Month: June 2008

Watch it!

John McCain has many problems, from his anger issues where he disrespected his wife in public to his endorsement from the satanic John Hagee who ‘s  begging for war  and Armageddon (do you think we can get him to volunteer to be the first casualty?) to Clayton Williams who likens bad weather to rape, but  his  cozying up to Joe Lieberman, the ultimate hawk and deceiver when it comes to anything that has to deal with Israel and US foreign policy is  one of the more distasteful associations  for him to have at this time in  America.  Why?  Well Lieberman wants to incite America to war with Iran, taking a page out of the Bush playbook of instilling fear in the general population.  With rumors that he might very well be the VP running mate swirling around, Lieberman’s recent and misleading exaggerations seemed to have really upset Obama.  One issue American Jews seem to be distrustful of Obama and mean Joe is trying to  parlay  that FEAR into voter points.

Lieberman has wasted no time in questioning Obama’s positions on Iran and Israel, two topics on which Lieberman and McCain agree. Just one day after Obama clinched his party’s nomination, Lieberman joined Republicans on a McCain campaign teleconference call assailing Obama following his foreign policy address to a leading Jewish group.

Obama is trying to convince Jewish voters he’s their friend, and mean Joe is telling them otherwise.  It’s almost as bad as trying to convince the public he’s not Muslim, or that he stopped beating his wife who reportedly talked so disparagingly about white people.  Disproving innuendo is a fruitless exercise.  Perhaps that’s why Obama has the glare he does.  Nevertheless Joe’s the point man for the McCain campaign’s foreign policy assault on Obama and there’s nothing anybody,  including the Democratic establishment which “hopes” he doesn’t take things too far, can do about it.  Let’s hope voters can see through this dog and pony show.  I’m betting on the people, this time.

I got into an unfortunate, heated and ugly debate with another blogger who wanted to impress upon me just how jingoistic and expansionist minded Islam and Muslims were.  They quoted all the necessary verses from the Quran to back up their point that Muslims were obliged to be bloodthirsty killers because of their religious texts and that only the “good” people who stood up to them, fought  and killed them had a chance of saving humanity.  The blogger also revealed how they had to go to the Middle East twice to fight this Islamic scourge and that got me thinking. How can someone sent to fight a foreign people in their own homeland miles and time lines away accuse those foreigners of being expansionist?  That is the first paradox for me, but when I look at the conflict that person was sent to fight, I see even more paradoxes and have more questions.

The first Gulf War was one of territorial expansionism between two Arab countries, neither of which was known for religion, and by their own accounts fought primarily because of history and oil.  Saddam didn’t like the way the borders were drawn when Kuwait was established and wanted to “take it back”.  He also didn’t like how the Kuwaitis reneged on a promise to help him build his country after it’s war with Iran and the fact they were flooding the market with oil and making it difficult for him to realize the profits he wanted from oil he was pumping from beneath Iraqi soil.  This first Gulf War was a squabble between neighbors about territory. There was nothing to suggest this first conflict was about anything concerning Islam or religion.  Moving on to the second Gulf War and the present conflict…..well need we go there?

The false claim of WMDs and the purported link between Saddam and al-Qaida have been rehashed in the media for quite some time now.  Actually, this latest conflict began in the halls of think tanks in the US where as early as the mid 90s people were plotting the overthrow of Saddam.  I believe their plots had everything to do with religion, Christian evangelism and Zionism, to overthrow Saddam who was a secularist at that time, for reasons only they know and which I could only speculate but won’t do so now.  Nevertheless, when these plans came to fruition, they were combined with an Islamophobia brought on by completely unrelated events and in that context many in the west viewed this last Gulf  war incorrectly  as one  about religion.  The Muslim world watched from the sidelines, as it has done throughout many conflagrations in the Middle East, as innocent Iraqis were slaughtered in the name of wiping out the fanatical Muslims whose only misfortune was to be citizens in a country targeted for extermination by people and forces they were unfamiliar and with whom they probably had a lot in common.

