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Wednesday, June 21, 2006
UN is a disgraceful organization and here is why...
To most people (leftists, baathists, islamists et al) around the world, United Nations Organization is a wonderful place which makes peace and helps poor people around the world and also stands against the US aggression with the help of Communist China and rusty Russia. French often help these two as well but UN couldn't get any worse though...
The UN will be hosting yet another criminal and seems to be proud of it. A criminal on behalf of the Islamic regime is going to lecture the world on Human Rights issues at a UN conference in Switzerland and he is the infamous judge Mortazavi.
He is known as the Iran's media butcher, freedom hater, rapist and murderer and he's the one going to the Geneva conference this week. This idiot will appear before the Human Rights Council according to Italian AKI and IRNA agency and will be addressing the council.
Needless to say that he was the one who raped and killed Canadian journalist Zahra Kazemi in July of 2003 during interrogation at Tehran's Evin prison.
Do you think UN would prevent him from attending the council or detain this criminal person upon his arrival ? I doubt it!
Posted by Winston on June 21, 2006 in International Affairs | Permalink
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The United Nations will remain disgraceful and useless until it becomes an elected, accountable organization. Canadians should have the right to vote for their UN representative - and Canada should advocate spreading that right around the world, especially since it's a way of spreading around the idea of democracy.
Posted by: philanthropist | 2006-06-21 12:54:43 AM
Even elections cannot fix the UN which grants equal if not superior status to totalitarian despots. To grant the worst offenders of human rights a say is simply the continuation of the sickness. The Western democracies need to withdraw from this Roman circus and start anew.
Posted by: Alain | 2006-06-21 1:35:21 AM
It's a collection of the good, bad and ugly.
The one thing the U.N. seems to accomplish with the most efficacy is to allow thugocracies a podium for displaying their unabashed anti-semitism and anti-Americanism. Oh, and there's the success of the oil-for-food program. Wait, I forgot the critically acclaimed peaceful monitoring of genocides in the late 20th centuries. Finally, they dealt decisively with the Saddam Hussein threat by... doing nothing and then condemning the U.S. for actually doing something.
Great organization, keep up the good work.
Posted by: Joel K. | 2006-06-21 3:20:08 AM
The UN will never work as long as non-democratic countries are allowed the same level of membership as democratic ones.
Limiting membership is not a cure-all either, with demockracies like France and Russia, but it would be a big improvement.
Posted by: greenmamba | 2006-06-21 4:24:14 AM
I was in New York last week and took the UN tour. Boy, those people are full of themselves. On the one hand, they have this universalist agenda trying to solve the world's problems. On the other, they said they work for the member states. Without strong leadership, these two contrasting ideas will run against each other, accomplishing very little.
But who gets the blame for this? Is it the Secretary General? Hardly, he's seen as a hapless victim. No, the responsibility lies with the Bush administration. Admittedly, Bush has limited use for the UN, but why should he waste his time with that station wagon of spoiled rotten kids when he has real business to attend to?
Perhaps this was inevitable with the US as the sole superpower in the world. either way, it's not going to make much of a difference in our daily lives.
Posted by: Scott | 2006-06-21 4:24:58 AM
TAKE THE GLOVES OFF NOW
ON ONE MUSLIM ENTITY AFTER ANOTHER AND THEIR LEFTIST SUPPORTERS INCLUDING THOSE WHO HAVE ENGINEERED CANADA'S RACIAL MAKEUP THE LAST 25 YEARS - ALL THOSE LAWYERS AND LIBERALS MUST BE HELD TO ACCOUNT FOR THEIR ACTIONS BY THE REALCANADIAN PEOPLE
And the USA must not arrest any soldier who murderes any muslim or takes naked triangle pictures of them. N UKE THE SUNNI AREA FOR STARTERS.
Soldiers' bodies found in Iraq
By Rowan Scarborough
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
June 21, 2006
The U.S. military yesterday recovered the mutilated bodies of two Army privates kidnapped by terrorists Friday night from a checkpoint south of Baghdad.
The bodies were so horribly disfigured that final identification will require DNA testing. But U.S. military officials in Baghdad said the bodies, found in a booby-trapped area, were thought to be those of Pfc. Thomas Lowell Tucker, 25, and Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, 23, although official confirmation awaited the notification of families.
"With great regret -- they were killed in a barbaric way," Iraqi Maj. Gen. Abdul-Aziz Mohammed told reporters.
The Associated Press in Baghdad reported that a Web site connected to the terror group al Qaeda in Iraq posted a statement, saying the two "crusaders" were "slaughtered" by Abu Ayyub al-Masri. The word "slaughtered" often means the terror victims were beheaded. The U.S. has identified al-Masri as successor to Abu Musab Zarqawi, the al Qaeda in Iraq leader who died June 7 in a strike by the U.S. military.
"We are all very much aware of the atrocities they commit," said Army Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, chief military spokesman in Baghdad, referring to the al Qaeda group. "It pains us what some service members may go through."
The soldiers' remains were being taken to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, where a forensic laboratory would perform the DNA testing.
The abductions spurred questions inside the U.S. command on security procedures for soldiers on patrol.
Why, commanders are asking, was a small group of junior enlisted soldiers in Humvees left alone to man a checkpoint near Yusufiyah in a particularly dangerous area of Iraq dubbed the Triangle of Death? The area in the Anbar province is a hotbed of Sunni Muslim insurgents and foreign terrorists who constantly attack U.S. forces.
"My first question is: Where were the noncommissioned officers?" said a retired Army general who has spoken to active-duty officers about the incident. "Why were only privates protecting a checkpoint? The assumption you have to make is they were part of a platoon that was broken up to watch numerous checkpoints. This again goes back to the same thing: We don't have enough troops."
Soldiers and Marines in Iraq typically travel in large enough numbers to repel an attack by setting up a defensive perimeter and calling in a quick-reaction force of armored vehicles and combat aircraft as backup.
Supply convoys typically travel under a heavy guard that includes armored Humvees, Bradley fighting vehicles and attack helicopters.
Gen. Caldwell said details of what happened in the ambush at 7:55 p.m. Friday will not be released until the slain soldiers' families are briefed and added that Army Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, the top tactical commander in Iraq, has ordered an investigation into procedures followed that night.
The Associated Press quoted an Iraqi farmer as saying insurgents created a diversion to draw some soldiers away from the checkpoint and then attacked the three remaining troops -- killing one and capturing two. The farmer's account could not be confirmed, the AP said.
Killed in the attack was Spc. David J. Babineau, 25. The three belonged to the 101st Airborne Division from Fort Campbell, Ky.
Security procedures have not always prevented combat deaths, but they have blunted kidnapping attempts. Only one other soldier, Army Reserve Sgt. Keith M. Maupin, has been captured by insurgents since Iraq fell to the allies in April 2003. The Army lists him as missing in action.
The command started an extensive manhunt for the missing soldiers during the weekend, dispatching 8,000 American and Iraqi personnel to comb the Triangle area south of Baghdad.
"We have surged intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platforms and employed planes, boats, helicopters and [unmanned aerial vehicles] to ensure the most thorough search possible," Gen. Caldwell told reporters on Monday.
He added yesterday, "We basically have turned that area upside down."
But it was an Iraqi civilian, not the military, who first spotted the bodies.
Though insurgents had booby-trapped the area in hopes of killing rescuers, troops cordoned off the area and neutralized the bombs.
