U.S. Shift Kicked Off Frantic Diplomacy at U.N. - New York Times

U.S. Shift Kicked Off Frantic Diplomacy at U.N. - New York Times

This is an interesting article that discusses the diplomacy process in reaching a ceasefire in the Middle East.

Israeli Cabinet Approves U.N. Cease-Fire Deal

Israeli Cabinet Approves U.N. Cease-Fire Deal

An interesting article about Israels history in the region can be found here: Unsettling

Nola.com: NewsFlash - Annan: Mideast cease-fire starts Monday

Nola.com: NewsFlash - Annan: Mideast cease-fire starts Monday

This article touches on the basics of the just announced cease fire in the Middle East.

"Unsettling" by Rebecca Sinderbrand

"Unsettling" by Rebecca Sinderbrand

This is an article in Washington Monthly that my mother showed me regarding Israel. It is a rather disturbing article regarding Israels tactics for getting and keeping land. The name of the article is Unsettling.

Here are some quotes from the article that are unsettling:

"but by the time the dust cleared on June 4, 1967, Israel controlled roughly four times as much land as it had just a week earlier. The new land had an intoxicating effect on the Israeli public. "

"Even many who felt uneasy with their nation's new occupying role still felt an emotional tug that bound them to the soil, almost against their will, through some special alchemy, the Six Day War transformed even die-hard agnostics into believers." In a previous post I stated essentially that it was unbelievable that this group of individuals were acting so what I percieved as out of character, however this quote confirms that whatever is, and has happened in Israel is character changing.


"In 1969, an official from the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv took an exhausting afternoon trek out to the fledgling desert community of Kalyah, in the West Bank territory Israel had taken from Jordan in the Six Day War just two years earlier. A Time magazine report had painted a worrying portrait of a rising Jewish settlement presence that hinted at permanence, and the Americans had decided to investigate. At the time, there were just a handful of Israelis living there, in one of only two official settlements out on the far eastern edge of the West Bank. "

"He reported back to his superiors that those alarming tales of settlement growth were standard-issue media exaggeration, a "somewhat distorted picture of reality."

"To the United States, it was simply incomprehensible that these makeshift communities were anything more than some sort of temporary security measure, albeit a diplomatically inconvenient one."

"If that embassy rep made the same desert drive today, he'd encounter some 4,000 residents living in at least two dozen communities on the Israeli-controlled side of the Jordan River. In all, there are at least 261,000 Jews still living in lands conquered by Israel during the Six Day War. They live in orderly government-planned suburbs north and east of Jerusalem; in more isolated, far-flung towns surrounded by barbed wire and heavily-guarded highways; in small, fortified enclaves in and near the ancient biblical cities of the West Bank. These settlements are filled with the second and even third generations of those early post-war pioneers, who would have told that U.S. official, if he had only asked, that in their view there was nothing temporary about their new home. "

"That oversight was partly due to the schizophrenic nature of the debate, and partly because the illegality of settlement-building was never much in question: By the time the heady summer of '67 gave way to autumn, the Israeli government's top legal minds had concluded that the entire enterprise violated international law."

" (Arab leaders, for their part, proved unable or unwilling to use the diplomatic tools that might have short-circuited the settlement process until both the concept and the reality were too established for Israeli politicians to dislodge, even had they wanted to.)"

"the permanence of the Jewish presence resulted in a sea change in how the Palestinians viewed their situation. No longer did they believe that their Arab brethren would ride to their rescue and deliver the house keys to the old family home in Haifa. Their destiny was now in their own hands, and their only armed options against a conventionally superior foe would be terrorism and guerilla warfare. In the soil of the accidental empire, the seeds of the intifada were sown"

The following are articles in this blog that have referenced Israeli occupation of Lebanon:
BBC NEWS Middle East UN warns on Mid-East 'war crimes'

Chron.com Hezbollah enmeshed Lebanon's social fabric

Arabs' anger at America is hurting moderates - Africa & Middle East - International Herald Tribune

End This Tragedy Now

U.N. Security Council resolution key elements

In South Lebanon, a Fierce Fight for Every Yard

Letter to Senators Feinstein and Boxer on the Crisis in the Middle East

Widening war complicates US policy goals

Location of Links and Blogging

For some reason various news outlets have been publishing different news articles pointing to the same hyperlink. For example an article is updated and instead of giving the updated article a hyperlink of its own a new article appears where the old article was. An example of this is when I linked to a BBC Article BBC NEWS Middle East UN warns on Mid-East 'war crimes' The hyperlink that I used to point to this article is no longer valid and now points to UN rights body backs Israel probe.

