Israeli/Gaza Conflict: Monday Morning Quarterbacking

I must say this crap is most pathetic. 🙄

First off, we have terrorist supporter and America’s worst former President and Commie Liberal traitor, Jimmy Carter in the WaPo:

I know from personal involvement that the devastating invasion of Gaza by Israel could easily have been avoided.

After visiting Sderot last April and seeing the serious psychological damage caused by the rockets that had fallen in that area, my wife, Rosalynn, and I declared their launching from Gaza to be inexcusable and an act of terrorism. Although casualties were rare (three deaths in seven years), the town was traumatized by the unpredictable explosions. About 3,000 residents had moved to other communities, and the streets, playgrounds and shopping centers were almost empty. Mayor Eli Moyal assembled a group of citizens in his office to meet us and complained that the government of Israel was not stopping the rockets, either through diplomacy or military action.

Knowing that we would soon be seeing Hamas leaders from Gaza and also in Damascus, we promised to assess prospects for a cease-fire. From Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, who was negotiating between the Israelis and Hamas, we learned that there was a fundamental difference between the two sides. Hamas wanted a comprehensive cease-fire in both the West Bank and Gaza, and the Israelis refused to discuss anything other than Gaza.

We knew that the 1.5 million inhabitants of Gaza were being starved, as the U.N. special rapporteur on the right to food had found that acute malnutrition in Gaza was on the same scale as in the poorest nations in the southern Sahara, with more than half of all Palestinian families eating only one meal a day.

Palestinian leaders from Gaza were noncommittal on all issues, claiming that rockets were the only way to respond to their imprisonment and to dramatize their humanitarian plight. The top Hamas leaders in Damascus, however, agreed to consider a cease-fire in Gaza only, provided Israel would not attack Gaza and would permit normal humanitarian supplies to be delivered to Palestinian citizens.

After extended discussions with those from Gaza, these Hamas leaders also agreed to accept any peace agreement that might be negotiated between the Israelis and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who also heads the PLO, provided it was approved by a majority vote of Palestinians in a referendum or by an elected unity government.

Since we were only observers, and not negotiators, we relayed this information to the Egyptians, and they pursued the cease-fire proposal. After about a month, the Egyptians and Hamas informed us that all military action by both sides and all rocket firing would stop on June 19, for a period of six months, and that humanitarian supplies would be restored to the normal level that had existed before Israel’s withdrawal in 2005 (about 700 trucks daily).

We were unable to confirm this in Jerusalem because of Israel’s unwillingness to admit to any negotiations with Hamas, but rocket firing was soon stopped and there was an increase in supplies of food, water, medicine and fuel. Yet the increase was to an average of about 20 percent of normal levels. And this fragile truce was partially broken on Nov. 4, when Israel launched an attack in Gaza to destroy a defensive tunnel being dug by Hamas inside the wall that encloses Gaza.

On another visit to Syria in mid-December, I made an effort for the impending six-month deadline to be extended. It was clear that the preeminent issue was opening the crossings into Gaza. Representatives from the Carter Center visited Jerusalem, met with Israeli officials and asked if this was possible in exchange for a cessation of rocket fire. The Israeli government informally proposed that 15 percent of normal supplies might be possible if Hamas first stopped all rocket fire for 48 hours. This was unacceptable to Hamas, and hostilities erupted.

After 12 days of “combat,” the Israeli Defense Forces reported that more than 1,000 targets were shelled or bombed. During that time, Israel rejected international efforts to obtain a cease-fire, with full support from Washington. Seventeen mosques, the American International School, many private homes and much of the basic infrastructure of the small but heavily populated area have been destroyed. This includes the systems that provide water, electricity and sanitation. Heavy civilian casualties are being reported by courageous medical volunteers from many nations, as the fortunate ones operate on the wounded by light from diesel-powered generators.

The hope is that when further hostilities are no longer productive, Israel, Hamas and the United States will accept another cease-fire, at which time the rockets will again stop and an adequate level of humanitarian supplies will be permitted to the surviving Palestinians, with the publicized agreement monitored by the international community. The next possible step: a permanent and comprehensive peace.

Disgraceful. The old bastard ought to be charged for Treason and sent to a reeducation camp, along with the rest of Liberal America. 😡

I mean, just who the hell does that old duffer think he is?  This is the same damned President who economic policies were a complete disaster. If it had not been for Ronald Reagan this country would have went into a full scale depression back in the 1970’s. Luckily Reagan made some very much needed changes and rid the country of some of the waste, which in turned staved off a depression and thankfully, we only experienced a slight recession. Again that recession was due to the disastrous polices of Carter. Hell, even Bill Clinton could not stand the old man, Clinton refused to meet with Carter at all. Which caused a major problem during his administration.

