Friday, January 18, 2013
Pope thanks CIA war criminal for "protecting the world"
by Jay Janson for "Information Clearing House"
Panetta said the Pope said to him, “Thank you for helping to protect the world.” said he replied, “Pray for me.” Fellow Catholics, can only hope that the Pope said something else that Panetta was reluctant to mention to US foreign policy promoting reporters. One paragraph re Panetta’s crimes, Reagan’s Assist. Sec of Treasury quoted, and the usual plea for a responsible public to call for prosecution of illegal war.
Panetta, at Vatican, Says Pope Thanks Him for Service, NY Times, 1/16/13, by Elizabeth Bumiller, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/17/world/europe/defense-secretary-leon-panetta-meets-pope.html?ref=world
During Panetta's time as CIA Director and Secretary of Defense US illegal wars (illegal, even according to Ron Paul), have gone on un-mercilessly in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Somalia, Yemen at the cost of thousands of lives of men,women and children murdered in their own beloved, innocent and poor nations. Under Panetta thugs were paid to destroy the government in the most prosperous and democratic nation in Africa before US NATO bombing took place while a near million Libyans in a population of only six million demonstrated for their Green democracy government and Gadaffi. At last count 60'000 have died in Syria for the attempt of the former former colonial powers led by the US and satellites like Israel, Saudi Arabia and Turkey to do the same there in the face to similar massive pro-government rallies which are denied coverage in the Pentagon fed network news programs.
'It is a known fact that the CIA has violated US law and international law with its assassinations, kidnappings and torture. But it is not this criminal agency that will be held accountable. Instead, those who will be punished will be those moral beings who, appalled at the illegality and inhumanity of the CIA, leaked the evidence of the agency's crimes. The CIA has asked the US Justice (sic) Department to investigate what the CIA alleges is the "criminal disclosure" of its secret program to murder suspected foreign terrorist leaders abroad. As we learned from Gitmo, those suspected by America are overwhelmingly innocent." [Paul Craig Roberts, CIA's Hypocracy Astonishes the World, www.vdare.com, 9/6/2009]
Those brought up as Catholics, can only hope that the Pope said something else to that monstrous war criminal that Panetta was reluctant to mention to US foreign policy promoting reporters.
Jay Janson is an archival research peoples historian activist, musician and writer
Panetta said the Pope said to him, “Thank you for helping to protect the world.” said he replied, “Pray for me.” Fellow Catholics, can only hope that the Pope said something else that Panetta was reluctant to mention to US foreign policy promoting reporters. One paragraph re Panetta’s crimes, Reagan’s Assist. Sec of Treasury quoted, and the usual plea for a responsible public to call for prosecution of illegal war.
Panetta, at Vatican, Says Pope Thanks Him for Service, NY Times, 1/16/13, by Elizabeth Bumiller, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/17/world/europe/defense-secretary-leon-panetta-meets-pope.html?ref=world
"ROME — Leon E. Panetta had an audience on Wednesday morning at the Vatican with Pope Benedict XVI, who told him, Mr. Panetta said, “Thank you for helping to protect the world.” Mr. Panetta said he replied, “Pray for me.”The reader is invited to read the whole short NY Times report before going on to the paragraph below on Panetta's to-be-prosecuted crimes, a quote from Reagan's Asst. Sec. of Treasury Paul Craig Roberts, and the author's commiseration with fellow born-Catholics.
Mr. Panetta, ... who attends Mass every Sunday, is halfway through a week-long trip to Europe meant as a goodbye tour of American allies"
During Panetta's time as CIA Director and Secretary of Defense US illegal wars (illegal, even according to Ron Paul), have gone on un-mercilessly in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Somalia, Yemen at the cost of thousands of lives of men,women and children murdered in their own beloved, innocent and poor nations. Under Panetta thugs were paid to destroy the government in the most prosperous and democratic nation in Africa before US NATO bombing took place while a near million Libyans in a population of only six million demonstrated for their Green democracy government and Gadaffi. At last count 60'000 have died in Syria for the attempt of the former former colonial powers led by the US and satellites like Israel, Saudi Arabia and Turkey to do the same there in the face to similar massive pro-government rallies which are denied coverage in the Pentagon fed network news programs.
