Towards a global perspective . . .

Was it only ‘ball’ 3?

It turns out that the Senate did not ratify the Kyle-Lieberman bill in it’s original form. The 2 offensive paragraphs targeting Iran and unleashing the ‘Executive’ to proceed with plan ‘Mayhem’ were struck from the bill prior to it’s being passed. Phew! That was close. Scared the bejeezus out of me. The full story didn’t come out right away. Deliberate or accidental? Who knows. Sure got a rise out a few people, and some UN delegates as well. Looks like they have decided to hold off on sanctioning Iran after all. The want to wait for the report from the IAEA. Take that, you bully.

But is that all? Unfortunately, not so. The Senate also signed a resolution this week, designating Iran’s Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization. Not to be outdone, the Iranian Parliament signed a resolution the next day designating the US Army and CIA as terrorist organizations. Tit for tat. Who can blame them?

On the surface, it seems like harmless cold war name calling that won’t affect much of anything. But, oops, what is going to happen when their guys meet our guys over in iraq? The Iranians say they are waiting to see what we do before making any policy decisions based on the new resolution. And what about us? We already have a policy for treating terrorists. Remember all those rules that apply to ‘terrorists’, ie. ‘enemy combatants’? Shoot the between the eyes if you can see their face. Torture them for information. Lock them up forever. In a ‘tit for tat’ world, what do you think that might mean for our guys?

So, it’s still Three Strikes and we darn well better start looking for a way to effect a regime change around here before those maniacs in DC start the 3rd world war.

Wishful thinking. I can’t help it.

The 3 strikes are real enough. While everyone was busy spinning Iranian President Ahmadinejad’s visit this week and other 3rd world heresy’s along with the Bush refusal to play the Global Warming game unless he can call the shots, congress was busy escalating the Middle East War! While the Democrats were busy congratulating themselves about passing and getting a signature on a financial aid bill (that will make college education more accessible and benefit the banks along the way) and complaining about his threat to veto the Child Health Bill, they were occupied in real terms with the important business of escalating the Middle East War.

They passed three truly awful bills this week, two in the Senate and one in the House. Truthfully with so many bills that I support sitting around in committee and waiting for some new level of agreement and being endlessly debated, I didn’t know they could move this fast. On Tuesday, I heard about the Lieberman-Kyle Bill, and on Wednesday, it passed in the Senate before I even had a chance to express my opinion. I heard about the Bill where the Senate suggests that Iraq be divided in 3 parts after it had already passed. Finally, the House passed the latest budget request for the war with no strings at all this week. It is almost like they deliberately pushed this stuff through when everyone was busy elsewhere because they know the people are opposed and they don’t want to be hindered.

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Watch the coverage of Iranian President Ahmadinejad’s speech at Columbia and his Interview on 60 Minutes, then view the actual events for some very interesting framing examples. After I watched his speech at the UN today, I was thinking about the letter from President Bush that Scott Pelley read at the end of his interview with president Ahmadinejad. My meditation (no offense to Iranians, and especially none intended towards President Ahmadinejad, himslf), I clearly envisioned Bush and Ahmadinejad as the 2 main characters in Salman Rushdie’s book, The Satanic Verses; Bush as Gabreel Farishta, and Ahmadinejad as Saladin Chamcha. It would be funny, if it weren’t so sad.

At the actual event, I think the hostility that University President Bollinger expresses at the start of the Ahmadenijad appearance actually frames his responses in a positive way for his audience who appear (from their reactions) to be more open minded than their president. Read the rest of this entry »

President Ahmadinejad has made quite a splash in NY. His hostile reception at Columbia and his calm and centered response got a largely favorable response from the audience at the time. The US press ignored the generally positive response of the audience to his remarks and harped on the more controversial moments. They did not mention the lively applause that he received upon describing US interference in Iranian affairs or when he pointed out that regardless of the details of the Holocaust, the Palestinian people were in no way responsible for that event, and asked why they are being punished for it.

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It has been clear to me for some time that the law in this country is being enforced more and more arbitrarily. In the course of being disillusioned as to the nature of my government and my country, I thought I had become adjusted to the emerging reality of fascism. Even so, in the course of the last 24 hours, 4 items came to my attention that disturbed me. One of these items is of concern in relation to essential morality, the second, the US Constitution, and the third, local politics and economic concerns, and finally, corporate control over every aspect of our lives. These four events define our legal context at 4 levels so as to give a pretty broad picture of the direction our society is taking.

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More on Israel, Palestine, Syria, Iraq and Iran 

Regarding Peace Negotiations between Israel and Palestine:
Last Night on Mosaic, IBA reported that the US would host the Peace Talks between Abbas, representing the Palestinian Authority, and Ehud Olmert, Prime Minister of Israel, in November. There has been a lot of talk about how Abbas is a viable partner for negotiations and ‘Final Status’ issues for Palestine are already under discussion. In this particular newscast, however, the commentator very specifically cautioned that the conference might be rescheduled for a later time. Meanwhile, Al Arabiya News, a Saudi News Station, broadcast scenes from the Palestinian Town of Nablus where an IDF incursion is in progress, pursuing “criminals and insurgents”. A curfew is in effect, and civilians are not allowed on the streets which are filled with tanks and military vehicles. The soldiers go door to door looking for insurgents, opening the doors with firebombs, trashing the homes, stealing people’s possessions, and arresting military aged men. Reporters and ambulances are also banned from the streets. Behind the reporter speaking, we can see some soldiers pulling people from an ambulance and beating them. She says that medical workers are attempting to reach the wounded on foot.

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Iraq:
President Bush and General Patreaus are claiming a victory because Sunni Tribes recently bought off have been fighting along side our soldiers against ‘Al Qaeda’. It seems peaceful because, apparently the local Shiites have all been driven out into refugee camps, and Al Qaeda as, at least, gone somewhere else for the time being. Bush & Co needed a success here to keep up the so called ‘surge’ (why is this so important to them?). So, they are making a huge fuss about it. Bush stopped in Anbar Province a couple of weeks ago for a photo op with the to Sheik in this friendly group of Sunnis. He then came back and made this situation the centerpiece of his argument for success and brought this guy out in a very public way. Before Bush could make the speech that nailed this bit of publicity, somebody assassinated the good-guy Sheik in a very public and ugly way. The bombing appears, according to Middle Eastern reports, to be an inside job. It was set, in other words, by someone local.

Middle Eastern reports assert that this is a terrible loss, and they feel sad for Bush. US reports downplay the import. He’s just another Sheik, but we’ve won the group. Insiders say he was a public figure head. Many experts and military people think that the appearance of success, in any case, is nothing more than a mirage, and the tactic amounts to arming one Iraqi camp against another.

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According to Syrian officials, an Israeli warplane flew over the desert in Northern Syria near the Israeli border and dropped gas tanks and ordinance there. No one was hurt because the area is not heavily populated, but the Syrians say they are concerned, aside from the obvious reason, that it happened at all, in so far as it is the end of the tourist season and numerous tourists are finishing their summer vacations at nearby resorts. The Israelis, however, deny that the incident happened at all.
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