Iran, Obama, UN, and a Litany of Failed Policies

In March 2009 newly frocked President Obama offered Iran a ‘new beginning’. The world quickly learned that the policy change and new beginning required by Iran was for the West to fully embrace a nuclear Iran. When Iran did not unclench their fist, the US extended sanctions against Iran. Still, Iran moved forward on its nuclear ambitions. The message was that the West will stand here and say “Stop, or I’ll say ‘stop’ again” (thank you, Robin Williams for that line).

The new sanctions, which were followed by more sanctions, were to show Iran the strength of international resolve against a nuclear [People’s] Republic of Iran. Those sanctions, as all the others, were quickly and flagrantly violated. Obama leads the world to say stop and holds out his hand. Iran responds with an end run around Obama while laughing and spouting rhetoric to its allies. The message was “West, get bent.” March 9, 2010 Obama's Iran Policy Collapses to the Accompaniment of Mockery Around the Globe is the title of an article I reposted just weeks ago.

In spite of Western good will and the UNSC’s “strongest sanctions to date” against Iran, Iran was moving forward with intent towards its stated goals of nuclear power. The sanctions against Iran wer to make it harder for Iran to get refined petroleum; either they really do not need that much refined petroleum or Iranian leadership does not care about the needs of its own people. I look at the killing of Iranian protestors in Tehran and can only think that Iran doesn’t really care about its people. But, that’s just me, maybe it was tough love or something like that. This ‘goodwill’ in my terms amounts to ‘appeasement’ which has never worked with dictatorial regimes.

Fast forward to today and we see that Iranian president Mahmud Ahmedinijad is giving a speech at the UN General Assembly (UNGA). Michelle Bachmann wants Obama to block that speech. Bachmann points out that Ahmedinijad “… has proven he is in violation of the United Nations charter and of international law," Bachmann declared. "Since he is, in the most literal sense, an outlaw, he should not be allowed in the United States of America." I would push to take it further; the US should arrest Ahmedinijad and hold him for the International Criminal Courts. However, we have treaty obligations which require us to permit this mass murdering talking head come in and have his say.

The GOP has taken note, as have you the observant and inquiring readers, that Obama’s policies towards the Middle East are amateurish and have failed and many are blaming Obama for the most contentious of issues which are ongoing during this UN Assembly. Mitt Romney has pointedly said what I have been saying, that is by giving Palestine a state the entire Middle East Peace Process is being thrown under a bus with Israel.

Peaceful discourse, mutually supportive policies, economic growth, and the realization of certain inalienable rights to all peoples is one way of summarizing US goals and diplomatic efforts. Achieving these goals anywhere has proven difficult. Achieving these goals in the Middle East has proven impossible, at least for the past several decades. Dealing with Iran and Syria has been emblematic of this struggle faced by US policy makers.

In short, the Middle East is ruled by iron fisted dictators that visit their sadistic pleasures against their citizens, routinely and violently attack neighbors based on issues as seemingly trivial as what form of religion they practice, and smile too sweetly at the US with their hands extended either for a questionable handshake or for money. Unless the West drastically changes its political will and stands tall with testicular fortitude, the Middle East WILL devolve further from our vision of peace and further into chaos. The problem with deepening chaos is that the entire world will feel that pain. How much oil do we depend on these sanctimonious psychopaths for? How much of the worlds trade travels through their regions? How much are we going to have to pay in our own ransom before there is another knife at our global throat?

My suggestion is to stand strong and respond to a bloody nose with a bloody nose and breaking of the knee.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7954211.stm

http://articles.cnn.com/2010-07-01/politics/obama.iran.sanctions_1_nuclear-program-nuclear-non-proliferation-treaty-iran-s-islamic-revolutionary-guard?_s=PM:POLITICS

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20109138-503544.html

http://msmignoresit.blogspot.com/2011/08/we-had-begun-thinkming-about-iranian.html

http://msmignoresit.blogspot.com/2011/08/state-terror-sponsor-to-head-opec.html

http://msmignoresit.blogspot.com/2011/09/discourse-or-death-what-to-do.html

Legitimizing A Terror Group

The Mujahedeen-e Khalq (MEK) has been on the Terrorism Watch list for quite a long time. During this time the group is alleged to have helped provide information about Iranian nuclear proliferation. At least, during the past few years the MEK has been providing detailed information to interests outside of Iran.

The group has been exiled from Iran for attempting to overthrow the Shah in the 1980’s. It mixes Marxism and Islam. A socialist Islamic mix, could it work? No, it could not work. We are all witnessing the failing of Muammar al-Gaddafi, who seized power in Libya with a military coup in 1969, called his ruling ideology “Islamic socialism”.

