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Hits of the Day
US $3 Billion in Military Aid May Buy 90 Day Partial Israeli Settlement Suspension
by NCD 11/16/2010 - 2:26 pm
McClatchy reports that to keep 'peace negotiations' alive the Obama administration has offered US $3 billion in military aid for Israel, including 20 F-35 Joint Strike fighter aircraft, capable of a 15,000 pound payload, and stealth equipped for missions like bombing Iran. F-35 specs.
Israel would also get a promise by the United States to block any UN recognition of a Palestinian State unless Israel granted approval for the action first. Israel would also retain the right to continue settlement building in disputed East Jerusalem. It seems its not only the GOP that views the Obama administration as a candy jar where they can get whatever they want!
In return, Israel would agree to stop settlement building in Palestinian lands outside of East Jerusalem, for 90 days. At a cost of $3 billion, a 90 day settlement suspension would cost $33.3 million a day to US taxpayers.
The Palestinians are reportedly having second thoughts about their participation in 'peace talks' that, for over 20 years, have led nowhere in regards to releasing them from their disenfranchisement and occupation by Israeli forces. Israeli legislators, who must approve the plan, are also upset at the deal, perhaps arguing that the US could just be lobbied to send the planes to Israel for free anyway, as the aircraft are a vital necessity to ensure the continued survival of the Jewish State, or that it sets a poor precedent for Israel to again suspend or link settlement building to peace talks.
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In the News
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Conversations with suicide bombers
By Elizabeth Weingarten, ForeignPolicy.com, May 23, 2012
It was 2009 in Peshawar, Pakistan, and Mossarat Qadeem was sitting on the floor of a house with about a dozen young Pakistani men -- some of whom had nearly become suicide bombers. Qadeem's goal: to undo the destructive brainwashing of the al-Qaeda and Taliban teachers who trained them in extremism, in part by asking the students to narrate their life stories.
"We were handling one of the boys, and he just came, put his head here in my lap, and he started crying and weeping," Qadeem recalls. "I was taken aback. It is very unnatural in my country that a man that tall can just sit at your feet and put his head here. [The other men] were all crying with him, and I was looking at him, and thinking, ‘my God.'"
All in a day's work for Qadeem. She's the national coordinator of Aman-o-Nisa, a coalition of Pakistani women that convened in October 2011 to combat violent extremism in Pakistan at the grassroots level. [....]
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For Native American Women, Scourge of Rape, Rare Justice
The issue of sexual assaults on American Indian women has become one of the major sources of discord in the current debate between the White House and the House of Representatives over the latest reauthorization of the landmark Violence Against Women Act of 1994.
.......
“We should never have a woman come into the office saying, ‘I need to learn more about Plan B for when my daughter gets raped,’ ” said Charon Asetoyer, a women’s health advocate on the Yankton Sioux Reservation in South Dakota, referring to the morning-after pill. “That’s what’s so frightening — that it’s more expected than unexpected. It has become a norm for young women.”
The difficulties facing American Indian women who have been raped are myriad, and include a shortage of sexual assault kits at Indian Health Service hospitals, where there is also a lack of access to birth control and sexually transmitted disease testing. There are also too few nurses trained to perform rape examinations, which are generally necessary to bring cases to trial.
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Doctor Who Helped Find Bin Laden Given Jail Term (for...
By Ismail Kahn, New York Times, May 23/24, 2012
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A Pakistani doctor who helped the Central Intelligence Agency pin down Osama bin Laden's location under cover of a vaccination drive was convicted on Wednesday of treason and sentenced to 33 years in prison, a senior official in Pakistan said.
A tribal court here in northwestern Pakistan found the doctor, Shakil Afridi, guilty of acting against the state, said Mutahir Zeb Khan, the administrator for the Khyber tribal region [....]
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Russia lawmakers advance bill on penalties for protesters
By Sergei L. Loiko, Los Angeles Times, May 23, 2012
MOSCOW — Stiff new penalties aimed at opposition protesters were given preliminary approval Tuesday by Russian lawmakers loyal to President Vladimir Putin, the target of mass rallies and demonstrations before his March election victory.
