Towards a global perspective . . .

It looks like the nasty drug dealer brother who has been ‘dragging down’ Hamid Karzai’s reputation is actually a CIA operative.  Here we all were feeling sorry for this guy.  What a family!  But, I guess that isn’t a big surprise.  It seems like the CIA has been in the drug business for years.  What caught my eye in the NY Times article is the fact that Karzai is renting Mullah Omar’s compound to the US Military.  So, how did Ahmed Karzai come to be the owner of Mullah Omar’s compound?   Or is he just a middleman?   I wouldn’t ask except that Mullah Omar and the Taliban were originally supported by the US via the CIA (through the Pakistani Military) just like Ahmed Karzai.

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On a more personal note,  I keep thinking about the health care bill coming together in Congress.    Read the rest of this entry »

Today in the New York Times, there is an article about the current disaster in Gaza. They say that things are bad there, “But the misery of the educated and professional class has a particular poignancy.” They go on to talk about how unemployed professional folks in Gaza, even women with their hair uncovered, show up in fancy restaurants with laptops. They have nothing to do. But they have money for laptops and upscale restaurants.

Their plight is poignant indeed, compared to the thousands of people whose homes have been reduced to piles of rubble, and who cannot get materials to rebuild due to the Israeli boycott. And it is surely more poignant than the tens of thousands who drink contaminated water that is rationed, whose food comes from breadlines, who get, at most, a couple of hours of electricity a day, and who can’t get medical care because there is no medicine in the hospitals.

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Also in the New York Times, is an article about resistance within the German population to their required (by NATO) military involvement in Afghanistan. Read the rest of this entry »

Israel’s back’s to the wall: Will they try to shoot their way out?

Earlier today, a friend emailed me the following concern: I read something very troubling on Cindy Sheehan’s blog yesterday that Israel may be planning an attack on Iran possibly before the end of the year.  This is further backed by Obama’s quest for a “bunker buster” bomb.  He wanted to know my opinion on the subject.

The following is my response:

Israel has really been pushing the attack on Iran for several years.  They have recently been very aggressive in their threats toward Iran.   However, Obama has clearly said that he prefers to talk with the Iranians.  It is my understanding that he has directly told Israel to drop it for now.  Meanwhile, the talks with Iran got off to a positive start earlier this month, despite the outcry over the new building the Iranians declared shortly before the initial talks were to take place.    Russia and China have said that they won’t support increasing sanctions.  For now, the US will not be able to get sanctions approved in the UN Security Council.  However, members of  Congress have prepared a harsh sanctions bill for the case where talks fail.

Israel is in a bad place right now. Read the rest of this entry »

Reports that Iran has missiles that can reach American bases and interests in the Middle East aren’t surprising given that the US occupies, or has bases in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, all bordering Iran. Although Iran has missiles capable of reaching Israel, they don’t have missiles that can reach Europe. The IAEA and the most recent NIE from our own Intelligence community say that Iran is not working on a nuclear weapon and cannot build one for many years.

Much has been made of Iran’s conducting a missile test days before their talks with the G-5 but they have reason for concern. Read the rest of this entry »