To further emphasize the problem here is a screen shot from a google search that I did of the first article still pointing to the old location, when you click on the article you get a different article all together. The article is still on the net but has been given a different address because the second listing is the actual article. This practice is essentially undermining the internet which is based on Hypertext, being able to obtain related information at a click.

A general statement regarding my beliefs

The Israeli Lebanese war has been very disturbing to me as a human being in general. I have had many teachers, instructors, professors etc. However the overwhelming truth of the matter is that the majority of them have been Black or Jewish and what has been taught to me is thinking critically and being able to express your opinions.

As I express anti-Israeli sentiments it is very hard for me to do considering the very good relationship and impressions I have had of Jewish people for all of my life. I had heard bad things, stereotypical things, that people say about everyone however I had not given the things I heard much credence. I also know that no matter how much money that Jews accumulate I recognize their need for a homeland and a place. Nothing else can bring this home to me more than a childhood memory I have of one summer when I was in debate camp. The racial makeup of senior debaters was one Asian, one Jewish, and one African American-me, the rest I suppose were WASPISH white males. In any event as soon as an instructor would leave the room the wasp's would precede to harass the Jewish guy, the Asian would laugh and join in, and I would sit there and wonder what was happening because being from a segregated setting of all blacks for the majority of my educational life I really had not experienced racial slurs being spoken to anyone in my whole life. Well the Asian continued to laugh, but he was next, and he was not laughing then, I suppose they never got to me because well I never laughed and being black you never can escape from how some black react to being called bad names. In any case I do recognize the rights of Jewish people to have a homeland.

As for the Palestinians and the Lebanese, I know how they feel about Blacks Africans, and African Americans by the cartoons that they have put out towards Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice. I have found the cartoons disturbing and when I first saw them on Fox News I had to make the decision whether to continue blogging on the Lebanese issue; at one point I said I would stop blogging on the issue because of the cartoons, but I then said I could not do that because this was a humanitarian issue. Well today I looked for the cartoons again because I had to make the decision whether to attend a rally tomorrow outside of CNN center. Unlike several weeks ago where the only place I saw the cartoons was on Fox News, today I found the cartoons, I even found an extra cartoon that I had never seen before, and I made the decision that as an African American I would not feel comfortable protesting with a body of individuals who could produce a cartoon so stereotypical about an African American woman. I hate to say this and I do regret it, but I voted for President Bush the second time because I was proud of Condoleeza Rice. Not only was she a black woman but she was an articulate black woman, she was not a caricature of a black woman as some of the Clinton appointees had tended to be meaning she spoke standard English. As I reviewed the horrible images of our secretary of State and the words associated with her. I instinctively know that there is something in the Israeli-Palestinian-Lebanese situation that is not being conveyed to me. There is something that has not been written that can make me understand the Israeli side. I understand the suicide bombings and the emotion it created but why not then, why not let a suicide bombing trigger a war, it did not. Ultimately I have to say that there is something rather shady going on in Israel to make two soldiers an excuse for war, but the attitudes of the Lebanese towards blacks leads me to believe that they brought in a hatred towards the Jewish people and the Jewish people did not throw the first stone, because I know Secretary of State Rice did nothing to deserve the attack she received from the Palestinians.

BBC NEWS | Middle East | UN warns on Mid-East 'war crimes'

BBC NEWS Middle East UN warns on Mid-East 'war crimes' (New Link Location)

BBC NEWS Middle East UN warns on Mid-East 'war crimes' (Old Link Location)

This article warns that Hezbollah and Israel could be facing war crimes charges; Hezbollah for using civilians as shields and launching bombs, and Israel for senseless unremitting bombing.

The problem here is that Hezbollah did not start launching the bombs, they are retaliating for the actions of Israel. I fail to see why they would face war crime charges for defending their country.

The United States and Israel state that they are upset because people are not blaming Hezbollah for launching two hundred rockets a day into Israel; however the fact is these rockets are not killing too many people, and I even question whether the twelve soldiers that were hit were not even deliberately placed in the line of fire to be hit. In addition, Hezbollah started launching bombs after Israel started to launch bombs. Personally I don' t think they can be brought up for war crimes for responding to a bomb. It just does not make sense.