On the other hand, Marvin Hier makes some very valid points in a Wall Street Journal in an opinion piece:

At the U.N., no surprise, this double-standard is in full force. In response to Israel’s attack on Hamas, the Security Council immediately pulled an all-night emergency meeting to consider yet another resolution condemning Israel. Have there been any all-night Security Council sessions held during the seven months when Hamas fired 3,000 rockets at half a million innocent civilians in southern Israel? You can be certain that during those seven months, no midnight oil was burning at the U.N. headquarters over resolutions condemning terrorist organizations like Hamas. But put condemnation of Israel on the agenda and, rain or shine, it’s sure to be a full house.

Red Cross officials are all over the Gaza crisis, describing it as a full-blown humanitarian nightmare. Where were they during the seven months when tens of thousands of Israeli families could not sleep for fear of a rocket attack? Where were their trauma experts to decry that humanitarian crisis?

There have been hundreds of articles and reports written from the Erez border crossing falsely accusing Israel of blocking humanitarian supplies from reaching beleaguered Palestinians in Gaza. (In fact, over 520 truck loads of humanitarian aid have been delivered through Israeli crossings since the beginning of the Israeli counterattack.) But how many news articles, NGO reports and special U.N. commissions have investigated Hamas’s policy of deliberately placing rocket launchers near schools, mosques and homes in order to use innocent Palestinians as human shields?

Many people ask why there are so few Israeli casualties in comparison with the Palestinian death toll. It’s because Israel’s first priority is the safety of its citizens, which is why there are shelters and warning systems in Israeli towns. If Hamas can dig tunnels, it can certainly build shelters. Instead, it prefers to use women and children as human shields while its leaders rush into hiding. Read the Rest

I suggest you go read that entire piece. It is filled with truth. I mean, people sure have short memories when it comes to Israel, Gaza and Palestine. Some people must have forgotten that Israel totally pulled out of the Gaza Strip, gave the Palestinians that land, that was rightfully Israel’s and let them live there. So, what does Gaza do? Elects a terrorist organization to govern and then they whine and cry when Israel invades that land!   Fata was at least honorable enough to uphold a peace agreement, more than I can say for Hamas. The people in Gaza had better be glad I am not running that war campaign for Israel. They think the human toll is bad now? Ha! I’d bomb gaza into the damn stone age. Which is what Israel should rightly do, and take back their damn land from those arab scumbags.

Others on the right side of this conflict: QandO, , A Blog For All,protein wisdom, Don Surber, Little Green Footballs, Pirate’s Cove Macsmind, Gateway Pundit, Riehl World View, Yourish.com,Jules Crittenden, neo-neocon and Jihad Watch

(Via Memeorandum)

Andrew Sullivan goes off the damned rails……………again.

You know, I totally understand Jeffrey Goldberg‘s point about this situation over in Gaza, believe me, I do.  But for Andrew Sullivan to print a picture of a damn dead little girls face on his Blog, that’s just fucking uncalled for man. Sorry for the language in this posting, but damn it, that’s just wrong. 😡

Careful with that link, it’s quite disturbing to look at.

Besides, there’s a possibility that the photo was faked anyhow.

Others: The Sundries Shack

I’m sorry, But I cannot agree with Taki Either

Once again, I find myself in opposition with Paleo-Conservatives. It seems that a prominent Paleo-Conservative that has made a rather startling comment on his website, that has raised the ire of other Conservatives.

Taki Theodoracopulos made the following comment on his Blog:

While Gaza is being bombarded by American-made F-16’s, here’s some food for thought: During the German occupation of Greece, the occupiers posted the following rules: If any German soldier was found murdered, 10 Greeks would immediately be rounded up at random and executed; if there was a repetition, the number would go up to 100. This draconian measure was not put into effect until the very end of the occupation in 1944, well after the Italian collapse of 1943. Communist agitators would go into what they thought were conservative neighborhoods-in other words, well-off precincts-spot a drunken German soldier, kill him, and then beat a hasty retreat. The next day innocent people would pay the piper. At times, the German high command rescinded the order, as it became obvious what was going on.

