Our World Depends On Detente

This morning I came across an interesting article, by Craig, posted on the web, which makes a lot of sense from many angles.  Ref.   https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2018/07/detente-bad-cold-war-good/

Just like perpetual war on terrorists is good for business, so is the cold war atmosphere some insist on maintaining; the military industrial complex (President Eisenhower warned us against) existence depends on it.   In a normal world, once a war is over, and matters are settled, the production of military equipment stops, and domestic consumer production goes into high gear again.  This is not the case today; consumers evaluate the real need before spending their money.  War production is happening without reasonable consideration, as to the real need for items produced.  The taxpayer is convinced through perceived fear for their survival, to give up their money, and civil liberties, all in one swoop.

I find myself in agreement with Craig, when he writes,

"Political memories are short, but just 15 years after Iraq was destroyed and the chain reaction sent most of the Arab world back to the dark ages, it is now “treason” to question the word of the Western intelligence agencies, which deliberately and knowingly produced a fabric of lies on Iraqi WMD to justify that destruction.
It would be more rational for it to be treason for leaders to blindly accept the word of the intelligence services."

He  goes on to say,

"This is especially true on “Russia hacking the election” when, after three years of crazed accusations and millions of man hours by lawyers and CIA and FBI investigators, they are yet to produce any substantive evidence of accusations which are plainly nuts in the first place. This ridiculous circus has found a few facebook ads and indicted one Russian for every 100,000 man hours worked, for unspecified or minor actions which had no possible bearing on the election result."

Why are we, the taxpayers, not shouting from every rooftop, 'Stop wasting our tax dollars'?  We have no money, apparently, to help the poor of our country but we don't think twice to spend many, many millions of dollars on this charade.  I don't know about you, I switch to another program when this nonsense is discussed, or reported on.

I don't care who occupies the 'Oval Office' but any person who is bent on preventing an existential war, and save our tax dollars as a byproduct gets my attention.  Can we, the public, not see that all of this costly circus is nothing but political wrangling, orchestrated by the losing party, who wishes to achieve the majority in both houses, so that they can raid the cookie jar again?

In my opinion, war and peace is a social concern we should all take very serious; false reasons for war based on false, fabricated facts must be rejected by all of us; our lives depend on it. 

Negotiations Designed To Fail

In a recent article by Ali Younes, published by Al Jazeera, he writes about the current situation in the area.
Ref. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/07/hamas-kushner-greenblatt-spokespeople-israeli-occupation-180720193946073.html

Image shown is part of the referenced article.

"Hamas: Kushner and Greenblatt spokespeople for Israeli occupation"

Indeed, how can a broker be effective when the bias towards one of the parties is so blatantly obvious.  Both of the US delegates are Jewish, one of which is related to the President.  What in God's world was the President thinking, when appointing these two unlikely brokers.  It surely smacks like he wanted to stack the cards in favor of the Israeli Hawk (Netanyahu).  The whole world can see that these two individuals are in bed with Netanyahu;  TV images of them cordially together abound.
 Ref.   https://www.google.com/search?q=kushner+and+greenblatt+with+netanyahu&client=firefox-b-1&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiNhujf-LDcAhXqqlQKHYbcAZ0QsAR6BAgBEHw&biw=1024&bih=475

If US administrations, historically, did not want to see the ongoing abuse of the Palestinian People to end, then why these silly charades?  From a social point of view, the ongoing theatrics only add insult to injury to the abused.  We are witnessing a serious hoax perpetrated by people who represent us.  When people rise up in a small way by using primitive low tech actions, it cannot give  rise to high tech, and deadly counter actions, by the abuser.

 Just today, after an Israeli soldier was killed, Israel followed with a massive bombing campaign.  This is not a proportional response by any stretch of the imagination.  During WW II when Germany occupied foreign lands, we used to applaud Freedom Fighters killing the occupiers, today we call Palestinian Freedom Fighters terrorist.  Allied forces occupied Germany after WW II, but they did it in accordance with international law, unlike the Israeli Government today.

I would like to refer you to a message I sent to then President elect Trump.
http://frankjm-socialconcerns.blogspot.com/2016/

I said it before to former President Obama, in writing, Israel is running the largest concentration camp the world has ever known, called Gaza, and that with our historic blessing.  One just has to read the Torah, also reflected in the old testament, to understand why God has forever punished this nation; perhaps God will do so again in the future.  One Israeli friend of mine, still living in Israel, once told me, "God is using the Palestinian people to punish the Jewish nation".  Yes, many Israelis protest against the actions of their Government against the Palestinians; TV images attest to this fact.

Personally, I lived once under the occupation of another nation, and fortunately it was not under Israel. The Israeli Government ignores the international law, which requires that the Occupier is responsible for the people it occupies.  This certainly does not allow a blockade, preventing that necessary supplies reach the occupied, preventing the legal land use for cultivating, building illegal settlements on land owned by the occupied, cutting utilities at will, and limit the free movement of the occupied, etc.