"Recovery of the remains was initiated last night and was completed this morning," the U.S. military said. "Coalition forces had to carefully maneuver their way through numerous improvised explosive devices leading up to and around the site."
At a press conference yesterday, Gen. Caldwell said the sweep resulted in the killing of Mansur al Mashhadani, whom he identified as in the top five of the al Qaeda in Iraq's leadership.
"He was a right-hand man to Zarqawi," he said.
Mashhadani, described as the religious emir for al Qaeda in Iraq, operated in the Yusufiyah area. Before the kidnapping, U.S. forces had him under surveillance. A decision was made to arrest him and troops moved in on his location. He fled in a vehicle and was killed by an air strike, Gen. Caldwell said.
Posted by: woodbridge | 2006-06-21 4:30:01 AM
Take the gloves off and .....
A claim posted on a Web site Tuesday said the soldiers were "slaughtered" in accordance with "God's will."
"We announce the good news to our Islamic nation that we executed God's will and slaughtered the two crusader animals we had in captivity," said the claim, reportedly from the Mujahedeen Shura Council, a group linked to al Qaeda.
"And God has given our Emir, Abu Hamza al-Muhajer, the good fortune of carrying out the legitimate court's command in person."
The U.S. military believes al-Muhajer is another name for Abu Ayyub al-Masri, an Egyptian-born terrorist who it believes has replaced Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, killed in a U.S. airstrike earlier this month, as leader of al Qaeda in Iraq.
CNN could not independently verify the claim, but the Web site frequently has carried such messages from insurgent groups.
Asked whether he gives credibility to a Monday claim by the same group that it had abducted the soldiers, Caldwell said, "Absolutely not."
Earlier, military spokesman Maj. William Wilhoite said he did not know whether the bodies showed signs of torture. "I haven't heard anything through our official channels," he said.
The U.S. military said Spc. David J. Babineau, 25, of Springfield, Massachusetts, was killed in the Friday attack, after which Menchaca and Tucker went missing.
Asked to provide more information about the attack, Caldwell said the military would provide details after making sure the soldiers' families were fully apprised about the incident.
Posted by: woodbridge | 2006-06-21 4:53:58 AM
" our Islamic nation that we executed God's will and slaughtered the two crusader animals we had in captivity," said the claim, reportedly from the Mujahedeen Shura Council"
TREAT THE MUSLIM AS HE TREATS US.
HE BELIEVES IN HIS MEIN KAMPH KORAN - THE RACIST HANDBOOK OF HIS THAT WE ARE 'ANIMALS' - TREATTHE MUSLIM THE SAME WAY "HE TREATS ANIMALS'.
DID YOU EVER SEE A MUSLIM WITH A PET DOG? OF COURSE NOT! THESE PEOPLE ARE SLIME. RMOVE THE LOT OF THEM FROM CANADA.
Posted by: woodbridge | 2006-06-21 4:58:41 AM
War is war and it's never pretty. The news of the two US soldiers' fate at he hands of sub-human wretches, seething in hatred has to be beyond anyones idea of war. Of course people get killed in battle but to mutilate bodies beyond recognition tells us the creatures capable of such unspeakable acts are not fit to live on the planet.When they do so in the name of some "god" it's not the God we worship in the civilized Judeo- Christian world. Perhaps the Western civilizations should just leave them to do their own thing, fight amongst themselves as they have done since the beginning, we can never truly get a grasp on their thinking and way of life. Sounds too simple, but just isolate them and slam the door on immigration from the countries at the source of the trouble. Allowing people to come to our western countries who are still working and supporting the atrocities our soldiers are over there fighting against and getting killed for. How stupid is that? The turmoil arising out of the Islamic faith can only be dealt with from within that faith . Thankfully we are now seeing some evidence the good and decent people from their communities are denouncing terrorism. Let's hope.
Posted by: Liz Jackson | 2006-06-21 7:11:54 AM
woodbridge
After much agonising and soul-searching, trying to "do the right thing" and not jump to conclusions, or fall victim to islamophobia, I have realised there is no future on this planet while islam exists. I am islamophobic. I have a fear of islam and moslems, brought about by their cartoon riots, their equivocation on bombings and killings, and their rampant anti-semitism. It's like a fear of heights, only worse, because I have become convinced that moslems are out to find me and kill me. Their holy book pretty much says it up front.
If I am wrong, that is the moslem's problem, and they are the ones who are going to have to "reach out" to me, by reassuring me they are not interested in the Ummah, and Jihad, and overthrowing my culture and way of life. They will have to persuade me they hate the savagery of their co-religionists, that Jews have a right to live as Jews in their aboriginal homeland, that islam is just a lifestyle choice which does not threaten me or my kids in any way.
Until they succeed in that, I shall remain anti-islam, and anti-moslem. I await their reply to my fears.
By the way, concerning the savages in iraq, calling these things "animals" is an insult to some of the animals I know, so I'll just call them "moslems".
Posted by: bcf | 2006-06-21 7:19:39 AM
End UN-backed islamic colonialism on the West NOW!
Posted by: bcf | 2006-06-21 7:23:30 AM
FOXNEWS REPORTED THAT THE SOLDIERS HEARTS WERE CUT OUT AND THEIR PRIVATE PARTS CUT OFF
This is the exact same thing that muslim garbage in chechnyna who were women did to several russian soldiers they had captured and they too did it to them while alive
where is the lefty protest today?
or the muslim countries outreage?
KICK EVERY MUSLIM AND ARAB COUNTRY OUT OF THE UN
AND WAGE WAR ON THE ISLAMIC WAR THE WAY WE BOMBED GERMANYT AND JAPAN INTO THE 20TH CENTURY AND SUCCEEDED IN CIVILIZING BOTH THOSE COUNTRIES.
TAKE THE GLOVES OFF BUSH AND HARPER IN AFGHANISTAN DRUG PRODUCING COUNTRY --LET YOUR GENERALS CALL ALL THE SHOTS!
Posted by: woodbridge | 2006-06-21 7:44:04 AM
These events are an indication that we should ban not the muslims in Canada, but the ideology and religion altogether.
In Irak, I'm afraid things are going to get worse. I cannot help thinking that soldiers friends of those 2 soldiers will not stay indifferent. Most likely, this will lead to more violence.
Posted by: Rémi Houle | 2006-06-21 8:01:40 AM
The sad part here is that these alleged terrorists intending to blow up Toronto will rot in jail.
However, the REAL terrorists intending to do harm to the Moslem population are free and, in Ontario at least, enjoy popular support to carry out their mission.
Posted by: Scott | 2006-06-21 8:07:17 AM
When the Legue of Nations was a failure it was scraped and replaced with the UN. The UN is now a failure.
Scrap it and replace it with a body whereby voting membership is restricted to democracies only. The one exception is France who should not be allowed to join because they're the French.
Non-democratic countries could show up to speak and have their say but not vote.
Posted by: Warwick | 2006-06-21 9:01:52 AM
The UN is as much a failure as the League of Nations which it supplanted.
Alger Hiss, Soviet agent and close adviser to US Presidents Roosevelt and Truman, designed it to serve the interests of the Soviet Union.
Virtually all international institutions and treaties of that era are designed to serve and accommodate the Soviet Union.
Posted by: Speller | 2006-06-21 9:08:26 AM
Umm, die UN cannot arrest anyone. If anyone the swiss authorities would need to do that. Guess the swiss are just as bad if not worse, eh? At least they have the legal power to arrest someone unlike the UN which has no such authority.
