Israel and the tragedy in Gaza: Why humanitarian aid must be allowed

Israel enjoys a high degree of goodwill in many parts of the world and even professional critics of Israel have found much to admire in the manner in which the State of Israel conducts its no nonsense foreign policy. The world opinion be damned. As long of USA is not overly critical Israel does not seem to care. The latest outrage committed on the high sea seems to have taken even the Obama Administration by surprise and Hilary Clinton has joined the rest of the world in condemning Islaer's action in using military might against a flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza. The world has come to recognise that the economic blockade imposed by Israel is causing untold misery to the people of the Palestenian territory. If by following this policy Israel hopes to undermine the support base of the HAMAS, the policy is clearly not succeeding. In fact the blockade has only increased the level of public acceptability of HAMAS. The economic blokade has failed in its expressly stated purpose but has succeeded in imposing collective punishment on the people of Gaza for electing the Hamas.
Israel has used unacceptable level of force in dealing with the flotilla carrying, after all humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. The boat did not carry any military equipment or even machinery. It only carried tents, blankets, medicines, school text books, toys, food and relief material. Israel could have allowed the passage of the aid flotilla instead of brutally attacking and causing the death of 10 aid workers. Video footage shows the Israeli paratroopers rappelling on to the deck of the vessels and opening fire. Israel's claim that they were attracted first carries no conviction as the aid flotilla was on international waters when the incident happened. I do agree that Israel has a very difficult security environment and also recluctantly have to concede that the security wall, often called apartheid wall has given security to the civilians as there have been far fewer suicide bombings now than before. By saying this we should not be encouraging Israel with its hard statecraft, though it is enviably successful.
The War launched against the residents of Gaza in 2008-2009 resulted, for the first time in the 65 year history of Israel in a with drawl without achieving any major strategic objective. The rockets attacks have stopped but for how long remains open to question. The degradation of the Hamas and its military capability has clearly not been achieved. Under these circumstances Israel could have been more circumspect.
There is yet another issue causing international disquiet. This is to do with Israel's nuclear programme. The Barack Obama administration is obsessed over Iran's nuclear material even though Iran has complied will all its obligations under the NPT to which Iran is a signatory. The nuclear material exchange agreement signed with Turkey and other countries effectively puts Iran's spent fuel under international scrutiny. Israel on the other hand in not a signatory to the NPT and has been carrying out a covert nuclear arms program for the past 3 to 4 decades in a facility in the NEGEV desert.The revelations of Mordechai Vanunu the Israeli expert has proved to the whole world the existence of the nuclear program. US experts believe that Israel possesses around 100 warheads just a screw driver away from deployment. Under these circumstances peace in the Middle East will look a dismal prospect.
Israel must respond to the consistent US call for a return to the Road Map and the process agreed with the quartet.

The Indian State, The Naxalites and Political Violence

The most recent outrage against the Indian Railways by the Naxalites in Midnapore District of West Bengal once again drives home the fact that the Indian political establishment lacks the material and the intellectual capacity to counter the Naxalites. In fact the spate of recent attack on civilian targets suggests that the Maoists now consider civilians as fair game due to the absolute erosion of the very authority of the state. The Indian political establishment is capable of unheard of levels of brutality against unarmed civilians but is utterly incompetent to deal with armed groups motivated by ideological or religious considerations. It trumpets its dubious success against a hand full of stray "hindu" extremists who seem to be to be absurd elements in a theatre of death. In order to re enforce its dubious secular credentials some hot heads like Mutalik are paraded by the establishment as "proof" of the even handedness of the India sate. The fact is that the present political Establishment has lost all claims to the loyalty of its citizens and the mere fact that some MPs like Lalu Prasad Yadava and his criminal ilk "win" elections is no reason for such men to be regarded as part of the political process or leadership. Even P Chidambaram, the Home Minister has dubious credentials. His premature announcement of Telangana once again ignite ed a firestorm in Andhra and the Centre has just bought time by constituting the Sri Krishna Committee.
The main reason why the Naxalites menace has risen to such levels is because the UPA has within its fold powerful parties that have a vested interest in Maoist violence. Lalu Prasad Yadava needs the support of the Naxalites in Vidisha district from where he can hope to win by using Yadava and naxalite muscle power to rig the elections in the cow belt. The unholy nexus between the Mamta Party and the Naxalites are there for all to see. This is not to say that the CPM are a bunch of innocent bystanders. In fact the CPM routinely used the sate machinery and muscle power to crush opposition and I remember that when that old thug called Jyoti Basu was the Chief Minister, he had the skull of Mata broken when she led a demonstration against the CPM Government before the Writers' Building. Having supped with the devil of violence, the CPM now cannot cry foul.
My appeal to the Naxalites is as follows: Target the political establishment and no one will complain. But do not kill civilians. The Indian political class is a criminal gang and deserves to be punished in the name of patriotic forces.