We Are Not Like That?

On the separation of children from their parents, we hear again and again from politicians, we are not like that.  I say hypocrites they are!  A defense contractor, MVM, has been hired by our Government in 2014 (prior to the Trump era) to transport immigrant children since 2014, according to the investigative reporters working for "Reveal".  https://www.revealnews.org/,  By Aura Bogado, Ziva Branstetter and Vanessa Swales / July 6, 201, and I quote,

"A major U.S. defense contractor quietly detained dozens of immigrant children inside a vacant Phoenix office building with dark windows, no kitchen and only a few toilets during three weeks of the Trump administration’s family separation effort, Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting has learned."

"The building is not licensed by Arizona to hold children, and the contractor, MVM Inc., has claimed publicly that it does not operate “shelters or any other type of housing” for children."

""... White House chief of staff John Kelly promised: “The children will be taken care of – put into foster care or whatever.”"
 
"Whether or not these children were taken from their parents, that “whatever” for them was the vacant building tucked away in a midtown Phoenix neighborhood. It is not listed among shelters operating through the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement or on the state child care licensing website."

It is now clear what the 'whatever' stood for, an empty office building with inadequate facilities to house children for weeks, apparently.

"The building was leased in March by MVM, a Virginia-based defense contractor that has received contracts worth up to $248 million to transport immigrant children since 2014, records show. The company, which once provided guards for CIA facilities in Iraq, was founded by three former Secret Service agents. One of its vice presidents is a former CIA special agent and former acting director of the U.S. Marshals Service."

"There are new cameras on the building, extra locks on the doors and a paper shredder bin directly outside the building’s side door. Neighbor Lianna Dunlap’s videos show workers pulling up in white vans and leading dazed children into the building. When she asked questions, she said the workers responded with silence or terse answers."

 Ref. Video  at  https://youtu.be/tBNdH8SNmS0

We the citizens of this great country of ours are certainly not like that, with few exceptions, but the people we elect to govern us are certainly like that.  Politicians cannot hide behind, "we did not know", even in a court of law the adage is "you knew or should have known".  Ignorance is no defense!

When we see politicians pointing fingers at each other, we now know that both the Democrats and the Republicans are made of the same cloth.  Yes, the most certainly are like that.





 

The World Is Still Watching Silently

 

The following pictures and relevant subtexts were copied from an article published by Aljazeera.

"Israeli forces assault Palestinians, prepare to demolish village" 

"At least 35 Palestinians wounded as Israeli forces prepare to demolish the entire Khan al-Ahmar village near Jerusalem."

https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/inpictures/israeli-forces-assault-palestinians-prepare-demolish-village-180704141245982.html

As in the days of Hitler's mistreatment of the innocent peoples of nations, Netanyahu's military is doing the same thing, all before the eyes of the world.  The world stood by then as it stands by now, allowing one nation to dominate and mistreat the people of another nation, a people with a very long history.

Israelis who decried the acts of the Nazis are now seen  doing what Hitler's military did, mistreat, rob, and kill innocent people, to make room for more illegal Israeli settlements, no doubt.

 

 "Israeli Rights group B'Tselem says that the forcible transfer of an entire Palestinian community in the occupied territories would be 'virtually unprecedented' since 1967. Mohamad Torokman/Reuters"

 

 "There are more than 40 Palestinian families living in Khan al-Ahmar. Mohamad Torokman/Reuters"

 

"The village, inhabited by the Jahalin tribe, has become encircled by politically influential Jewish settlements - Maale Adumim to the east and Kfar Adumim to the west. Mohamad Torokman/Reuters"

 

"Those present at the scene congregated around the bulldozer in an attempt to prevent it from beginning the demolition of the village. Mohamad Torokman/Reuters"

 

"Under international humanitarian law, the deportation of an occupied, civilian population from one area to another in the country, constitutes a war crime. Mohamad Torokman/Reuters" 

 

 "Israel occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem after the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. Since then, Israel has built more than 100 Jewish-only housing settlements - considered illegal under international law - across Area C. Mohamad Torokman/Reuters"

 

 "Between 600,000 and 750,000 Israelis live in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, equivalent to roughly 11 percent of the total Jewish Israeli population. Mohamad Torokman/Reuters"

 

 "The Khan al-Ahmar community suffers from recurring Israeli settler violence, as well as attacks on their homes. Israeli authorities have systematically refused to connect the village to water and electricity supplies, and have restricted their farming land. Mohamad Torokman/Reuters"

 

Germans destroying village during WW II and displacing its people

 Ref.  https://www.google.com/search?q=Germans+destroying+village+during+WW+II&client=firefox-b-1&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwin6920sYjcAhUprVQKHQn5CL8Q7Al6BAgBEEg&biw=1536&bih=727#imgrc=NnN0SCnnaSED_M:

It was very wrong then, and it is still very wrong now, the only thing that changed is that the once oppressed is now the oppressor.