Russia and China's Syrian Shame.

Russia and China must hang their collective heads in shame after the use of their veto at the United Nations Security Council. The proposed resolution called for a peaceful transition of power and and end to the abysmal violence that the Syrian regime employs to subdue its own, the veto was a licence to kill.
If the thinking inside the Russian and Chinese Foreign Ministries continues as in bygone days where one Soviet diplomat quipped " Casting the veto is like adultery; you worry about it the first time, but after that it's fun"then we are heading for a collision of great magnitude . These are real people who are daily being massacred not some whimsical game to be played at will to pass time.
At least the regular defections from the Army are continuing with more senior officers joining with the people. That gives us hope that this is a regime in its final days.
Let's pray the Russians and Chinese find their moral compass before more people have to needlessly die.

War and Dominos

We approach the new year with the stench of war hanging around us. As the rhetoric between Iran and America increases the actions are undeniably naive and downright dangerous.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al- Malki talks of "rivers of blood" as America once again forgoes its morality to support a strongman set upon abandoning a power sharing government. To this end the Obama administration is supplying weaponry and training of US$ 11 billion.
The House of Khalifa must be quaking in their sandals.
Obama has also approved the go ahead of half the US$60Billion arms sales to Saudi Arabia . Now he has tasted blood this President is lapping it up. Remote wars always kick start the economy and have been used time and time again.
However his targets are not as soft and the coming year will see no doubt the fall of many US friendly regimes.
Even Vladimir Putin has discovered when the people lose their fear the apparatus of government starts to collapse.
With the Arab League monitors already admitting their mission in Syria is doomed to failure , and witch-hunts becoming the norm in Jordan the Israelis are encouraging the plans for "Al Wataan al badeel" or Jordan to become a defacto alternative for Palestine as they build more and more illegal settlements making a two state solution unworkable.
With Assad and others seeing the writing on the wall and the Army in Egypt stifling revolutionary change the Holy land will once again experience war as the circle has come round and the only legitimacy that remains is that of the Palestinian cause.
This time the consequences of war are far greater the appetite for more than regional players to get involved much more determined.
Watch the domino effect and pray I am wrong.

Oh what a lovely war.

With the Euro in shambles and America in recession it won't be long before a new war is provoked to kick start the military industrial complex of the West.
The prime target playground for this folly has without doubt got to be somewhere in the Middle East. As Libya proved to be a great venue to test and showcase the latest the West has to offer in Aerial death technology, and reconstruction profits start trickling back the thirst for more will play its role.
With tensions already high in Syria and Iran upping the rhetoric as well as the drama by seizing the British Embassy and raising their flag, it will only be a matter of time when someone somewhere will be responsible for sparking what could be another disastrous episode in history.
The dynamics for counter revolution are already surfacing in Egypt and have been apparent in the Gulf from the start. With the Turks experiencing a new Ottoman resurgence, the Russians and Chinese will not be sidelined this time round.There will be no long term winners only a few war profiteers suckling on the nipple of an exhausted Mother Earth.
Well nobody got rich without war.

Libya's water.

The pillaging of Libya has begun, and Hilary Clinton has staked Americas Claim.
Though the French , British and Turks had sent higher ranking delegations you were left in no doubt that La Clinton meant business.
Everything from building schools, treating war veterans, to boosting civil society ,Tourism  to integrating them into a modern economy to women's rights was mentioned.
A panacea for our time, this American cure all  was a shot across the bow for all have been eying Libya's two greatest assets, oil and water.
Though oil is generally recognised as being a major factor for the coalitions rapid support  for the overthrow of  Gadaffi  in order to secure future Libyan oil for Europe  it is water that is the secret long term asset. The Nubian Sandstone aquifers that lie under the Eastern Sahara contain enough ground water to literally turn the desert green and make Libya, Chad ,Sudan and parts of Egypt a breadbasket of the Middle East and the world.
When the Great Man Made River project was embarked upon in 1983, to supply water to the coastal regions and for irrigation it was ridiculed as a waste of resources another White Elephant. 
How wrong they were. This engineering marvel will without doubt give Libyans in the first phase food security and then as they hone their agricultural techniques be used as a spring board to feed their neighbours and beyond and thus greatly enhance Libya's standing in the world  and as a Gateway to Africa.
With China either buying or leasing agricultural land in overseas countries for large scale farming to feed its ever growing populations food needs the race is on to have control of vast fresh water reserves and Libya's deposed dictator realised this. 
The Libyan revolution was not only about freedom but the first of many wars to control the essence of life.

