Higgly

If you want to bring race into this, that is on your hands. You want to start a thread about Fisk, then go ahead. In the meantime, stop trying to hijack this one.

It was the pro-Israeli community that came up with this knickname after Fisk's book "Pity the Nation" came out describing the 1980s invasion of Lebanon by Israel (Ariel Sharon, Defense Minister). Since Fisk was reporting from his home in Beirut throughout the war while anybody who agreed with the IDF's version of events was reporting from Jerusalem where their dispatches were heavily censored by Sharon's people, I'll take Fisk's version of events. The IDF was shovelling doo-doo big time in its press releases at the time and mounted a smear campaign against Fisk which went on for years after.

I agree with those who have identified the validity of the British border claim to be the key issue. Former British Ambassador Craig Murray is saying that the British border claims are doubtful. Here is a CNN report which basically quotes verbatim an Associated Press article on the subject. The AP is one of the more reliable sources on the Middle East, having earned considerable credibility by routinely reporting from the thick of the fray rather than from a safe distance or embedded party wagon. In any case, Iran has a legitimate interest in defining and defending its border. The US and Britain on the other hand have no business being there by virtue of the Geneva Conventions, to which they are both signatory. I have seen comments about UN resolutions here with respect to the British Navy in the area. Of course we all know how widely respected UN resolutions are in the Middle East, LOL. There are a number of posts in this thread that I take issue with. First there is this idea that "anybody who doesn't agree with me obviously hates their own country." Our country, Canada, is not in this mess thanks to the much maligned Liberal government. Given his full page article in the New York Times, there can be no doubt that Canadians would be getting killed in Iraq right now had Harper been in power. In any case, how a Canadian feels about the US or Britain is not a reliable indication of how s/he feels about Canada. There was actually an implication by one poster that anyone who doesn't agree with him is probably an anti-semite. Reminds me of the old Vietnam war days when anyone who protested the war was called a commie or faggot. One poster seemed to be saying that Saddam was justified in invading Iran because he got sick of the border skirmishes. Over a million people died in the Iran-Iraq war. Statements like this are indicative of the extraordinary lack of sensitivity in this part of the world to the reality that the Arab/Moslem world has been living for decades. There was another post by someone saying that the CIA was not involved in the coup that overthrew Mossadegh and put the Shah in power. Robert Fisk, in his book "The Great War for Civilisation" interviewed the British secret service operative (forget the name now) who engineered the coup and Fisk says that the CIA was indeed invloved. Do you have a source to refute Fisk? Finally, there is this. I was in a news agent's a while back and caught a glimpse of the March 27 Time Magazine cover. It had a picture of Ronald Reagan shedding a tear with the caption "How America's Right Went Wrong". Folks, when it's on the cover of Time, the fat lady is singing loud and clear.

Yes you are right - I did not know that. My understanding was that they could only reveal themselves to family members.

Reagan denied that it was for the release of hostages; nobody was fooled. Why else would the US government supply arms to Iran, a government that was holding its diplomatic staff hostage and which was at war with Saddam's Iraq following an invasion the US did everything it could to encourage? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran-Contra_Affair Too bad so many of the relevant documents were destroyed by the Reagan government.

I thought this article from The Onion was pretty rich.

Yes, as we all know, there are laws in Canada and indeed across all of Europe, which forbid Jews and Christians from building houses taller than those of any Arabs. LOL. The outcome of the Quebec action will be that religiously observant Moslem women will not vote and will be disenfranchised. Too bad Quebec could not find an inventive way to solve a real-world problem. This is unnecessarily heavy handed and discriminatory.

What a surprise to come back after all this time and find this thread still alive... not surprisingly due to another dollop of Rue spew. So note the words folks... Rue doesn't think this was his intention but it could be interpreted as such. Well here's a newsflash, Rue - the Bible could be interpreted to forbid blood transfusions. One again we have Rue hacking away with the gory old anti-semitism axe at the first sign of any legitimate discourse other than the pro-Israel party line, even though "I do not believe that was his intention". LOL. And by the way Rue, there are lots of non-Jewish Israelites - George Bush and Condoleeza Rice come to mind. Blindly supporting Israel while it continues to steal land that does not belong to it and repress the people who are its rightful owners. Since you responded to my post about the leaked Israeli government documents showing that 85% of the land under Ma'ale Adummin is rightfully owned by Palestinians, and that the same can be said for some 45% of land under all Israeli settlements, you know what I mean when I talk about Israel stealing land, Rue. And finally, to the matter of Mr. Carter's presidency. Carter lost a second term because of the Iran hostage crisis. Something that was the direct result of incompetence on the part of the previous administration (it started the day he took ofice) and about which Mr. Carter could do little. Witness how Carter's successor had to resort to an illegal arms deal (facilitated by Oliver North and - this part is delicious - the government of Israel) to get the hostages back.

We all love David Dinkins. And George W Bush too. And we are all sure that there will come a time when we all know why...

Yet every once in a while, one comes along who changes everything for the better: Keynes, Galbraith, Friedmann...

Canadian democracy is different from US democracy because we in Canada have a parliamentary system with few checks and balances - the party in power with a majority has few checks - the judiciary (unless Harper manages to disable it) and the Governer General, which are both appointees. The US, on the other hand, has too many checks and balances and is nearly crippled by them.

Has it ever occurred to you that you are holding the Palestinians accountable for maintaining Israeli infrastructure?

Deja Vietnam all over again. Let's not forget where the idea to invade Iraq came from: Paul Wolfowitz, while working for Richard Perle's consultancy under contract to Benjamen Netenyahu during his election bid in Israel following the murder of Itzhak Rabin, wrote a paper which crystalized the Likud vision for the Middle East, and called for the invasion of Iraq and the deposing of Saddam. Wolfowitz soon after got himself a job in the US Defense Department. He pushed the idea to Bush Senior, who had the good sense to listen to Colin Powell and stayed out. He continued to push the idea to Bush junior, who took it hook, line and sinker. This was the end product of a coalition of morons: Bush Jr., Wolfowitz, Cheney and Rumsfeld. Put them all together and they might be able to play a decent game of poker, but I wouldn't let them play with my money. Putting them in charge of the world's most powerful nation is a lesson in the flaws of democracy.

Where's the access to information piece? Toothless witrhout it, IMHO. The Libs delivered more here.

. Two words, JBG: Denys Arcand. Start with "Invasions of the Barbarians" and work your way backwards. Follow that up with "Wall Street". Quel bigot.

Gaza was no sacrifice at all. It was hugely expensive, and for little gain. Gaza has been, since before 1948, recognized as an Egyptian property. Israel had no business being in Gaza, and has always known it.

And number V: Property Rights.

Huh? Palestine was England's Vietnam. You need to catch up on your reading.

I'm halfway through Carter's Palestine, Peace not Apartheid right now and I have learned so much that is not mentioned in the official "Israel wants peace" argument.... Read Avi Shlaim's "The Iron Wall" and Tom Segev's "One Palestine Complete". You'll learn a lot more.

Ok. Here's the thing. What would be your reaction if somebody put up a post that said "Maybe the Jews (If there are such a people)...

Unfortunately, the computer gremlins hit while I was trying to edit the poll and I ended up posting two new posts by mistake.

Nice to see you were amused JBG. Your correct use of the apostrophe speaks well for you.

OK. Write a letter to the GG.

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