Much has been revealed in the last four years about the reasons behind our misguided invasion of Iraq. We have seen the giant oil US companies making billions as they have gained ownership over the incalculable wealth of Iraq's oil fields. We have watched the weapons manufacturers and defense contractors making similar fortunes from the occupation, with no end in sight. Finally, we can document how the Israeli lobby, that curious and deadly combination of Jewish and Christian fanaticism, pushes hard for war and is doing so again with Iran. The money and power of these dominant groups made the invasion of Iraq all but inevitable. Politicians like Hillary knew about the war lies from the start but understood whom she must serve. We have a broken political system, with both parties pretty much sold to the highest bidder.
But the most startling fact of all is how little the average American knows about these major influences controlling US foreign policy. Many still think that we invaded for noble reasons, and that we must stay until we have brought peace and democracy to the Middle East. Most Americans simply can't tell simplistic and feel good propaganda from the ugly truth. They get their news from TV and other forms of mainstream media. They are well meaning, even idealistic. But in the end, they are childishly naive and easily fooled. And therein lies the real danger to our democracy. We the people have lost control of our destiny.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Friday, March 23, 2007
The Mother Load of Evil Deeds
Some people have questioned the effectiveness of torture for the truly wicked terrorists threatening America. But the confessions of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed have changed all that. Several years of beatings and near drownings have produced the mother load of evil deeds. It turns out that Khalid planned almost everything that happened in the last ten years, as well as several things that didn't.
It almost makes one wish that we had tortured him a little longer. There are still unsolved mysteries that plague our nation, like the anthrax attack on Congress, the election fraud in Florida, and the murder of JonBenet. Why leave things hanging if you have someone willing to sing to the authorities?
There are a few problems with all these confessions by one person. What will we accuse Osama of if we ever catch him? Moreover, what will we ever charge those 400 poor slobs in Guantanamo Bay with, the ones wearing dog collars around their necks? There isn't really much left. Indecent exposure?
The Pentagon will figure something out. We will never really get to hear or read what these leftover prisoners say anyway. National security you know. So in a couple of years, the Pentagon will have them confessing to the same crimes and the majority of Americans aren't going to remember that Khalid said that too. If Americans had better memories, our kids wouldn't be dying in Iraq and a band of criminals and liars wouldn't be running our country.
It almost makes one wish that we had tortured him a little longer. There are still unsolved mysteries that plague our nation, like the anthrax attack on Congress, the election fraud in Florida, and the murder of JonBenet. Why leave things hanging if you have someone willing to sing to the authorities?
There are a few problems with all these confessions by one person. What will we accuse Osama of if we ever catch him? Moreover, what will we ever charge those 400 poor slobs in Guantanamo Bay with, the ones wearing dog collars around their necks? There isn't really much left. Indecent exposure?
The Pentagon will figure something out. We will never really get to hear or read what these leftover prisoners say anyway. National security you know. So in a couple of years, the Pentagon will have them confessing to the same crimes and the majority of Americans aren't going to remember that Khalid said that too. If Americans had better memories, our kids wouldn't be dying in Iraq and a band of criminals and liars wouldn't be running our country.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Not Far Away Enough
Perhaps it wasn't her stories as much as the film. Feryal Abu Haikal, a headmistress at a girls' school in Hebron and guest this weekend at a church in New Paltz, told of trying to shepherd her young students to school through groups of the rock throwing settlers. But the film showed the settlers kicking and taunting the young girls and heaving rocks at them. One ten your old was hit in the face while Israeli soldiers stood by laughing.
Far away? Not far enough. Many of the settlers are from Brooklyn. The money for the illegal settlements on Palestinian land comes from right wing extremist religious groups in the United States, both Christian and Jewish. The soldiers' weapons, their jeeps and the bulldozers they use on Palestinian homes are all paid for by US tax dollars. UN resolutions against this racism have been routinely vetoed by our government. Our politicians, heavily financed by these extremist groups, pass resolution after resolution supporting Israel. And our national media completes the hometown support for throwing rocks at little kids. Palestinian suffering is always hidden from the American people.