Also, recall that muslim socialists believe that the quran and islam are in line with equality and redistribution of wealth. Those ideas have been doing great things for America, so let’s go ahead and take a group that was founded in terrorism, has lived in exile, is in opposition to the Iranian Regime, and, as of last year, was still considered a terror threat and legitimize them! Or is Obama hoping that, by taking the group off of the list they will become more public and, like the people in Pakistan who helped bring down Osama, become mounted trophies on the wall of another extremist regime? A regime, mind you, which has murdered its own citizens with impunity while Obama says it is no concern of ours. A regime that has spent decades assisting Bashir al-Assad of Syria commit ethnic cleansing of Sunnis.

In my opinion, flood the Clintonian State Department with phone calls denouncing such a move. This group started off by killing Americans in Iran. Let’s not allow these people to go without answering for their crimes.

While we are at the task of calling the State Department, let’s also give a call out to those who also support (by way of being paid to lobby) former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani; former Vermont governor Howard Dean; former NATO commander Wesley K. Clark, President Obama's former national security adviser Gen. James Jones; former F.B.I. director, Louis Freeh; former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson; former attorney general Michael B. Mukasey; and Lee H. Hamilton.

Week In Review, August 19

Due to technical and health issues, this one is a day behind. Late, but still here, The Week In Review

Sanctioned Murder Honor Killings and Child Soldiers

These are, and will continue to be, a regular topic. Until they love their children more than they hate us, there will be no peace with the Middle East.

While I was working, and writing this past week, authorities in NJ charged a Pakistani muslim, Kashif Parvaiz, with having his wife murdered. He claims that his now dead wife had spoke badly about the family. So, for honor, he had her killed. What rot! He murdered his wife because he was angry and offended that a woman should use her freedom of speech in America to voice her complaints.

It has continued and will continue even likely increase in America.

Child Soldiers

I am going to also include Theft of Aid in this portion as this week it turns out to all pertain to Somalia. Yes, there are child soldiers being used in Sudan. That is coming up as Sudan is a heap of its own. We have sent trillions of dollars to aid agencies, through development, other donations, as well as direct government payments from the US to Somalia. This has been going on since before the fall of the Siadd Barre regime. We are paying to have aid sent into an area where the government steals it for its own use. Stolen aid is sold openly in the market place. Aid is extorted from refugees who then watch their children get recruited into al-Shabaab.

While we are squeezing dimes to but our own food and gas to take care of our needs, our government wants to raise our taxes higher in order to send more money to states like Somalia; to pay for more child soldiers. How do Somalis thank the generosity of Americans? Do you recall two weeks ago when three Somalis tried to get a fake bomb onto an airplane? I do.

UNPotence, the Impotence of the Aged

Human Rights Watch wrote "far from condemning repression, Ban sometimes went out of his way to portray oppressive governments in a positive light". China, Burma, Sri Lanka have benefited from Mr Ban's lax hand. UN Peacekeepers have been involved in rape, torture, and extortion themselves.

With the most powerful voting bloc in the UN being Islamic, what else is going on that the power base in the UN would want us to not see?

Attacks on Churches

• Egypt: Muslims angered by the installation of a church bell—under Sharia, churches must not offend Muslims by ringing bells—went on a violent spree, attacking among others a 5-month pregnant Christian woman and others who were “beaten with iron rods and pipes.”
• Indonesia: Christians were forced out of a church building and hounded even as they tried to worship at the side of the road.
• Nigeria: Two churches were bombed simultaneously; at least three Christians died, several were injured.
• Pakistan: Under accusations of “blasphemy,” and with the help of a local politician, Muslims attempted to annex a Christian hospital established in 1922 by missionaries.
• Tanzania: Muslims burned down two churches to cries of “away with the church—we do not want infidels to spoil our community,” and vows not to befriend “infidels.”

Sexual Abuse of Christian Women and Misogyny:

• Egypt: Muslims “severely sexually harassed” a Christian woman in front of her husband at a bus terminal; when her husband tried to defend her honor, he was violently beaten.  Soon afterwards, thousands of Muslims in the region began looting and torching Christian property, screaming “Allahu Akbar!” and “cursing the cross.”  Also, a Muslim ring using sexual coercion to convert Christian girls was exposed.
• Pakistan: Newlyweds run for their lives, because the man is Christian, the woman Muslim.  Under Sharia, the leader of the household, the man, must be Muslim.  Says a Pakistani Muslim scholar: “I condemn this marriage, I call it illegal, these two could be killed for what they did.”

Apostasy and Proselytizing

• Iran: A Christian pastor faces the death penalty for “convert(ing) to Christianity” and “encourag(ing) other Muslims to convert to Christianity.” Even if he is found innocent of apostasy, the charge of evangelizing Muslims will still carry a severe penalty.
• Saudi Arabia: A captured Christian pastor is set to be deported to Muslim Eritrea, where he faces the death penalty.

General Killing of Christians

• Ivory Coast: Muslims crucify two Christian brothers on “the example of Christ” and in accordance to Koran 5:33: “The pair were badly beaten and tortured before being crudely nailed to cross-shaped planks by their hands and feet with steel spikes.”

Foreign Aid

Yet, again, we continue to raise taxes on Americans in order to send that money to our enemies, like China.