Posted by: Snowrunner | 2006-06-21 9:11:28 AM
BTW, a curious question to all the self proclaimed "saviours of the Western Ideals" or however you want to call your crusade:
Which kid turns out better, the one that is lead by example on how to be a good humna being, or the one that is constanstly slapped around, deserved or not?
Funny, how quickly people who are afraid are willing to throw away the things they claim to hold so dearly: Freedom and Democracy.
Kids, things have a price, and when it comes to human history it is usually paid in blood, always has, always will, until we blow ourselves up to a point where the planet can't sustain any life anymore.
Posted by: Snowrunner | 2006-06-21 9:17:20 AM
Snowrunner, the individual in question would have diplomatic immunity.
Posted by: Speller | 2006-06-21 9:19:12 AM
I don't want to throw anything away, Snowrunner.
I want to PROTECT and KEEP what's mine from the blood thirsty barbarians and mental defects, like you, who support them.
Posted by: Speller | 2006-06-21 9:26:41 AM
There are no gloves to come off from the military. The mission in Iraq, particularly, but in each of these places is to allow a civilization to reemerge in which dissent and minority opinion can exist and endure, within democratically elected government.
Revenge is well within our human hearts but it can't guide our armed forces. The military forces from free nations will handle this situation properly, just exactly in the manner which they have been doing it.
With that said, what can Canada do regarding the issue raised in this post?
It seems Canada could do a huge vital service to the allied effort to defeat Islamofascist Terrorism by ABSOLUTELY prohibiting the "credentialing" (or whatever big deal word the UN guys use) of this Iranian "judge" who was complicit in the murder of your citizen (I think that was the gist of the info in the original posting).
Please contact your Prime Minister and urge him to have Canada take this tremendous leadership role in thwarting this further exhaltation of evil and debasement of good, which the Leftist Communist nations of the world have made out of the United Nations organization. Canada should ABSOLUTELY refuse to allow this person to be "seated" or "accepted" in the UN.
THIS IS WHERE AMERICA NEEDS A STRONG CANADIAN ALLY WHICH WILL HELP LEAD THE WORLD FOR THE GOOD.
Posted by: Conrad-USA | 2006-06-21 9:30:23 AM
Snowbunny,
During war time things get weird. The normal rules cannot apply. It is a time of all the negatives that humans can conjure to prevail.
We willingly sacrifice some of our freedoms for the sake of security whilst our youngest a bravest willingly sacrifice their very LIVES.
Perhaps you can do something positive instead of whining about the freedoms that were handed to you by others being limited because we are at war.
Posted by: Duke | 2006-06-21 9:36:06 AM
"Canada [can] take this tremendous leadership role in thwarting this further exhaltation of evil and debasement of good, which the Leftist Communist nations of the world have made out of the United Nations organization. Canada should ABSOLUTELY refuse to allow this person to be "seated" or "accepted" in the UN.
THIS IS WHERE AMERICA NEEDS A STRONG CANADIAN ALLY WHICH WILL HELP LEAD THE WORLD FOR THE GOOD."
Posted by: Conrad-USA
See my above post about Alger Hiss, Conrad. The UN is what it is because your American presidents built it according to the designs of a KGB agent.
When Whittaker Chambers, who was also a KGB agent, went to your President Truman and told him about Alger Hiss your President Truman told Chambers to, and I quote, "Fuck off!"(pardon my American)
And then Truman promoted Alger Hiss.
It is so good to know you Americans are protecting us Canadians.
By the way, I shall never forget how Britain, with the help of her commonwealth allies(Canada), stood alone against Nazi aggression for nearly three years while the US profiteered by selling our enemies armaments during WW2.
Posted by: Speller | 2006-06-21 9:47:29 AM
They have been committing these attrocities against humans for hundreds of years.
And apparently they are not planning on discontinueing the practice of slaughtering westerners any time soon.
I first became aware of their aims while surfing the web, and saw the video the terrorists produced, of the murder of Daniel Pearl, also an American, as well as Jewish. He was out there, looking to speak with the terrorists, like journalists do all the time, for the sake of an interview. Well, they agreed to meet with him, and they had another plan. They interviewed him, and got him to answer the questions for their video. By the look on his face, it did not seem that he was aware of their end intent. And then they cut off his head, which they showed on the viedo recording.
This has been done in many other situations.
My first reaction was that it was a fake, that is was propaganda. So, I researched it, and to my horror, I discovered that what I had viewed was real.
The Israelis have been fighting against that mentality for some time. Whereas those who do these crimes, believe they are doing their God's work, most of the people around them, and in the greater community, do not display the outrage against what the terrorists do, as to them, it is killing just another infidel, or sons of pigs and monkies. or, they are afraid of being called apostates and killed.
And the Americans have been targetted in this manner, because the terrorists know that when the bodies of the victims are recovered, that the fear will be echoed throughout the western world.
Well, they did the same thing to a couple of Israelis, who wondered into Ramalah a few years ago. The Italians caught the whole thing on video, and it was available on the net. I was unfortunate, yet again, to see what they did, on the video recording.
Well, they slaughtered the two, and dipped their hands in their blood, and liked their fingers. It really was the most dispicable display of uncivilized behaviour I have ever had the displeasure of seeing on video.
And then there are the photos of what they do to those they believe have sold information to the west.
The list of attrocities they commit, is very long. Sometimes they make arrests of those who do these things. Most of the time, the prison is a 24 hour holding, if that, and then release.
Although spirits get very high at the sight of such evil ways, we must never cease to believe that there are some who are not behind this, and that the majority of Canadian Muslims are almost as shocked by this behaviour, as are non-Muslims. I say almost, because we have the added shock of knowing that they do what they do, for one, because we are non-Muslim, whereas a Muslim, unless they are in and amongst those who are not considered Muslims, by those Muslims who have done this, cannot say that.
And many Muslims in North America, are not considered Muslims, by these people who commit these gross acts of terror. I am not certain where the line is drawn, so perhaps a Muslim reader could fill in the gaps. I don't think the Ishmael Mosques are included by jihadists or wahabists as Muslims.
It is perhaps more important today, than ever before, to recognize this.
Apparently some folks have done some good work in identifying terrorist locations in the US. We are a tad behind the times, but does anyone have a map that looks like this?
http://www.somebodyhelpme.info/Terrorist_network_map.gif
And for anyone who has not see the terrible videos, here are a couple. Oh, and please ensure that there are no children or minors around when you watch.
http://www.abrahamic-faith.com/audio/eugene-armstrong-beheading-video.wmv
http://www.masada2000.org/shosei-koda-beheading-video.wmv
And, I am not the author or producer of these, in any way, shape or form. Nor do I own the sites where these are. And of course, it goes without saying, I do not support anything they do, have done, may have done, or will do as a result of these terrible crimes. Just think of their Mothers and Fathers, and loved ones. It is horrific and very sad indeed.
Posted by: Lady | 2006-06-21 12:14:09 PM
Speller -
I think that you and I are friends.
There are lots of screwups of the past and there will be plenty more in the future.
We each need to be mindful of and learn from each other about past screwups. I appreciate the wealth of insight and knowledge and informed opinion which is regularly presented and argued on this site.
More importantly is to decide upon and do that which is actually best and possible in the present, so that things can continue to improve into the future.