Switch to Gaza 64 years later. Since 2005 Israel, which is still punishing the original inhabitants of the lands it rules or occupies, has killed 150 Palestinians for each Israeli killed these last eight years. Just think of it. Seventeen Israeli lives have been expunged by the murder of 2550 Palestinian ones. That’s doing much better than the Nazis. And Elliot Abrams, son-in-law of neocon propaganda minister Norman Podhoretz, who’s ensconced in an office deep in the bowels of the White House, calls Hamas “terrorists” and urges even more severe punishments. In 2006, Israeli artillery fired a dawn barrage of shells, supposedly against militants in the Gazan village of Beit Hanoun. The guns missed. Seventeen members of a Palestinian family, the Athamnehs, died in their pajamas, cut to pieces by fragmenting 6-inch howitzer shells. The Israelis did not even issue an apology.

Of course, this elected a response by Lawrence Auster to remove his Blog from Taki’s Blogroll. Which I can understand, Lawrence Auster is in fact a Jewish man who converted to Christianity.  The reason why Taki is dead wrong on this issue is this; Taki must be ignorant of the facts. The facts are that Israel withdrew from the Gaza strip. They even allowed Fata to bring supplies through Israel’s border. Well, the people of Palestine voted out Fata and voted in Hamas, when this happened Hamas began smuggling weapons into the Gaza strip, and Israel closed the borders, and imposed a blockade on Gaza, because of the weapons smuggling.  Which is Israel’s right, Why should Hamas be allowed to mass weapons? Further more, Hamas was smuggling weapons in from Egypt, this is why those tunnels were destroyed.

Also Taki’s opinion that the Palestine is rightful owner of that land in which Israel exists is asinine at best. As a Born-Again Christian on 26 years and a very astute student of the Bible; I know for a fact, that the land in which Israel possesses is, in fact, rightfully theirs.  Anyone who says anything other than this is either a Atheist or worse an Anti-Semite. Now before anyone rushes off and calls me a Neo-Conservative,  I want to publicly state, as it does state on my “About me” page; I am not, nor will I ever be, a Neo-Conservative. I totally and emphatically reject what is known as the “Bush Doctrine” of Preemptive strikes.   However, I support that idea, that any Nation, has the right to defend itself of terrorist attacks, which is what Hamas is, A damn terrorist organization.

As expected the guy calling himself “RedPhilips” at the Conservative Heritage Times, doesn’t get it, at all:

Now Auster is at it again. He has called out Taki for his recent article on the Israel vs. Gaza conflict. While I think it is generally unwise to make Hitler and Nazi comparisons, because it is such an emotional subject and the neocons, for whom it is always 1939, do it all the time, Taki is not “comparing” Israel to the Nazis in the way that Auster implies. Taki is making a numeric comparison of the ratio of people killed on both sides.

Mr. Philips, I think you missed the point. Lewrence was not making the issue so much about the Hitler comparison.  I think he was more angered at this:

Switch to Gaza 64 years later. Since 2005 Israel, which is still punishing the original inhabitants of the lands it rules or occupies, has killed 150 Palestinians for each Israeli killed these last eight years.

See the part in red? Taki’ essentally said that Israel didn’t belong there. That is a line that usually spouted by Anti-Semites or at worst Atheists. This, I believe, was the major issue.

While I personally think that it is quite sad that a great number of Palestinians are being killed in this conflict; I also am aware of the circumstances surrounding this conflict and I believe that Israel is very will within it’s own personal rights to defend it’s own land from terrorist attacks. I believe that the United States is doing right what they’re doing at the moment, staying out of it, but offering support. That’s all we need to do. Otherwise, we would be interfering.

Rep. Ron Paul on the Israeli Gaza Conflict

I must admit, the man speaks the truth. I don’t agree with one point however. To me, it does not matter how many missiles Hamas fired into Israel, one missile is one too many. But the rest, I pretty much agree with.

It’s on: Israel begins ground operations in Gaza

I have to trying to avoid writing about this, because quite frankly, I have quite mixed feelings about this. Also because, it really does not have anything to do with America and American politics.

But just as well, I will give my opinions about what is happening in Gaza.

It seems that sometime today, Israel moved ground troops and tanks into the Gaza strip. So says the Israeli Paper Haaretz:

“Israel entered the second week of its offensive against rockets from Hamas-ruled Gaza on Saturday evening by launching a much-expected ground operation into the coastal strip.