Another thing the article emphasizes is how irate the U.S. and Israel are because people are against Israel. The only response I have to this is that the Bush Administration must be looking at the situation through a different lens then the rest of the world. What I see is that Hezbollah did something possibly "naughty", if alleged, they kidnapped two Israeli soldiers, though most none CNN media sources agree that the soldiers were on Lebanese territory and were therefore captured. In any event they did something naughty and Isreal instead of responding by negotiations, protesting to the U.N., creating a media frenzy, and using diplomatic tactics preceded to blow Lebanon off the map, all the while telling Lebanon that they were their friends and it was not against them, but against Hezbollah and consistently and constantly bombing Lebanon to the ground. This is what I see and this is what the world sees. However the citizens of the United States see a lot of other things, the only problem is the leaders of the United States and specifically Great Britain see everything though a different lens.

Chron.com | Hezbollah enmeshed Lebanon's social fabric

Chron.com Hezbollah enmeshed Lebanon's social fabric

This is a really great article that discusses the infrastructure of Hezbollah other than the war machine. I will be saving this article for future reference of Hezbollah. It would be an interesting article for students to read and study. I will be printing it and allowing my son to take it to school this year.

There are however two things that are disturbing about the article, the first one is that Israel has the goal of destroying even the good institutions of Hezbollah according to the article:

"In a recent interview with The Associated Press in Jerusalem, Israeli Army spokesman Capt. Jacob Dallal said Hezbollah institutions, not just military infrastructure, should be crippled. "

Dallal is further quoted as saying the following:

"In the war on terror in general, it's not just about hitting an army base, which they don't have, or a bunker. It is also about undermining their ability to operate ... . That ranges from incitement on television and radio, financial institutions and, of course, other grass-roots institutions that breed more followers, more terrorists, training bases, obviously, schools," he said."

The second disturbing point aboutthis article is that Hezbollah is the social services organization for Lebanon. Hezbollah is the organization providing for the poor. If there were no Hezbollah in Lebanon the poor would have no schools, no hospitals, nothing.

As for the United States, in an administration who would like to broker out social services to religious organizations, Hezbollah is obviously a model worth studying. As far is the complete destruction of Hezbollah, I am still perplexed that this war was started by the kidnapping or capture of two Israeli soldiers, I have yet to figure out what is the truth regarding the incident but the United States did not flatten any one's city when our hostages were taken in the 70's. I fail to realize why we should tolerate the actions of Israel when we would not even take those actions ourselves ,but negotiated a settlement for our live hostages. At the time of the United States Hostage situation, I was an elementary student in D.C. and remember the whole school going down to the highway so we could wave at the hostages on the bus as they returned from the Middle East. Even with this incident the United States never had innocent blood on their hands.

Finally when the Israeli Captain above discusses ending Hezbollah, what he is essentially discussing is genocide and genocide is something that no one should support. The holocaust in Germany was an attempt at genocide and the more Israel participates in genocidal tactics in the Middle East, the more they bring into question whether their incident of genocide is even worth contemplating and studying anymore. The Jewish people have worked for years to bring attention to the holocaust, it would be a shame if other would dedicate themselves generationally upon generation to discuss the genocidal policies of Israel towards Hamas and the Lebanese.

Arabs' anger at America is hurting moderates - Africa & Middle East - International Herald Tribune

Arabs' anger at America is hurting moderates - Africa & Middle East - International Herald Tribune

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | 'Damage is done' to Lebanon coast

BBC NEWS Science/Nature 'Damage is done' to Lebanon coast

Home Depot Founder major consultant to Israel Army; Boycott Home Depot

The country of Israel could not have used their weapons any more violently and destructively even if it was (and is) a member of a despotic government of bandits. The useless destruction and murdering of individuals is disgusting and uncalled for. The thing that surprises me is that through dual citizenship, people who are citizens of the United States and Israel, I could be actually funding the carnage in the Middle East. At this point in my life I've said no and one of my children who visits an extremely qualified Jewish professional will not be visiting him anymore and I am not sure if he supports the Israeli Army, but one of the reasons I specifically chose him was because he was Jewish and I thought there was an affinity with the struggles of African Americans due to the many obstacles that Jewish people have overcome however I will no longer be visitng this professional.