I would not want to go back and live with FDR and Truman even if Alger Hiss was an Angel.
Things are a lot better now, in every part of the world, and they will get a lot better yet in the future, by means of doing the right things now to help more people enter the type of society with personal freedom which we enjoy.
Posted by: Conrad-USA | 2006-06-21 12:25:40 PM
Yes, Conrad we are friends. I would like to be friends with Lady as well. Therefore, I would like to apologize for my rudeness to her last week and hope she finds it in her heart to forgive me.
The UN, if it was ever of any good use, has outlived it's usefulness.
Islam and it's communist supporters are a real and present danger to our hopes for a peaceful and prosperous future in a just society.
Posted by: Speller | 2006-06-21 12:37:15 PM
Speller -
You made my day!
Posted by: Conrad-USA | 2006-06-21 12:53:44 PM
Interesting article written by a friend of mine:
-------------------------
18th of June, 2006 (MAX)
THERE IS A DIFFERENCE!
When the Jordanian army expelled Yasser Arafat's activists and militants, they ran for their lives across the Israeli border, away from their Arab brothers and into the land of the "sons of monkeys and apes", with their hands above their heads. The Israelis could have interned them or could have simply denied them entry, forcing them back to be killed by Jordanian bullets. Instead they fed them and provided transportation to Lebanon.
When two Israelis lost their way and stumbled into Ramallah, the Palestinians lynched them, dipped their hands in their blood and licked their fingers. One TV reporter got it all on film, but it appeared only on Italian TV and only twice. I wonder why?
Before the Syrian occupation of Lebanon, the border was quiet and the gates were wide open. On the Israeli side there was a well-equipped and well-staffed field hospital. Lebanese came across for treatment by Israeli doctors, at no charge. The gate came to be known as "The Good Gate." When my wife and I requested permission to take a walk in Lebanon, the Lebanese response was "BEVAKASHA !" ("please", in Hebrew).
Now, after Israel has voluntarily deployed from the security strip with Lebanon, the Lebanese side is controlled by terrorists who receive their funding and orders from Teheran and Damascus.
In Jenin, when the IDF (Israeli Defence Forces) was forced to clear out terrorist bases of suicide-bombers, they could easily have destroyed them from the air, but, to avoid civilian casualties, they fought house to house and about 26 Israelis lost their lives from booby traps. The Arabs cried "MASSACRE" and produced excellent films to prove that about 500 Palestinians were killed. The UN investigated and reported that the Arabs took less than 50 casualties in the fighting and that there was no "MASSACRE". But first impressions are difficult to dispel, especially when they have been widely circulated in the media.
Pictures of a little Arab boy huddling with his father, and later killed in the cross-fire, were widely circulated by the media. The made-for-TV clip was aired numerous times per day, repeated for weeks, even after it was conclusively determined that the bullet had not come from an Israeli gun! Again, first impressions prevailed.
Recently, when Hamas bombed a Fatah security building, one of the top leaders was severely wounded. And where is he now? -- recovering in an Israeli hospital, free of charge!
When Israel voluntarily withdrew from the Gaza strip and left behind fourteen million dollars worth of greenhouses, it was expected that the Palestinians would operate these greenhouses, develop their infrastructure, and show the world what free Palestinians, rid of the "occupiers", could accomplish. Instead they destroyed the greenhouses and used the land to launch a daily barrage of rockets into Israeli towns
The launching pads are always shielded by civilian houses or institutions, as a deterrent from Israeli fire. Obviously Palestinians trust the morality of the Israelis -- how else could this be interpreted? But Israel must act in self-defence: some civilian casualties are inevitable.
The latest episode took place on a Gaza beach when an explosion killed eight and wounded many more. Naturally the Israelis were blamed. But there was no Israeli ordinance fired into Gaza at the time, so the story changed -- now they claim it was an air missile. Three of the most severely wounded were sent to Israel for treatment. Shrapnel removed from their wounds proved conclusively that it was not from Israeli ordinance.
BUT HAS THE MEDIA FEATURED THIS LAST IN A STRING OF UNJUSTIFIED ACCUSATIONS AGAINST THE ISRAELIS? IF SO, I HAVEN'T NOTICED, HAVE YOU?
-------
Max writes regularily. If you have any comments for him, I will pass them on.
Posted by: Lady | 2006-06-21 1:36:56 PM
@Speller, Ummm, sure you can protect something by locking it up, throwing the key away and then pretent you still have it and it's great, although becuase you're afraid it may get damaged / stolen / descreated you never take it out of it's box. Guess that's why some people have art pieces stolen and hidden away, just the idea that they have it is good enough.
Democracy and Freedom just don't work that way. And, just as an FYI: Ideas and Ideals die hard from outside oppression, if anything they get stronger, to curb it from the inside though is a surefire way to kill them quickly.
As for the diplomatic immunity, so the UN should just "cancel" it? The UN has no such powers, but why doesn't the US simply go in, grab the guy and put him into Gitmo or any other of those fine establishments where our freedom, democracy and understanding of what is law are being defended on the forefront of the War On Terror(TM)?
@Dupe,
hey Dupe, how did the war on Drugs(TM) work out again? Are we any safer in the War On Terror(TM)? How's democracy doing in Saudi Arabia? Kuwait? Afghanistan? Iraq? Cuba? (Wasn't Cuba the original war on terror?),
As for the normal rules cannot apply during war. Bullshit. How can we fight a war FOR something if the moment we go to war for it we throw it out of the window? At best that is hypcritical. You cannot fight for something you give up. So what is the real motivation for "defending our freeomds(TM)"?
As for me doing something positive: Unlike you I am not giving up the freedoms that someone else paid in blood for by claiming that only by giving them up can they be defended. The one who should be doing something is you, not me. I am not the one who is rolilng over because some politicians decide that it's time to give up our freedoms in order to defend them. It is people like you who are wholeheartly swallowing the line that are as much a danger to our way of life as the ones you pretent to protect us from.
Posted by: Snowrunner | 2006-06-21 2:41:21 PM
Those who give up liberty for the sake of security deserve neither liberty nor security.
- Benjamin Franklin
Posted by: Penguin | 2006-06-21 2:50:37 PM
Very incoherent, Snowbunny. I do understand that you disagree with the humane way this war is being fought though.
What you really want is for us to wipe out the Muslim countries, right Snowbunny? Then the Muslims who live here in Canada could live in peace and we wouldn't have to have our government exercise all these new police powers?
Posted by: Speller | 2006-06-21 2:57:28 PM
I'm assuming the majority of the people who post comments on this site (but for Snowrunner of course) exclusively watch CNN. Here's some news you'll never hear on your US propaganda based tv:
US Accused of Killing Iraqi Civilians in Baquba
The US military is being accused of committing a new massacre of Iraqi civilians. On Tuesday, witnesses, family members and a Sunni parliamentarian said US troops killed a group of civilians near the town of Baquba. An Iraqi human rights worker said two of the dead were young boys aged ten and twelve. In a statement, the US military claimed it killed 15 “terrorists” and had captured their weapons. But an Iraqi police officer told the Washington Post no weapons were found at the scene of the attack.
Military To Probe Soldier Deaths
In other Iraq news, the US military has ordered an inquiry into why two soldiers were left on their own before they were later kidnapped and slain. The soldiers -- Private Kristian Menchaca and Private Thomas Tucker -- were found with visible signs of torture. The military is already coming under criticism from one of the soldiers’ relatives.
