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May 2003 Entries
I was reading through an article on George Soros when he dropped this little gem:
He also said he hoped Iraq would not repay all foreign debt stemming from Saddam Hussein's years in power, to discourage the practice of lending money to dictators.

Interesting. France and Russia supported Saddam by doing business with Iraq. Does Iraq owe them money? I'm sure the Iraqi people wouldn't want to repay anyone that helped Saddam remain in power. Does Saddam himself owe the money? Suppose Iraq were split into three countries. Who owes money then? Of course, if Iraq doesn't repay what message does that send to people that might do business with a shaky or "evil" government? In any case, it was a thought provoking comment.

posted @ Wednesday, May 21, 2003 2:28 PM | Feedback (0)
Some very interesting news out of the Middle East today. The headline of the article is Palestinians Protest, Blame Militants.
Hundreds of Palestinians burned tires and blocked a main road Tuesday in a rare burst of anger at Islamic militants whom they blamed for prompting Israeli military attacks by using their town to fire rockets into Israel.

...

In an unusual protest, about 600 Beit Hanoun residents blocked a main thoroughfare with trash cans, rocks and burning tires to show their anger at the militants and Palestinian Authority officials.

"They (the militants) claim they are heroes," said Mohammed Zaaneen, 30, a farmer, as he carried rocks into the street. "They brought us only destruction and made us homeless. They used our farms, our houses and our children ... to hide."

This is the first time I can remember the Arabs living in the West Bank (aka Palestinians) protesting against the terrorist organizations (called militants here) and the Palestinian Authority. Up to now any disagreement has been dealth with by Arafats security apparatus. Maybe those folks will finally get some freedom of speech. This is the quote that really ticked me off though:

Abbas is seen as instrumental in implementing the "road map" to peace plan, a three-stage prescription for ending violence and setting up a Palestinian state by 2005. However, Abbas has said he will not launch a crackdown on militias--a crucial step in the first phase--until Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon accepts the plan.

Abbas won't crack down on the terrorists, er militias, until Israel accepts the plan. Is there any doubt left that the Palestinian Authority is using the terrorists for their own gain? These are the people the Israelis are supposed to negotiate with? And the result?

The Israeli-Palestinian deadlock has left the field to the militants who are trying to torpedo the peace efforts and weaken Abbas. In the past, the Islamic militant groups, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, have stepped up attacks whenever there was increased hope of progress toward peace.

If the Palestinian Authority truly wants peace, they'll have to disarm Hamas and Islamic Jihad. That should be an interesting internal struggle for them. Until then, it appears those groups are a very usefull lever against Israel. When Afghanistan harbored terrorists who attacked America we invaded and removed the government. When the Palestinian Authority harbors terrorists who attack Israel, we tell the PA they can have a country if they stop the terrorists? Doesn't seem fair.

posted @ Tuesday, May 20, 2003 11:39 AM | Feedback (0)
It turns out some of the Iraqi leadership is in Syria:
The revelation that senior members of Saddam's regime such as Majid have fled into exile in Damascus is deeply embarrassing to the Syrian government of President Bashir al-Assad, which has consistently denied allegations made in Washington that Damascus is providing sanctuary to former Iraqi officials.

Either that or the Syrians were lying. Hmmm, I wonder which.

posted @ Monday, May 19, 2003 9:05 PM | Feedback (1)
Something I forgot to post earlier: France is Almost Finished
In fact, the only things that are growing in France right now are crime and Islamism. Some readers have been amazed by the fact that teenaged girls and young women in many city districts have to wear the Islamic veil if they do not want to be harassed, but it gets worse. A few weeks ago, a young Arab burnt a teenaged girl alive in the suburbs of Paris. He was convicted of murder, but he became a hero and an example for other young Arabs living in the same kind of areas. Two month ago, ten Arab men who raped another teenaged girl in another district were convicted and condemned to spend five years in jail. Yes, just five years. Their families left the court of justice shouting to the journalists it was unfair and they would look out for revenge. Eight days later, the court was burnt down during the night. The teenaged girl and her family have had to leave Paris, and hide in another part of the country.

You just can't get enough France-bashing these days.

posted @ Wednesday, May 07, 2003 7:31 PM | Feedback (0)
So how are the UN and France doing in Central Africa?
But in terms of 'nation-building' on the ground the UN operated like a tower of Babel staffed by civilian officials on secondment from the world's most brutal, incompetent Third World dictatorships. These people attended seminars, spouting edicts about gender-balanced councils, habeas corpus and respect for human rights that simply didn't exist in their own countries. And their prescriptions were all such fiction when applied to the realities of Somalia. We used to call the UN base MogaDisney. And it was filthy corrupt.

Turns out they failed miserably at stopping the Rwandan genocide. That left up to a million dead. My opinion of the UN and of France just keeps falling. There must be a bottom somwhere. Right?

posted @ Tuesday, May 06, 2003 1:44 PM | Feedback (0)
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