So my detractor didn’t make a convincing argument to me about the evil and threat of Muslim jihadists when they pointed to their participation in two Gulf wars, both fought for reasons that had nothing to do with Islam. But I took it a step further by looking at the conflict in the Middle East since I have been alive and I see most if not all of it centered around nationalism and territory.  The Palestinian conflict has been the predominant struggle in modern Middle Eastern history and it is a blatant example of the usurpation of the rights and territory of an indigenous people by a misplaced group of people from other lands.  Theirs is a natural struggle and in some sense you can call it Islamic, for surely Islam says people have a right to self defense and self determination, but it is also limited to that small area of land known as Palestine. Otherwise Middle Eastern conflicts are marked by internecine conflicts between tribes, clans, and nationalities claiming for themselves areas of land without raising at all the possibility of Islam having much to do with their struggle.

So I’m really at a loss to understand my antagonist’s dislike of Muslims in the context of jihadists, expansionists Muslims.  I would laugh if this were the first time I had heard these objections, but it’s caught on like wild fire in the West.  Interestingly enough I had already posted here about what some Muslims feel concerning this subject and I would hope that addressed most people’s concerns satisfactorily…..but I know in reality it hasn’t and it won’t.  So pieces like mine will continue to be written and others will continue to refute what I’ve written here and the reality will always be cloudy.

It never ceases to amaze me the xenophobia people have concerning Islam.  At first I would dismiss it as the ignorant rambling of the uneducated, but now I’m not so sure.

An obsession with Islam threatens to distract the Catholic Church from dialogue with other religions, according to the top Vatican official in charge of interfaith relations.

“In a way we are being held hostage by Islam a little bit,” said Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, in an interview published Tuesday on the Catholic Web site Terrasanta.net.

“Islam is very important, but there are also other great Asiatic religious traditions,” he said.

Indeed there are other great religious traditions, but don’t blame Islam if people aren’t interested in them!

George Bush in the lackluster waning days of his administration is beating the bin Laden horse, much like his successor wannabe , McCain.  This is really getting rather boring, but let’s rehash some of Bush’s “other” statements about his determination to get Osama.

Deep in my heart I know the man is on the run, if he’s alive at all.  Who knows if he’s hiding in some cave or not; we haven’t heard from him in a long time.  And the idea of focusing on one person is —  really indicates to me people don’t understand the scope of the mission.

Terror is bigger than one person.  And he’s just  —  he’s a person who’s now been marginalized.  His network, his host government has been destroyed.  He’s the ultimate parasite who found weakness, exploited it, and met his match.  He is  —  as I mentioned in my speech, I do mention the fact that this is a fellow who is willing to commit youngsters to their death and he, himself, tries to hide  —  if, in fact, he’s hiding at all.

So I don’t know where he is.  You know, I just don’t spend that much time on him, Kelly, to be honest with you.

I truly am not that concerned about him.  I know he is on the run.  I was concerned about him, when he had taken over a country.  I was concerned about the fact that he was basically running Afghanistan and calling the shots for the Taliban.

But once we set out the policy and started executing the plan, he became  —  we shoved him out more and more on the margins.  He has no place to train his al Qaeda killers anymore.  And if we  —  excuse me for a minute  —  and if we find a training camp, we’ll take care of it. Either we will or our friends will. That’s one of the things  —  part of the new phase that’s becoming apparent to the American people is that we’re working closely with other governments to deny sanctuary, or training, or a place to hide, or a place to raise money.

Can we please stop this bin Laden business? If you really want to “get” Osama, shut down the ISP’s who play his tape messages and task the satellites to ffind the source of these messages.  AFter all they use “energy” to be dispersed, contrary to the message by donkey of a man in a cave image people want to portray.

How did we go from the picture in the top to the one in the middle  to the bottom photo in airports today? FEAR! I read where millimeter wave scanning is voluntary and if a passenger chooses NOT to have it, then they must submit to a pat down search!?!! In all my years of flying, I’ve never had one of those. Oh sure, I’ve had the “magic wand” swept around my body and been told to remove my shoes a time or two, but physical touching, or laying of hands? Never had it done in any airport. So why is this the alternative offered to body imaging scanners? In any event, for those of you more modest than the rest, make sure you wear underwear like the people in ALL of the millimeter wave scanning photos posted for public consumption, that doesn’t expose your genitals and you too can feel good about your body image being seen by someone you don’t know and can’t see. TSA? Titillating Sexual Appetites!

We’ve heard this before!  Of course he doesn’t mean it any more than George Bush meant it when he said it shortly after 911.  It’s sad American politicians keep beating this dead horse for ratings points, and even sadder the public thinks it will happen.