Furthermore I will no longer be frequenting Home Depot because I know that the founder Bernie Marcus, not just funds the Israeli Army but advises it as well. The very thought that a man who sells home improvement products in the United States also is participating in the carnage and destruction in Lebanon is revolting. The very thought that a citizen of the United States is creating so much fear in citizens of the Lebanon that they are afraid to walk the streets is fearful.

Citizens of Lebanon have the following feelings as reported in the article Israel Orders Vehicles Off Lebanon Roads in the Washington Post:

"Our workers wherever they go are telling people don't go out at all _ day or night because Israel said day or night they will attack," said Dr. Ahmed Zirkot, one of only six members of the 21-member municipal board still in Tyre.

According to The Jewish Virtual Library, the founder of Home Depot, Bernie Marcus:

"believes in looking first toward family needs, which means he believes passionately in Jewish causes. Bernie sees the survival of the Jewish people and the survival of his beloved Israel as paramount. His involvement in Israel led him 11 years ago to found the IDI, the Israel Democracy Institute. The IDI accumulates information on legislation passed in other countries and advises the Israeli government whether or not to implement it. Israeli leaders now have access to data about laws and programs that have succeeded and failed in every democracy in the world"

The article goes on to say that Marcus:

"Marcus's passion motivated the involvement of George Shultz, the former Secretary of State of the United States, to become involved. Together they have created the sole consulting think tank for the Israeli army."

Finally if one wonders why some media outlets equate the kidnapping of two soldiers as equivalent to the mass murder of hundreds of individuals and the layering to the ground of the infrastructure of a country. One might have to thank Bernie Marcus and the former owner of Aetna for this. According to a 2001 article :

" A group of American business and political leaders are building a pro-Israel media "war room" in Washington, D.C. The group will be called "Emet"-which in Hebrew means "truth."

Emet will try to address biased media coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and also make the case that the conflict, while serious and important, pales in comparison to the larger geo-strategic threat posed to the United States and the West by Iran and Iraq, both of whom are trying to build and/or acquire weapons of mass destruction.

Funding Emet is Leonard Abramson; he sold U.S. Healthcare to Aetna in the mid-1990s for $8.9 billion. Abramson has recruited a powerful board of directors, including Bernie Marcus, founder of Home Depot; Les Wexner, founder of The Limited; Edgar Bronfman Sr., who once owned Seagram's; and Lou Ranieri, a major Wall Street player who now co-owns one of Israel's largest banks. Also joining the board are Jeane Kirkpatrick, former U.S. Ambassador to the UN, and Jack Kemp. "

Are we to believe that we are in Iraq becuase of an argument made by a lobbying organization. Are we to seriously believe that our foreign policy agenda is being set by another country. Finally is this the reason that Lebanon has been destroyed because of another countries lobby.

VOA News - France, US Revising Draft UN Resolution on Israel-Hezbollah

VOA News - France, US Revising Draft UN Resolution on Israel-Hezbollah

Races in 3 States May Help Determine Power in House

Races in 3 States May Help Determine Power in House

Reports are that Cynthia McKinney the controversial congresswoman lost her seat to Hank Johnson. I have to admit I knew the election was today but I did not vote. I did not vote for Hank Johnson because I am slightly suspicious of all men in the Fourth District based on the personal experience of trying to collect child support, lost records, failure to respect documents, a CEO that is accused of rape but claims it is a menage tois, an elected sheriff shot by the former sheriff, you understand. However, the CEO has brought good things a new mall which prior to his election was not happening, a summer concert series with A list jazz artists within walking distance from my home, a jazz and blues festival that I attended several weeks ago that I really had a great time at because the county took the time to think about my children by having giant bouncy things that they had a great time with, the county also provided arts and crafts for my children to create at the jazz and blues festival, plus the acts which were Alex Bugnon and Michael Franks as well as many other jazz artists were awesome. While we have our problems in this county I have to say that the CEO has gone out of his way to make Dekalb County and our area the Lithonia area, the place where the Coretta Scott King funeral was held an overall nice place to live.

