20 April, 2008
15 February, 2008
Nothing much has changed
No it hasnt. I've been offline for a while. More specifically I stayed away from blogging to preserve my sanity and it's just as expected. Nothing much has changed in the Middle East to really wow me and compel me to say that people are trying their darndest to make an impact in wiping out years of prejudice, hate and jealousy. Thanks to Bush who likes to throw his weight around, he's made American's look like real bullies to the world who think we can solve the problems in the Middle East. We barely can solve our own problems back home. Dont get me started again with all the prejudiced Arabs who are so two-faced they put the rest of their people to shame. Bottom line is everyone has to make a choice. Lebanon is going down the toilet because it cant make a damn decision. If Iran wants to go the evil path then turn its government into a monarchy and proclaim Ahmadinejad the king of destruction. If Iraq wants to keep killing its own people, then let it. American troops and other countries' troops can't convince its people to choose peace. In a few more years, we can all revisit this topic and reflect that not a damn thing has changed in the Middle East because the people wont concede to achieve peace.
20 September, 2007
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.
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.
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.
17 July, 2007
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=>1=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!
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!
04 July, 2007
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
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
29 June, 2007
Martyr Mouse?
Try 'Sleeper Cell Mouse'.....
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/06/29/hamas.mouse.ap/index.html
Sick SOBs.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/06/29/hamas.mouse.ap/index.html
Sick SOBs.
20 June, 2007
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.
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.
15 June, 2007
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:
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.
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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
14 June, 2007
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.
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.
13 June, 2007
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.
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.
06 June, 2007
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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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
SAVE THIS EMAIL THIS Close
Check the box to include the list of links referenced in the article.
© 2007 Cable News Network.
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25 May, 2007
Money well spent.NOT
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.
24 May, 2007
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.
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.
23 May, 2007
Isn't it SO obvious?
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
U.S. checking if body found in river is missing soldier
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/05/23/iraq.main/index.html
22 May, 2007
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.
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.
21 May, 2007
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.
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.
19 May, 2007
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.
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.
17 May, 2007
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.
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