"We started looking at the contracts and it was rather amazing that the No. 1 recipient of these taxpayer dollars were Chinese-state owned corporations," said Sen. Jim Webb, D-Virginia, referring to $320 million dollars worth of U.S. government contracts let to China. "I think we can take a good hard look where we're giving foreign aid."

The U.S. provided $47 million in "development aid" to China in 2010, even though the nation is already a military and economic giant and the world's only other true superpower.

Sudan no longer terroristic, but still terrifying

Clinton and Obama are now in the 45 day process to remove Sudan from the list of Sponsors of terrorism. This is still a genocidal state, mind you. South Sudan has oil, bit deal. North Sudan has buddied up with Iranian president Mahnood Ahmedinijad, who slaughtered his people in 2009. By coming off that list, North Sudan is going to be able to purchase some “restricted” technologies and items. What do you want to bet these will go straight to Iran? These items are just as likely to be used against the South Sudanese people. The people of Darfur will regret this decision of Obama.

Thank Obama

The Middle East has long been annoyed that the West exists. The status quo of “Buy our oil and we will be kind to your face” has changed. No longer does the East see the West in that light. They see the West as the next errant servant who needs to step into line behind the East. I say they always have, but until now, had not the gall or courage to say it. Why do they have the courage to say it now? Because they see Obama as powerless, impotent, and completely ineffective and, as our leader, this is also how they see America and all Americans. Make no mistake, the East and the West are diametrically opposed. We are each other's antithesis.

UN Pulls Out

The UN takes action by pulling out. Wow ... I suppose the next week, maybe two, Obama will publicly talk about sending in NATO.

 

UN says withdraws non-essential staff from Syria

Aug 17 (Reuters) - The United Nations has withdrawn non-essential staff from Syria where President Bashar al-Assad is seeking to crush a five-month uprising against his rule, a senior U.N. official said on Wednesday.
U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams said in a statement to Reuters that the 26 non-essential international staff members and their families had left Syria.
Williams also said he was "very concerned" at the situation in Latakia, where activists say 36 people have been killed in a military assault which was launched against parts of the coastal city on Saturday. (Reporting by Dominic Evans)

Child Soldiers In Somalia

Reports coming from the Horn of Africa indicate that al-Shabaab, one of the more influentially destructive forces to humanity in the region, has long been taking children and using them as soldiers. The name “al-Shabaab” is Arabic for “The Youth”. Amnesty International, other human rights groups, and I are finally being heard in this disgusting act of war on the most innocent of the world, its children.

Let’s put the point of Youth into perspective for the Western World readers. Somalia has an average life expectancy of 48 years for males. This is nothing new. The environment is harsh and unforgiving. Life there is also hard and unforgiving. If you are not harder than the environment, you die. Again, the average life span in Somalia is 48 years. What is middle age in this culture? Mathematically it comes out to be 24. In Western cultures this is just out of college and still in the phase of heavy drinking every weekend. By age 24, in most parts of Africa, children have been tending the herd, minding the store, and hunting to help support their brothers and sisters and mother and father. They do not have anything that we could really call a childhood.

Al-Shabaab started off as the militant wing of the Islamic Courts Union in Somalia during the ICU reign in 2006 and into 2007. ICU left and al-Shabaab remained. They said from the start that they would fight to the death. Children were used as disposable items if they did not meet the standards set for them. This use of children is despicable, illegal, and utterly disgusting.

It is not just in Somalia. Myanmar, the country formerly known as Burma, has its share of child soldiers, also. Chad has only just put together a plan to demobilize its child soldiers. The Philippines just passed a bill against it after muslims rebels talked with the UN about weaning their child soldiers from war. Yemen uses child soldiers regularly.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/08/11/Al-Shabaab-conscripting-child-soldiers/UPI-52341313077780/

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/08/11/myanmar.child.soldier/

Hamas and Hezbollah Use Disabled and Amputees as Warriors

From the Vicious Babushka! Why not the crippled? They spent years telling children to go a spray flowers on foreigners.

Hamas and Hezbollah Use Disabled and Amputees as Warriors

Islamic Jihad military wing hold all-in-one PR campaign, military maneuvers – using crippled and injured militants in bid to prove they won't let anything stop them
What PR value is there in a military display that includes crippled and injured operatives? According to the Islamic Jihad's website, the military wing recently held maneuvers in which veteran members of the Jihad who had been injured over the years in battles with Israeli forces had a starring role.
The maneuvers included sights not usually seen on the battlefield, one-legged men carrying Kalashnikov rifles or RPG launchers while leaning on crutches or sitting in wheelchairs.
According to armed factions in Gaza the display is a PR demonstration that strengthens their activities within the Palestinian internal political system.
The Islamic Jihad has puffed up its position against Hamas as the group spearheading the struggle against Israel. The organization has gone all out on a PR campaign to glorify its fighters in the Gaza Strip – the height of the campaign is their latest exhibition maneuver.
"Bombing us and leaving us amputees will not stop the Jihad," the military wing's website quoted one militant, Abu Abdallah who lost both his legs in clashes near Khan Yunis. "We will continue to fight even when our bodies are torn to pieces."
The website quotes another militant, Abed al-Rahman whose leg was cut off in "an IDF strike". "We trust in the Jihad way and we will not change it. There is no alternative to Jihad and resistance, until all Palestinian land is freed from the criminal Zionists," he stressed. According to al-Rahman, even when he was being rushed to hospital after he was injured, he promised himself that he would return to the Jihad path upon his release.