Naxalite Outrage Again: Why Chidambaram's war against the tribals will fail

The war launched by UPA II against the tribal in the heartland of India, labelled Operation Green Hunt is showing all the signs of early senility, exactly like the mental and intellectual processes of our "secular" congress brand politicians. Even dothi clad Harvard educated politicos are not free from that malaise. It is necessary to remember that across the social spectrum the Indian political establishment has lost legitimacy. Winning elections with money power and muscle power the politicians lord over the nation like the palaiyakaras of olden times. Even Chidambaram should know that his right to occupy his office in North Block is not without a huge question mark. Did he or did he not win his Lok Sabha seat. There are different versions about his vote share.
The is caught between the Indian security establishment and the Naxalite and with a cranky man like G K Pillai as Home Secretary it is unlikely that the Government will seee any success. I have often remarked in my extensive blogs that sending troops by carriers like trucks and buses is just stupid as the naxalites have mastered the art of using IEDs. The Government should strike at the supply side of the chain and clamp down on the sale of dual use chemicals. Further corruption within the Establishment has resulted in a steady flow of both information and arms and ammunition to the "liberated Zones". I think that Dothi clad nincompoop called Chidambaram should read classics like Mao's works, Sun Szu's Art of War, Machiavelli's the Prince and Clausewitz's On War and he will realise that he just cannot win this war as he does not understand the dynamics of what is going on. I have said earlier that Arundatti Roys's piece in the Outlook should be carefully perused as it contains valuable insight on the tactics of the Naxalite. Instead of blaming the so called intellectuals, the Government of the day should realise that the Indian political establishment does not have the loyalty even of tits own members. I think the BJP keep out of this war by just not commenting one or the other. Every naxalite strike is a coffin to inter the existing political calculus.
In the latest strike the naxalite have exposed the fact that the Government is using civilians as human shields in its war against the tribal

Nitin Gadkar, Lalu Yadava and the World of Dogs

Nitin Gadkari, the President of the BJP has called the Yadava chieftains from the Cow Belt "DOGS". Now I respect animals and I am sure that this comaprison is very very offensive and I condemn Nitin Gadkari for making such an outrageous statement. I own a few street dogs and tto the best of my knowledge have never threatened to crush anyone under a roadroller. This being the case how can Lalu Prasad Yadave be compared to a "dog". The dogs of this planet can feel outraged at the very thought that a gentleman who has the "fodder scam" facing him should feel offended. I also like to point out that ane Mishra who was seeing one of the girls of that Yadava was found dead in a canal. Now dogs do not do such outrageous things and they must be treated with dignity.
The politicians of this country call India are corrupt and criminal and they think that they have the licence to kill, abuse, pillage, rape, murder and if they have the right "secular" credentials like the Yadava duo or that DP Yadava they escape all accountability for their crimes. Today these to Yadavas are caying foul. Has anyone forgotten what Mulayam Yadava tried to do to Mayawati a few years back or the horrible words uttered by Mrs Bahuguna against Mayawati a few month back. Indian politicians are a disgrace to India and everything decent in the world and therefore deserve no mercy.
The gang of corrupt criminals called politicians will thrive as long as people dop not relise that by voting such people they are in fact commiting a crime against themselves.
I am not saying that NITIN Gadkari has done the right thing but there is a limit to the patience of everyone. When George Fernades was Defence Minister the CongressParty used to hurl abuses in Parliament on the coffin matter. Hon'ble Narendar Modi is being humiliated day in and day out by the likes of pretty face Bhraka Dutt and her tribe. As for me I say that given a choice between dogs and cats and Indian politicians I prefer dogs, cats, monkey, snakes and sundry animals as they are any day more civilised than that khaini stined fodder thief.

Blogger Buzz: Blogger integrates with Amazon Associates

Blogger Buzz: Blogger integrates with AmIt appears that educated people in India do not want to make the obvious link between political corruption and dynastic fascism which is rampant in India. The linguistic division of state has spawned a whole array of regional and sub regional dynasties vying for space in the over crowded menagerie of Indian politics. The Congress Party started the slide by promoting a political dynasty and all regional parties along with their national affiliates followed suit. Only the two communist parties and the BJP seem to be bucking the trend. It is easier and safer for corrupt politicians to park their ill-gotten wealth in Party coffers and since they want their families to access that wealth the logic demands that families will inherit the parties. When Annadurai the founder of the DMK died no one in the DMK would have thought of giving the reins of leadership to his son. Though the 2 Dravidian parties swear by the name of Annadurai both of then have betrayed the legacy of that leader. None more so than Karunanidhi mistakenly called "kal;ignar" a term that means artist, but I have still to discover what he is so good at that he deserves that title. Tamils have become so backward that they have started the biruda game like the kings of old.It is only a matter of time before A Raja the Telecom scamster is shown the door. The 75,000 crore scandal he presided over is directly linked to the DMK party funds.In almost all the recent by-elections the party has spent crores of money and it is quite obvious that some of the money has come from the Telecom scam. A Raja in fact violated the written directive from the Prime Minister's Office which instructed him to keep the "empowered group of ministers" in the loop. It shows that in this Age of coalition politics, the dictates of the PM can be ignored with impunity. It is also possible that the PM's directive was issued to provide a line of defence to the PM, just in case the scandal became too much of a stench. The Congress has perfected the art of political corruption and has trained its 'secular" allies very well in this art. Corruption and Dynastic Fascism are both the great gifts of the Congress to the country.The only way to rid the nation of corruption is to appoint an audit committee to look into the funding and accounts of all registered political bodies. This is well within the purview of the Election Commission. After all political parties are only unincorporated association in law and it is within the competence of the Election Commission to order an audit into the accounts of all parties. If Hawala money poisons the IPL chalice, why not the political parties. And parties that refuse to comply must be forbidden to compete in the ELECTIONS.This is a reform well worth attempting.
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Telecom Scandal, Dynastic Fascism, and Political Corruption