I always liked this video from the moment I first saw it.  There are three parts to it which gives a glimpse of who Muslims are in America.  I strongly urge you to take the time to look at all three parts, or any part, in its entirety!  You might be surprised to find your neighbor, whom you may like very much, in this film.

In an earlier blog we reported how the US is withholding Iraqi funds in a bid to garner support from the Iraqis for permanent US military bases in their country.  Now in a new twist, perhaps, the government is taking things up a notch, demanding the Iraqis recognize and establish relations with Israel, or not receive US aid.  Without their own money or money from their prime benefactor, it’s a sure bet Iraq will be a two-bit banana republic in constant turmoil and strife for decades to come, which is exactly what the neocons want!

A side bar to this is, this is something being debated in Congress, the primary residence of AIPAC.  Neither the Administration nor the Israeli government have come up with such a proposal, probably due to the explosive nature such a proposal would bring, so this is just one more indication of the power of the lobby.  Stay tuned.

President Bush has been repudiated by the US Supreme Court in their decision allowing even foreigners held in Guantanamo Bay the right to appeal in US courts! The high court ruled unconstitutional a provision in the Military Commissions Act which kept US courts out of the range of detainees at Gitmo. No matter what the talking heads say, this is the third defeat for Bush before the US Supreme Court since 2004.

What Bush is faced with, in the waning days of his presidency is a defeat at the hands of the judicial as well as the timid legislative branches of government. For the latter, the assault is on two fronts. First Kucinich’s sponsorship of articles of impeachment, which he says he has support for from other legislators, and John Conyers attempts to investigate Bush for war crimes coupled with this latest round of defeat at the hands of the Court don’t bode well for Bush’s “legacy”.

Here are the 35 articles of impeachment Dennis Kucinich placed on the record.

Article I Creating a Secret Propaganda Campaign to Manufacture a False Case for War Against Iraq.

Article II Falsely, Systematically, and with Criminal Intent Conflating the Attacks of September 11, 2001, With Misrepresentation of Iraq as a Security Threat as Part of Fraudulent Justification for a War of Aggression.

Article III Misleading the American People and Members of Congress to Believe Iraq Possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction, to Manufacture a False Case for War.

Article IV Misleading the American People and Members of Congress to Believe Iraq Posed an Imminent Threat to the United States.

Article V Illegally Misspending Funds to Secretly Begin a War of Aggression.

Article VI Invading Iraq in Violation of the Requirements of HJRes114.

Article VII Invading Iraq Absent a Declaration of War.

Article VIII Invading Iraq, A Sovereign Nation, in Violation of the UN Charter.

Article IX Failing to Provide Troops With Body Armor and Vehicle Armor

Article X Falsifying Accounts of US Troop Deaths and Injuries for Political Purposes

Article XI Establishment of Permanent U.S. Military Bases in Iraq

Article XII Initiating a War Against Iraq for Control of That Nation’s Natural Resources

Article XIIII Creating a Secret Task Force to Develop Energy and Military Policies With Respect to Iraq and Other Countries

Article XIV Misprision of a Felony, Misuse and Exposure of Classified Information And Obstruction of Justice in the Matter of Valerie Plame Wilson, Clandestine Agent of the Central Intelligence Agency

Article XV Providing Immunity from Prosecution for Criminal Contractors in Iraq

Article XVI Reckless Misspending and Waste of U.S. Tax Dollars in Connection With Iraq and US Contractors

Article XVII Illegal Detention: Detaining Indefinitely And Without Charge Persons Both U.S. Citizens and Foreign Captives

Article XVIII Torture: Secretly Authorizing, and Encouraging the Use of Torture Against Captives in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Other Places, as a Matter of Official Policy

Article XIX Rendition: Kidnapping People and Taking Them Against Their Will to “Black Sites” Located in Other Nations, Including Nations Known to Practice Torture

Article XX Imprisoning Children

Article XXI Misleading Congress and the American People About Threats from Iran, and Supporting Terrorist Organizations Within Iran, With the Goal of Overthrowing the Iranian Government

Article XXII Creating Secret Laws

Article XXIII Violation of the Posse Comitatus Act

Article XXIV Spying on American Citizens, Without a Court-Ordered Warrant, in Violation of the Law and the Fourth Amendment