Private’s Uncle Criticizes US Response
On Tuesday, Ken MacKenzie -- the uncle of Private Menchaca -- told NBC’s Today Show the US military had been too slow to react to the kidnappings. Mackenzie said: “Because the U.S. government did not have a plan in place, my nephew has paid for it with his life.”
Another Saddam Hussein Defense Lawyer Slain
And finally in Iraq, one of Saddam Hussein’s top defense lawyers has been killed. Khamis al-Obaidi is the third member of Saddam Hussein’s defense team to be slain since his war crimes trial began in October. He was killed after being abducted by men wearing police uniforms.
Israeli Air Strike Kills 3 Children in Gaza Strip
In the Gaza Strip, another Israeli air strike has claimed the lives of Palestinian children. The dead were identified as five-year old Mohammed Roka, his sister Nadia and sixteen year-old Bilal al-Hassa.
Jamal Abu Abdallah, who witnessed the attack: "Children playing in the streets and we have missiles falling on them and in front of the house children, what does this mean? 5-years-old the boy. I was sitting at home and the child is playing in front of me. I could see him from the balcony he was playing with his cousins. His uncle is injured his cousins are injured and they are small children playing. God help us."
Fourteen people – including seven children – were wounded in Tuesday’s attack. Three of the children were listed in grave condition. Israel says it was targeting two militants with the Palestinian group the al-Aqsa Brigades. Following the attacks, the group called for a renewal of strikes inside Israel. Israeli air strikes on Gaza have now killed up to 22 civilians in the past month.
Israeli TV Backs Allegations Gaza Bomb Was Israeli Shell
Meanwhile, the Israeli network Channel Two is reporting new developments that bolster accusations the Israeli military was responsible for the recent Gaza beach bombing that killed eight people. Sources inside the Israeli hospital that treated some of the victims said they removed shrapnel used in Israeli shells, and not by Palestinian militants. The claims back the analysis of a Human Rights Watch military expert who investigated the scene of the bombing. The Israeli army maintains the blast was likely caused by bombs planted by Palestinian militants.
North Korea Calls for Direct US Talks
North Korea is calling for direct talks with the US over its reported plan to test-fire a long-range missile. The US has insisted it will negotiate only through six-nation talks. US Ambassador to South Korea Alexander Vershbow spoke in Seoul on Tuesday.
US Ambassador to South Korea Alexander Vershbow: "To develop a delivery system for nuclear weapon only creates more serious situation and that's why we urge North Korea not to test and come back to six-party talks."
Author: US Deliberately Bombed Al Jazeera in Afghanistan
A controversial new book is claiming the US bombing of the Kabul offices of the Arabic television network Al Jazeera was deliberate. In “The One Percent Doctrine”, investigative journalist Ron Suskind writes: "On November 13 [2001], a hectic day when Kabul fell to the Northern Alliance and there were celebrations in the streets of the city, a U.S. missile obliterated Al Jazeera's office. Inside the CIA and White House there was satisfaction that a message had been sent to Al Jazeera." In an interview with CNN, Suskind said government sources had told him there was “great anger” within the Bush administration over Al Jazeera’s coverage of the invasion of Afghanistan. He added: “I'll tell you emphatically it was a deliberate act by the U.S.”
Suskind’s disclosure is the latest development to bolster speculation the US has deliberately targeted Al Jazeera. On April 8th 2003 – just weeks into the invasion of Iraq -- the US bombed Al Jazeera’s Baghdad bureau, killing correspondent Tareq Ayoub. Last November, the Daily Mirror of London reported President Bush told British Prime Minister Tony Blair of his desire to bomb Al Jazeera’s headquarters in Qatar. The Mirror cited a secret memo leaked from the British government. According to the New York Times, Suskind’s book appears to have been written with wide access to former CIA Director George Tenet and a host of other government officials.
US Firm Gave FBI, CIA Consumers’ Financial Data
On the domestic front, Suskind’s book also discloses that a major US financial company provided the FBI and CIA information on the financial transactions and wire transfers of consumers world-wide. The company, First Data Corporation, is the parent firm of Western Union. First Data becomes the latest major US corporation to be linked with US government spying. Last month, USA Today revealed the National Security Agency has secretly collected the phone call records of millions of Americans with the help of AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth.
Gov. Hired Data Brokers To Bypass Subpoenas, Warrants
In other domestic spy news, the Associated Press is reporting law enforcement agencies have employed private-sector brokers to collect the personal telephone records of scores of Americans. Officials interviewed by the AP said the brokers were employed because they could bypass civil liberties safeguards such as subpoenas and warrants. The brokers’ methods included hacking into customers’ online accounts and even impersonating them to get phone companies to reveal their private information. The government spent at least $30 million dollars last year on the brokers’ activities. Some agencies stopped using the brokers after coming under congressional scrutiny. A lawyer representing four data brokers defended his clients by comparing their work to the spying activities of the National Security Agency. The lawyer, James Bearden, said: "The government is doing exactly what these people are accused of doing… These are people who are partners with law enforcement on a regular basis."
Disarmament Protesters Arrested After Infiltrating Silo Site
In North Dakota, a Catholic priest and two military veterans were arrested Tuesday for infiltrating a missile silo site. The men were able to break the locks on the site using sledgehammers and hammers. They painted the word “disarm” on a silo lid and poured some of their own blood. The men call themselves “Weapon of Mass Destruction Here Plowshares.” In a statement posted on their website JonahHouse.org, then men said: "We have chosen to start the process of transformation and disarmament by hammering on and pouring our blood on components of the Minuteman Three nuclear missile system. We believe that the concrete that goes into making missile silos would be better used for building homes."
New Orleans Suicide Rate Nearly Triples
In New Orleans, the New York Times is reporting the city is experiencing what it calls “a near epidemic of depression and post-traumatic stress disorders” in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. According to local officials, the city’s suicide rate has nearly tripled since the storm devastated the city ten months ago. The rise has been accompanied by a severe collapse in the local mental health system. State officials estimate New Orleans has now lost more than half its psychiatrists, social workers, psychologists and other mental health professionals.
GOP Leaders To Postpone Immigration Talks
On Capitol Hill, Republican House leaders have announced they will postpone final negotiations on immigration reform until after the summer. Instead, the Republicans plan to hold several “public forums” on immigration in cities around the country during the month of August. Analysts say the announcement likely means Congress will be unable to pass an immigration reform bill before November’s mid-term elections.
Bush Admin’s Ex-Procurement Official Convicted in Abramoff Case
In Washington, DC, former Bush administration official David Safavian was found guilty Tuesday on four counts of making false statements and obstructing an investigation into the activities of convicted Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Safavian served as the Bush administration’s chief procurement official. He will be sentenced in October.
Report: CO2 Emissions in 28 States Doubled Since 1960
In environmental news, a new report says twenty-eight US states have more than doubled their carbon dioxide emissions since 1960. According to the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, increased oil consumption accounted for forty percent of the total increase.
Popular Pharma Drugs See 4% Price Hike
In pharmaceutical news, consumer advocate groups are reporting prices for the most widely-used prescription drugs have seen dramatic increases this year. According to the American Association of Retired Persons, prices for brand-named pharmaceuticals increased by just under four percent – four times the inflation rate. It was largest quarterly price hike on prescription drugs in six years.
