tagged w/ Middle East Conflict
-
Source: HAARETZ
Iran says it's started large-scale production of a domestically-developed cruise missile designed for sea-based targets and capable of destroying warships.
Defense Minister Gen. Ahmad Vahidi said an unspecified number of samples of "Ghader," or "Capable" as the missile is called in Farsi, were delivered to the Revolutionary Guard's navy, assigned to protect Iran's sea borders. His remarks were reported by state TV on Wednesday.
--CLIP
On Tuesday, the French envoy to the UN warned Iran on that it risks a military strike if it continues to develop its nuclear program. Ambassador Gerard Araud said in New York that "If we don't succeed today to reach a negotiation with the Iranians, there is a strong risk of military action," AFP reported.
The strike, he said, "would be a very complicated operation. It would have disastrous consequences in the region… all the Arab countries are extremely worried about what is happening."
MORE... http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/iran-begins-large-scale-production-of-new-cruise-missile-1.387246
Photo by: Reuters
"So is this real or just Sabre Rattling???"Source: HAARETZ
Iran says it's started large-scale production of a... more
-
-
KB723
-
added this
-
5 months ago
- |
-
The big question that President George W. Bush posed after the 9/11 attacks was “why do they hate us?” followed by his ridiculous answer, “they hate our freedoms.” A new book by BBC correspondent Deepak Tripathi offers a more realistic analysis http://consortiumnews.com/2011/08/23/explaining-why-they-hate-us/The big question that President George W. Bush posed after the 9/11 attacks was... more
-
-
-
-
jonber
-
added this
-
8 months ago
- |
-
-
-
jonber
-
added this
-
8 months ago
- |
-
Whats with the Republicans? What do they want exactly? When President Obama urges peace between Israel and Palestine, all Republicans say is "How dare you!!!". Should we just grant Israel whatever they want? Should the U.S just crush Palestine just because Israelis believe in the same God as Christians. Both sides have lost lives and all the Republicans care is Israel should maintain its sovereignty at the cost of others. How hard is it to bring peace and end this conflict once and for all.....Whats with the Republicans? What do they want exactly? When President Obama urges... more
-
-
The Syrian government has resigned, state-run television has said.
President Bashar al-Assad accepted the cabinet's resignation following a meeting on Tuesday.
The resignation is the latest concession by the government aimed at curbing pro-democracy protests in which dozens of people have been killed.
President Assad is expected to address the nation in the next 24 hours to announce he is lifting the emergency law and restrictions on civil liberty.
The president has appointed outgoing Prime Minister Muhammad Naji Otari as caretaker prime minister until a new government is appointed, the official Syrian news agency has said.
A new government is due to be appointed within 24 hours, but there is word the changes will be "beyond expectations", the BBC's Lina Sinjab reports in Damascus.
The government has little power in Syria, where it is concentrated in the hands of the president, his family and the security apparatus, observers say.
Mr Otari has been prime minister since September 2003, with at least four cabinet reshuffles over the last eight years.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12897223The Syrian government has resigned, state-run television has said.
President Bashar... more
-
-
Okay folks. Here we go. Anyone who has read my previous articles will no doubt be aware that I have very sceptical views on what we like to call “democracy” and even more sceptical views on the foreign policy of pretty much every government, especially that of the UK and our (for now) younger but more hard-assed sibling the US.
I’ve sat back in wonder at the situation we find ourselves in regarding the Middle-East/North Africa and the seemingly organic democratic uprisings of its trodden on citizens.
It’s the largest political shift in our lifetime and may determine the course of our entire species. There, I said it. People are skirting round this point, but what’s at stake is the exposure of the deceptions our respective governments carry out, the response to which by those of us who hold none of the wealth could trigger a forced change in the way we approach politics on the whole.
For too long we have “policed” the world's troubled spots and attempted to “install” democracy, which all sounds very neat doesn’t it. Like a cowboy plumber fixing your toilet! “Quick installation... equipment... plus service charge and a tip that’ll be 200 quid please!”
If only that were so, instead we blow the shit out of the toilet, build a new toilet with our own cheap equipment we pay you for, and the service charge is we take over your economy and the tip is the national debt you now owe us for helping you and your bowel movement shenanigans!
The US and its hegemonic drive for global dominance has always been served with the tagline that we are spreading Democracy! Democracy! Democracy! The trouble is, it’s always down the barrel of a gun or blinking through the green eye of night vision goggles worn by pilots who pick out targets and destroy them from around a hundred miles away, never actually going near the damned thing.