Israel wants to remove millions of Palestinians from the West Bank and replace them with Jewish settlers, a recipe for endless bloodshed in the Middle East. But American support is key; it just couldn't happen without us.
So the next time a US politicians heaps praise on Israel, ask them who they are working for, extremist groups who fund them or US citizens.
Fred
Far away? Not far enough. Many of the settlers are from Brooklyn. The money for the illegal settlements on Palestinian land comes from right wing extremist religious groups in the United States, both Christian and Jewish. The soldiers' weapons, their jeeps and the bulldozers they use on Palestinian homes are all paid for by US tax dollars. UN resolutions against this racism have been routinely vetoed by our government. Our politicians, heavily financed by these extremist groups, pass resolution after resolution supporting Israel. And our national media completes the hometown support for throwing rocks at little kids. Palestinian suffering is always hidden from the American people.
Israel wants to remove millions of Palestinians from the West Bank and replace them with Jewish settlers, a recipe for endless bloodshed in the Middle East. But American support is key; it just couldn't happen without us.
So the next time a US politicians heaps praise on Israel, ask them who they are working for, extremist groups who fund them or US citizens.
Fred
Marketplace on NPR:
Your report from the West Bank today (2/16/07) was offensive in any number of ways. You interviewed a number of "settlers" who waxed eloquent about their reasons for moving to illegal settlements on Palestinian land (the country is beautiful, neighborhoods are new, and almost everyone speaks English). But the settlers were also upset by a number of developments (Palestinians "throw stones," and threaten terrorist attacks, all of which have reduced property values).
No Palestinian was interviewed. No mention was made of the violations of international law involved in these "settlers" taking land that doesn't belong to them. Certainly there was no hint that these settlers, backed by the Israeli Defense Force routinely harass, beat, and shoot Palestinians.
No, your report was just about a nice group of people who have a few real estate problems. Like a backed up sewer system.
I can't imagine the level of racism it must have taken to do this report. Marketplace's casual acceptance of apartheid is morally intolerable.
Fred
No Palestinian was interviewed. No mention was made of the violations of international law involved in these "settlers" taking land that doesn't belong to them. Certainly there was no hint that these settlers, backed by the Israeli Defense Force routinely harass, beat, and shoot Palestinians.
No, your report was just about a nice group of people who have a few real estate problems. Like a backed up sewer system.
I can't imagine the level of racism it must have taken to do this report. Marketplace's casual acceptance of apartheid is morally intolerable.
Fred
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Attacks on President Carter
No surer proof of the strength of the Israeli lobby in the US can be found than the scope of the relentless attacks on former President Carter. His most recent book, "Palestine, Peace Not Apartheid" is not a diatribe against Jewish people, but a simple telling of the truth about life in occupied Palestine. He goes so far as to overlook the gross racism directed at Palestinians in Israel itself to concentrate on the West Bank and Gaza.
But none of this is enough for the fanatics, both right wing Christians and Jews. Even the "NY Times" attempts to make Carter appear anti-Semitic by reporting that he is critical of "American Jewish" power. He is, of course, critical of the Israeli lobby and not of American Jewish power.
Amazon.com does a similar trashing of Carter's reputation. In a space used for a short publisher's description of a book, one finds a highly critical screed against the former president that is twenty paragraphs long. It is written by an Israeli citizen, a former Israeli Defense Force guard for Palestinian prisoners. All this isn't about selling books. It's about the might of the Israeli lobby in this country.
Many Israelis worry about the Fascist tendencies of their government, as many Americans fear their own highly militaristic, right wing administration. Whatever our race or religion, we must oppose the violence and slaughter that both these governments have wrought in the Middle East.
But none of this is enough for the fanatics, both right wing Christians and Jews. Even the "NY Times" attempts to make Carter appear anti-Semitic by reporting that he is critical of "American Jewish" power. He is, of course, critical of the Israeli lobby and not of American Jewish power.