Dan Rather Leaves CBS News
In media news, Dan Rather has left CBS after more than four decades. Rather stepped down as CBS News anchor last year following controversy over his infamous report on President Bush’s military record. On Tuesday, Rather said he was leaving after CBS offered him "a future with only an office but no assignments." Rather added: “Too much is made of anchors and their personalities… The larger issues—the role of a free press and of honest, real news in a democracy, the role of technology in supporting a free press, the ‘corporatization’ of news and its effects on news content—all deserve more attention, more discussion and more passionate debate.”
EU Leaders To Press Gitmo Closure in Talks With Bush
And finally, President Bush is in Austria today for a summit with European leaders. The US-EU talks are expected to focus on a host of issues including Iran, trade, and immigration. European Commission president José Manuel Barroso said the EU would press demands for the US to close its prison facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In an interview with the International Herald Tribune, Barroso said that the threat posed to civil liberties by the so-called war on terror means: "We risk losing our souls."
www.democracynow.org
Posted by: Penguin | 2006-06-21 2:58:45 PM
Lefty Arab loving anti-semitic racism is exactly as it was when the NATIONAL SOCIALIST WORKERS PEOPLES PARTY OF GERMANY was around.
----------------
Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters spray-painting the words "No Thought Control" on a section of Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank town of Bethlehem on Wednesday. (AP)
21/06/2006
Pink Floyd's Roger Waters urges Israel to 'tear down the wall'
Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters, who inspired the rock band's iconic album "The Wall," scrawled "tear down the wall" on the concrete panels of Israel's West Bank barrier on Wednesday.
The barrier was the first stop on a visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories for Waters, who had been criticized by some fans for planning to play a concert in Israel.
"It's a horrific edifice, this thing," Waters told reporters as he stood beside a section of the barrier in Bethlehem.
"I've seen pictures of it, I've heard a lot about it but without being here you can't imagine how extraordinarily oppressive it is and how sad it is to see these people coming through these
little holes," he added. "It's craziness."
Waters added to graffiti with red spray paint and a marker pen.
Waters was lyricist, songwriter and singer for Pink Floyd, the former British rock group famous for "The Wall" and "The Dark Side of the Moon".
Israel has built almost half the barrier, which has the stated aim of keeping suicide bombers out of its cities.
Condemned by Palestinians as a land grab, the barrier has been branded illegal by the World Court because it cuts through occupied territory. Israel is rerouting some sections after a Supreme Court order to lessen Palestinian hardship.
Waters is due to perform a concert at the Arab-Jewish coexistence village of Neve Shalom on Thursday as part of his world tour.
The concert was originally planned for a Tel Aviv sports stadium but, following criticism by fans in Britain, Waters changed the location to the peace village, where Israeli Jews and Arabs live
in a joint community.
In 1990, Waters performed "The Wall" along the Berlin Wall that separated East and West Germany to celebrate reunification. He told reporters he hoped Israel's barrier would also be brought down one day. More than 90 percent of the barrier is
razor-tipped fence, but towering concrete walls are used in built-up areas.
"It may be a lot harder to get this one down, but eventually it must happen," Waters said.
Massive traffic jams expected for Waters show
The concert by the former Pink Floyd soloist is expected to cause massive traffic jams tonight on the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv Highway and Route 3 between the Latrun and Nahshon intersections. About 20,000 vehicles are expected to try to
reach the concert venue near Neveh Shalom on a road that has between two and four lanes.
Jerusalem Police and national traffic police will deploy unprecedented forces to cope with the extraordinarily heavy traffic burden. A total of 950 police officers and 600 security guards and ushers are to maintain security at the concert, while 180 police officers and 200 parking attendants will direct traffic in the area.
"It is possible that at some point we will decide to direct vehicles against the normal traffic patterns in order to ease the burden," one source said.
"We recommend that drivers remain patient and leave early to attend the concert. Drivers coming from the Tel Aviv area are advised to leave as early as 4 or 5 P.M. The official concert will
begin at 8:45 P.M., but opening acts will begin as early as 6 P.M," said Police Commander Tzion Shai, an officer in the special missions division of the Jerusalem police force.
Police predict that 45,000 people will attend the concert.
"We recommend that drivers who are not attending the concert make use of alternate routes, like Jerusalem-Tel Aviv Highway 443 or Route 44 from Kiryat Gat to the Beit Jubrin intersection, and proceed to Jerusalem from there," Shai said.
The Jerusalem Police also recommends that concertgoers wear flat shoes in order to avoid slipping on the furrowed earth at the site.
Posted by: woodbridge | 2006-06-21 3:20:34 PM
SOCCER POST
APPEASING RACIST BARBARIC MUSLIMS
-----
Ghana soccer player John Pentsil parading the Israeli flag celebrating his team's goal against the Czech Republic. (AP)
21/06/2006
Ghana apologizes to Arab League over Israeli flag at World Cup
By Reuters
CAIRO - Ghana apologized to the Arab League on Wednesday for one of its football players waving an Israeli flag after his country's 2-0 World Cup win against the Czech Republic, the Arab League secretary-general said.
Defender John Pentsil plays for Hapoel Tel Aviv, and waved a small Israeli flag after Ghana's win in Saturday's match to acknowledge Israeli fans in Germany.
Amr Moussa said the league had received an official apology from the Ghanaian government expressing regret at the incident.
The memo said Pentsil's action had no official support and Ghana hoped the incident would not affect Ghana's relations with friendly countries.
The Ghanaian Football Association apologised on Monday for Paintsil's conduct and said the Ghanaian FA was not trying to take sides in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Sports Minister Ofir Pines-Paz praised Pentsil for his actions and said Ghana had gained many Israeli fans.
Posted by: woodbridge | 2006-06-21 3:24:13 PM
In the movie 'Fight Club' Edward Norton's insane character envisions a Penguin who says, "Slide", "Let it Slide."
I have the 'Fight Club' DVD. One out of a collection of about 650 DVDs. I stopped watching 'TV' in February 2000.
I get all my news from the internet. I watched the planes hit the twin towers 'live' on the net.
Posted by: Speller | 2006-06-21 3:33:04 PM
Hey Specker,
I take it you have failed English? Or are you just saying out loud what you would like to happen?
Anyway, deep breathing, all will be fine.
Posted by: Snowrunner | 2006-06-21 3:42:33 PM
The UN is not the organization it was intended to be. The UN should be disbanded as it has become a haven for the corrupt and human rights abusers of the world. Most of the worlds dictators and human rights abusers have a seat on the board, how can anyone expect real in roads into these abuses with the abusers sitting on the board?
Look at the criminal who heads up the organization, Koffi Annan. If there was any kind of serious investigation into the food for oil scandal, it wouldn't have been hard to see his involvement. Then Mr. Annan comes up with his Cyprus peace plan which was nothing more than the official disecting of Cypress to be shared between the Turks and British.
UN faults are far too numerous to list, time to say good bye. Unfortunately there is nothing out there that would be a viable replacement at this time. Maybe it should come under the scrutiny of the G8 instead; but of course there's still that pesky corruption bit.
Niv
Posted by: niv | 2006-06-21 3:47:48 PM
Speller wrote:
"By the way, I shall never forget how Britain, with the help of her commonwealth allies(Canada), stood alone against Nazi aggression for nearly three years while the US profiteered by selling our enemies armaments during WW2."
