Middle East Thread

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

Homophobe

Not being gay is the gayest thing of all.

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

Go and strangle an owl or something.

Do what?

[Anubis]

Do what?

 

I knew it. I just knew you were an owl-murdering bastard.

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

You ain't got nuffin' on me!

[stringvest]

I knew it. I just knew you were an owl-murdering bastard.

 

 

to wit.

[Stu Monty]

I would say "fair" is a malleable concept.

 

For instance, we are both against the death penalty. However, would we say that a rape victim who killed her rapist was acting unfairly and disproportionately? After all, she was only raped; the other guy lost his life.

 

I hope my point is clear.

 

Oh, and I agreed with the two week break. It was precisely what I was going to suggest to Dave, if only for my own good. There is a fellow with excellent judgement.

 

I would agree. Your point is clear.

 

It doesn't speak to calling someone a troll for challenging your own assessment of your fairness with an example of your own behaviour though. Which is actually just a reasonable response.

[Bjornebye]

Nobody's forcing you to read it. Go and strangle an owl or something.

He had blocked you but fancied a laugh at your expense so chose to read it. He will be back after he has finally finished owling with laughter.

[vanball]

Embarassing beyond belief to read this stuff.

Wikipedia has a definition of "naive realism" worth looking at.

[AngryOfTuebrook]

Embarassing beyond belief to read this stuff.

Indeed.

 

Here's a thought, instead of reading through arsedribbling posts in which grown men whine about (real or perceived) insults, we could, y'know, discuss the Middle East in the Middle East Thread.

 

There may be some interesting developments in Israeli/US relations (like Ratcatcher posted two pages ago).

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/03/20/president-obama-informs-netanyahu-that-us-government-is-re-evaluating-relationship-with-israel/

 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu didn’t get to celebrate very long after his election victory as President Obama called the foreign leader to deliver on a promise made after Bibi disrespected the White House earlier this year.

In a long-awaited announcement, President Obama told Netanyahu on Thursday that the US government is finally going to re-evaluate its relationship with Israel. That’s probably not the kind of congratulatory phone call Netanyahu wanted.

According to the New York Times, an anonymous administration official recounted the phone call.

“The president told the prime minister that we will need to re-assess our options following the prime minister’s new positions and comments regarding the two state solution.”

The moves comes after Netanyahu promised that a two-state solution would never come to fruition as long as he is in charge in what is largely considered a desperate last ditch effort to appease hard-line right-wing Israeli voters in the last hours of the election. Netanyahu also insinuated that Arab Israelis are an enemy of Israel when he warned that they were voting in “droves.” The Prime Minister’s obvious goal was to bring more Jews to the polls by using a touch of racism. In short, Netanyahu’s own mouth is to blame for souring the friendship between America and Israel.

And it looks like all the options are on the table, including how the United States deals with Israeli-Palestinian issues at the United Nations.

For years, the US has used its veto power to block efforts to create a Palestinian state, which would effectively enact the two-state solution the rest of the world has supported for a long time as a way to resolve the longstanding conflict between Israel and the Palestinian people. And now, it appears the US may now be willing to allow a resolution “calling for the establishment of a sovereign Palestine roughly along the pre-1967 lines that divided Israel from the West Bank and Gaza.”

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said that the words coming out of Netanyahu’s big mouth “do have consequences for actions that we take at the United Nations and other places.”

“Steps that the United States has taken at the United Nations had been predicated on this idea that the two-state solution is the best outcome,” Earnest added. “Now our ally in these talks has said that they are no longer committed to that solution. That means we need to re-evaluate our position in this matter, and that is what we will do moving forward.”

Sounds like President Obama has more of a spine when it comes to foreign policy than Republicans thought.

The move the US makes could also have worse consequences for Israel since Palestinians have been trying to nail the Jewish State for crimes against humanity committed during the recent violence in Gaza.

Despite the US claim to be opposed to ethnic cleansing and the nations who commit it, we have repeatedly blocked UN votes condemning Israel for those exact war crimes. Now, that may change. And since Palestine is officially joining the International Criminal Court next month to make the case against Israel, Netanyahu could very well be facing a double whammy in the near future. It could also be a triple whammy if President Obama is able to reach a deal with Iran. If taking the $3 billion a year in defense aid from US taxpayers is also on the table, that would be a quadruple whammy of historic significance.

As Agence France-Presse notes, it has been “30 years since then president Ronald Reagan allowed anti-Israel resolutions to pass at the UN after Israel bombed Iraq’s nuclear facilities.”