Now the fact that the recent uprisings, starting in Tunisia by the ultimate act of martyrdom by an oppressed street vendor against an oppressive regime, has risen organically, and spread throughout all of the Middle East/North African masses has meant the “West” headed by the US was very, very quiet for around a month. It is easy to see why.
After all, the democratic outburst was in response to the oppressive and suppressive action of West-backed dictators. Our rich buddies, until now. The arms used against them during uprisings were made by us. So it would look a bit stupid if we kicked off with the dictators. But also, what opposed it was the purest form of a commodity whose name has been abused in recent years, namely democracy. So any condemnation of the uprising would be even more contradictory. Maybe? Finally? Is the genie out of the bottle for those who believe in true democracy? We may have to wait a bit and see.
America doesn’t fear the uprising of radical Islam; it fears the uprising of free choice and independence. And the fact that most regimes which are on the verge of or have been overthrown are seeking to install Islamic anti-West government has cornered the US into a stunned “Do what you want as long as no-one gets hurt because we really care honest we do!” display of not giving a shit.
The “West” have their dirty fingers and toes in all of these despotic little pies so any sort of verbal attack on the Arab leaders only came about when their deposition was either inevitable or in progress. And they couldn’t condemn the “Rebels” or as I call them... people! Because that would mean they condemn pure democracy. Which would mean the whole world and not just us sceptics would begin to see what goes on behind the curtain.
This brings me on to a number of hypocrisies around the whole issue of the uprisings.
We’ll start at the beginning. The US and the “West” prop up and supply arms to all of those involved in the uprisings. That’s not even worth debating. Half a brain cell and a rudimentary knowledge of how to surf the net will find that out for you... apart from... that’s right... Libya. That’s left to China and Russia, and the force it has is somewhat like that it had in 1986 when America which came about due to Libyan terrorist links with the blowing up of a Berlin nightclub US services haunt. 2 US airmen were killed. 2 US Airmen were also killed when their F-111 was shot down over Libya during retaliatory strikes, as well as 45 soldiers and 15 civilians making one wonder was that an over re-action. But it was a short sharp shock to tell Gaddafi who he was messing with. And being the nut-job he is it sent him on to escalate terrorist campaigns including that of the Lockerbie Bombings as well as that of UTA Flight 772.
The US in 2008 ordered Libya to pay into a fund which would provide compensation for victims of Lockerbie, The Berlin Nightclub bombings, UTA Flight 772 and his own people who were killed during the US air strikes in 1986.
Now here’s the important bit. Upon payment President George W “What da funk?” Bush signed an executive order providing Libya immunity from future terror related lawsuits and the dismissing of all pending compensation cases in the US. A US State Department spokesperson, Sean McCormack, hailed it as a "laudable milestone ... clearing the way for a continued and expanding US-Libyan partnership." ... Aw bless! Not long after the guy who was accused of carrying out the bombing was released just to throw a bit of smoke over the US climb down.
This is why the US had been slow to move but quick to take the back seat. Gaddafi is the sort of guy who if they can keep sweet (presumably with a lifetime supply of mirrored Ray Ban shades!) will not spurt his mouth open with info on all the dodgy behind the curtain dealings between the US and it’s minions and despot desktop fruit loop dictators.
No matter how much of a loon this guy is he probably holds secrets which no madman could make up and it would more than likely cause uproar beyond the horizons of the Middle East and North Africa.
Whilst the press has had its teeth in Libya only the most observant of wandering eyes has stumbled upon the rafting up of un-remarked upon attacks on the Gaza strip and the seemingly “Fuck You!” flauntability of the Saudi military just waltzing over Bahrain causeway to wipe out a few disgruntled masses on behalf of the pretty much overthrown but hanging on by a thread Bahrain Royal Family. I can’t actually remember a UN resolution on that one can... anybody here just... nope? Show of hands? Nope. No-one. Because it didn’t happen, good reader. And why? That’s right, because they have all of the money. All of the money. It’s just black, runny and smelly and lives underground waiting to be tapped.
Nope. None of that is important. What’s more important is behaving like a cat pawing at an injured rodent, goading it to kick off so there’s some sport in the kill. Being a major player in the African Union may be the joker that’s holding his would-be aggressors at bay. After all Africa is the number one focus for the Chinese with its commu-capitalistic sweep for world supremacy. As all fledgling empires have done in the past, China is tackling Africa and the acquisition of its natural resources as a means of fuelling its economy. Where they have been a lot smarter though is by investing in the communities and regions it works with. They see everything as a partnership with the people and not just a case of convincing warlords or dictators with money to enslave their people. They are building cities once levelled by civil wars and simple neglect. Yet in Libya there is more than a strong case to.....