 

Child Soldiers in Yemen

Since the beginning of the popular uprising, Yemen’s government has had to intensify its military recruitment campaign. With the recent waves of defections and the opening of several new fronts, the army is in great need of fresh blood. But most importantly, the government is trying to gather new loyalty under its banner in order to face the threat posed by Sheikh Sadeeq al-Ahmar. Although only a tribal leader, Sheikh Sadeeq has managed over the years to build up a militia quite capable of challenging the Yemeni army.
In response to this, the Defense Minister decided a few months ago to reopen the doors of its training camps, hoping that the promises of a steady income and a state pension would encourage many Yemenis to sign up. Officers close to defected General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar are saying that al-Islah and the 1st Armored Division are also following suit, trying to enroll more men to their cause, promising them a resemblance of financial security.

In a country where over 40% of the population is out of work, finding a government job is pretty much what everyone is after. Although the salaries are no more than 25,000 YER, about $110, many are attracted by the guarantee of a lifetime income. And if this tactic is pretty much “old school” when it comes to the military, a worrying trend is starting to emerge, as many of the new recruits are actually children.

Lambs to the Wolves

Young Ahmed Iryani, for example, is only 15 years old; he was hired by the 1st Armored Division just after General Mohsen decided to side with the revolutionaries, severing ties with the government. “It is better for me to work for 25,000 YER a month than stay home without anything to do,” he said. With a gun bigger than him, Ahmed is proudly manning one of the checkpoints around “Change Square”, not realizing that if a conflict were to break out, he would be standing directly on its frontline. “Those kids are meat for the Regime and al-Islah… they are posted where it is most dangerous. It’s sad,” said a Sana’a resident.
Child rights advocates are now warning against the trend, adding that if Yemen were to sink into war, many of its children would be sacrificed on the battlefields, innocent victims of a vicious system which preys on the most vulnerable.

Since March, most of the men enlisted are well below the legal age of 18. The recruiters are being told by the government to turn a blind eye and to falsify the army documents, making the new recruits appear older. “Two months ago, my 14-year-old cousin got an ID card showing he is 18 and he joined the Republican Guards,” Hamid al-Ghurbani, a high school teacher in Sana’a, told IRIN. “Last week, I saw him carrying a gun.”

Once the military IDs have been issued it is almost impossible to verify whether the soldiers are truly of legal age. To make matters worse, most of the recruits’ families, when they have any, are accomplice to this charade, preoccupied only by the new source of income.

On both sides, whether it be the government or the tribes, the same phenomenon is taking place. A retired general revealed that the “tactic” had been used systematically for several decades by Saleh’s regime. The Army usually targets orphans and runaways, offering them shelter and money against their undying loyalty. “Those kids were alone, without parents or guardians to look after them. The Army became their home, and President Ali their father,” said the general. But the government and Gen. Mohsen are now going one step further in child abuse. They are using the young recruits as bait to calculate the opposition’s reactions.
In Hasaba and in Arhab, those kids are sent as scouts to spy on the enemies’ positions or are used as decoy. Back in May, Hameed al-Ahmar used them to secure the area around his house. With only a few sand bags to protect them, they were asked to hold their positions no matter what. Residents reported that the children were so terrified that they did not dare look up from their shelter and were shooting blindly.
A recent report from the UN estimated that at least 15% of the tribal militia affiliated with the regime are children.
Human Right Watch rang the alarm bell as well, confirming that over the past few months they had come across several dozens of soldiers who appeared to be well below the legal age requirement. According to the organization so far this year 500 “child soldiers” were killed in action.

http://foreignpolicyblogs.com/2011/08/08/child-soldiers-in-yemen/

Peacekeepers Attacked In Darfur

Darur ... this is where the arab muslim group known as janjaweed are oeprating, too. Janjaweed is an arabic term that means "devils on horseback" and their goal, as stated, is to ethnically cleanse the region of black Africans and repopulate it with Arabs.

Security Council condemns attack on UN peacekeepers in Darfur

  UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council on Monday condemned "in the strongest terms" the attack on the UN and African Union Hybrid Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) peacekeepers that occurred on Friday.

"The members of the Security Council condemned in the strongest terms the attack on UNAMID peacekeepers in Darfur on Aug. 5, which resulted in the death of a Sierra Leonean soldier and left another seriously wounded," said the statement that was read out by Hardeep Singh Puri, permanent representative of India to the UN and the president of the Security Council for the month of August.

