Obama's 'War on Terror'
Stephen Lendman
The language is softened and deceptive. The strategy and tactics are not. The "war on terror" continues. Promised change is talk, not policy. Just look at Obama's "war cabinet," discussed in an earlier article. It assures:
-- the "strongest military on the planet" by outspending all other countries combined;
-- continued foreign wars;
-- possible new ones in prospect; on February 7, vice-president Joe Biden outlined continuity of the Bush administration's policy toward Iran, including "preventive" wars under the National Security Strategy; demands also that Iran abandon its legal nuclear program meaning nothing going forward will change;
-- permanent occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan is planned;
PermalinkIsraeli Elections Prove Things Really Can Get Worse
Joharah Baker
This year’s general elections in Israel will go down in history as one of the tightest races ever. While Kadima head and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni’s centrist party has claimed a slight lead over Likud Party leader Benjamin Netanyahu by one Knesset seat, this is by no means an all out victory for her. Without delving into the often confusing details of the Israeli electoral system, it suffices to say that both party leaders have a gargantuan task before them – forming a strong enough coalition – one that would guarantee 61 Knesset seats required by any prime minister to form a government.
As proven at the polls, it is still unclear which way the pendulum will swing in terms of what shape Israel’s next government will take. One thing is for sure though. Much to the chagrin of the Palestinians, the one key player in this year’s elections is neither Livni nor Netanyahu. It is Avigdor Lieberman. Should either Livni or Netanyahu be called on by Israeli President Shimon Peres to form a government, both will likely lean heavily on Lieberman and his Israel Beitenu party to help them out.
Mitchell’s First Mission Does Not Inspire Optimism
Hasan Afif El-Hasan
Former Senator George Mitchell has been assigned by President Obama to revive the so called peace process. Mitchell is no stranger to the region and he is not the first to be appointed for assessing the situation and make recommendations. In September 2000 and at the beginning of al-Aqsa intifada, Mitchell chaired an investigative commission that included former senator Warren Rudman, the former president of Turkey, Suleiman Demirel, the former foreign minister of Norway, Thorbjorn Jaland and Javier Solana, a Spanish diplomat. Eight months later, the Mitchell commission published a report that blamed Arafat for countenancing terror bombing and the Sharon government for its harsh military retaliation against the Palestinians and for supporting Jewish settlements.
E-Mail From Alan Dershowitz, Israel’s Apologist for Palestinian Extermination
Charles E. Carlson
We Hold These Truths received this note via BlackBerry
From: "Alan Dershowitz" (deleted)@harvard.edu
To: ccarlson@whtt.org
Date: Wed, 4 Feb 2009
Subject: Re: Would Jesus Concur or Weep? (note 1.)
| “These deaths (Gaza children) were not collateral. They were deliberately intended by Hamas by its willful use of human shields. Anyone who supports Hamas is complicit in the death of these babies--you included!” |
A review of our emailing list reveals that Alan Dershowitz was added to the list on Feb. 2, 2008; therefore, he has received some 40 editions of Pharisee Watch. We cannot be more pleased to learn from this, his first response, that he is watching. It appears significant that he chose this time to answer.
Triangulation or strangulation?
Eric Walberg
The new president is discovering that America ’s road to Kabul goes through Moscow.
As Obama prepares to transfer troops from Iraq to Afghanistan , Al-Qaeda and other jihadists are also “transferring” there according to Afghan Defence Minister General Abdul Rahim Wardak, giving the country the dubious distinction of remaining the centre of the “war on terror”. Throwing down the gauntlet to Obama, the Taliban successfully closed the Khyber Pass yet again last week by blowing up a bridge, torching 10 supply trucks for good measure. The Pakistan army responded by bombing an insurgent base, killing 52 suspected militants. The Taliban have killed nearly two dozen suspected US spies in recent months, all of them in the border region where American drone aircraft have carried out a series of missile strikes.
Deconstructing Israel's 'Right to Exist'
Rannie Amiri
"There was no such thing as Palestinians ... They did not exist." - Former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir (The Sunday Times, 15 June 1969)
Gaza is abuzz with activity.
Humanitarian groups and relief agencies are trying to squeeze through Israeli and Egyptian bottlenecks to deliver their much-needed supplies; fighter jets bomb tunnels and kill ‘militants’ as Ehud Olmert maintains he is abiding by the ceasefire; international human rights lawyers are busy recording eyewitness testimony and gathering evidence for future war crimes tribunals; Palestinian civilians are returning to their destroyed homes to sift through the rubble and mourn their dead; and intense negotiations underway in Cairo hope to broker an extended truce between Israel and Hamas.
Yes We Can Waffle!
Edgar J. Steele
"If you don't know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else." -- Yogi Berra
President Barack Obama held his first press conference last night. Thirteen questions from the press corps, albeit some of them compound. Thirteen chances to impress us with his promised transparency and forthrightness. Bottom line: We lost.
This guy quite simply does not know where he is going, though he does convey the self-confident aura of one who does know the road ahead. I like to think that Bush, at least, knew he was clueless. I'm not sure which is worse.
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