DebateGate

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/behind-the-numbers/2010/06/public_remains_unfriendly_on_a.html

It's not really news that Democrats have already turned against the war, but what I found interesting that just since April, support for the war among Republicans has dropped from 69% to 62%.

Of course, lack of public enthusiasm has never been sufficient reason for the American "democracy" to walk away from war, but it certainly will contribute to the final abandonment of Afghanistan when the costs mount, the Treasury becomes sufficiently depleted and the number of American casualties, particularly the seriously wounded, begins to take an economic toll that can no longer be swept under the rug.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,699677,00.html

Excellent and concise exposition of what Obama said to get elected and what he is doing once in office.

Anyone who votes for Obama in the next election is just a fool.  Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice . . .

Same goes for Reid and Pelosi and the whole crooked bunch.

<<Tuesday, June 1, 2010
<<US activist loses eye after being shot in face with tear gas canister; three metal plates inserted in her face and her jaw is wired shut

<<US citizen Emily Henochowicz was shot directly in the face with a tear gas canister as she non-violently demonstrated against the Flotilla massacre

<<UPDATE 1 June, 8:30PM (GMT+2): Emily is recovering at Hadassah Hospital after two surgeries Monday night. She lost her left eye, three metal plates were inserted into her head/face, and her jaw is wired shut. The bone surrounding her eye socket, cheekbone and jawbone are all fractured. Emily was standing peacefully during a demonstration at Qalandiya checkpoint Monday when Border Police fired a large number of tear gas canisters directly at the heads of Emily and another ISM activist.

<<. 31 May 2010: An American solidarity activist was shot in the face with a tear gas canister during a demonstration in Qalandiya, today. Emily Henochowicz is currently in Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem undergoing surgery to remove her left eye, following the demonstration that was held in protest to Israel’s murder of at least 10 civilians aboard the Gaza Freedom Flotilla in international waters this morning.

<<21-year old Emily Henochowicz was hit in the face with a tear gas projectile fired directly at her by an Israeli soldier during the demonstration at Qalandiya checkpoint today. Israeli occupation forces fired volleys of tear gas at unarmed Palestinian and international protesters, causing mass panic amongst the demonstrators and those queuing at the largest checkpoint separating the West Bank and Israel.

<<“They clearly saw us,” said Sören Johanssen, a Swedish ISM volunteer standing with Henochowicz. “They clearly saw that we were internationals and it really looked as though they were trying to hit us. They fired many canisters at us in rapid succession. One landed on either side of Emily, then the third one hit her in the face.”

<<Henochowicz is an art student at the prestigious Cooper Union, located in East Village, Manhattan......

<<Tear gas canisters are commonly used against demonstrators in the occupied West Bank. In May 2009, the Israeli State Attorney’s Office ordered Israeli Police to review its guidelines for dispersing demonstrators, following the death of a demonstrator, Bassem Abu Rahmah from Bil’in village, caused by a high velocity tear-gas projectile. Tear-gas canisters are meant to be used as a means of crowd dispersal, to be shot indirectly at demonstrators and from a distance. However, Israeli forces frequently shoot canisters directly at protesters and are not bound by a particular distance from which they can shoot....

<<[Another American shot by such a canister, Tristan Anderson, had a portion of his brain removed; his prognosis is still unknown. Latest reports show him still hospitalized over a year after he was shot.]>>

McClatchy Newspapers has obtained copies of documents previously filed in court by the Israeli government conclusively proving that the purpose of the blockade is economic punishment of the Palestinians for their election to power of the Hamas party and is not related to security purposes:

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/06/09/95621/israeli-document-gaza-blockade.html

<<Last week, after Israeli commandos killed nine volunteers on a Turkish-organized Gaza aid flotilla, Israel again said its aim was to stop the flow of terrorist arms into Gaza.

<<However, in response to a lawsuit by Gisha, an Israeli human rights group, the Israeli government explained the blockade as an exercise of the right of economic warfare.

<<"A country has the right to decide that it chooses not to engage in economic relations or to give economic assistance to the other party to the conflict, or that it wishes to operate using 'economic warfare,'" the government said.

<<McClatchy obtained the government's written statement from Gisha, the Legal Center for Freedom of Movement, which sued the government for information about the blockade. The Israeli high court upheld the suit, and the government delivered its statement earlier this year.