That is a disgraceful misreprestation of the facts. US neutrality laws forbade selling arms or allowing US ships to carry goods of any kind to a belligerent country. In 1939, this applied equally to Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Imperial Japan, as well as Britain and even Canada. Roosevelt bent over backwards to help the Allies first through "Cash and Carry" and later through Lend-Lease. The US did NOT profit off the Axis; if anything they made money off funding the Allies.
This sounds more like the "Bush's Grandfather War Profiteer" story that has circulated around the internet for the past few years - and has the same lack of credibility.
In other news:
UNfortunately (deliberate spelling), the United Nations has to include the dictatorships as well as the democracies - otherwise it wouldn't be the world body. Creating a new body that includes only democracies would divide the world into haves and have-nots, and further exacerbate economic and social problems to which the UN was designed to resolve.
Fortunately, the UN cannot be used against the great powers, and the US in particular. All the anti-US banter is meaningless, and in fact further damages its credibility with the Presidency and the Congress. Given the Bush administration's current lack of interest in the UN, this could not be coming at a worse time. It is in the UN's best interest to smarten the hell up, not for the US to bow down.
As hypocritical and unfair as the UN may seem, finding a replacement is highly unlikely to work. I know all the Liebrals/NDPs scum like Lloyd Axworthy and Stephen Lewis will be disappointed, but meh - they don't matter. Bush does. So it's not all bad.
Posted by: Scott | 2006-06-21 4:13:50 PM
On Cyprus and the UN (BTW, there is no British zone, they have two army bases on Cyprus though):
------------
Reunification, the Annan Plan and EU entry
The results of early negotiations between the Greek and Turkish polititians resulted in a broad agreement in principle to reunification as a bi-cameral, bi-zonal federation with territory allocated to the Greek and Turkish communities within a united island. However, agreement was never reached on the finer details, and the two sides often met deadlock over the following points, among others:
The Greek side:
took a strong line on the right of return for refugees to properties vacated in the 1974 displacement of Cypriots on both sides, which was based on both UN Resolutions and decisions of the European Court of Human Rights;
took a dim view of any proposals which did not allow for the repatriation of Turkish settlers from the mainland who had emigrated to Cyprus since 1974; and
supported a stronger central government.
The Turkish side:
favoured a weak central government presiding over two sovereign states in voluntary association, a legacy of earlier fears of domination by the majority Greek Cypriots; and
opposed plans for demilitarisation, citing security concerns.
The continued difficulties in finding a settlement presented a potential obstacle to Cypriot entry to the European Union, for which the government had applied in 1997. UN-sponsored talks between the Greek and Turkish leaders, Glafkos Klerides and Rauf Denktash, continued intensively in 2002, but without resolution. In December 2002, the EU formally invited Cyprus to join in 2004, insisting that EU membership would apply to the whole island and hoping that it would provide a significant enticement for reunification resulting from the outcome of ongoing talks. However, weeks before the UN deadline, Klerides was defeated in presidential elections by centre candidate Tassos Papadopoulos. Papadopoulos had a reputation as a hard-liner on reunification and based his stance on international law and human rights. By mid-March, the UN declared that the talks had failed.
A United Nations plan sponsored by Secretary-General Kofi Annan was announced on 31 March 2004, based on what progress had been made during the talks in Switzerland and fleshed out by the UN, was put for the first time to civilians on both sides in separate referenda on 24 April 2004. The Greek side overwhelmingly rejected the Annan Plan, and the Turkish side voted in favour. In considering the outcome it is interesting to note that whilst the Turkish colonists (who make up the majority in the occupied north) were allowed to vote, the refugees who had fled Cyprus had no right to vote in a referendum which would ultimately determine their future (their right to return and right to their property).
In May 2004, Cyprus entered the EU, although in practice membership only applies to the southern part of the island which is in the control of the Republic of Cyprus. In acknowledgement of the Turkish Cypriot community's support for reunification, however, the EU made it clear that trade concessions would be reached to stimulate economic growth in the north, and remains committed to reunification under acceptable terms.
Posted by: Snowrunner | 2006-06-21 4:18:01 PM
I wish you cowboys would first educate yourselves about the UN before you start bashing it. The job of the UN is not to punish bad regimes or evil judges. Their job is to uphold the sanctity of borders, and the ability for people to be free from invasion and occupation.
By the way, how different is this Nazi dogma below with the crazy hysteria above:
"...We are the greatest people in the world, but weaker nations plot against us..." , "...Our culture and people are being undermined by foreign influences..." , "...Our great nation has been betrayed by traitors hiding amongst us...".
Posted by: Penguin | 2006-06-21 4:44:36 PM
The preservation and maintainance of peace is but one of the UN's missions. It also seeks to improve the social and economic conditions of people around the world. Human rights are also on the agenda, as proclaimed by Eleanor Roosevelt with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1949.
The international law functions do include provisions for the enforcement of UN security council resolutions - so part of its mission is to punish dictators, and go after evil regimes. In fact, right now, Liberian Charles Taylor is facing trial before the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands. The UN also aided in the removal of the Taliban in Afghanistan by helping form a new government, and providing for the Int'l Security and Assistance Force (ISAF). Iraq proved the shortcomings of the UN system, but it will remain an exception rather than the rule.
This "cowboy" actually visited the UN headquaters in New York last week, so don't lecture me about the UN. I've already been lectured on it this month.
Posted by: Scott | 2006-06-21 5:02:24 PM
CONRAD: You said that there are no gloves to come off for the military ? I hope you're joking. The military in iraq has had its hands practically tied, what with all the media etc. just waiting for a slip up so they can make front page news about the big bad Americans. Abu Graib...some poor sod has underwear shoved over his head...wow!
The US needs to remove all reporteres from the field and let the soldiers do their jobs. That includes the bozos in the Pentagon who are so worried what the idiots at the New York Times are writing, rather than looking out for their soldiers. it's time to take the fight to these terrorists...hunt them down and kill them, hang thenm from the highest tree (if they have any over thre) and leave them there.
Also, stop supplying these prisoners at Gitmo with korans and prayer mats. It's not a friggin' Holiday Inn.
Posted by: MarkAlta | 2006-06-21 5:34:24 PM
Scott, the UN is a crock. Until Ronald Reagan became President of the United States some borders were in fact being changed and huge portions of the world had become Soviet satellites.
The borders of Ethiopia changed. The borders of Tibet changed. The borders of Rhodesia changed. The borders of Cambodia changed. The borders of Korea changed. The borders of the Sahara Desert changed.
Who brought Charles Taylor to the Hague? Who brought Idi Amin to the Hague? Who Brought Papa Doc Chevalier to the Hague? Who brought Yasser Arafat to the Hague? Who brought Saddam Hussein to the Hague? Who wanted to bring George W. Bush and Henry Kissinger to the Hague?
Who removed the Taliban from Afghanistan? Not the UN.
The UN sure has helped Africa. NOT! Africa is worse now than EVER before.
And they've sucked up $40 BILLION Canadian taxes to get nowhere.
You had better read the book 'IQ and the Wealth of Nations', Scott. The UN is a Commie tool designed to redistribute the wealth of productive Western Capitalist Nations to non-productive 'Developing Nations' all the while achieving NOTHING.
The only thing these third world toilets have developed, with the help of the UN, since I was born in 1959 was a rash of incureable epidemics like AIDS.