A thousand and one prisoners.

A thousand plus Palestinians are being freed from Israeli jails in exchange for Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier who was captured some five years ago. No doubt their respective families have welcomed this especially as we approach the holiday season.
Again no doubt those involved in the negotiating process faced numerous obstacles till the conditions for an agreement suited both the Israelis and Hamas and their ultimate masters.
It is not that the Israelis value human life more than their Palestinian counterparts or that Hamas were brilliant at negotiating. There are practical considerations on both sides. The cost of incarceration and the erosion of human values on both parties has been high.
Hundreds of Palestinians denied due process and a young Israeli soldier kept in incommunicado  exposes the worst in our frail humanity.
 Rumor  and counter rumor surround  the politics involved behind the swap, from the distancing of Hamas from Syrian / Iranian patronage and American need to have closer ties to Islamic groups ,to the desire of Netenyaho to humiliate Abu Mazin for his unilateral application for full membership to the U.N despite American threats to exercise their veto at the Security council. Whilst there may be truth in these, and many more fanciful theories , the extent of subterfuge and backstabbing particularly as details emerge of the close working relationships between the intelligence agencies of America Israel Egypt and Palestine never fails to impress.

Let us hope that Marwan Barghouti is also released and this era heralds better understanding between all the parties involved. The value of human life is important and nobody has a monopoly on that.

Extrajudicial killings and a one term President

The extrajudicial  killing of two American citizens in Yemen, ordered by President Obama has set  another dangerous precedent  that has serious and far reaching implications for the US Constitution and its controls on the restraint of executive power.
At some point the American government changed its policy of kidnapping terrorist suspects and flying them to Guantanamo for trial,  to just killing them. The presumption of innocence until proven guilty and the right to a fair trial or even unfair trial blown out the window by the drones they employ or in the case of Bin Laden the Navy seals that made up the assassination squad.
This must surely be a deeply disturbing development and Obama's refusal to allow the advice he was given to be interrogated publicly bodes badly for his presidency.
For an eloquent man he has become increasingly incompetent and unable to convert his vision either at home or abroad.
The economy is in shambles, his confused and hypocritical foreign policy especially with regard to the Arab Spring and his continued blind support for Israel , is isolating America and harming its long term interests. From a man of promise he has become a man of promises.
Gone are the chants of " Yes we can"  and now only faint echoes of the man who was elected can be heard.
Whether it is the office of the Presidency that has caused this insolence or whether the advice he is receiving is tainted and corrupt only time will tell, however this looks increasingly like a one term Presidency.
In the meantime, as he reflects on his opposition to a Palestinian state or he grapples with the murders he has ordered for political gain he would do well to remember the following thought from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr: "There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic…but one must take it because it is right".

Women lashes and the vote in the Kingdom

Recently the Custodian of the the Two Holy places (a.k.a) King Abdullah bin Abdel Azziz Al Saud overturned a court decision that sentenced a woman to ten lashes for breaking an unwritten rule of  females driving in the Saudi Kingdom upsetting many of the conservative and religious elements in the country.
S&M enthusiasts apart, this was the right decision by the ageing King.
Then in a surprise move he announced that women will soon be able to vote in Saudi Arabia, and even though they still can't drive a car, they will be allowed to vote in municipal elections and will also be allowed to hold office.
I can't help but feel there is a fundamental flaw in this cunning reform move though I cant quite put my finger on it.
As one grump proclaimed "Now it's driving [women want]. After five years it will be taking off the abaya [all-covering veil and gown], after 10 years they will ask to be allowed to wear short skirts. This is how it's going, that is how I feel."

Whatever next?