The bill, which opposition parliament members termed draconian and protested by threatening to file out of a legislative session, calls for fines of up to $50,000 and up to 200 hours of community service for organizers of rallies and demonstrations that grow violent or exceed the approved number of participants.
The sanctions were approved on first reading by parliament's lower house, which is controlled by Putin's United Russia party. They mark a return by the Kremlin to a tough stance against critics after concessions during the recent election campaign [...]
Also see:
Russians back Putin, strong leadership
Washington Post, May 22, 2012A Pew survey of 1,000 Russians found that President Vladimir Putin is well-liked by more than 70 percent of citizens, especially older adults.
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In Cuba, Mystery Shrouds the Fate of an Undersea Internet...
Associated Press, May 21, 2012
HAVANA — It was all sunshine, smiles and celebratory speeches as officials marked the arrival of an undersea fiber-optic cable they promised would end Cuba's Internet isolation and boost web capacity 3,000-fold. Even a retired Fidel Castro had hailed the dawn of a new cyber-age on the island.
More than a year after the February 2011 ceremony on Siboney Beach in eastern Cuba, and 10 months after the system was supposed to have gone online, the government never mentions the cable anymore, and Internet here remains the slowest in the hemisphere. People talk quietly about embezzlement torpedoing the project and the arrest of more than a half-dozen senior telecom officials.
Perhaps most maddening, nobody has explained what happened to the much-ballyhooed $70 million project....
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What are we aiming to accomplish by this shenanigans? Our government officials at many levels have said that Iran is not a threat to us and the Iranians have proved that on several occasions and they even have gone further by assisting us in Iraq and In Afghanistan despite the constant propaganda from the far left and the Zionists dominated News organization deamonizing Iran.
The latest illegal sanctions against Iran is nothing but another attempt by the Zionists and the Neo-Cons to erode any chances of reduced hostility between West and Iran. In every instance Iran has been on the defensive and has not provoked us or of our Western allies. On the other hand we are the one who are forcing Iran to protect herself against our constant threats. This in itself will more likely give Iran a reason to take drastic action and change its government policy to protect her public by going nuclear.
We have to give credit where credit is due.
You're acting like something could possibly go wrong.
Yeah, I don't get it. Why should we stand in the way of this economic stimulus? Aren't we looking for ways to expand our exports?
This isn't enjoyable reading, NCD, but Juan Cole has a long piece about it, including how many ways the deal flies in the face of UN Security Council resolutions. It looks as though the Cantor video is gone, at least on my firefox. Good grief.
http://www.juancole.com/2010/11/ros-lehtinen-channels-israeli-right-on-u...
Thanks, good piece by JC.
Maybe the Palestinians will quit this perpetual Kabuki dance of 'peace talks' because every time they engage Israel the USA sends Israel more weapons to kill them with, while nothing concrete results except more foundations poured for extremist settlers.
Then you wonder what alternatives they have. This Walt piece at FP Magazine poses a tiny alternative, and I post it to illustrate how quickly everyone goes right to 'given the supreme strength of the Israel lobby, what can Obama do?' hand-wringing. They mean: if the President want to be re-elected, he is impotent'.
Man, there are so many issues that could be solved it politicians really were willing to be one-termers. I'd far rather go out in a baze of glory, risking it all for something like ME peace.
This deal is just on the heels of the $20 billion arms and weapons systems sale to Saudi Arabia. Go figure. Israel obviously okayed that one. Remember: they know more than we do about what's really going on. ;o) 'Nuff ta turn you into a cynic, isn't it?
http://walt.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/11/16/a_modest_proposal_for_the...
you might want to change that "go out in a blaze of glory" verbiage. Makes you sound like you're writing for The National Review.
ROTFLMAO +!!!! Caught me! (Whaaaaat? They got dibs on such a great image???)
Not the image - the theme song!
Young Guns 3 : Filibuster Corral
with Emilio Estevez & Paul Ryan
orig sdtrk by Bon Jovi
I do find it odd where the US is so concerned about winning the hearts and minds of Afganani's and Iraqi's yet spin around 180 degress and pile on the money and military hardware to Israel. Strange they don't realize they're mixing used motor oil with soured vinegar.