Monday, July 31, 2006

A Failure of Leadership

Watching the appalling scenes of dead children being pulled from the rubble of buildings as a result of the Hezbollah (southern-Lebanese) - Israeli conflict most more enlightened (and civilized) individuals must wonder what the leaders of Lebanon parties have going on in their perhaps underdeveloped, anti modern-world brains. Watching all the posturing I am reminded of an old saying that goes something along the lines that ‘the people always (only) get the politicians (leaders) they deserve’. For that matter what are the people that allow these anti-social agents doing to curb the development and spread of their ‘Dark Age’ tribal agendas? Why aren’t they out in the streets as they were when they wanted to remove Syria from their soil?

Two leaders: one guilty of crimes against humanity and the other of criminal neglect!

Hezbollah is led by a less than savoury character named Hassan Nasrallah whose most recent contribution to the Middle East (and the world) has been to start the conflict and to ensure that it continues, in spite of the growing number innocents that he sacrifices. This attitude of let them die was forshadowed when according to news reports, ‘Nasrallah on May 23rd appeared on Al-Manar TV to explain that "our nation's willingness to sacrifice their blood, souls, children, fathers, and families" is an advantage over the Jews "who guard their lives." Well he has certainly allowed that to happen. It is worth noting R. H. Schultz Jr. & Andrea J. Drew in their book “Insurgents Terrorists and Militias” explain that in ‘clan warfare’ the combatants are fighting for honour, glory, revenge, vendetta or vengeance and that the sacrifice of innocents (acts such beheadings) are an acceptable part of conflict. This leader has aptly demonstrated this fact and as the Robert Caplan review of the book in the WSJ of July 28th says; “the danger of the 21st century is states whose leaders may simply like to fight rather than negotiate” This Hezbollah leader by his words and actions obviously proves this point.

How about Fuoad Siniora, the Lebanese prime minister, what a disappointment this guy is, just stands back and does nothing, then when he thinks the hot war soaked breeze of calamity is blowing his way praises Hezbollah for shedding their blood for Lebanon. This is a man so devoid of commitment to his people and the rest of the world that he ignored the January 28, 2005 United Nations Security Council Resolution 1583 that called on Lenanon to assert full control over its border with Israel. Now after the outrage over Qana the press report that Siniora emphasized that Lebanon won't take part in negotiations between Israel and Hizbullah "until the Israeli war machine stops spilling the blood of innocents." Among other things, the Lebanese government has supposedly ‘committed itself to the deployment of its army across all of Lebanon including the south and the applying of a law according to which only the Lebanese army can carry weapons across the whole of the country’. Why wasn’t this law enforced before now? His latest word according to the Wall Street Journal of July 31st is… “There is no place this sad morning for any discussion other than an immediate and unconditional cease fire, as well as an international investigation into the Israeli massacres in Lebanon now”.

What a crock of crap, now is not only the time to talk, it is very much the time for the Lebanese army to take control of the country’s security as they should have been directed to do by their ineffectual leader over a year ago.

Dear Mr Siniora for the sake of your citizens and the rest of the civilized world… and particularly for the children of your country please do the following:

Take control of your nation, enact (and/or enforce) a law that forbids anyone other than the national military from carrying weapons and use the same military to secure your borders to ensure Syria and Iran cannot covertly slip arms into your country. While you’re at it disband and outlaw Hezbollah in Lebanon, publicly acknowledge the right of Israel to exist and encourage your populace to come to grips with the fact that Israel is neighbour that is there to stay. If you then get thrown out of office we all unhappily watch the demise of your country that will likely result. If the foolishness of its Lebanon’s general population under the guidance of its ‘Dark Age’ power brokers and clansmen is the way things must be in the rest of your country as well as the south then one must question your future as a civilized nation.

www.caliibre.com

Refs:
http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=8&x_nameinnews=158&x_article=1158
(MEMRI: Al-Manar TV on May 23, 2006.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Security_Council_Resolution_1583
The Wall Street Journal (Asia) July 28-30 & July 31

Thursday, July 27, 2006

'Crimes' of Lebanon

Some time ago whilst I was living in Thailand the local English daily newspaper and other local media bemoaned the fact that passengers on a bus did nothing while a group of young men in the back of the bus, in the middle of the afternoon, committed the rape of a young schoolgirl. Obviously the rape was a crime however so was the action, or rather the inaction of the other passengers. Their stance… “its none of my business”. The ‘non-involved’ passengers were aware of what was going on and committed the crime of “doing nothing and remaining selfishly detached” and in my view should have been charged with ‘criminal neglect’ of a young person in need of help.

Much of the Lebanese public and the Lebanese Government are suffering as a result of this same criminal neglect. Hizbollah is a terrorist organisation and is listed as such by many countries. The Lebanese Government and the rest of the world admits that the ‘National Government’ does not hold authority in southern Lebanon, Hizbollah does. The government and therefore the people it governs are to a great measure responsible for the actions of Hizbollah, as they have chosen not to pressure the group to dissolve or at least give up its arms. The southern Shiite population, many of whom actively support the fighters on constant news reports, cannot now cry foul when the Israelis seek to defend themselves.