The day before the election I was ambivalent about voting several thoughts were running through my head. One of them was why not give a man a chance for a change and then I thought about my former child support problems, they were solved actually by calling the governors office and then the President's office. You would have to know how severe the problem was to understand what happened. In any event I thought well maybe not a man for this district. However later on that night for the second time I listened to the debate between Cynthia McKinney and I knew that I would not be voting for Cynthia, I knew that actually I would not be voting for several reasons. Cynthia seemed to be really angry, she almost seemed ready to clock Hank, at that point I discovered that she really had a problem. I understand that she's upset about the world but the inability to appreciate the gift that had been given to her as a congresswoman elected 6 times was overwhelming. Life is good for Cynthia, she's successful, working on her PHD at U.C. Berkeley and has a nice life, while it's OK to feel animosity towards the U.S. sometimes one has to relax and smell the roses and say thank God I can go see Erykah Badu at Chastain Park and have a good time with wine and the picnic basket, Cynthia seemed far removed from this. A question that she did not answer well enough for me was, what would you do for all people of your district, mainly republicans and independents, her response was district days, this was an answer that made me wonder if she even knew what Republican issues were such as tax breaks for small businesses, less taxation etc. District Days was an unacceptable answer. Finally what made me say NO to voting, and NO to voting for Cynthia was when in her Summary she attacked Hank Johnson and who was funding him; while Hank Johnson said what he would do for this district "jobs", get a clue Cynthia. In her summary Cynthia acted as if she was entitled to be our congresswoman and how dare Hank Johnson run against her. In a democratic society any one qualified to run can run, Hank ran, Hank won. Sorry Cynthia you've been dethroned and this time I honestly hope you don't run again. It's time to put your skills, talents, and beliefs into other avenues. It is ironic that Americans ultimately don't want activists representing them that's why Nader, the man resposible for the clean air and water act has not yet been elected President. I believe some of the things that Cynthia believes but I also believe that those chosen to represent African Americans should have something within that keeps them from acting on their impulses. I don't want my daughter or son thinking its OK to clock a police officer because for them it's not and could ultimately get them placed in jail. Finally I also encourage my children to be very careful of the company they keep and using profanity in "public" is just not acceptable. One of Cynthia's colleagues used profanity to a media camera man and while I could have swallowed the incident with the police officer because it was not on camera. I could not handle the profanity and I had to question why with all of the talented people I know personally in this district she chose this man to walk with.

Finally I say congratulations and I hope that Hank will continue to run. I hope Congressman Johnson is not intimidated by this district. I observed Denise Majette being intimidated several times at District meetings by black voters angry that she had won. One incident that comes to mind is while at a district meeting Denise Majette spoke on Child Care, Head Start and No Child left Behind, I thought she did a great job and of course I clapped. I was the only one in the room that clapped and received angry stares from the others in the room. I thought Denise Majette was a wonderful person and when I heard Hank Johnson being attacked by Cynthia for daring to run against her, this struck a serious nerve. Cynthia McKinney does not own the seat. In any event this is the extent by which Cynthia is liked in my district by older individuals, however the demographics in this county are changing and while younger people are interested in Civil Rights, they are also interested in business issues and money, furthermore I honestly would not discount the role that Katrina victims played in this election.

cbs5.com - Georgia Congresswoman McKinney Loses Runoff

cbs5.com - Georgia Congresswoman McKinney Loses Runoff

End This Tragedy Now

End This Tragedy Now

This article was written by the Prime Minister of Lebanon. It lays out the plan that he would like to adopt for a cease fire. It appears to be a fair plan to all. The Prime Minister states that this plan has been on the table for a while but has not been adopted.

Scotsman.com Business - Land Rover could be sweetener in Jaguar sale

Scotsman.com Business - Land Rover could be sweetener in Jaguar sale

Buying Jaguar was not a mistake by Ford. The mistake for Ford came when they tried to make the Jaguar look like a Ford Taurus with a J sign. For years I have marveled at how Ford destroyed the Jaguar brand, my very overactive imagination went so far as to say Ford bought Jaguar just to detroy its good name. I don't know how Jaguar turned into a Ford Taurus with a J on it, so it might be the best thing for Ford to sell so buyers don't associate the two brands again.

For the buyers of Jaguar the car company; I would reccomend that they reknew their commitment to clean and classic design first of all, it's going to cost some money to hire several car designers to whip the brand in shape; and knowing Ford the quality may have slipped, take quality back where it was. What ultimately Ford failed to realize is that Jaguar was truly a luxury brand which meant different assembly and design considerations than a Taurus or an F150; and I love the F150. The F150 is the best looking truck that I know of.