In the statement, the Council said that "UNAMID is working with the Sudanese police to find the perpetrators, encouraged the government of Sudan to ensure that they are swiftly brought to justice, and stress that there must be an end to impunity for those who attack peacekeepers."

"The members of the Security Council reiterated their full support for UNAMID and called on all parties in Darfur to cooperate fully with the mission," said the statement.

A vehicle carrying UNAMID peacekeepers came under attack from unidentified gunmen in Duma village, located 37 kilometers northeast of the South Darfur capital, Nyala on Friday.

UNAMID is in charge of protecting civilians in the restive Darfur region of Sudan, which has experienced fighting since 2003 between the Sudanese government and members of rebel groups.

Torture Camp In Zimbabwe

Witnesses told the BBC that it is Zimbabwe's police and military that run the torture camps.
Robert Mugabe, the country's president, has not responded to this report. Whie it is simgle source reporting, it falls within the realm of very likely as the regime is quite corrupt and violent.

8 August 2011 Last updated at 01:40 ET

Marange diamond field: Zimbabwe torture camp discovered

By Hilary Andersson BBC Panorama

A torture camp run by Zimbabwe's security forces is operating in the country's rich Marange diamond fields, BBC Panorama has found.

The programme heard from recent victims who told of severe beatings and sexual assault.

The claims come as the European Union pushes to let some banned diamonds from the country led by President Robert Mugabe back onto world markets.

The Zimbabwean government has not responded to the BBC's findings.

In an internal document seen by the BBC, the EU said it was confident that two mines in the area now meet international standards and it wants diamonds from those areas to be immediately approved for export, which would partially lift a trade ban dating back to 2009.

The ban was imposed by the Kimberley Process (KP), the international organisation that polices diamonds, following reports of large-scale killings and abuse by Zimbabwe's security forces in the Marange diamond fields.

'Forty whips'

The main torture camp uncovered by the programme is known locally as "Diamond Base". Witnesses said it is a remote collection of military tents, with an outdoor razor wire enclosure where the prisoners are kept.

It is near an area known as Zengeni in Marange, said to be one of the world's most significant diamond fields. The camp is about one mile from the main Mbada mine that the EU wants to approve exports from.

The company that runs the mine is headed by a personal friend of President Mugabe. A second camp is located in nearby Muchena

"It is the place of torture where sometimes miners are unable to walk on account of the beatings," a victim who was released from the main camp in February told the BBC.

All the released prisoners the BBC spoke to requested anonymity.

"They beat us 40 whips in the morning, 40 in the afternoon and 40 in the evening," said the man, who still could not use one of his arms after the beatings and could barely walk.

"They used logs to beat me here, under my feet, as I lay on the ground. They also used stones to beat my ankles."

“They would handcuff the prisoner, they would unleash the dogs so that he can bite”

End Quote Former paramilitary police on torture techniques used

He and other former captives said men are held in the camp for several days at a time, before new prisoners come in.

Women are released more quickly, often after being raped, witnesses said.

"Even if someone dies there, the soldiers do not disclose, because they do not want it known," an officer in Zimbabwe's military told the BBC, again on condition of anonymity.

Witnesses said the camps have been operating for at least three years.

In Marange, the police and military recruit civilians to illegally dig for diamonds for them. Those workers are taken to the camps for punishment if they demand too large a share of the profits.

Civilians caught mining for themselves are also punished in the camps.

Dog maulings

A former member of a paramilitary police unit who worked in the main camp in late 2008 told the BBC that at the time he tortured prisoners by mock-drowning them and whipping them on their genitals.

He also said that dogs were methodically ordered by a handler to maul prisoners.

"They would handcuff the prisoner, they would unleash the dogs so that he can bite," he said. "There was a lot of screaming".

He said one woman was bitten on the breast by the dogs whilst he was working in the camp.

"I do not think she survived," he said.

Another witness the BBC spoke to said he was locked up in Muchena camp in 2008 after police set dogs on him.

He was recaptured in November 2010.

"Nothing has changed between 2008 and 2010... a lot of people are still being beaten or bitten by dogs."
'Pandering'

Marange diamonds were banned in 2009 by the KP, the international initiative of the diamond industry, national governments and non-governmental organisations that attempts to keep conflict or so-called "blood" diamonds out of the lucrative market.

Representatives of the KP visited the area briefly in August 2010 and concluded that the situation in the diamond areas was still problematic but there had been significant progress.

The KP had previously requested that the Zimbabwean police secure the diamond area.

Witnesses told the BBC that it is Zimbabwe's police and military that run the torture camps.

Nick Westcott, spokesman for the Working Group on Monitoring of the KP, said of the BBC's discovery of the torture camps: "It is not something that has been notified to the Kimberley Process."

The EU's proposal to allow diamond sales from two key mines in Marange to resume is part of an attempt to broker a deal within the KP, which is in turmoil over the issue.

Find out more

Hilary Andersson presents Panorama: Mugabe's Blood Diamonds
BBC One, Monday, 8 August at 20:30 BST

In June, KP chairman Matieu Yamba formally announced that the export ban on the two key Marange mines was lifted with immediate effect. The EU, among others, did not accept his decision.

