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“A friend of mine said recently, “We shouldn’t even be there. Let them kill each other. I mean, that would solve the problem. Right?” ~ CNS News.com 06/15/2007

There’s a lot of talk around right now of “Islamofascists” and “Sharia States” and gloomy prophecies of al Qaeda wanting to turn us all into Burkha-wearing slaves of the Prophet Mohammad. Undoubtedly, a few crazy individuals out there dream of just such a happening. But then, there are a few crazy folks out there who dream of Armageddon, or turning the world into a huge pink ice cream and gobbling it all up.

Let us be totally honest with ourselves and stop pretending the Arab is some demon sent by the Devil to torment and enslave poor Christian souls. He is not. One of the excuses produced by overly-patriotic Americans totally unable to visualize their country ever wronging others, is the fact that Arabs are turning on Arabs. If it’s us they hate so much, why are they intent on killing each other? In Iraq, Sunnis are fighting Shias; in Afghanistan, the Taliban are oppressing and killing innocent civilians; in Gaza and the West Bank, Hamas is at the throat of Fatah.

It’s all done, according to the great American ostrich, in pursuit of a worldwide Muslim Sharia State.

How do we, the West, react to this? By arming ourselves to the teeth, dropping the portcullis, raising the drawbridge, and vowing:

“Bring ’em on!”

I’m not sure who are the most dangerous – the fanatics of al Qaeda, or the blind, nationalistic, scared to death, perpetrators of ever more violence against the Middle East who call themselves “intellectual Americans”, but who in truth are nothing more than the products of an overly rampant US Empire desperately attempting to hold its decaying position in the world by force of arms.

Do these people believe that 1,321,851,888 Chinese are going to say “OK” to al Qaeda and don their burkhas with nary a question? Or, for that matter, 1,129,866,154 Indians, of which only 134,000,000 – less than 14% of the population – are Muslims?

The reason Arab has turned against Arab, Muslim against Muslim, is one of despair and hopelessness. Certainly, that sense of despair is utilized and fostered by the fanatics of al Qaeda, but they themselves are of small number. What the West has done over the years, and more lately America and Britain, is feed the hopelessness and despair that drives Arabs to turn into what they see as freedom fighters, what al Qaeda views as martyrs, and what the West declares are “terrorists”.

It is the law of the jungle that a power vacuum will create power struggles to fill it. If there is any doubt as to that, just watch the bevy of US presidential hopefuls bite and claw at each other over the next sixteen months. The Iraq war and its aftermath was one of the biggest cock-ups in military history. The power vacuum it has left in Iraq is huge. Maliki’s “government” is a farce of American imperialist puppetry. Sunni and Shia are vying bloodily to fill the gap. Al Qaeda has moved into play on the Sunni side – they would, they are Sunnis – because George W Bush and his associates failed miserably to understand the culture and politics of the region.

It is true that most of the so-called “terrorist” activity in Europe, and even the events of 9/11/2001, had nothing directly to do with the Iraq war, the Afghanistan Taliban situation, or the Palestinian problem. Young men are easily co-opted into extremism when they are offered a cause. But it is wrong to suggest that 9/11 had nothing to do with American policy in the Middle East. Does anyone seriously believe that if America and the West had offered a sincere hand of friendship and assistance to Arab nations throughout the twentieth century, provided aid and improved poverty levels, stayed out of regional politics instead of using and abusing, imposing sanctions that crippled whole populations while their dictatorial leaders prospered and the West sold them weapons galore that massacred thousands of Arab innocents…….if….if the West had treated the Arab world with respect rather than disdain, it is unlikely 9/11 would ever have happened.

America is not known throughout the Arab world as the “Great Satan” for no reason.

So, to all you who believe you have studied the problem in a balanced manner and come to the conclusion your innocent nation is the victim of an Islamofascist conspiracy to enslave you for the Prophet, let me suggest your reasoning is most unbalanced, utterly flawed, and that you are in fact a victim of nothing more than your own self-delusion.

Filed under: Take my problem away please

Louisiana Republican Senator David Vitter has been named as one of those ensconced in the “Little Black Book” of Deborah Jeane Palfrey, the DC “Madam” presently charged with running a prostitution ring.

Vitter says of the matter:

“This was a very serious sin in my past for which I am, of course, completely responsible. Several years ago, I asked for and received forgiveness from God and my wife in confession and marriage counseling. Out of respect for my family, I will keep my discussion of the matter there – with God and them. But I certainly offer my deep and sincere apologies to all I have disappointed and let down in any way.”

That’s alright then. He’s asked for forgiveness from God and his wife.

Vitter is one of the most vocal anti-gay Republicans in the party. In 2005, he compared the idea of gay marriage to hurricanes Rita and Katrina, presumably suggesting they were the wrath of God, when he said:

“It’s the crossroads where Katrina meets Rita. I always knew I was against same-sex unions.

And in 2006, while debating an amendment to the Constitution banning same sex marriages, he said:

“I don’t believe there’s any issue that’s more important than this one … I think this debate is very healthy, and it’s winning a lot of hearts and minds. I think we’re going to show real progress.”

Obviously he’s a man of huge moral character, placing his anti-gay ethics above even the thousands of innocents slaughtered in Iraq.

“I don’t believe there’s any issue that’s more important than this one …”

What a pity his high moral stance didn’t keep him from buying himself sex. Still, perhaps God and his wife have forgiven him after all.

Will the rest of us?

BBC Link

Filed under: Political bigots

Eleven hours, and five hundred and eighty miles later, I have arrived in Marquette, Michigan. It seems a nice place, though I’m too weary to appreciate it tonight. At least it’s relatively cool. I will stay till Friday.

On the journey up from Illinois I was ruminating on the strange obsession many Americans have with the scrap metal business. Although, it’s hardly that they make a business of it; more a lawn decoration really. The drive took me past some beautiful houses, immaculately maintained. Frequently, the property next door, or across the road, looked like a local waste tip. Old abandoned pick-up trucks rusting away alongside dilapidated washing machines and cookers with the grass growing up through them.

This is not restricted to any one area. My wife and I have spent many hours in New England seeking out potential properties, with the idea we may one day wish to retire. Almost without exception, those that appeared initially suitable were abandoned when we inspected the neighborhood. The local scrapyard was inevitably next door, or across the road, or just around the corner.

And finding a property that doesn’t have a bunch of red-neck tinkers in tow doesn’t mean they won’t one day appear. One year, five years, ten years after purchasing it’s possible the rusty pick-up trucks may suddenly arrive at the newly sold property just nearby. Immediately, the family dowry, ready to be passed down to the eagerly-awaiting offspring, takes a serious dive in value.

And don’t mention zoning laws – whatever they may be – because it’s quite obvious they simply don’t work. Or, if they do, it’s only when Mister and Missus Stinking Filthy Rich have a problem with someone ‘undesirable’ in their neighborhood.

Europe has working environmental protection laws and citizens can be dealt with severely if they create such eyesores. It’s time America stopped concerning itself with the freedoms and rights of an individual to make such a mess, and began doing something to stop it.

Filed under: The bad neighbors