(Continues at http://talkingskull.com/column/behind-certain/its-end-of-world-as-we-know-it-and-i-feel-fine)Okay folks. Here we go. Anyone who has read my previous articles will no doubt be... more
-
-
Yemeni president says US and Israel behind unrest
SANAA, Yemen -- Yemen's embattled president on Tuesday accused the U.S., his closest ally, of instigating the mounting protests against him, but the gambit failed to slow the momentum for his ouster.
Hundreds of thousands rallied in cities across Yemen in the largest anti-government protests of the past month, including a gathering addressed by an influential firebrand cleric whom the U.S. has linked to al-Qaida. "Go on until you achieve your demands," Sheik Abdul-Majid al-Zindani told tens of thousands of demonstrators in the capital of Sanaa.
Some warned that the current political turmoil and possible collapse of President Ali Abdullah Saleh's regime could give a further opening to Yemen's offshoot of the global terror network, known as al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. The Yemen branch, believed to have been involved in the attempted 2009 bombing of an American airliner, is seen as particularly active and threatening to the U.S.
Saleh has been a weak but important U.S. ally in the fight against al-Qaida. Yemen gets U..S. military aid and has allowed American drone strikes on al-Qaida targets. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton visited Yemen in January and urged Saleh to do more.
However, on Tuesday, Saleh seemed to be turning on Washington. In a speech to about 500 students and lecturers at Sanaa University, he claimed the U.S., along with Israel, is behind the protest movement.
"I am going to reveal a secret," he said. "There is an operations room in Tel Aviv with the aim of destabilizing the Arab world. The operations room is in Tel Aviv and run by the White House."
Saleh also alleged that opposition figures meet regularly with the U.S. ambassador in Sanaa. "Regrettably those (opposition figures) are sitting day and night with the American ambassador where they hand him reports and he gives them instructions," Saleh said.
The Obama administration rejected the claims. White House spokesman Jay Carney called on Saleh to focus on implementing the political reforms demanded by his people instead of "scapegoating."
Saleh's relationship with the U.S. has been ambivalent, and he has at times attempted to play down his military alliance with Washington. Anti-U.S. sentiment remains strong in Yemen, as elsewhere in the region, and Saleh's comments appeared to be an attempt to discredit the protesters by suggesting they are serving foreign interests.
"Part of this is putting blame on others, part of it is trying to manage the situation," said Christopher Boucek, an analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a U.S. think tank. "He (Saleh) does not want to feed into grievances that gave rise to the opposition against him, such as being too close to the U.S."
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/03/01/2091887/yemeni-president-says-us-and-israel.html#ixzz1FOQYhsoH
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/03/01/2091887/yemeni-president-says-us-and-israel.html#ixzz1FOQGQ1BkYemeni president says US and Israel behind unrest
SANAA, Yemen -- Yemen's... more
-
-
"The UN Security Council has voted unanimously to impose sanctions on Muammar Gaddafi's Libyan regime for its attempts to put down an uprising.
They backed an arms embargo and asset freeze while referring Col Gaddafi to the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity.
US President Barack Obama has said the Libyan leader should step down and leave the country immediately.
Discussions on forming a transitional government are reportedly underway".
What kind of "transitional government" do you think this will be, and what will effect will it have on civil liberties?
Do you think this will set a pattern for other nations in the Middle East that are in the midst of revolution?"The UN Security Council has voted unanimously to impose sanctions on Muammar... more
-
-
Gaddafi: What now for Libya’s dictator, and where does Britain stand? | The Independent
As rebellion spreads, Tripoli’s hardline regime cracks down, killing at least 100 protesters and leaving 1,000 injured.Gaddafi: What now for Libya’s dictator, and where does Britain stand? | The... more
-
-
The protests rocking the Arab world this week have one thread uniting them: Al Jazeera, the Qatar-based satellite channel whose aggressive coverage has helped propel insurgent emotions from one capital to the next.The protests rocking the Arab world this week have one thread uniting them: Al... more
-
-
The exploitation of international legal rhetoric by NGOs has become a major weapon in the political war to delegitimize Israeli responses to terrorism. This strategy, adopted at the NGO Forum of the UN's 2001 Durban Conference, is used to support the BDS movement and "war crimes" trials against Israelis.