Now the EU's proposal, designed to break the deadlock, agrees with the partial lifting of the ban, but insists that international monitoring should continue throughout Marange.

Panorama asked the Foreign Office to comment on the EU's position.

In a statement, Henry Bellingham MP, Minister for Africa, said: "It is only from these locations that we support exports, subject to ongoing monitoring. From all other Marange mines, the UK and the EU continue to strongly oppose the resumption of exports until independent, international experts deem them to comply with the KP."

Critics have said it is a weak proposal.

Annie Dunneback of the advocacy group Global Witness said of the EU proposal: "It is the latest in a series of deals that have cast aside the principle of exports for progress and pandered to the demands of the Zimbabwean government."

Panorama: Mugabe's Blood Diamonds, BBC One, Monday, 8 August at 20:30 BST, then available in the UK on the BBC iPlayer.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14377215

UNHR Stop Evictions!

What about the Human Rights in Syria? What about the evictions from life there? Why is this a big show for the UN while they dither along with the Arab League on other areas including Pakistan, Malaysia, and Thailand?

UN human rights bid to halt gypsy eviction

By NEIL MILLARD

GYPSIES may dodge eviction from a giant travellers' camp - after the UN claimed it could breach human rights laws.

Officials from the United Nations have waded into the row over scores of families blighting a UK site.

A total of 300 travellers have been given until the end of the month to quit the Dale Farm site at Crays Hill, near Basildon, Essex, for breaking planning rules. But the £9½million eviction could be in disarray after the UN insisted they deserve compensation.

UN housing official Raquel Rolnik called on the Government to delay the operation to kick the gypsies out, saying: "Evictions constitute a grave breach of human rights if not carried out with full respect for international standards.

"It is of utmost importance that the rights of the residents to fair compensation for their lost homes and the provision of adequate alternative housing are respected."

The former scrapyard currently has 100 pitches but only 49 have planning permission. Travellers have been on the site for ten years. They have been blamed for Crays Hill's primary school being named the the worst-performing in the country in 2009.

Candy Sheridan, of the Gypsy Council, claimed the decision to evict the families was "based on racism". The Government said Basildon Council was within its rights to throw them out.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3738428/UN-human-rights-bid-to-halt-gypsy-eviction.html

From Tiananmen to Syria

Bashar al-Assad is now entering his fifth month of sending armed security apparatus into the streets of Syrian cities. The apparatus are reported to include snipers, armed police, army personnel, and tanks. It appears that more than 250 armored vehicles and tanks have been deployed to quell, quiet, stamp out the people who are simply asking to be treated as humans. Humans that, as we hold, have certain inalienable rights, and are demanding to be treated better than what they have been getting.

The oil capital of Syria, Deir al-Zor, was laid siege to by columns of tanks from four directions. In Prijedor, Bosnia when tanks surrounded the city this was called genocide. In 1989 in Tiananmen Square, when the Chinese army (tanks included) opened fire and killed up to 800. In these events even the United Nations body of impotence spoke out (nearly immediately) against atrocities that they termed genocidal. The Main Stream Media outlets in America covered the tanks rolling over students in Tiananmen Square.  What now?

The Arab League called for Kaddafi to step down. Then they called for UN sanctions. Then, they called for the UN and the US to do something. The UN insisted that military action, or something, be under taken. It all reminded me of that scene in Space Balls when Dark Helmet picked up the microphone to the intercom and desperately shrieked “Do something!”

Even though the Arab League, which in my opinion is one of the largest collections of villains outside of the UN, has not yet called for international intervention, they have discussed the situation. They seem to feel that al-Assad is a more important power broker than Kaddafi.  Syria has produced more oil than Libya. Al-Ass ad is seen as more of a power broker. This means that there are more oil revenues coming into the AL, OIC, and OPEC from Syria then Libya. The lives and well being of the people do not matter as much as the oil money. For now, the Injustice League will ask that America stay out of the issue. Didn’t Ahmedinijad warn the US to stay out of its affairs while machine gunning its own people in the streets two years ago? Yes, I thought so.

 It appears now that there are fears of a bloodbath. Tanks have been deployed, snipers are shooting people, and reports indicate that more than 2,000 people are dead. At what point does this outrageous reign of murder become a bloodbath?
At what point does it become clear that al-Assad defending himself and his actions as defending the people is insanity? When do our leaders to either crap or get off the pot? Rest easy, peace loving Americans! Our Fierceless Leader is, at this very moment, coming up with an unenforceable and forceless plan that will accomplish nothing while more people die.
You see, Obama is going to issue a Presidential Directive to establish an Atrocities Prevention Board that will be an early-warning system, of sorts, that will alert the world to coming genocides. What will this board have in its arsenal to prevent such atrocities? Other than denying leaders of countries already committing genocide against its their own citizens a Visa, we can only guess.