To recap, Netanyahu approved of a campaign of genocide against the Palestinian people and has used the American government to shield his nation from international consequences. He spoke to Congress in an effort to sabotage delicate negotiations with Iran that would prevent the Iranians from getting a nuclear weapon. In doing so, he disrespected the White House and the American military he would gladly see fight a bloody costly war in Iran while Israel watches from the sidelines. Then he went back to Israel and ramped up anti-Arab sentiment and withdrew his support of an independent Palestine just so he could win a fourth term as prime minister, a post he has held for far too long. And now, his words and actions are coming back to bite him and the people of Israel in the ass. Israel has lost respect from the world and has become a dangerous threat to peace as Netanyahu continues to seek Israeli dominance of the region.

For months, many, including myself, have called for the US government to re-evaluate our relationship with Israel. And now it is happening. Not only could Israel face condemnation at the UN, the creation of a Palestinian state, and a separate US-Iran peace deal, they are losing the best friend they have ever had in its 67 year history as a created state. And Israelis only have Netanyahu to blame and themselves for voting for him again.

[KMD7]

That Netanyahu really is a cunt of the highest order

[AngryOfTuebrook]

The UN found plenty of land for the Palestinians in 1947, unfortunately it wasn't enough for them. Everything that has happened since then, the whole sad desperate situation, stems from those simple origins.

Greedy bastard A-Rabs!  Ethnic-cleansing's too good for'em.

 

[Anubis]

 

"Pale-who? Sorry, Pale-what? P..A..L.... ....no, no. Sorry. Never heard of them......"

[Stu Monty]

 

"Pale-who? Sorry, Pale-what? P..A..L.... ....no, no. Sorry. Never heard of them......"

 

 

 

 

Palestine? OH! You mean the R&D lab for our security industry...yeah, what about it?

[General Dryness]

Obama assassination on its way courtesy of Mossad?

 

Just speculating given the content of the article AOT posted above. Israel not being known for its magnanimity towards its opposers and all that.

[stringvest]

It's Bollocks.  Empty words.  Obama knows it, Netanyahu knows it.  The pro-Israeli lobby in the US isn't going to let an upstart Democrat president disturb the 'relationship'.  Obama wouldn't dare, but even if he did, the full weight of the pro-Israeli machine would do everything in it's power to stop it actually manifesting.  Including, no doubt, assassinations.  

[bouncebrigade]

stringvest is spot on. American president is a lame duck, especially an African born Democrat seeking to weaken Israel at a time when the Republicans control Congress.

[Stu Monty]

African born?

[cloggypop]

Hawaii was in Africa then.

[bouncebrigade]

The GOP believe he was African born.

 

Anyway my point still stands. Replace African born with black.

[VladimirIlyich]

Wasnt it Obama's Parents/Grandparents who were Kenyan?

Interesting the US are talking about a deal with Iran,that would really upset those fascists and neo cons who run the US political system.

[bouncebrigade]

Yeah Vlad, that's what I meant.

 

I should have said of African origin rather than birth.

[ratcatcher]

People who believe obama was born in Africa rather than hawaii must be of the same mindset as those who think the moon landings were done in a film studio.

[dennis tooth]

Odd, since Israel reflattened Gaza USA have been tripping over themselves to give them more weapons.

If they did actually stop vetoing resolutions it would stop Isreal in its tracks, at which point would Mossad assasinate Obama? The very fact that we can soberly pose the question means Mossad would have considered it at the very least even if just to weigh up its options as any terrorist organisation to achieve its political goals. I doubt Obama would ever cross the line however the corporate media would assassinate him long before Mossad.

[stringvest]

Odd, since Israel reflattened Gaza USA have been tripping over themselves to give them more weapons.

If they did actually stop vetoing resolutions it would stop Isreal in its tracks, at which point would Mossad assasinate Obama? The very fact that we can soberly pose the question means Mossad would have considered it at the very least even if just to weigh up its options as any terrorist organisation to achieve its political goals. I doubt Obama would ever cross the line however the corporate media would assassinate him long before Mossad.

 

No way will Obama upset the Jewish lobby in the US Dennis. Nor will any other ambitious politician in the US.  

[dennis tooth]

No way will Obama upset the Jewish lobby in the US Dennis. Nor will any other ambitious politician in the US.  

He seems pretty pissed off, whether he can or has the will to make a pointless stand is another thing. America has a reputation as the one in charge to uphold here, its a matter of power projection as much as anything else, arrogant patriotism is a dangerous motive to play with. That works both ways, as I say theyve not been shy about increasing the arms flow to Isreal under Obama even though its not as if the problem is Isreal not having enough weapons, anyway time will tell it might get interesting at least, theres the Iran factor as well but Obama can only do so much and Im not sure hes doing anything than what he thinks is the best interest scenario as the head of the worlds only superpower.

 

One other thing Im not sure Isreal is strategically as important to the USA anymore, with developments in terms of USA compliant clients in the middle east now and the diversification of fuels and location of fossil fuels are outside of that zone now, with things like ISIS running riot keeping the chaos ticking over its going well for them.