If you're reading this, clearly you're following developments to some degree. I have to laugh at a few things I've heard from some commentators in the last few days. From being called "our greatest ally" to "a bastion of democracy" the ignorance of the press overwhelms me. The worst, and most ridiculous of these claims is that the Muslim Brotherhood, granddaddy and founding entity of virtually every terrorist group in the world today, has "forsworn" violence.
There are two separate things going on in the demonstrations in Egypt.
The first, is good. A genuine grass roots, democratic movement, not much different than Tunisia, or even Iran. However, this is small in number and unorganized. They respect the army and it is why they seemed to back off when the army came out yesterday.
This will peter out, as it has over the years (Mubarak has faced these types of demonstrations before).
But, as a result of the demonstrations the Egyptian Army has been removed from the Rafah crossing in Gaza. Hamas operatives are pouring into Egypt to team with the Muslim Brotherhood, which is organized, directed, and leading the new wave of demonstrations.
This is the dangerous aspect and it is due totally to our failure to demand of the Egyptians, over the years, true movement toward greater institutional freedoms, and civil freedom.
The Egyptian population is highly radicalized. Worse, the Egyptian press, print and TV, all of it state run, has proffered the most vile anti western, anti American, and most of all, anti semitic messages continuously for the entire length of Mubarak's reign. It is one of our greatest failures - the refusal to address this radicalizing of their own citizenship in an attempt to distract from the failures of Mubarak to improve the lot of his people.
This situation is incredibly dangerous.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
I hate it when I'm right...
Approximately fourteen months ago, I wrote a post "If world war III starts in Yemen and no one covers it, do you hear it fall?", talking about the boiling over of tensions between the Iranian backed forces in the Middle East, and the rest, or what some term "moderate" factions.
Make no mistake, the entire situation that we are seeing, which unquestionably is the greatest immediate security threat to the US right now, is due almost entirely to the policy of appeasement that President Obama has engaged in since his first days in office.
There are the obvious sparks of his refusing to face up to the Iranian threat directly. More important was his appointment of an ambassador to Syria, ending a policy that had been followed by Democrat and Republican alike. Syria, responible for the assassination of the Lebanese President, Rafik Harriri, is the Iranian proxy in that area.
It is this that allowed the infiltration and now takeover of the Lebanese government by Hizbullah, the Iranian backed terrorist army.
Worse, the unrest in Egypt, which will clearly lead to the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, is something I have been warning about for 20 years or more.
Shockingly, I've been discussing, questioning, this with Israeli officials and politicians the entire time.
The real danger of Egypt, as I've written here so many times, is that the US has funded the Egyptians to the tune of $2 Billion since the Camp David accords (thanks again Jimmy Carter) and the population is highly fundamentalist, as the recent murder of so many Coptic Christians highlights.
While it's hard to predict exactly what will happen, I would not be surprised to see a fundamentalist regime in Egypt within the year.
As a side note, this is why the Israelis constantly insist on fundamental change in Palestinian attitudes as well as words from the leadership.
You sign treaties not with governments, or leaders, but with peoples. And for decades the Egyptian government has been airing the most vile anti semitic propoganda on state run television (the highest rated program in Middle East history remains the Egyptian government channels airing of a dramatization of the famed anti semitic forgery "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion".
The past months, from the radicalization of Turkey, with Obama doing nothing, to the revolution in Tunisia, to this, has highlited just how misguided, and impotent, is the Obama foreign policy, and foreign policy team.
Make no mistake, the entire situation that we are seeing, which unquestionably is the greatest immediate security threat to the US right now, is due almost entirely to the policy of appeasement that President Obama has engaged in since his first days in office.
There are the obvious sparks of his refusing to face up to the Iranian threat directly. More important was his appointment of an ambassador to Syria, ending a policy that had been followed by Democrat and Republican alike. Syria, responible for the assassination of the Lebanese President, Rafik Harriri, is the Iranian proxy in that area.
It is this that allowed the infiltration and now takeover of the Lebanese government by Hizbullah, the Iranian backed terrorist army.
Worse, the unrest in Egypt, which will clearly lead to the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, is something I have been warning about for 20 years or more.
Shockingly, I've been discussing, questioning, this with Israeli officials and politicians the entire time.
The real danger of Egypt, as I've written here so many times, is that the US has funded the Egyptians to the tune of $2 Billion since the Camp David accords (thanks again Jimmy Carter) and the population is highly fundamentalist, as the recent murder of so many Coptic Christians highlights.