Bibliographed Articles for this writing

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/8687347/Syria-unrest-Bashar-al-Assad-moves-to-crush-dissent-as-tanks-lay-waste-to-eastern-protest-city.html

http://nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/International/08-Aug-2011/50-dead-as-Assad-defends-crackdown

http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/editorial/ci_18637854

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/04/us/politics/04policy.html

Week In Review

This week has been busy for a number of people in a number of countries. 108 terror related bombings, which include those that were hoaxes and those which were found prior to detonation. The targets of these attacks include police, students, medical facilities, transit centers, and the like. Some of the bombings were dual attacks; that is to say, there was a second bomb timed to go off during the first responders arrival. One large attack in Iraq this week was timed to blow up people who were simply cashing their checks.

Syrian bodies, I presume Syrians, were reportedly being dumped into the ocean for disposal. Isn’t this some sort of environmental issue?

All these years later and people are still getting mysterious powders mailed in envelopes, why? Because fear works; that is the point of terrorism, to cause fear for a political gain.

Of course the United Nations is going to say nothing and do less in the wake of the attacks this week. The largest voting bloc in the UN is the OIC, the Organization of Islamic Countries; a group that has infiltrated and adopted its own policies which are contrary to all the principles of America. Yet, America still pays more than 25% of the UN operating budget and has paid to Middle Eastern states (which comprise the OIC) $33,486,000,000. That is nearly thirty three and a half BILLION dollars paid into the coffers of our enemies. That number, as shocking and sickening as it is, is only the tip of the iceberg.

The member states of the OIC are also U.N. members. Doesn’t this create a situation in which some states are represented twice while other member states are represented by one person?

The OIC has stood in the way of the US led Global War on Terror in many ways. One is by maintaining ccontradictions between OIC's and other U.N. member’s legal definition of terrorism. This has stymied efforts at the U.N. to produce a comprehensive convention on international terrorism.

In 2008 OPEC/OIC states have received $11,734,000,000 US Tax Dollars. I don’t know about you, but I want to identify the elected representatives who insist on these monies being paid, and firing them. Those reps should not even be eligible for their ”pension” after doing this. That is just my opinion, for what it’s worth.

Korea is in charge of the U.N. Office of Disarmament and the head of the Iranian Guard Corps is now the president of OPEC. A gross and I do mean ‘gross’ violator of disarmament principles, human rights, and an armed psychopath who has threatened America with unprovoked nuclear attacks is now in charge of policing the world’s weapons.

The price of gas is only going to get worse. I really cannot summarize the threats illustrated by Wiki-Leaks which I posted earlier this week. I expect that Obama is going to kill the Keystone XL Pipeline project. All those jobs, union members and non-union alike, are going to not happen.

Meanwhile, Pakistan has been busy ethnically cleansing itself. Enjoy the return on the investment of $963,000,000 dollars in 2008 in Pakistan.

The question is what now? What do we do now? We stop the leaks. Those bills, laws, acts, all that leaad to sending our money to our enemies need to be repealed, and the wirters/supporters removed. If the people who are in leadership positions can not love, honor, and respect this country and her citizens then they have no right being in those leadership positions.

We Pay Our Enemies

From 2000 to 2009 the US, in grants and credits, gave the Middle East $78,006,000

In 2008 the figure was $10,787,000,000

In 2008 the US gave $131,724,000,000 to the world, of that the Middle East (Census Bureau Chart was not more specific) got $33,486,000,000

We are a giving nation. These numbers do not reflect the private donations, UN monies, IMF funding, or income from other sources. Why are we giving so much aid to countries that already have national resources that are highly sought commodities? That is to say, oil is the highly sought commodity.

Let’s look at some of these numbers in closer detail. In 2008 based on Census Bureau data the amounts of military and foreign economic aid (Table 1298) (NOP-Non OPEC Oil Producer);

China               $103,000,000                              DAC     Not found

Algeria             $13,000,000        OIC      OPEC   DAC     60 billion dollars in 2008 oil revenues

Angola             $58,000,000                    OPEC   DAC     60.1 billion

Ecuador           $52,000,000                    OPEC   DAC     8.7 billion

Iran                  $7,000,000          OIC      OPEC   DAC     73 billion

Jordan             $833,000,000       OIC                  DAC    

Kazakhstan      $112,000,000      OIC                  DAC     140 billion

Kuwait             0                                     OPEC               70.3 billion

Libya                $10,000,000       OIC      OPEC   DAC     50.3 billion

Malaysia         $53,000,000        OIC      NOP     DAC     60.1 billion

Mali                 $140,000,000     OIC                  DAC    

Mauritania      $240,000,000     OIC                   DAC    

Morocco          $696,000,000     OIC      NOP     DAC

Mozambique   $799,000,000     OIC                  DAC    

Niger               $50,000,000       OIC                  DAC    

Nigeria            $485,000,000     OIC      OPEC   DAC     61.6 billion

Oman              $23,000,000       OIC                  DAC    

Pakistan          $963,000,000     OIC                  DAC    

Qatar               0                        OIC      OPEC               33.5 billion

