Tuesday, April 21, 2009

In Defense of Ahmadinejad

What is the big deal? Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad did nothing but state the truth. He spoke of the "dire consequences of racism in Europe," in short, the Jewish holocaust. Why is it so terrible for him to repeat what most Jews say about the rationale for Israel's existence? My whole life I have been told that genocide against the Jews in Europe justified the establishment of the state of Israel.

At any rate, that walk out was as phony as a three dollar bill. I'm sure the European nations who attended the conference had already agreed to leave the room if Ahmadinejad mentioned Israel.

The U.N. conference on racism has been killed by Obama and by zionists who have their noses out of joint because of any criticism of Israel. People all over the world should know about debates on reparations for slavery or for genocide against indigenous people, but you can forget that happening.

Israel has destroyed any effectiveness this conference might have had. Ahmadinejad is right about the damage that western nations have done to the world. He is right that the Security Council is powerless. Why should the U.S., Britain, France, Russia and China have veto power 60 years after WWII? That current set up means that UN members have no way to condemn Israel when it massacres people in Lebanon or Gaza or wherever they choose to kill next. It means that China can veto resolutions regarding Tibet. The UN is a paper tiger and there is nothing wrong with Ahmadinejad pointing that out.

You go Mahmoud!

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Viva Ahmadinejad!

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a very smart man. We are told he is a lunatic, hell bent on the destruction of Israel. Take a look at this interview in Salon that first appeared in Der Spiegel. Here are some of his choice statements.

"But think of the things that were done to Iranians! We were attacked by Iraq. Eight years of war. America and some European countries supported this aggression. We were even attacked with chemical weapons and [Western countries] aided and abetted those attacks. We did not inflict an injustice on anyone. We did not attack anyone, nor did we occupy other countries. We have no military presence in Europe and America. But troops from Europe and America are stationed along our borders."

"I agree that our reputation with the American government and some European governments is not positive. But that's their problem. All peoples are fed up with the American government."

>"The Afghan government should have been given more responsibility in the last seven years. President Hamid Karzai said to me once: They don't allow us to do our work."

"We are talking about Europe and the United States, where not a single politician wants to meet with you. Senior Italian politicians avoided you at a U.N. conference in Rome last year."

"We see that too, of course. But we are saying that Europe is not the whole world. Why do you believe this? Besides, I didn't even want to meet the Italian politicians."

"If a technology is beneficial, everyone should have it. If it is not, no one should have it. Can it be ... [that] we are not even permitted to pursue the peaceful use of nuclear energy? Our logic is completely clear: equal rights for all. The composition of the Security Council and the veto of its five permanent members are consequences of World War II, which ended 60 years ago. Must the victorious powers dominate mankind for evermore, and must they constitute the world government? The composition of the Security Council must be changed."

"We hope that the changes in American policy are of a fundamental nature, and that more has changed than the color. And that American policy will become more equitable, for the benefit of Africa, Asia and, most of all, the Middle East."

"Do you believe that the German people support the Zionist regime? Do you believe that a referendum could be held in Germany on this question? If you did allow such a referendum to take place, you would discover that the German people hate the Zionist regime."

I think such a referendum would have the same result all over the world.

Friday, April 10, 2009

"How I Miss the Transparency and Openness of the Bush Administration"

Thank to John Caruso at Distant Ocean for pointing out something I noticed last week.

I was trying to find a quote from Obama's Prague speech for my Black Agenda Report column, Phony Nuclear Disarmament. I went first to the White House website, which in the Bush days was easy to navigate.

To make a long story short, I had to do some creative googling because the White House site didn't have a link to the president's most recent speech. Go figure.

I wouldn't tell a lie, even if I thought it would make Obama look bad, so please take my word for it when I say that the Bush administration made it much, much easier to find out what the president was saying.

Sunday, April 05, 2009

G-20 Summit

The Group of 20 summit can be summed up thusly, thanks to George Monbiot writing in the Guardian.

"We, the Leaders of the Group of Twenty, will use every cent we don't possess to rescue corporate capitalism from its contradictions and set the world economy back onto the path of unsustainable growth. We have already spent trillions of dollars of your money on bailing out the banks, so that they can be returned to their proper functions of fleecing the poor and wrecking the Earth's living systems. Now we're going to spend another $1.1 trillion. As an exemplary punishment for their long record of promoting crises, we will give the IMF and the World Bank even more of your money. These actions constitute the greatest mobilisation of resources to support global financial flows in modern times.

Oh - and we nearly forgot. We must do something about the environment. We don't have any definite plans as yet, but we'll think of something in due course."