Anne Herzberg is the Legal Advisor for NGO Monitor, the Jerusalem-based research institution. Her areas of expertise include universal jurisdiction, international criminal and human rights law, NGOs and the UN system, and the laws of armed conflict. Her op-eds have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Ha'aretz, and the Jerusalem Post.The exploitation of international legal rhetoric by NGOs has become a major weapon in... more
-
-
http://
Over the last while I have spent a lot of time thinking on and researching the ongoing Israel - Palestine conflict. I must admit I started this with a slight bias against Israel after watching and reading about the atrocities committed during Operation cast Lead. I have been engaged in an extended and extremely though provoking discussion with freecrack regarding this issue and was quickly shown the folly of my ways and the miss information I have been fed by the main stream media. Though I still maintain a stance on the side of Palestine I have come to realize that there can be no peace without work from both sides.
The two state solution has been the goto option when one thinks about peace in the middle east. (I hate that term :P) Though it's popularity has faded I think it would satisfy the majority of Palestinians and give Israel statehood recognition. It has the potential to bring the Jewish state peace with the Arab world, and give Israel a recognized right of self-defense against Palestinian cross-border attacks.
The main benefit of the two-state solution is the agreed distribution of land. Any proposal for peace must contain enough land to ensure the viability of a Palestinian state. In 2001 Israel accepted the idea of a Palestinian state with borders resembling the borders prior to the 1967 6 day war but talks fell apart during the Israel elections. Opponents of the two state solution cite the failure of the 2005 Gaza evacuation to bring peace to the Strip as the number one reason Israel cannot afford to give up land to Palestinians. While Israel did indeed evacuate Gaza and forcefully removed its own citizens from settlements Israel retained control over Gaza's borders, airspace, coastline, power supplies, imports and exports. Critics of disengagement said it was being used by the Israeli government as a substitute for a peace agreement with the Palestinian people. Opponents of the two state solution ask, How do we keep a two-state solution from turning into a Qassam launch-pad expansion program? Such concerns must and can be addressed but I think the stumbling block lies elsewhere.
To get to the point. Moving back to the 1967 borders would be a risky move for Israel. A risk that increases with every settlement expansion. Israel knows this so why has the number of settlers doubled since Oslo? Projects that threaten divide a future Palestinian state into 3 (and arguably 4) non contiguous parts. In addition to the increase in settlements the number of checkpoints and obstacles was supposed to go down after Annapolis... instead it went up by 51. Can Israel be serious about a two-state solution?
There are some serious deal breakers that must be addressed head on if there is going to be peace. Israels number one concern is peace. This is what Israel hopes to get out of a two state solution however this is an intangible goal: The removal of settlers is an irreversible process, whereas a lull in violence can be broken at any time. The two-state solution is an asynchronous trade, ie, an exchange of land for a future of peace. Israeli interests are better served by sitting on its hands and upholding the status quo. Incremental land-for-peace trades is impossible for Palestine as well because peace cannot be offered in tradable chunks.
An asymmetric deal of the land-for-peace type requires either trust between the parties (nonexistent) or a mutually trusted arbiter with coercive power. Israel trusts only the US and coercion is not an option. US-Israeli relations are such that Israeli leaders don't have the "option" of letting Israel be (or appear to be) coerced by the US. That would leave the UN as a viable alternative to coercion but I don't think anyone really trusts the UN.
intangibility, irreversibility, asynchronicity, plus the lack of mutual trust or of a trusted enforcer: these are the strategic reasons all incremental approaches to the two-state solution have failed so far (eg, Oslo I/II, Wye River, Road Map).
I see another disincentive for Israel. To be effective, a peace agreement would require overwhelming support among Palestinians while a simple majority support in Israel would be sufficient. This little detail all but decimates Israel's bargaining power, as it presents it with a "binary" negotiating stance, where fighting the slightest concession quickly becomes counterproductive. For Israel, peace is all or nothing.
