“War!”; gathering intelligence intelligently

  The man who blew himself up and took 7 CIA men with him should help teach us in the US, the same lesson…yet again! But if the lesson learnt is that we should not trust Arabs and Muslims, then all seven CIA lives, all American lives before them and all lives that will be taken in the future, will have been totally wasted.  

What should the US have learnt, this time, as they should have, a long time ago? There is no substitute for good intelligence-gathering and good intelligence-gathering does not come through the eye of a satellite, the cross-hairs of a drone or, from a rented stranger, it comes from good friends. But first, let us see how the US deliberately alienates Muslims across the world.  

Of Angels & Demons

I recently received a link to a YouTube video of Rachel Corrie in 5th grade, giving a speech in which she shared her vision to help the world be a better place. I was very impressed because while we all desire world peace in our childhood, it is seldom that we manage to retain the vision and act on it in our adulthood. This remarkable girl spoke with clarity and confidence and with the sincerity of one whose soul speaks out.

A Permanent Peace Plan for Israel

(First published April 7, 2005) Peace in the Holy Land is very much a possibility but it is by no means easy.  In fact, it can be argued that the most successful solution includes one country with Jews, Christians and Muslims living together in peace and harmony as they had for centuries before now.

One of the problems of current peace negotiations is that with blind support from the West, Israel has everything to lose and almost nothing to gain by giving up any of its territories.

The language of “War!”

Today’s (8.14.2007) news featured an attack by Israel, on Gaza, killing ten Palestinians including “gunmen”, “Hamas terrorists” and an elderly mother “being used as a human shield”.

“Well done IDF!” was the most-voiced comment in Israel…great glory and righteousness on the part of IDF; Israel may survive yet another day.

In strategy and tactics of war, the most important weapon is the language of war.

The Reality of Suicide Bombing

Most people of good will should be able to condemn not only suicide bombing but ANY act of wanton killing whether it is done by our side (“good guys”) or the their side (“bad guys”). Unfortunately the Israel/Palestine dispute has so polarized people that they have no hesitation in condemning the other side without ever seeking to understand. All too often, seeking to understand the other is seen as taking sides by people blinded by partisanship.

Israel and Palestine; letter to my Congressman

Dear Congressman Inslee,

 

Thank you for taking the time to send me your reason (letter below) why you chose to endorse a condemnation of the Goldstone Report; I am afraid I cannot accept your response as a considered one.

 

While I realize you might never see this, I feel you need to understand why we are feeling such agony over your signing of that infamous resolution.

 

I wonder if you have ever visited Gaza?

It is about 360 sq Km (137 sq. mi, see detailed maps below) in total with about 1,500,000 people imprisoned inside…that is almost 11,000 people per square mile (17 per acre) if everybody was neatly spread around all of Gaza, desert and all. If you were told to “run” with your children, where exactly would you have been able to escape Israeli bombs when Israel was even bombing the beaches of Gaza? Israeli forces deliberately even killed entire families who were surrendering with white flags.

Yet you surprise me by saying, “Israel’s implementation of warning efforts that appear to have saved lives“.

Are you aware of DIME weapons that we have provided Israel? Ha’aretz reports that “The problem is that when you are killed – you are ripped to shreds and there is nothing left“.