While it's hard to predict exactly what will happen, I would not be surprised to see a fundamentalist regime in Egypt within the year.
As a side note, this is why the Israelis constantly insist on fundamental change in Palestinian attitudes as well as words from the leadership.
You sign treaties not with governments, or leaders, but with peoples. And for decades the Egyptian government has been airing the most vile anti semitic propoganda on state run television (the highest rated program in Middle East history remains the Egyptian government channels airing of a dramatization of the famed anti semitic forgery "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion".
The past months, from the radicalization of Turkey, with Obama doing nothing, to the revolution in Tunisia, to this, has highlited just how misguided, and impotent, is the Obama foreign policy, and foreign policy team.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
State of the Union
Sturring rhetoric. Beautiful metaphors. Inspirational imagery.
It was all there. Sadly, like most of the Obama agenda, the real issues were hidden.
As I have written here before, the actual politics that proceed for the next two years are irrelevant.
Why? Simply because of the creation during the first two years of a full bureaucracy that will now rule by regulatory structure.
The 18,000 police force created for the IRS to enforce the health care law. The takeover of the student loan industry. The control of the automakers. The declaration by the EPA that carbon regulation falls not to Congress, but to them. The same thing with the FCC and the internet.
A perfect example of the foolishness is the so called "freeze" on government spending.
What does "non discretionary" spending mean? It means 16% of the budget. That is what he is proposing to freeze. Insulting enough that he thinks this will actually fool you all. Worse, that he doesn't get that it is cuts to spending that we need.
Why is that federal employees now make an average of $114,000 year, vs roughly $40,000 in the private sector? As the largest employer in the country, that is a significant figure. Where are the cuts there? To the Dept's of Energy, Agriculture, Education... all the departments who, since their creation have done nothing but make things worse?
In other words, I'm still going to spend us into oblivion.
Can we take a lesson from the states, that are now looking into various methods for declaring bankruptcy?
The level of delusion is so great it is hard to fathom.
It was all there. Sadly, like most of the Obama agenda, the real issues were hidden.
As I have written here before, the actual politics that proceed for the next two years are irrelevant.
Why? Simply because of the creation during the first two years of a full bureaucracy that will now rule by regulatory structure.
The 18,000 police force created for the IRS to enforce the health care law. The takeover of the student loan industry. The control of the automakers. The declaration by the EPA that carbon regulation falls not to Congress, but to them. The same thing with the FCC and the internet.
A perfect example of the foolishness is the so called "freeze" on government spending.
What does "non discretionary" spending mean? It means 16% of the budget. That is what he is proposing to freeze. Insulting enough that he thinks this will actually fool you all. Worse, that he doesn't get that it is cuts to spending that we need.
Why is that federal employees now make an average of $114,000 year, vs roughly $40,000 in the private sector? As the largest employer in the country, that is a significant figure. Where are the cuts there? To the Dept's of Energy, Agriculture, Education... all the departments who, since their creation have done nothing but make things worse?
In other words, I'm still going to spend us into oblivion.
Can we take a lesson from the states, that are now looking into various methods for declaring bankruptcy?
The level of delusion is so great it is hard to fathom.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
The President convicted of rape....
No, not here. In Israel. Moshe Katsav, who preceded current president Shimon Peres, was just convicted in Tel Aviv not only of raping a young staff member, but also of harassment of two others.
Katsav lost a recall election when these allegations came out.
The actions of the man speak for themselves and clearly need no comment from me.
What does need comment is the very fact that this happened in Israel. How many nations in the world can you imagine this happening?
Ironically, just this week in Russia, the person who was placed by Vladimir Putin to be a puppet opposition party candidate in Chechnya, made accusations against the puppet leader of the region. The response? Throw the accuser in jail.
More importantly, how many nations in that region of the world can you imagine the President being convicted on these charges?
Even more specifically, anyone remember William Kennedy Smith? Need I say more?
Katsav lost a recall election when these allegations came out.
The actions of the man speak for themselves and clearly need no comment from me.
What does need comment is the very fact that this happened in Israel. How many nations in the world can you imagine this happening?
Ironically, just this week in Russia, the person who was placed by Vladimir Putin to be a puppet opposition party candidate in Chechnya, made accusations against the puppet leader of the region. The response? Throw the accuser in jail.
More importantly, how many nations in that region of the world can you imagine the President being convicted on these charges?
Even more specifically, anyone remember William Kennedy Smith? Need I say more?
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