As for the rest of the world and particularly those that comment on news reports in a somewhat biased and very anti Israel manner, what are they thinking? Why the outrage? The simple fact is that they (we all) are driven by a self-centred fear that the war may escalate and in some way touch our comfortable lives. What really pisses me off is that these few thousand grubby people (Hizbollah) can command so much of the world’s attention and resources. There are for more outrageous things happening in the world we should focus on and we should just let Israel get on and do the necessary. As an example, what is happening to the hundreds of thousands of refuges suffering in Darfur at the minute? Why aren’t the world and its news organisations focussing on the Congo where according to allafrica.com and I quote a July 2006 report, “the conflict and violence that has consumed the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for nearly a decade has killed more people every six months than were killed by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Estimates place the total deaths at four million, although some experts say the figure is far higher. In a report released today in London, UNICEF said that as victims, children have defined this often forgotten, but world’s deadliest, humanitarian crisis in the heart of Africa. The report goes on…”As a direct or indirect result of conflict, 1,200 people die every day in DRC and more than half of those are children.”

Shame on us all for our selfish crime of neglect of those most in need and lets hope the Israelis are at least able to decimate one small group of nasty fanatics.

Oh and by the way, on Kofi Annan and his outrage and his terse approach to the realities of the danger of being an ineffective unarmed UN soldier in the middle of a battle zone, he seems to be overseeing an ineffective toothless force yet again. Remember and again I quote (Wikipedia)… “In his book Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda, ex-General Roméo Dallaire who was force commander of the UNAMIR claims that Annan has been overly passive in his response to the 1994 Tutsi genocide in Rwanda. Gen. Dallaire explicitly stated that the then Undersecretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations held back UN troops from intervening to settle the conflict and from providing more logistic and material support. Annan would have, as an instance, abstained from giving any kind of answer to his repeated faxes asking him to gain access to a weapons depository, something that could have helped to the defense of the Tutsis.” How many (non oil rich) Africans died?

I believe this man should be ejected from the UN.

www.caliibre.com

refs:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kofi_Annan#Early_career
http://allafrica.com/stories/200607260965.html

Saturday, July 22, 2006

An incomplete list of Islamic (supposedly a 'religion of peace') Terrorist Organisations and what they all really seek!

Abu Nidal Organization (ANO) (Fatah - Revolutionary Council), Abu Sayyaf Group, Aden-Abyan Islamic Army (Yemen), Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, Ansar al-Islam, Armed Islamic Group (GIA), Asbat al-Ansar, Gama’a al-Islamiyya (Islamic Group), HAMAS (Islamic Resistance Movement), Harakat ul-Mujahidin (HUM), Hizbollah (Party of God), Islamic Jihad Group, Islamic Movement of Central Asia, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM) (Army of Mohammed), Janjaweed (Sudan), Jemaah Islamiya organization (JI), Jihad Rite - Australia (linked with Al Qaeda. Founded in 2001), al-Jihad (Egyptian Islamic Jihad), Lashkar-e Tayyiba (LT) (Army of the Righteous), Lashkar i Jhangvi, Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM), Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK), National Islamic Front (aj-Jabhah al-Islamiyah al-Qawmiyah) controls Sudan, Palestine Liberation Front (PLF), Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLF), PFLP-General Command (PFLP-GC), al-Qa’ida, Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC), Taliban (Afghanistan), Tanzim Qa'idat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn (QJBR) (al-Qaida in Iraq) (formerly Jama'at al-Tawhid wa'al-Jihad, JTJ, al-Zarqawi Network)

The current major focuss group… a bit from Wikipedia…

“Hizballah was ‘inspired by the success of the Iranian Revolution’ and was formed primarily to combat Israeli occupation following the 1982 Lebanon War. The United States and Israel claim that Hezballah receives financial and political assistance, as well as weapons and training, from Iran and Syria. Syria and Iran admit supporting Hezballah, but deny supplying it with weapons. Along with the Amal movement, Hezbollah is the main political party and military organization representing the Shia community, Lebanon's largest religious bloc.Founded with the aid of Iran and funded by it, Hezbollah follows the distinct Shia Islamic ideology developed by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, leader of the Islamic Revolution in Iran.”

However this group and all the others above are more likely to be about, as "islamic-world.net/papers/parentmanual" put it...

‘It is your sacred duty to ensure your child grows up to be a good and right human being (Muslim). The oneness (tawhid) of Allah is also expressed in the unity of Islamic life. Raising your children to be good and right human beings is part of the necessary Islamization of world society. Only in a fully Islamic world will the conditions exist where children will naturally develop into the good and right humans beings desired by Allah. …we must do battle with the influences of the present wrong world. We are greatly blessed by Allah to be Muslims at this particular time in world history. The unique social and historical conditions, combined with new the knowledge and technology now available, make it not only possible but highly likely that within a generation or so we will live in that long unfulfilled dream of all Muslims, a truly Islamic world.’

All power to the Israelis in their current struggle!

www.caliibre.com

Refs:
http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/fs/37191.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorist_organisations#Muslim
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hezbollah#Origins http://islamic-world.net/papers/parentmanual.doc