Man are we living in "interesting" times or what?
We have the economy in near melt down, the rest of the world seems to be shooting themselves, the war in Afghanistan is now the "good war", there has never been a good war. Nope, not even the American Revolution. Wars are never "good". Wars are always very destructive and should only be the absolute last resort. I still agree with the remarks of General Smedley Butler who said there are only two reasons for war. One; to defend OUR homes. Two; to defend the Bill of Rights. ALL other reasons (??) for war are a racket. He was right when he made this remark back in the 1930's and it is STILL true today, maybe even more so.
We have lived through another atrocity in Gaza. The Zionist gang who run Israel tried their best to destroy Hamas. It has not turned out according to plan. Another failure, just as their last invasion of Lebanon was a couple years ago. It appears that Hamas is just as popular among the Palestinians as ever, if not even more so. The invasion did not destroy that organization. Of course the lost of life among the Palestinians does not ever seem to concern the leadership(??) of Israel.
The tactics used were despicable, as usual. Apparently they were using banned weapons and maybe even "testing" some new ones, including the so-called "dime" weapons. These "new" bombs are packed with very fine bits of tungsten or other very dense metals. They cause very severe injuries and possibly cause cancer in the survivors. The wounds are nearly impossible to treat completely as they cause massive internal injury to the victim. Also, the IDF supposedly use white phosphorous against the civilians in Gaza. That is a war crime according to the Geneva Conventions. Of course that will not prevent the IDF nor the US military from using it. Just ask the folks who survived Iraq.
Another tactic used by the IDF was to tell the people in Gaza to take shelter in certain buildings. Then, the IDF would bomb or shell that very building! Well sure, this way they get more kills for their bomb/shell. When the target is "rich" with victims, you only need to use one bomb to increase your kill ratio. You use fewer bombs while killing more people this way.
They also have been said to have told people to come out of their houses. When they complied, they were lined up and shot. Well, sure, this makes sense as well. It is much easier to kill folks who are just standing in front of a wall or house than to hunt them down and kill them. Easier on the troops doing the killing that is. Less "work" for them, less energy expended.
All in all, the tactics used in the invasion of Gaza were totally despicable. The IDF does need to be looked at for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Disgusting is all I can add to this.
Since that invasion, Israel has had their election. It has been settled that Netanyahu will be the one to form a new government there. His coalition will likely include Avigdor Lieberman. This guy, Lieberman, wants the Palestinian Arabs who actually reside inside Israel to have to sign a loyalty oath or leave their homes and the country. He does not believe they deserve a country of their own, unless maybe, if it were very far from Israel. The guy is a racist. Israel is moving very far to the "right" of the political spectrum for sure. Not that there were any person running for high office in that country who would be willing to honestly negotiate with the Palestinians about a two state solution. Hell, America doesn't even have any people in leadership capacity who are willing to do that either. Oh, sure, Hi_larry is over there today and she has made the comment about "being committed to a "two state" solution. Sure she is. NOT! America has not been an "honest broker" for peace in that region for many years now. Don't look for Obama to "change" that issue either. His groveling before AIPAC last summer, after he had secured the nomination, is all you need to make that assessment of his administration. If that didn't convince you, look to his appointment of Rahm as his "chief-of-staff" Yep, a rabid Zionist who has had dual citizenship, he may still have such an arrangement today! The guy even volunteered for military service in the IDF during one of Israel's recent wars. I have forgotten exactly which "war" that was but it can be easily found with a search. I'm too damn lazy to do that just now. Sorry about that.
Another recent item I ran across was old Richard "the prince of darkness" Perle claiming that the neo-cons did NOT have any input with the administration of old W Bush! Bullshit! The guy even claims there are no such thing as neoconservatives! Man, these guys sure as hell know how to lie. Of course one would never expect them to even recognize, let alone ever tell, the truth. It just struck me as incredible that he could or would try to pull off such a whopper as this. There seems no limit to the depths the neo-crazies will stoop to.
Another item that caught my attention lately. The attacks by our drones against targets in Pakistan have increased since Oh-bomb-them has assumed office. That is right folks, Obama has actually increased the use of drones to bomb Pakistani targets. And we thought W was bad about this. Why, I bet some of you even "thought" Obama was a "peace" candidate back last summer. Didn't you? Well, you should have listened to what the man was saying, NOT to have "heard" what you wanted him to be saying. He is not, and never was, a "peace-nick". As the old song says, "meet the new boss, same as the old boss". How very sad, yet true.
While our economy is in the toilet, things are getting worse for everybody around the world. Recently the border guards in Bangladesh have mutinied. So far the reports say it was about low pay and food subsidies. They have killed a number of senior officers as a result of the mutiny.
Just yesterday, the cricket team from Sri Lanka was attacked by armed people in Lahore, Pakistan.
What do these two items have to do with us? Well, in my opinion, they are just the tip of the ice berg we are all riding called the "world economy". Look for more unrest and violence to come in the coming weeks and months. When people have lost all, they have no fear. What else can the lose? Only their lives, and if they feel there is no other way out, they will resort to violence.
The Bangladeshis may have mutinied over low pay and food price increase. The attack on the cricket team is still an unknown as to its "reason". Perhaps it was done by the LTTE as a part of their civil war in Sri Lank. Then again, it may have been a "retaliation" by India for the Mumbai attack last November. Or, it could have been a way to destabilize Pakistan. That country is bogged down in the US war in Afghanistan and the tribal areas of Pakistan and they are also undergoing unrest due to a recent "ruling" against some popular politicians in their country. Who is behind this attack and why they chose this target are, as yet, unanswered.
My point here is that we are going to see an increase in violent attacks across the world as the economy tanks. It is going to get very much more messy before there is any sort of "recovery" folks. This is shaping up to be one hell of a year, and it is only (!) March 3.
Keep your ammo handy.
semper fi
