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.