Posted by: Speller | 2006-06-21 6:11:07 PM
I agree with Speller and find it impossible why or how anyone could defend this useless body. They have zero accomplishments while at the same time they have managed to make many international situation worse. Why on earth do Western democracies insist on wasting their citizens tax money on this outfit? It is another example of politicians doing their own thing without their citizens having a say. Enough already!
Posted by: Alain | 2006-06-21 6:56:18 PM
changing the topic--a question?
has anyone been arrested for the time the lying arabs in rexdale said "some islamaphobe" alledgedly broke 42 windows in their shopping plaza mosque and no one heard or saw them? IMEAN THE WINDOWS THAT THEY BROKE THEMSELVES?
Posted by: woodbridge | 2006-06-21 8:16:41 PM
Hundreds of WMDs Found in Iraq
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,200499,00.html
June 21, 2006 — FOXNEWS
WASHINGTON
The United States has found 500 chemical weapons in Iraq since 2003, and more weapons of mass destruction are likely to be uncovered, two Republican lawmakers said Wednesday.
"We have found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, chemical weapons," Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., said in a quickly called press conference late Wednesday afternoon.Reading from a declassified portion of a report by the National
Ground Intelligence Center, a Defense Department intelligence unit, Santorum said: "Since 2003, coalition forces have recovered approximately 500 weapons munitions which contain degraded mustard or sarin nerve agent. Despite many efforts to
locate and destroy Iraq's pre-Gulf War chemical munitions, filled and unfilled pre-Gulf War chemical munitions are assessed to still exist."
He added that the report warns about the hazards that the chemical weapons could still pose to coalition troops in Iraq."The purity of the agents inside the munitions depends on many factors, including the manufacturing process, potential additives and environmental storage conditions. While agents degrade over time, chemical warfare agents remain hazardous and
potentially lethal," Santorum read from the document.
"This says weapons have been discovered, more weapons exist and they state that Iraq was not a WMD-free zone, that there are continuing threats from the materials that are or may still be in Iraq," said Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.
The weapons are thought to be manufactured before 1991 so they would not be proof of an ongoing WMD program in the 1990s. But they do show that Saddam Hussein was lying when he said all weapons had been destroyed, and it shows that years of on-again, off-again weapons inspections did not uncover these munitions.
Hoekstra said the report, completed in April but only declassified now, shows that "there is still a lot about Iraq that we don't fully understand."
Asked why the Bush administration, if it had known about the information since April or earlier, didn't advertise it, Hoekstra conjectured that the president has been forward-looking and concentrating on the development of a secure government in Iraq. Offering the official administration response to FOX News, a senior Defense Department official pointed out that the chemical weapons were not in useable conditions.
"This does not reflect a capacity that was built up after 1991," the official said, adding the munitions "are not the WMDs this country and the rest of the world believed Iraq had, and not the
WMDs for which this country went to war." The official said the findings did raise uestions about the years of weapons inspections that had not resulted in locating the fairly sizeable stash of chemical weapons. And he noted that it
may say something about Hussein's intent and desire. The report does suggest that some of the weapons were likely put on the black market and may have been used outside Iraq. He also said that the Defense Department statement shortly
after the March 2003 invasion saying that "we had all known weapons facilities secured," has proven itself to be untrue. "It turned out the whole country was an ammo dump," he said, adding that on more than one occasion, a conventional weapons
site has been uncovered and chemical weapons have been discovered mixed within them. Hoekstra and Santorum lamented that Americans were given the impression after a 16-month search conducted by the Iraq Survey Group that the evidence of continuing research and development of weapons of mass destruction was insignificant.
But the National Ground Intelligence Center took up where the ISG left off when it completed its report in November 2004, and in the process of collecting intelligence for the purpose of force
protection for soldiers and sailors still on the ground in Iraq, has shown that the weapons inspections were incomplete, they and
others have said. "We know it was there, in place, it just wasn't operative when
inspectors got there after the war, but we know what the inspectors found from talking with the scientists in Iraq that it could have been cranked up immediately, and that's what Saddam had planned to do if the sanctions against Iraq had halted and they were certainly headed in that direction," said Fred Barnes, editor of The Weekly Standard and a FOX News contributor.
"It is significant. Perhaps, the administration just, they think they weathered the debate over WMD being found there immediately and don't want to return to it again because things are otherwise going better for them, and then, I think, there's mindless resistance to releasing any classified documents from Iraq," Barnes said.
The release of the declassified materials comes as the Senate debates Democratic proposals to create a timetable for U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq. The debate has had the effect of
creating disunity among Democrats, a majority of whom shrunk Wednesday from an amendment proposed by Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts to have troops to be completely withdrawn from Iraq by the middle of next year. At the same time, congressional Republicans have stayed highly
united, rallying around a White House that has seen successes in the last couple weeks, first with the death of terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, then the completion of the formation of
Iraq's Cabinet and then the announcement Tuesday that another key Al Qaeda in Iraq eader, "religious emir" Mansour Suleiman Mansour Khalifi al-Mashhadani, or Sheik Mansour, was
also killed in a U.S. airstrike.
Santorum pointed out that during Wednesday's debate, several Senate Democrats said that no weapons of mass destruction had been found in Iraq, a claim, he said, that the declassified
document proves is untrue. "This is an incredibly — in my mind — significant finding. The idea that, as my colleagues have repeatedly said in this debate on the other side of the aisle, that there are no weapons of mass destruction, is in fact false," he said.
As a result of this new information, under the aegis of his chairmanship, Hoekstra said he is going to ask for more reporting by the various intelligence agencies about weapons of mass destruction.
"We are working on the declassification of the report. We are going to do a thorough search of what additional reports exist in the intelligence community. And we are going to put additional pressure on the Department of Defense and the folks in Iraq to more fully pursue a complete investigation of what existed in Iraq before the war," Hoekstra said.
Posted by: woodbridge | 2006-06-22 3:02:45 AM
The UN succeeded adirably in its post-WW2 job: preventing all-out total war between the NATO block and the Soviets. (I shudder to think what the death toll of such a war might have been).
However, it (like all big unaccountable bureaucracies) has spread its mandate out, and conquered new territory. The UN itself has now claimed to be the fledgling world government.
The problem is, the UN's mission is now over. WW3 between the cold war protagonists has indeed been averted, so it can be disbanded, and everyone should just go home. Least that's the way I see it.
Of course UN junkies will scream about how much good they do, and should be made a permanent feature of the world's political landscape, but I don't think the UN will last out the decade in its current form.
If I were a US taxpayer, I'd scream blue murder at the thought of giving ANY money to that black hole.
Posted by: bcf | 2006-06-22 9:55:03 AM
http://www.jihadwatch.org/
Posted by: woodbridge | 2006-06-26 10:22:49 PM
The UN, like many former great institutions, was founded by men with a vision, and a dream. But like anything else worthwhile it was slowly infiltrated, then taken over by the left.
Like everything else they have touched it has become an unmitigated disaster, costing, as usual, millions of lives.
Why is anyone even remotely surprised?
Posted by: deepblue | 2006-06-26 11:19:51 PM
Inhabitants of the brutal world are confused about the “self-determination” advocated by Western leaders. It doesn’t mean that those outside Western civilization and Israel should decide for themselves. “Self” means American. The term, so familiar to us, means “American-determination.” The US determines and others obey.
It is the brutal world that causes all the trouble by not obeying.
Posted by: Finious | 2009-05-11 11:01:23 AM
The comments to this entry are closed.