transpire in their daily lives, from bread shortages to satellite raids.


Find this article at:
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1515755,00.html

Iran Ignores UN Deadline..among other things

Times up. We dont care. Is what Iran recently made clear to the UN and sanctions they would face if they upscaled uranium enrichment. click here for BBC article

They think it's nothing more than the West throwing their weight around while it's pretty clear we all know they're going Frankenstein building a nuclear nightmare in Natanz.

For a country that has been long questioned on hits human rights stance and lack of freedom of speech, (Found an article on bloggers tortured for expressing their critical views of their government on HRW.click here There's more where that came from, by the way...)

It's a wonder why people just dont give up on the harsh reality that Iran hasnt been a peace-loving country to begin with. But the concept of peace is all relative these days so I base this comment on the fact that Iran hasnt been stepping up towards actions for diplomacy or negotiation ever since they decided to increase uranium enrichment. There's also always been this skittish overreaction towards any type of investigation over their nuclear plants and a fear that the West will take over. Oh this claim is getting old. It's certainly not an impossibility. But I would feel more comfortable having a democratic nation take the reigns than a country with a track record that scores low on social equality. Still, that's not the point.

Couldnt we call just get along? Apparently not according to Iran.

Inching Towards Destruction

Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is stepping up threats against the U.S. by saying that Iran will attack U.S. interests if it attacks Iran. So what new incident spurred him on to boldly speak this way? That's what I really want to know. Ahmadinejad has previously spoken in the same terms and tone before. Most recently he defiantly spoke again about Iran continuing with uranium enrichment despite UN sanctions but was prepared for dialogue.(God I love it when he plays hardball and still deceptively comes back with a cunning openness to negotiate. Smoke and mirrors. This man will pounce but lure you in deceptively.)

Let's recap a few recent developments here.
-Tehran just got cut off from receiving aid from the IAEA for more than a dozen technical projects.
-Serial markings on explosives detonated in Iraq could provide evidence of Iran's involvement in providing technology and weapons for insurgents in that country.
-Ahmadinejad's hardline tactics and radical propaganda has cost him the confidence of fellow Iranians who are increasingly concerned over his extremist approach.

Iran stealthily inches towards destruction by enriching greater amounts of uranium and setting up its arsenal of weapons, while spreading extremist and negative propaganda about the West. Let's remember that amidst all this, Iran is constantly trying to depict itself as a country open to talks for negotiation. But we all know that's just a mountain of b-llsh-t. Negotiations or none, you can never trust a government like this especially when its got its hands full with weapons that aid militant agendas and support extreme fundamentalist views that have NOTHING to support society and individuals at the simplest levels.

Who's next?

Everyone is in the middle of civil war. First it was Lebanon, then Iraq, now Palestine.

(click here for article)


Palestinians try to stave off civil war
By DONNA ABU-NASR, Associated Press Writer
Tue Feb 6, 3:29 PM ET

More blood spilled in Iraq

click here for AP article by Steven Hurst

121 killed
Fifth major bombing in less than a month
Hit predominantly Shiite neighborhood in Baghdad
30 shops, 40 houses gone

My blog comment on CNN

Comment on Nic Robertson's blog entry
Friday, January 26, 2007
Beirut on the brink
My first big mistake today was I trusted that however close Hezbollah wants to push Lebanon towards the brink of crisis to bring down Prime Minister Fuad Siniora’s government, they would know when to dial back tension and head off an irreversible slide to civil war. That was my first mistake....(click here for his full entry)
Scroll down for my comment on the page but here is the entry...

Nic, Lebanon as a whole is on the brink. Be safe and keep your eyes and ears open. Your blog is among hundreds that echo how hopeless the situation has gotten because the people of this country cant make up their minds. I have read and heard alot of criticism towards the U.S. for their involvement but at the end of the day, this is their country. It is futile to blame other countries for their own hypocrisy over this whole situation. People are angry over too many issues. The Israel-Hezbollah war, Shias vs Sunnis, the shrinking Christian minority, Syria and Iranian involvement...the list is endless and there is still no cohesive direction to strive for peace. After 20 years of civil war, the state of this country only sends the message that Lebanon hasnt learned to give in to peace. There are people who still fan the flames of their bitterness towards the past.
Posted By http://whosewarisitnow.blogspot.com/, United States : 4:07 PM ET

http://www.cnn.com/exchange/blogs/in.the.field/2007/01/beirut-on-brink.html

Nice to see less extreme biases from people in Beirut about the effects recent events have done in their country.