One brand that seems to be handling the transition well is Daimler Chrylser. Chrysler has taken off with the merger with Benz.

Discussion of the overall Ford Turnaround can be found at the Washington Post: at the following links: Ford to Focus on N. American Turnaround; Fords quarterly loss blooms to 254 M .

Chron.com | U.N. Security Council resolution key elements

Chron.com U.N. Security Council resolution key elements

The Houston Chronicle lays out the basics of the U.N. Security plan for peace in Lebanon.

There are some serious problems with the plan. The first one and as the Houston Chronicle states "the overly broad language" as it regards to Israel's definition of self defense. A skirmish on the border and the capturing of prisoners on Lebanese territory does not and will not ever justify the destruction of the whole country. Self defense for most reasonable individuals does not have to be defined but in this case a definition of self defense must be clearly stated.

Another tenet of the resolution does not provide for the withdrawal of troops from Lebanon. It is my opinion that Israel attacked Lebanon and Gaza for land, and I'm sure others feel that way also. "Any Old Excuse Will Do" I am further fully more convinced of this after reading an article written in the Washington Post entitled In South Lebanon, a Fierce Fight for Every Yard that paints an almost idyllic picture of Southern Lebanon: the writer writes the following about an elderly man he interviewed in Southern Lebanon:

"Bread?" Abu Ali asked. "We haven't seen it."

"He pointed to a small garden plot across the street, withering from too little water. There were tomatoes, beans, okra and sunflowers standing vigil. Behind his home was a grapevine, and along an alley was a bountiful fig tree, its fruit still green."

"If the war keeps going, we'll just eat grapes," he said."

NOT BREAD, NOT CAKE, BUT GRAPES

How awesome! The sad part is that the carnage and destruction that the world is seeing and is repelled by is a reality of life for the individuals the author interviewed; and has been for thirty years. It is my opinion that in the least the U.N. must include a time table for when Israel will leave Lebanon. The Israslis are emotionally connected to land and the possession of it. They held on to the goal of living in the Middle East for 3000 years. As stated before in this post and many times in this blog I believe this attack was for land and Israel has attacked before for land and if the U.N. security council fails to acknowledge this they will attack again. At this point the buildings of Lebanon have been bombed, the people have been killed, the majority of bridges have been knocked out, they have no electricity, and even the hospitals can no longer see patients. A cease fire was needed before all of this happened, before the killings and destruction. At this point the Lebanese have no more to lose and must fight for a resolution that makes sure that this never happens again. Honestly if Israel felt that rebels stole their soldiers why bomb the whole country? Why? Finally Lebanon has reached the point where the war is theirs to win and in the end what could only happen now is that Israelis casualties will start to mount, Lebanon should negotiate for a plan that guarantees that this will never happen again. To summarize the above statements, Lebanon has reached the point where negotiations for just peace are meaningless and just lip service.

Another item of the resolution is the Hezbollah be disarmed, this is not a bad thing but since Hezbollah managed to prevent Israel from continuing their cruel and inhumane occupation in Southern Lebanon before, Lebanon should quietly begin recruiting these individuals into or as the Lebanese Military. Lebanon should not object to this. Make the individuals that protected the country in the past the military.

Another item is to restrict arms sales to the National government of Lebanon, prior to agreeing to this Lebanon probably has to sit down with Hezbollah and discuss how this will be done, I don't think this should be a problem for Hezbollah or Lebanon. I would however provide that a secret service be allowed that helps to protect Lebanon because it is the way that Hezbollah fights that has protected Lebanon in the past.

Finally it calls for a release of two soldiers. The question is are those soldiers even still alive or have they been bombed to the ground? Hopefully they have not. As for Lebanese prisoners if this is to be treated as a "real" agreement to a "real" war. Meaning after all major wars war prisoners were released, all prisoners of war from both sides should be released. Anything less is only stating that the conflict is not over and a lasting peace between both parties is not intended. Both sides need to release the prisoners if not to each other than to the U.N. for trial for war crimes.

