Israel, life and everything

[Javaman]

You know, I have really no problem with Israel, per say. It's a Democracy, it elects it's officials, when there isn't some sort of bombing going on, it's a beautiful country, with beautiful people.

However, with that said, what I find very objectionable is the same thing I find objectionable with the U.S.; a grossly over the top response to various "terrorist" attacks in justification to protect itself.

Honestly, do the leaders of Israel think that killing innocents as well as members of the Hezbollah is going to win them more friends in their immediate area? Or do they even care?

How can these attacks be justified? The taking of 2 Israeli soldiers to me, does not justify the invasion of a nation. Call me kooky. But at the same time, only a few have mentioned on here and no one in the MSM states that two civilians were abducted by Israel prior to the two soldiers being kidnapped. Was Israel pissed because they got trumped???

This tit for tat bullshit has got to stop. I find it interesting that moron* gives Israel a green light by saying, "they have a right to defend themselves", are we the least surprised by "mr. unjustified invasion of Iraq"?

Any nation has a right to defend itself but according to the new world doctrine as laid out by moron*, defending ones own nation now means invading another.

The precedent moron* set by invading Iraq is now presenting itself in this most deplorable ways. (or could it now be called a trend?)

No more will there be an avenue for negotiations. No more will there be a place for diplomacy. As per morons* example with Iraq, are the various nations of the world now following his* lead with this new found form "defending oneself", styling themselves around this new style of statemenshipless leadership?

Granted the issues involving Israel and it's neighbors go back thousands of years, and not just since it's establishment, but given what we know that violence just begets more violence, how in God's name is the killing of more people whether deemed innocent or not going to solve, sooth or give hope to any of the people on the receiving end of a bullet, whether they Israeli or Palestinian?

We as a world, as individual nations are sowing the seeds of that "long war" that rumspuke so eloquently labeled. We are making enemies by the millions and deem it unnecessary to work towards agreements or understandings.

In a world were once the U.S. was seen as the mediator during such crisis, it is now the enabler.

We have one world and regardless of what some people think, we all have to share it.

[bigtree]

1. Both combatants seem unconcerned with the innocents killed

Is it revenge? Is that the motive behind the attacks?

I saw one Lebanese lady who thought that this was occurring because Lebanon had sought independence. Whatever the reason for the violence, I hope those who are advocating more militarism can be sidelined so that there can be some dialog on the prisoners. Israel said today that there could be such discussions, but only after they were finished blowing things (and people) up. Rice struck the same tone that the killing wasn't yet done. The sooner they get to that the better. More killings make it that much more difficult to settle things down and secure the countries from continued violence.

Nice essay Javaman. Thanks for posting.

[Javaman]

2. Thanks. :)

What is actually worrying me about this whole recent mess, is the larger picture.

I feel, just a vibe, that the world is now entering a new phase of how nations solve their problems. And frankly, it scares the crap out of me.

Once upon a time, the U.S.,regardless of our screw ups, meddling in other nations affairs, the over throwing of unfriendly foreign governments, etc; the world's view of us had been, "they may not be perfect, but they are trying and by and large they are a good people".

Nations once looked to us as a guide in world affairs on how to solve various international problems through peaceful means, we are now looked upon as the bully with no tact, that acts in it's own self interest.

No longer the positive image of hope, we are now the butt of jokes. The world scoffs at our attempts at peace, because everything that is presented by moron* has strings attached. Nothing is done any longer for the good of the world.

I think I just hit upon it, it's not only that the U.S. invades nations for all the completely wrong reasons, (like there are good ones?) but because of this current administration, nothing it does has virtue. No ounce of humanity, nothing altruistic, not even in regards to it's own citizens (Katrina?)

The U.S., once the paragon of freedom, liberty and civil rights has been revealed to be, in as little as 6 short years, no better than a petty 3rd world dictatorship.

We are no longer that sleeping giant once feared by the Japanese Imperial Navy, we are now an old giant living on past virtues that, apparently, are easily corrupted.

Like in the old myth, a Phoenix reborn, arose out of the ashes. If, however, in either 06 or in 08, if a new path doesn't arise out of our ashes of our policy of "spreading democracy", we as a nation will no longer be on the edge of the cliff, but plunging toward the rocks below.

[Laotra]

3. Democracy

To quote Abu Masen's chief negotiator on BBC Hardtalk: "What kind of democracy occupies other people for forty years?" British woman fleeing Lebanon, interviewed by BBC, had similar deep concerns about what is this system that now goes by the name "democracy".

Real democracy and nation states don't go well together. Hitler rose to power democratically. Real democracy is not about "us and them", it's inclusive.

[DELUSIONAL]

4. 'Real democracy is not about "us and them", it's inclusive.'

no truer words have ever been spoken.

Thank you.

[bemildred]

5. Bravo. "The people" is all of us. nt

[Clarkie1]

6. It's about more than the two soldiers.

Hezbollah had been firing rockets into Israel long before that.

[Javaman]

8. Apparently you didn't read my post completely...

I stated, "This tit for tat bullshit has got to stop". This policy of getting even or revenge has to stop for both sides, not just who shot who first or who took who first.

[AnOhioan]

9. History does not matter for some.

They can only see the past few weeks as if they occured in a vacuum.

[rastafan]

7. "Second 9/11": Cheney's "Contingency Plan"

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=20060222&articleId=2032

"Second 9/11": Cheney's "Contingency Plan"

While the "threat" of Iran's alleged WMD is slated for debate at the UN Security Council, Vice President Dick Cheney is reported to have instructed USSTRATCOM to draw up a contingency plan "to be employed in response to another 9/11-type terrorist attack on the United States". This "contingency plan" to attack Iran uses the pretext of a "Second 9/11" which has not yet happened, to prepare for a major military operation against Iran.

The contingency plan, which is characterized by a military build up in anticipation of possible aerial strikes against Iran, is in a "state of readiness".

What is diabolical is that the justification to wage war on Iran rests on Iran's involvement in a terrorist attack on America, which has not yet occurred:

The plan includes a large-scale air assault on Iran employing both conventional and tactical nuclear weapons. Within Iran there are more than 450 major strategic targets, including numerous suspected nuclear-weapons-program development sites. Many of the targets are hardened or are deep underground and could not be taken out by conventional weapons, hence the nuclear option. As in the case of Iraq, the response is not conditional on Iran actually being involved in the act of terrorism directed against the United States. Several senior Air Force officers involved in the planning are reportedly appalled at the implications of what they are doing—that Iran is being set up for an unprovoked nuclear attack—but no one is prepared to damage his career by posing any objections. (Philip Giraldi, Attack on Iran: Pre-emptive Nuclear War , The American Conservative, 2 August 2005)

Are we to understand that US military planners are waiting in limbo for a Second 9/11, to launch a military operation directed against Iran, which is currently in a "state of readiness"?

Cheney's proposed "contingency plan" does not focus on preventing a Second 9/11. The Cheney plan is predicated on the presumption that Iran would be behind a Second 9/11 and that punitive bombings would immediately be activated, prior to the conduct of an investigation, much in the same way as the attacks on Afghanistan in October 2001, allegedly in retribution for the role of the Taliban government in support of the 9/11 terrorists. It is worth noting that the bombing and invasion of Afghanistan had been planned well in advance of 9/11. As Michael Keefer points out in an incisive review article:

"At a deeper level, it implies that “9/11-type terrorist attacks” are recognized in Cheney’s office and the Pentagon as appropriate means of legitimizing wars of aggression against any country selected for that treatment by the regime and its corporate propaganda-amplification system.... (Keefer, February 2006 )

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