What many people dont see in Lebanon is that the root of most evils that are destroying their country are those feelings people have clung to about the past. (I sense a lengthy blog entry of which I'll explain subsequent to this post. ) Tune in for more..

Let's Fight Terrorism

What should we do to free our planet from terrorism? ..asks Indian President Abdul Kalam.

Read people's answers on this forum and alot speak of education, forming the minds and changing perception. More than 8000 have responded so far and much of what I've read are quite relevant. But do so sadly among extremist Muslims is a futile battle. To do so among many disgruntled Arabs is volatile at best. And to extend simple efforts to help and proliferate dialogue these days is a huge risk. Many people are angry.
I get disgusted mostly with Arab-Americans who claim so much right to this country when a growing number of them are hypocritical about supporting the American side of their heritage and nationality. They constantly bash the U.S. government when alot of their pent up frustration is found within many fundamental beliefs in their religion that means crap when it comes to applying their faith in real life. Many have Arab immigrants have forgotten what America (not the government, but the country as a whole) gave them-- an opportunity to live better lives, get better educated, and provide their children with the same opportunities they might not have gotten back home. Instead of educating other communities about their culture, they choose to ostracize themselves even more by increasing religious propaganda, by continuing to blame the U.S. (while they live in American soil). I'm no Arab hater but the stereotypes are starting to speak volumes again about how proud, traditional and closed in they can be. Times are changing. No one needs to veer away from who they fundamentally are. But when someone claims to be one thing while acting in conflicting ways, dont expect any kudos.

Shia-Sunni Differences

Interesting article on differences and roots of conflict between the two sects.
Islam's Sunni-Shiite split
by Dan Murphy, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20070117/wl_csm/osunnishia

Has anything changed?

Even the holidays couldnt stop the crazies from setting off their own fireworks to fan the chaos in the Middle East. So far 34,452 Iraqi civilians have been killed in 2006.
These days I dont know why it is still such a shock to read about the violence. Hate to generalize, but a majority of the Arab world doesnt seem to want peace. Not that..

--hundreds of years in warring history;
--the continued conflicts between Sunnis and Shias;
--the disgruntled Lebanese over their 20 year civil war with Israel ;
--Iran discreetly forming its own version of Zion;
--Syria continuing to deny its conspiracies with terrorist groups and economic interests in Lebanon;
--Palestine

...are any indication that they dont want peace or recognize the path to it. But perhaps my sarcasm or facetiousness is not all that far fetched.
I marvel at how they quickly can point to the U.S. for being so involved in their politics when even they can't even seem to gain each other's trust in working together. The Iraqi government can't even move an inch without blaming the U.S. and yet after all the help they get, they cant even control their own people from quelling sectarian violence. Shias and Sunnis are killing each other, blowing up mosques. Just today a Baghdad university was bombed killing 65, targetting a mostly Shiite community.
Religion is supposed to keep people's faith. But no sect in any of these Arab countries have yet manifested their belief in faith. Particularly faith in achieving harmony through more peaceful means. Everyone just seems to be so fixated in doctrine while hundreds are dying everyday.
Here's a good one. Imad Moustapha, Syria's ambassador to the U.S. said that the Bush administration has misled key Lebanese leaders into believing that Syria is not acting in the best of Lebanon's interests. Now I've actually heard Lebanese folks comment (without the help of Bush) that Syria's filled its pot of gold full of Lebanon's resources and that it's high time that they disengage themselves and set Lebanon free from its excessive politics and commercial endeavors. Bush's spectacular administration can't forever be the scapegoat for bad decisions made in the Middle East. It's not like everyone except the U.S. had their hands bound and mouths taped shut that they couldnt make a difference in their own right.
Yes, yes. Easier said than done. But still. No matter what, if the Middle East wanted significant change, it shouldnt all depend on government. It should come from individuals. Even Arabs amongst themselves have suffered the pains of their own cultural ills but are too proud to even utter the words gender or racial discrimination, social caste, bigotry. Is there any one out their proud enough to face themselves in the mirror and realize their own faults? Anyone willing to eat their slice of humble pie and admit that their culture has major issues as well?