Article XXV Directing Telecommunications Companies to Create an Illegal and Unconstitutional Database of the Private Telephone Numbers and Emails of American Citizens

Article XXVI Announcing the Intent to Violate Laws with Signing Statements

Article XXVII Failing to Comply with Congressional Subpoenas and Instructing Former Employees Not to Comply

Article XXVIII Tampering with Free and Fair Elections, Corruption of the Administration of Justice

Article XXIX Conspiracy to Violate the Voting Rights Act of 1965

Article XXX Misleading Congress and the American People in an Attempt to Destroy Medicare

Article XXXI Katrina: Failure to Plan for the Predicted Disaster of Hurricane Katrina, Failure to Respond to a Civil Emergency

Article XXXII Misleading Congress and the American People, Systematically Undermining Efforts to Address Global Climate Change

Article XXXIII Repeatedly Ignored and Failed to Respond to High Level Intelligence Warnings of Planned Terrorist Attacks in the US, Prior to 911.

Article XXXIV Obstruction of the Investigation into the Attacks of September 11, 2001

Article XXXV Endangering the Health of 911 First Responders

While flipping through the cyber pages I ran across this photograph of Baghdad after a terrorist bombing, from perceived friends or enemies and could help but think how it looks so much like others I have seen over the years.

It looks surprisingly like this photo of Jenin after being ransacked by Israelis.  Even if you consider the pictures quite different the effect is the same.  The displacement of an indigenous population through terror.

For all you techno geeks, and I include myself among them, the 3G Apple iPhone is finally here.  Some of us have salivated over it for months, but I’m not one to review it, because I can’t give it justice.  There are plenty of  places where you can find good reviews so check them out.  I hope you can now go back to sleeping soundly without all the tossing and turning and  dreaming and scheming this device might have caused you previously.  Knowing what I now know, I can!

A recent “fatwa” by a Canadian Muslim scholar Sheikh Ahmad Kutty reveals, contrary to popular belief, it is not the ideal of Islam to convert everyone to become Muslim or under Islamic law known as shariah.

Muslims’ duty is not to convert the world to Islam; rather it is limited to witnessing the truth of Islam. This is best done by living Islam in word, deed, and behavior. Once Muslims have thus witnessed the truth of Islam, they have fulfilled their mandate. Allah says, [And thus We have made you a medium (just) nation that you may be the bearers of witness to the people and (that) the Messenger [Muhammad] may be a bearer of witness to you] (Al-Baqarah 2:143).

Muslims are not allowed to go beyond the above to coerce people to embrace Islam. To do so is clearly contrary to the Qur’anic imperative that states, [There is no compulsion in religion; truly the right way has become clearly distinct from error; therefore, whoever disbelieves in satan and believes in Allah, he indeed has laid hold on the firmest handle, which shall not break off, and Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing] (Al-Baqarah 2:256).

Furthermore, we are also told time and again that people are free to choose to believe or disbelieve, and that each one is ultimately responsible for the choice he or she has made. It further adds that it is up to Allah to guide people. The Qur’an goes on to state clearly, [Yet no faith will the greater part of mankind have, however ardently You [Muhammad] does desire it] (Yusuf 12:103).

Muslims are, therefore, to confine themselves to serve as witnesses of truth by observing the methodology as enunciated by the Qur’an,

[Call (all mankind) unto your Lord’s way with wisdom and goodly exhortation, and argue with them in the most kindly manner: for, behold, your Lord knows best as to who stray from His path, and best knows He as to who are the right-guided] (An-Nahl 16:125).

Kutty, for those who don’t remember or know, was one of several Muslims detained by American officials in 2003 while on a trip to Florida to speak at an Islamic conference.  It goes without saying, he didn’t make it, but coming so quickly after the 911 attacks this writer wonders why would authorities seek to silence the voice of one who makes the types of proclamations quoted above? Kutty asks an even more pointed question.

“Some Muslims used to call me a paid agent of America because I stood up for their ideals of freedom and dignity … These are the kinds of values that we want to teach, the universal values, instead of the cultural baggage that so many immigrants bring with them from India or the Middle East …

“But if the American immigration officials can go after me and Hamid who are well-known for preaching moderation, what happens to ordinary Muslims?”