It appears that educated people in India do not want to make the obvious link between political corruption and dynastic fascism which is rampant in India. The linguistic division of state has spawned a whole array of regional and sub regional dynasties vying for space in the over crowded menagerie of Indian politics. The Congress Party started the slide by promoting a political dynasty and all regional parties along with their national affiliates followed suit. Only the two communist parties and the BJP seem to be bucking the trend. It is easier and safer for corrupt politicians to park their ill-gotten wealth in Party coffers and since they want their families to access that wealth the logic demands that families will inherit the parties. When Annadurai the founder of the DMK died no one in the DMK would have thought of giving the reins of leadership to his son. Though the 2 Dravidian parties swear by the name of Annadurai both of then have betrayed the legacy of that leader. None more so than Karunanidhi mistakenly called "kal;ignar" a term that means artist, but I have still to discover what he is so good at that he deserves that title. Tamils have become so backward that they have started the biruda game like the kings of old.
It is only a matter of time before A Raja the Telecom scamster is shown the door. The 75,000 crore scandal he presided over is directly linked to the DMK party funds.In almost all the recent by-elections the party has spent crores of money and it is quite obvious that some of the money has come from the Telecom scam. A Raja in fact violated the written directive from the Prime Minister's Office which instructed him to keep the "empowered group of ministers" in the loop. It shows that in this Age of coalition politics, the dictates of the PM can be ignored with impunity. It is also possible that the PM's directive was issued to provide a line of defence to the PM, just in case the scandal became too much of a stench. The Congress has perfected the art of political corruption and has trained its 'secular" allies very well in this art. Corruption and Dynastic Fascism are both the great gifts of the Congress to the country.
The only way to rid the nation of corruption is to appoint an audit committee to look into the funding and accounts of all registered political bodies. This is well within the purview of the Election Commission. After all political parties are only unincorporated association in law and it is within the competence of the Election Commission to order an audit into the accounts of all parties. If Hawala money poisons the IPL chalice, why not the political parties. And parties that refuse to comply must be forbidden to compete in the ELECTIONS.
This is a reform well worth attempting.

Unrestrained Killing in Iraq

The US war effort in Iraq is undermined by the very savagery of its sometimes unrestrained killing. Of course, in a war zone the forces are at liberty to shoot and shoot to kill if need be, but it appears that gratuitous acts of great violence are being carried out without any tactical advantage or objective.
On July 12, 2007 an employees of Reuters, Baghdad,Namir Noor-Eldeem who was all of 22 years old was killed by a deadly burst of 30 millimetre M230 chain guns mounted on AH-64D Apache helicopters which have become the backbone of the US military for decades now. Sometimes called the Black Hawk because of its predatory shilloutte this war machine is etched in American consciousness due to another unfortunate incident in Somalia several years back. Namir Noor and his colleague were killed on the spot even though both of them were neither terrorists nor were they armed. In fact both men took extreme precaution not to send wrong signals as the site of their killing has witnessed sectarian strife. What is shocking is that the US military did not even acknowledge that such an act had taken place and tried to cover up for the error in judgement. It is not any one's case that the pilots were seeking out innocent targets and were getting their kicks by killing innocents. We are saying that the US military in its field operations has given far too much leeway to its soldiers and all damage justified under the label "collateral damage".
This incident would have been forgotten but for a happenstance. The video footage of this particular attack was loaded on to a little known site called Wiki leaks. It is obvious that someone from within the US military establishment has had the courage to leak the footage either to embarrass the military or to assuage the conscience. Either way the damaging video soon became one of the most watched videos even on you-tube where it is presently hosted.
The video has to be watched for one to understand the absolute cold bloodiness of the soldiers in the helicopter. The gunmen in the helicopter open fire on the Small group of unarmed men and kill all of them. Not content at this massacre they wait for the relief van to pull up and in the video one hears a voice with a mid-western accent: Come on, let us shoot.
When the US military was done with its deed 8 men and children lay dead and not one was armed or even remotely associated with insurgency.
This is only to bring home the horror of what is unfolding in Iraq.