Amazon.com does a similar trashing of Carter's reputation. In a space used for a short publisher's description of a book, one finds a highly critical screed against the former president that is twenty paragraphs long. It is written by an Israeli citizen, a former Israeli Defense Force guard for Palestinian prisoners. All this isn't about selling books. It's about the might of the Israeli lobby in this country.
Many Israelis worry about the Fascist tendencies of their government, as many Americans fear their own highly militaristic, right wing administration. Whatever our race or religion, we must oppose the violence and slaughter that both these governments have wrought in the Middle East.
Dear President Carter:
Please do not think you are alone in your stand for peace and justice in occupied Palestine. All across this country, groups like the one I belong to (Middle East Crisis Response: www.mideastcrisis.org) are being formed to bring an awareness of Palestinian suffering to the American People.
The 14 members of the Carter Center's advisory board who resigned are only for human rights when it is comfortable and familiar. Applied universally, and especially to Israel, their solemn commitment to human rights evaporates.
Your book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid" does more than expose the mistreatment of the Palestinians. It holds to light an ugly side of an American political system that is bought and sold by the Israeli lobby. People like Alan Dershowitz function as its intellectual brown shirts.
I commend you, President Carter. You are an honest and brave man who has honored the presidency when so many have disgraced it.
Rhinebeck, NY
The 14 members of the Carter Center's advisory board who resigned are only for human rights when it is comfortable and familiar. Applied universally, and especially to Israel, their solemn commitment to human rights evaporates.
Your book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid" does more than expose the mistreatment of the Palestinians. It holds to light an ugly side of an American political system that is bought and sold by the Israeli lobby. People like Alan Dershowitz function as its intellectual brown shirts.
I commend you, President Carter. You are an honest and brave man who has honored the presidency when so many have disgraced it.
Rhinebeck, NY
Propaganda Not News
The problem with our media is that is promotes the idea of civil discourse as a excuse for providing only one side of almost every important issue confronting Americans.
"Let's not be shrill and divisive" our media warns. Yet, in the preparation for the war on Iraq, almost no one in the media confronted the obvious lies being foisted on the American public. Perhaps if our media could have been a little more "divisive," this calamitous war would not have happened.
When is the last time you saw an article in a major media publication that questioned our giving 500 billion a year to the Pentagon? This is a highly militarized state and we spend more on making war than the rest of the world combined. Yet our media would never debate that. Too shrill.
And how about stories of corporate irresponsibility? It takes a meltdown the size on Enron to expose the obscene machinations of the corporate controlled ruling class. Too divisive.
Spend some time reading the media in many other countries. The Israeli press debates racism directed at the Palestinians. Not here. The Guardian in the UK runs detailed reports of how the Bush administration lied about WMD's. Not here. I spent a month in Amsterdam and learned about freedom of the press. For the first time in my life, I read mainstream media that discussed Cuba. Now, I can read about Cuba here, but it will be stories created in the Pentagon. We get propaganda from our media, not news.
"Let's not be shrill and divisive" our media warns. Yet, in the preparation for the war on Iraq, almost no one in the media confronted the obvious lies being foisted on the American public. Perhaps if our media could have been a little more "divisive," this calamitous war would not have happened.
When is the last time you saw an article in a major media publication that questioned our giving 500 billion a year to the Pentagon? This is a highly militarized state and we spend more on making war than the rest of the world combined. Yet our media would never debate that. Too shrill.
And how about stories of corporate irresponsibility? It takes a meltdown the size on Enron to expose the obscene machinations of the corporate controlled ruling class. Too divisive.
Spend some time reading the media in many other countries. The Israeli press debates racism directed at the Palestinians. Not here. The Guardian in the UK runs detailed reports of how the Bush administration lied about WMD's. Not here. I spent a month in Amsterdam and learned about freedom of the press. For the first time in my life, I read mainstream media that discussed Cuba. Now, I can read about Cuba here, but it will be stories created in the Pentagon. We get propaganda from our media, not news.
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