"To Leave Iraq, take the next exit ramp..."

The Iraq war is lost. In my view it was lost the day those scandalous pictures from the Abu Ghraib prison were published.

The window of opportunity for a face saving exit is shutting fast! Since the Congressional elections in America, the political debate in America seems to be shifting from whether or not to "stay the course" or "cut and run" as it were. Now the debate is shifting to when and how to withdraw and disengage. Donald Rumsfeld had been fired. Dick Cheney is largely marginalised. The Neo Con cheerleader troupe has made an about face and is now claiming that the war was a good idea but was just managed badly... TYPICAL BUREAUCRATIC HOGWASH!!

Those of us who opposed this illegal invasion before the fact said that it would lead to chaos and civil war. I remember members of the British government crowing about the success of their venture in 2004. Now thier only recourse in a debate is "...so would you prefer it if Saddam Hussein was still in power?" Having lived under the dark clouds of dictatorship of Sani Abacha's Nigeria in the late 1990s i can say with some authority, YES!! Under Saddam, Iraqis may not have been free but the lines they were not to cross were clearly defined. Now, no one knows if he will be the victim of a suicide bomber in a market place.. or if he will be kidnapped by sectarian militia rife in the police force.. or maybe even just caught in the crossfire between skirmishing neighbourhoods. Life was much more certain and stable under the dictator which is saying something! Bush and Blair have taken a bad situation and turned it into a disaster. Tony Blair is latched on so tight that he may just follow the Bush administration as they "stay the course" right off the edge of the cliff...

THE ONLY LEGACY BUSH AND BLAIR WILL HAVE IS IRAQ. AN ERROR OF JUDGEMENT 100 TIMES WORSE THAN SUEZ!

IDF Response to peaceful protest

Quite frankly, I see Israel's attitude towards the Palestinians to be completely shameful and completely counter productive! There are MANY Israelis who will feel the same. This is not how to make peace! How many of the children hit with stun grenades or rubber bullets will go on to be taken advantage of by those who send suicide bombers?

TAKE AWAY A PEOPLE'S HOPE AND ONLY CHAOS WILL FOLLOW!!

Kramer's a RACIST!!

This is not particularly political but must be a total disappointment for fans for "Seinfeld"...

One reason why I believe I understand why the Israelis react like they do when they are attacked is because they like blacks know what it feels like to be persecuted.

This is like saying to a Jewish person "50 years ago you would have been marching towards the gas chambers!!"

Hateful and oh so disappointing.

This is what torture looks like.

The background to this is that a student at UCLA is approached randomly and asked for ID and he doesn't or can't produce any. For what ever reason, campus police were called. He is asked to leave and agrees to do so after apparently initially refusing. He objects very loudly to the officers grabbing his arm and for some unbeknownst reason he is tazer'd. More than once! About 3 minutes into the video, he is completely limp while the officers repeatedly ask him to stand up. Tazers can do that to you and it is possible to be completely incapacitated for us to 15 minutes after a shock. He cannot or does not comply with the officers and is tazer'd AGAIN sending his legs flying through the air apparently in spasm and he can be heard screaming in pain!!

The students name is Mustapha which may or may not be relevant. I'll leave you to judge.

Purity of Arms

Here is an excerpt from the Israeli Defence Forces Website (www.idf.il). It is one of their values.

The IDF servicemen and women will use their weapons and force only for the purpose of their mission, only to the necessary extent and will maintain their humanity even during combat. IDF soldiers will not use their weapons and force to harm human beings who are not combatants or prisoners of war, and will do all in their power to avoid causing harm to their lives, bodies, dignity and property.

I have to say I find it difficult to see how they can argue that this has been adhered to in their recent operations in the Gaza Strip.

Bush Whacked

At last enough there are enough Americans that are not going to let their legitimate fear of terrorism be taken advantage of.

The Republicans tried using statements like "...the terrorists would prefer a Democrat victory!" or "...the Democrats position on the war on terror is that the terrorists win and America loses!" to scare people into voting their way. It didn't work.

Checks and balances have been restored to the United States system of government and in less than 24 hours, the first positive sign: Don Rumsfeld is thrown overboard.

I look forward to the hearings and investigations the Democrat Party surely must now instigate.

THE ERA OF THE NEO-CON IS OVER!!

Back to Gaza

A couple days ago, we saw on TV two Palestinian women on a peaceful demonstration shot in the back while running away from the IDF. This shooting reminds me of video from Apartheid South Africa I used to see when i was growing up. We are hear today of and tank shell hitting a civilian house killing 18 more women and children.

It seems anywhere the IDF go, they leave a multitude of innocent dead in their wake. I DO NOT BELIEVE THE CIVILIAN OR MILITARY LEADERSHIP OF THE IDF ORDERS THE TARGETING OF CIVILIANS. They do however seem to encourage a culture of impunity which could and, probably does, lead to indiscipline among the "frontline" troops.

Civilian deaths like these may serve to vindicate extremist propaganda in the eyes of the Arab world. This cannot be good for Israel or peace in general. Israel must find an alternative to this cycle of attack and retaliation they have been stuck in for almost 50 years!

There will be no decisive military victory, no military glory for either side. Israelis cannot continue to revert to "Jewish Paranoia" over the existence of their state. All rational observers can see that there is very little prospect of the State of Israel not existing into the distant future.
The only real threat to the existence of Israel is the loss of American support for which there is also little prospect.

Israel has the ability to make a bilateral peace from a position of strength rather than making excuses and constantly moving unilaterally. It is clear that Israel is not in a conciliatory mood after their recent strategic defeat in Lebanon. Going forward I hope the people of Israel begin to realise that there is not military solution to their unique problem.

DIALOGUE IS THE ONLY WAY TO PEACE AND ISRAELIS WILL NOT KNOW PEACE UNTIL MOST OF THEM REALISE THIS!