Israel can decide to do nothing, of course nothing is the current policy. However, nothing is also Zionism's death march. Nothing will result in the complete absorption of Palestine into Israel at which point Israel will cease to be a jewish state. You would think Israel would have abandoned the "Road Map to Nowhere" long ago. We've heard it all before: Hamas must recognize Israel; the terrorist infrastructure must be dismantled; etc. I call BS. Israel blocs the peace process because it cannot stand the cost of peace. At the very least: dismantling 120 settlements; relocating 110,000 settlers; rerouting the separation barrier; ceding control over 40% of the West Bank; sharing Jerusalem as a capital; giving away vital water rights; returning the Golan to Syria; engaging Hamas; facing violent domestic opposition; endangering the careers and lives of Israeli leaders; I'm sure you can see where this is going..
These are the cards on the table today. The parties could have changed the track along the way, but they didn't. There are two sides to this and there is no doubt the Palestinians did their part to undermine the peace process. Yet as the occupier Israel bears the ultimate responsibility for the conflict.
That said one cannot simply ignore the obstacles to peace. The two-state solution demands of Israel the kind of compromise required from nations defeated at war. All the giving must be from Israeli and the taking Palestinian. Of course, Israel would be "giving" nothing—only returning what it grabbed in contravention of international law. Peace must be quick and painful for Israel (Like ripping off a band-aid). Is it any wonder Israel has opted to leave the band-aid on and cement the current Apartheid regime in the territories?
Israel also has bigger fish to fry in Hezbollah, Syria, and Iran. Peace with Syria has a low-cost/benefit ratio for Israel and it appears to be back on the agenda. Israel needs to ditch its endless excuses and realize it is powerful enough to take the risks of peace: deal with Syria; engage with Hamas; and, crucially, end the occupation. I feel that unless Palestine accepts to become a client state of the US, Israel will never be leaned upon to set it free; and it won't do it of its own volition.
Approaching the two-state solution as an incremental exchange of piecemeal concessions is doomed. A successful implementation would require Israel to assume a submissive posture. The two-state solution calls for visionary leadership that Israel does not have, international prodding that is nonexistent, and an obliging enemy that has never much been the obliging kind. The final nail in the coffin might be its dwindling popular support.http://
Over the last while I have spent a lot of time thinking on and researching... more
-
-
JERUSALEM — An influential Israeli rabbi has said God should strike the Palestinians and their leader with a plague, calling for their death in a fiery sermon before Middle East peace talks set to begin next week.
"Abu Mazen and all these evil people should perish from this earth," Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, spiritual head of the religious Shas party in Israel's government, said in a sermon late on Saturday, using Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's popular name.
"God should strike them and these Palestinians -- evil haters of Israel -- with a plague," the 89-year-old rabbi said in his weekly address to the faithful, excerpts of which were broadcast on Israeli radio on Sunday.JERUSALEM — An influential Israeli rabbi has said God should strike the... more
-
-
mik661
-
added this
-
1 year ago
- |
-
Hedy Epstein, recalls the social climate of pre-WWII Germany, the fate of her family, the formation of Israel, and the journey of empathy that brought her into the Free Gaza movement. The message of "us together" rather than "us and them" couldn't be delivered by a more qualified and articulate person.
Produced by the Exploring Documentary major of Missouri Scholars Academy 2010.
*note this is only part one see below for part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXs2Rv79izM&feature=relatedHedy Epstein, recalls the social climate of pre-WWII Germany, the fate of her family,... more
-
-
Obama controlled by all the same puppetmasters. War haters beware.
-
-
Israel's Justice Ministry has declared that no indictments will be filed against police in the case of American activist Tristan Anderson who was hit by a tear gas canister and left comatose during a demonstration in the West Bank last year.Israel's Justice Ministry has declared that no indictments will be filed against... more
-
-
The West Bank village of Nilin appears to be at the center of an intensifying Israeli arrest campaign. For years it has been a focus of protests against the Israeli security barrier.
Apparently concerned that the protests could spread, the Israeli Army and security forces have recently begun clamping down, arresting scores of local organizers and activists here and conducting nighttime raids on the homes of others.The West Bank village of Nilin appears to be at the center of an intensifying Israeli... more
-
-
Thousands of Gazans were made homeless during Israel's three-week military offensive against the Hamas-ruled territory a year ago. Today, Gulf News reports that most Gazans are still living in tents.Thousands of Gazans were made homeless during Israel's three-week military... more
-
-
For the past year the Guardian has been following Palestinians who were caught up in the devastating war in Gaza. To mark the war's one year anniversary, Inigo Gilmore returns to Gaza to explore the fate of families trying to piece together their lives, including those who want Israel prosecuted for what they say are war crimes during the 22-day assaultFor the past year the Guardian has been following Palestinians who were caught up in... more
-