<<Sari Bashi, the director of Gisha, said the documents prove that Israel isn't imposing its blockade for its stated reasons, but rather as collective punishment for the Palestinian population of Gaza. Gisha focuses on Palestinian rights.

<<Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/06/09/95621/israeli-document-gaza-blockade.html#ixzz0qRskfaHs>>

Those lying fucking bastards lie all the time, usually to fool the moronic American public into supporting their every crime and atrocity.  The American public foots the bill for all their shit, but the MSM, with all the money at their disposal, can't OR WON'T get to the bottom of the Israeli government lies.  A two-bit Israeli human rights organization, with a tiny fraction of the budget of any one major player in the US MSM, can dig out the documentary evidence of their blatant lies, but you know what?  The nitwit American public will go on trusting their MSM as it swallows one Israeli lie after another and says virtually nothing about the river of "foreign aid" milked by Israel from the US taxpayer for their criminal shenanigans.

http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0608/kucinich-war-critics-rebuke-usfunded-bribes-afghan-militants/

NYT.  Kucinich.  Wonder how the conservatives are going to spin their way out of this one.  Should be interesting.  What they did indirectly with their war-mongering politicians initiating wars of choice, they are now simplifying by bypassing the politicians and buying the "threat" directly from the source.   Always good business practice, and kind of . . .  hilarious.

It is starting to remind me of bleating, as from a sheep.  "Attack on Flotilla Violates International Law"  This kind of headline and the article that goes with it appear everywhere.  As does "World Outrage Mounts" and other garbage like it.  I admit, I have been guilty of the same kind of bleating in the past.

Nobody gives a shit about international law any more.  "Outrage" at maybe the first of the long string of Israeli atrocities might be an appropriate response, but when you get down to Israeli Atrocity No. 9,637, the "world outrage" is starting to wear a little thin.  Nobody gives a shit about world outrage any more than they give a shit about international law.

Similarly, Obama and the other world leaders' quotes:  "Obama Says Blockade Unsustainable," etc.  WHO GIVES A FUCK?  He will say whatever it is expedient for him to say.  Won't change a God-damn thing.  WHY are his fatuous remarks "news?"

I would like the left-wing press to ease up on their usual bullshit.  No more articles telling us how ILLEGAL the blockade is.  We KNOW it is illegal but that's totally irrelevant since nobody else seems to give a shit whether it's illegal or not.  Same with the "Outrage" and the "Obama Denounces" shit.

What we want to hear is BDS movement news - - REAL news, stuff that deals with practical, realistic measures we can take.  Where are the boycotts etc. taking place now, and how can we offer help to the boycott organizers?  WHAT is being boycotted and how is the boycott message being spread?  What are the most lucrative pressure points for a divestment campaign, Who's working on it now, and again, how can we help?  Sanctions I'm not so sure about - - how to convince government to begin sanctions proceedings against Israel?  (Frankly, in North America at least, I think sanctions are a lost cause.)  But the "BD" part of BDS seems viable and practical.  Where do we start?

Kenneth O'Keefe, a former U.S. Marine and veteran of the First Gulf War, arrested by the Israelis onboard the Mavi Marmara, beaten in custody and then released, was later accused by the Israelis of planning to train Hamas commandos.

O'Keefe, a long-time peace activist following his military service, went to Baghdad as part of the Human Shield initiative to try to protect civilian targets of the U.S.  military.  He's a long-time advocate of non-violent peace activism.

One more example of the Zio-Nazis' lying bullshit - - they release him, THEN they claim he's a terrorist.

http://www.antiwar.com/

Looks like the Israelis dodged another bullet.  No serious UN consequences and an Israeli Foreign Office official publicly thanking Obama for "watering down" the condemnatory Security Council resolution.  Any "investigation" to be by Israel of Israel.  No break in diplomatic relations with any state, and even from Turkey, just a recall of the Turkish Ambassador.  It doesn't even look like the U.S. and Israel are  going to be set back in their ongoing efforts to sanction Iran - - no key player has come forward to claim that the murder of the nine or ten aid workers was a game-changer.  Not even Turkey itself.

Looks to me like the Arab governments are lip-synching nasty words to satisfy the masses while counting the days till this all fades into the background and they can get back to business as usual.  As far as the Palestinians are concerned, it's "God helps them that help themselves."