Initial reports from both Israel and Gaza indicated that Israel Defense Forces troops had killed dozens of Hamas gunmen as they traded heavy fire upon entering the Strip.

“The objective is to destroy the Hamas terror infrastructure in the area of operations,” said Israel Defense Forces Major Avital Leibovitch, a military spokeswoman, confirming that incursions were under way. “We are going to take some of the launch areas used by Hamas.”

The IDF Spokesperson’s office issued a statement, emphasizing that this stage of the operation will further the goals of the eight-day offensive as voiced by the IDF until now: To strike a direct and hard blow against the Hamas while increasing the deterrent strength of the IDF, in order to bring about an improved and more stable security situation for residents of Southern Israel over the long term. ”

I feel that; if the news accounts are to be believed, Hamas taunted Israel with the rocket attacks. These were started because Israel set up a blockade on the border, because Hamas was smuggling weapons into Gaza. These actions caused Israel to defend itself against these attacks. I believe any Nation has the right to defend itself from terrorism, Hamas has proven itself to be a terrorist organization more than once.  What seriously needs to happen at this point is, that the Palestine Government needs to unite itself and move against Hamas and root them out.

Let there be no doubt, I feel that Hamas firing rockets into Israel is an act of terrorism, and I feel any and all actions by Israel at this point is totally justified.

While, as a Paleo-Conservative with Libertarian leanings, the news of war saddens me, but there are times, when it is totally justified. 

My prayers are with the IDF, The Palestinian people, and the people of Israel. My God bring peace to the region again. Praying

(Via Memeorandum)

A Religion of Peace?

In a so-called Religion of Peace, I would not expect to see this: (Thanks Debbie)

or This: (thanks to “Silent Majority No More!“)

Some peace eh? 🙄
For more info, See my Book Store on Islam.
However, I do kind see Megan’s point. This is why I tend to not try and monday morning quarterback that Situation over there.
I just hope the US stays out of it. We’ve got enough on our plate, let Israel deal with thier own, Please.

More firewood for the Holocaust Deniers

This is sick and sad. Sad

Via AP:

It’s the latest story that touched, and betrayed, the world.

"Herman Rosenblat and his wife are the most gentle, loving, beautiful people," literary agent Andrea Hurst said Sunday, anguishing over why she, and so many others, were taken by Rosenblat’s story of love born on opposite sides of a barbed-wire fence at a concentration camp.

"I question why I never questioned it. I believed it; it was an incredible, hope-filled story."

On Saturday, Berkley Books canceled Rosenblat’s memoir, "Angel at the Fence." Rosenblat acknowledged that he and his wife did not meet, as they had said for years, at a sub-camp of Buchenwald, where she allegedly sneaked him apples and bread. The book was supposed to come out in February.

Rosenblat, 79, has been married to the former Roma Radzicky for 50 years, since meeting her on a blind date in New York. In a statement issued Saturday through his agent, he described himself as an advocate of love and tolerance who falsified his past to better spread his message.

"I wanted to bring happiness to people," said Rosenblat, who now lives in the Miami area. "I brought hope to a lot of people. My motivation was to make good in this world."

Rosenblat’s believers included not only his agent and his publisher, but Oprah Winfrey, film producers, journalists, family members and strangers who ignored, or didn’t know about, the warnings from scholars that his story didn’t make sense.

The bad part about this is, it does true make those who did suffer from the evils of Hitler look bad. As I would expect the true Nazi’s in America are quite amused by this story and are now saying that the whole holocaust was a lie.

Make good in this world, by lying?!?! What a Jerk! AngryI’m steamed, because I just recently saw the last part of “Band of Brothers”, and now to learn that two Jews lied about being involved all that???! Oy. Rolling Eyes

They owe the world and the Jewish Community a big apology.

Others: The Other McCain and Vox Popoli

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The Automotive Bailouts: The Other Side of the Story

I have been sitting here, trying to keep out of this. But I have sat and looked at the Republican and NeoConservative Spin on this Story and I’m sick of it. 😡

So, I am giving you, the other side of the story, from the horses mouth; without commentary from me.

I did not ask that you agree, I simply ask that you listen and hear this man out. Now I am almost sure, that the Blogs, that I have linked to, will remove my trackback, like the Neo-Con Fascists that they are. I mean, it is all about controlling the message with those guys.  🙄

Here we go:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Media Q & A:

Media Q & A Part 2:

Media Q & A Part 3:

There you have it. The other side of the story. You decide.

(Source UAW.ORG)