According to the Washington Post in the article U.S., France Agree On Plan to Halt Lebanon Fighting : "The Bush administration is working behind the scenes to win support, hoping for the proposal to be put in final form Monday and a vote to be held Tuesday."

The World ignores many injustices as a matter of habit

The world ignores and ignored American Slavery, Jim Crow, South Africa, The colonization of most of Africa, Lebanon once before, injustices all over the world and they just look. There was a time when the U.S. media would call a black person nigger on air and it would be accepted; "just naturally, just like talking, not plain folk talking but conversation folk. There was a time when people would have picnics at lynchings; "Oh we're having a lynching today; bring ya children on down and watch it. These things happened and the media said nothing, the churches said nothing. Nobody said nothing but a few. Unfortunately as it relates to Lebanon the United States has reached that low point in their society - yet again.

CNN using Schizophrenic Reporting regarding Lebanon

As I sit and watch television news I am amazed at the attitudes taken towards the Lebanese by the media. The reporting goes something like this: Hezbollah has sent 200 rockets to Israel, naughty Hezbollah, see I told you they were dangerous and bad. Hezbollah has killed one woman on a bike with their rockets she was 28 and the mother of four, naughty Hezbollah, oh yeah we forgot to mention Israel started the war and has killed close to 800 people so far. Israel has destroyed the whole country knocked down precious bridges, bombed buildings and done everything they could do to destroy and retake Lebanon. Hey Israel if you bomb everything to the ground know its going to be easier to build your own structures in their place. Finally Israel does not care about those two kidnapped soldiers because over three times that many have died in their attack and they have not come to a cease fire. The bottom line is that they are after land and let me make this clear if the United States agrees to a cease fire and Israel refuses to stop I will be in the streets demanding that the Bush administration not send any more weapons Israel's way. Furthermore the U.S. is currently breaking U.N. policy by sending weapons to Israel anyway.

VOA News - Israeli Commandos Raid Lebanese City of Tyre

VOA News - Israeli Commandos Raid Lebanese City of Tyre

Fearing U.S. Attack, Cuba Readies Troops

Fearing U.S. Attack, Cuba Readies Troops

The press secretary for the Bush Administration is stating that Cuba is over reacting for thinking the U.S. would invade Cuba.

Bush Starts 10-Day Texas Vacation

Bush Starts 10-Day Texas Vacation

Would the President of a major company continue on with a vacation in the midst of an international Crisis that some have argued could blossom into WWIII? There is a personal error in judgement here, an advisor should not have to tell you not to take a vacation in the midst of a crisis. Sorry, President Bush you can't blame anyone else for the decision.

Letter to Senators Feinstein and Boxer on the Crisis in the Middle East : SF Indymedia(post hacked and the U.S. added to sentence regarding doors)

Letter to Senators Feinstein and Boxer on the Crisis in the Middle East : SF Indymedia

I second this opinion. The writer of this letter writes that in the wake of the democratic parties failure to stand up against the massacre of innocent women, children, and men. The writer can no longer support the democratic party. Have the Jewish people so carried the flag of the holocaust that we must support their wrong actions. The Israelis are committing genocide in Lebanon and Gaza; What is knocking down doors in every neighborhood and killing the man of the house, but genocide. The bombing of Southern Lebanon with innocent people is not a mistake. Israel's and the United States are attempting to get rid of even potential members of organizations that they are against. Just like the pharaoh in the bible wanted to kill every Jewish baby, the Jews are turning it around and wanting to kill every Arab Lebanese and Arab Palestianian baby, woman, and man. It might behoove them to think that if that's the promised land and they are killing the people living on it, and most of the jews and the palestianians favor each other greatly. They are only killing thier own seeds that they value so greatly. I should remind them that Jesus was a Jew. In effect they are killing their brothers children.

China to send envoy to Middle East - Forbes.com

China to send envoy to Middle East - Forbes.com

Khaleej Times Online - Open letter to Bush from an Arab girl

Khaleej Times Online - Open letter to Bush from an Arab girl

Khaleej Times Online - Open letter to Bush from an Arab girl

Khaleej Times Online - Open letter to Bush from an Arab girl

ANALYSIS - U.S., Britain risk much in Lebanon gamble

ANALYSIS - U.S., Britain risk much in Lebanon gamble

Widening war complicates US policy goals

Widening war complicates US policy goals

Doonesbury: Blast from the Past Doonesbury Cartoon