Saudi Arabia    $1,000,000        OIC      OPEC               253.3 billion

Senegal           $78,000,000      OIC                  DAC

Sierra Leone    $12,000,000      OIC                  DAC

Somalia           $351,000,000    OIC                  DAC

Sudan              $1,196,000,000 OIC                  DAC

Surinam           $2,000,000        OIC                  DAC

Syria                $36,000,000      OIC                  DAC

Tajikistan         $70,000,000     OIC      NOP     DAC

Togo                $4,000,000       OIC                  DAC

Tonga              $2,000,000       OIC                  DAC

Tunisia             $11,000,000    OIC                  DAC

Turkey             $21,000,000     OIC                  DAC

Turkmenistan  $23,000,000     OIC                  DAC

Uganda           $456,000,000   OIC                  DAC

UAE                 $1,000,000       OIC      OPEC               80.9

Uzbekistan      $14,000,000    OIC     

Venezuela       $19,000,000                OPEC   DAC     53 billion dollars in 2008 oil revenues

Yemen             $37,000,000    OIC                  DAC

The OIC has a permanent delegation to the United Nations, and describes itself as the second largest international organization after the United Nations.

The member states of the OIC are also UN members. Doesn’t this create a situation in which some states are represented twice while other member states are represented only once?

Most OIC member countries are non-democratic. This translates to anti-US

On August 5, 1990, 45 foreign ministers of the OIC adopted the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam to serve as guidance for the member states in the matters of human rights in as much as they are compatible with the Sharia, or Quranic Law.

Article 24 states, "All the rights and freedoms stipulated in this Declaration are subject to the Islamic Shari'ah." and Article 25 follows that with "The Islamic Shari'ah is the only source of reference for the explanation or clarification of any of the articles of this Declaration."

Contradictions between OIC's and other U.N. member’s understanding of terrorism has stymied efforts at the U.N. to produce a comprehensive convention on international terrorism.

In 2008 we, the United States, provided to OIC members $6,739,000,000.

OIC states that are also OPEC earned a total of $4,635,000,000 in oil revenue.

We are also providing assistance to these states to bring them into the global market, ostensibly so that all can benefit.

OPEC/OIC states have received $11,734,000,000 US Tax Dollars.

Some of the states listed above are located in West Africa. A region that is described by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies describes as a source of growing terrorism and related threats.

Worst of the Worst FPM cross referenced with Hillary’s State Department Reports

Sudan torture, rape, child sexual abuse, restrictions on speech, extrajudicial killings, obstruction of humanitarian aid, restrictions on movement, religion and gatherings, the government bombs and burns civilian areas, trafficking in persons, and the list goes on. Now, if a US contractor or military member is found to be paying for the trafficking of persons they will be brought up on charges and jailed. Why is it alright for the State Department to pay any country that continues this?

Turkmenistan inability to change their government; reports of torture and mistreatment of detainees; incommunicado and prolonged detention; arbitrary arrest and detention; denial of due process and fair trial; arbitrary interference with privacy, home, and correspondence; restrictions on freedom of speech, press, assembly, and association; restrictions on religious freedom, including continued harassment of religious minority group members; restrictions on freedom of movement for some citizens; violence against women; and restrictions on free association of workers.

Uzbekistan The United States is concerned by the Uzbek Supreme Court’s decision to close the Human Rights Watch Office in Tashkent. International NGOs such as Human Rights Watch have an important function to play around the world, and we regret that Human Rights Watch will not be able to do so in Uzbekistan. … The government tightly controlled the mass media and treated criticism of the regime as a crime.

Iran Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life, Disappearance, rape, murder, torture, arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, denial of fair trial, no due process, confiscation of property (sounds like eminent domain),

China Look into the archive list to the side as I have already begun their profile due to being part of the UNSC.

Libya They were bad enough and weak enough for the UN to call military action against them a good thing.

Syria The security forces committed arbitrary or unlawful killings, caused politically motivated disappearances, and tortured and physically abused prisoners and detainees with impunity …The government violated citizens' privacy rights. The government imposed severe restrictions on civil liberties: freedoms of speech and press, including Internet and academic freedom; freedoms of assembly and of association, including severe restrictions on nongovernmental organizations (NGOs); and freedoms of religion and movement. An atmosphere of corruption pervaded the government. Violence and societal discrimination against women continued, as did sexual exploitation, increasingly of Iraqi refugees, including minors. The government discriminated against minorities, particularly Kurds, and severely restricted workers' rights.

Egypt Well, now that they are under the control of the Muslim Brotherhood, I think things are going from bad to worse

Venezuela The following human rights problems were reported by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), the media, and in some cases the government itself: unlawful killings, including summary executions of criminal suspects; widespread criminal kidnappings for ransom; prison violence and harsh prison conditions; inadequate juvenile detention centers; arbitrary arrests and detentions; corruption and impunity in police forces; corruption, inefficiency, and politicization in a judicial system

UgandaAgain, I have already begun a profile on Uganda as part of the UNSC