Monthly Archives: December 2009

politics

News & Comment — Will Netanyahu Tell The Truth?

Netanyahu should admit Israel doesn’t want peace.

SOURCE

An Israeli leader who speaks the truth will also free himself of international pressure. The world will understand that it is dealing with a deep, continuing recalcitrance over peace that no pressure can overcome, so the world will throw up its hands and surrender. Some of the Arabs will do the same. They will all know there is a North Korean leader in Jerusalem who is as stubborn as a mule, that most of his Israeli subjects don’t want the likes of him and don’t want change. The world, which has bought Israel’s web of lies and excuses, hasn’t opened its mouth. This includes Europe, which is incapable of coming to a single firm and courageous decision, and America, which dances to the drum of the Jewish lobby – they will also be happy to be relieved of this deceptive burden.

Because that is the truth. We don’t want peace. It’s as simple as that. It’s good for us to wallow in the current situation. There are no terrorist attacks so there are no Arabs. Life is a bowl of cherries, so why change? Society is comatose. It doesn’t object and doesn’t even ask, led like a flock of sheep, not asking why we need a freeze if at the same time more and more of its funds will be allocated to the settlements in huge quantities.

COMMENT:

I think the above assessment from Haaretz is where we should begin to assess what it means that Israel is the largest recipient of US aid and what it means to be supporting a nation that wants none of our advice about what it should do.

Standard
politics

Morning News & Comment — Will FOX Go Dark?

STANDOFF Will Fox Go Dark? Dispute with Time Warner comes to a head.

SOURCE

It’s no secret Murdoch wants to make money both online and on cable. He wants twide as much as most are prepared to pay. Many would exult if FOX went dark on Time Warner systems. I have a feeling this could blow up into a full scale public brouhaha. It has already started and failure to get the agreement by midnight could mean heavy recriminations tomorrow.

Standard
politics

Morning News & Comment — Taliban Claims Responsibility for Blast

AFGHANISTAN:  Taliban Claims Responsibility for Blast

SOURCE

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in a statement that an Afghan National Army officer wearing a suicide vest entered the base and blew himself up inside the gym. A U.S. official who was briefed on Wednesday’s blast also said it took place in the gym.

COMMENT

I am coming to feel that we need to revise our understanding and suspend a military approach to the “war on terror”. What makes it a war is precisely that we are employing military means. The alternative is to reform our intelligence operations so they work. And to engage in joint missions with a clear invitation from the involved country.

Our stance needs to be that we do not seek military victories, we seek only to act with others to oppose specific hostile efforts.  And reserve the right to attack preemptively when we are attacked and can pinpoint the launch sites.

The sad truth is that Sherlock Holmes-level intelligence, aka  acumen, rather than overlapping bureaucracies,  is the only thing that will prevent things like the latest near miss over Detroit. And the sadder truth is that if such an attack succeeds, we will face a crisis similar to that which followed 9/11.

Had Bush adopted the policy I advocate then, we might we through the worst of it by now.  I think President Obama still has time to take this approach.

If the residual argument is that we need to aid the people and so forth, this should be done via the UN in cooperation with others.


Standard
politics

This Morning’s Tweets — Mainly News

Podcast from Beyond Creed: – More on Messianism http://blip.fm/~ihn9l

Why Did US Cut Back on Detection That Would Have Worked? http://bit.ly/4OTmWL

Google Phone Tab http://bit.ly/72fwCC

Abdulmutallab Recruited in London? http://bit.ly/72fwCC

Obama The Transparent http://bit.ly/65vI0y

I Blame The Entire Concept of Dispersed Housing AKA American Nightmare http://bit.ly/8J9Ig3

Detroit Another CIA Goof http://bit.ly/4G90hQ

Sanction Ramp Up 4 Iran http://bit.ly/5Fq4g6

Pete King Hypocryte http://bit.ly/8HVDJo

Now Arianna wants a run on the big banks. http://bit.ly/4JaBFB

Standard
politics

COMMENT ON: Up in the Air: Obama’s Terrorism Failure

Read the article this comment is about at HuffingtonPost

This comment also appears at Huffington Post here.

Another knee jerk reaction that betrays a misunderstanding of President Obama.

1. The president’s initial reaction to most anything has an air of calm that is easily interpreted as lackadaisical.

2. The steps taken after the Christmas close call were also typical. The president called for immediate review of the procedures and security provisions. Such calls are generally ignored by media or downplayed.

3. The next step is not yet. This care generally makes writers scratch their heads. Then when things do get done, they may grudgingly admit that the President has in fact operated sagely.

One can readily predict possible actions.

a) If he deems the failure one of administration, he may shake up the administration of “homeland security.”

b) He will probably come up with sensible measures and protections that have not generally been suggested — like flagging folk with only cash and no baggage for a serious vetting.

and

c) He will not segregate this experience from the wider narrative which includes Afghanistan. It may well be that our position in nations harboring terrorist training and operation launches will be more that of a an interested party willing to assist than a high-profile combatant.

The other side of the security issue has everything to do with appearances and high-profile combat does not appear to cut it anymore. Low profile support might.

Standard