Category: International Affairs

Aziz Poonawalla is a devout Muslim with a great blog. That’s why his post condemning the suicide bombings in Israel is so good. He uses the Quran to show how these violent acts are against Islam: Lanat upon Na’il Azmi Abu al-Hal. Lanat upon the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades. Lanat upon Abdul Aziz Rantissi… When… Continue reading Condemning Suicide Bombings

Unqualified Offerings and Talking Dog have joined me in supporting Amram Mitzna for the Israeli PM. Now, as Jim says: “if he can just bring some actual Israeli voters into the tent he’ll be cooking with gas.” The Talking Dog also mentions: Israel invested BILLIONS in the settlements — this investment can be traded against… Continue reading Mitzna and the Settlements

Jim of Objectionable Content writes well-argued and thought-provoking posts. Yesterday, he took on the no fly zones in Iraq: As policy, the no-fly zones appear both poorly conceived and executed… The no-fly zones have been a mixed bag at best when it comes to their stated purpose of protecting dissidents… The no-fly zones make normalization… Continue reading Iraqi No Fly Zone

Unqualified Offerings is surprised to hear about Syrian Kurds. In fact, Kurds are mainly divided in four countries: 13 million in Turkey, 4.6 million in Iran, 4.2 million in Iraq, and up to 1.6 million in Syria. In addition, there are around 65,000 Kurds in Armenia. There might even be a small number in Azerbaijan.… Continue reading Kurds

According to AP, The Bush administration, trying to energize flagging global trade talks, announced Tuesday that it will seek the total elimination of all tariffs on manufactured goods [emphasis mine] over the next 13 years. When I read this news, the words “manufactured goods” jumped out at me. I would guess that this proposal will… Continue reading Free Trade But Only If It Helps Us

I just watched the PBS show online. It’s interesting. The complete show in available online in Media Player and Real media formats. There is also some material on the website that wasn’t on the show itself. The Al Qaeda supporting woman, from Yemen I believe, near the end of the program spooked me: “I love… Continue reading Frontline “In Search of Al Qaeda”

Yes I believe in them! Not exactly, though I do hold democracies to a higher standard. So you might find me writing a few paragraphs criticizing some small aspect of policy of the US, EU or Israel while sort of glossing over big problems in Iraq or North Korea and you might yell “prejudice” or… Continue reading Double Standards

One final comment about the Arab-Israeli conflict before I get back to work: There is definitely a need to understand the conflict and its history. However, the Israelis and Palestinians need to understand not just the history from their side’s point of view but the opposing side’s as well. Although history is important, the solution… Continue reading Past or the Future

One reason for my pessimism for a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is the feckless Palestinian leadership. The other is the issue of Jewish settlers in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) and ironically the Israeli Arabs. It is basically a demographic issue. According to the CIA World Factbook, there are about 365,000 Jewish settlers… Continue reading Jewish Settlers and Israeli Arabs as obstacle to Peace