'It is a known fact that the CIA has violated US law and international law with its assassinations, kidnappings and torture. But it is not this criminal agency that will be held accountable. Instead, those who will be punished will be those moral beings who, appalled at the illegality and inhumanity of the CIA, leaked the evidence of the agency's crimes. The CIA has asked the US Justice (sic) Department to investigate what the CIA alleges is the "criminal disclosure" of its secret program to murder suspected foreign terrorist leaders abroad. As we learned from Gitmo, those suspected by America are overwhelmingly innocent." [Paul Craig Roberts, CIA's Hypocracy Astonishes the World, www.vdare.com, 9/6/2009]
Those brought up as Catholics, can only hope that the Pope said something else to that monstrous war criminal that Panetta was reluctant to mention to US foreign policy promoting reporters.
Jay Janson is an archival research peoples historian activist, musician and writer
Thursday, January 17, 2013
France is walking straight into a disaster of epic proportions
Francois Hollande, already one of the most hated Presidents in French history, is clearly desperate to try to change his image of being Mr "couille molle" (literally: limp dick), a nickname he got from within his own political party. Like Sarkozy, he wants to flex some military muscle to prove that he is also a great man.
Nevermind that the French soldiers are underpaid, under-equipped, and that most their promotions have been put on indefinite hold. Hollande has clearly tried to show some good old machismo, and the results are a total disaster.
a) In Somalia, the French botched a commando rescue operation to save one of their operatives who had been kidnapped 3 years ago. Result: dead hostage, one killed commando, one missing in action.
b) In Mali, the French have embarked on a major military operation to try to somehow prop up the collapsing Bamako government.
c) In Algeria, French hostages have been taken by Islamist insurgents.
In the first case, the French have been on the wrong side of history since many years already, but in the second and third cases, this is a direct result of "blowback" form the French war on Libya to topple and murder Muammar Gaddafi.
It is sadly ironic that the forces which the French Rafales are bombing today in Mali are the very same forces on whose behalf the French Rafales bombed Libya. This time, however, the French are engaged in a war they simply cannot win. Take a look at the size of the real theatre of operations:
This territory is *huge*. Just the size of the newly declared state of Azawad (in red in the picture above) is twice the size of Germany. The actual theatre of operations is far bigger as this map shows in green. One could wonder what in the world the French were thinking before taking on such an insane task?
The sad reality is that France has a long history of engaging in insanely stupid military operations. Most of you probably heard of the Dien Bien Phu disaster. But very few people know that under President Jacques Chirac the French proposed a copycat of the Dien Bien Phu operation to the NATO command, but this time in the mountains of eastern Bosnia: the French offered to send paratroopers into the Bosnian-Muslim city of Gorazde which was surrounded on all sides by mountains controlled not by the Viet Minh forces, but by the Bosnian-Serbs. Take a look at where the French wanted to send their troops:
All they wanted from the Americans was to have US helicopters transport the French troops into Gorazde. Needless to say, the Americans categorically refused. In disgust, Holbrooke even called this crazy idea ‘Dien Bien Gorazde’! Anglo pragmatism and sense of history really saved a lot of lives on this occasion!
This time around, the French don't want to send their paratroopers into a surrounded "rice bowl bottom" as in Dien Bien Phu or Gorazde, this time they want to control most of the Sahara desert with roughly 1'400 men and airstrikes. Brilliant no?
Nevermind that there are no good targets to strike there. The best the French aviation can provide is reconnaissance and close air support to its contingent on land. Useful, yes, but most definitely not enough to make a real difference. Desert warfare is very similar to naval warfare in which the battlefield constantly changes, with no real lines of defense, no key objectives to control, and an environment which basically cannot be "held" in any meaningful way. Logistics, however, are always a nightmare.
According to the BBC these are the forces available to the French right now:
As for the transport planes provided by NATO allies, they are not sufficient and this is why Russia is "helping" France by transporting heavy equipment in AN-124 heavy lift transporters (for money, of course). Needless to say, the Western corporate media is not reporting this rather embarrassing need for Russian assistance.
The USA has secret bases inside Mali, even in Azawad, mostly special forces deployed as part of the GWOT and the US hunt for al-Qaeda, but they are staying well clear from the French operation. For all practical purposes, the French are very much on their own, at least as far as real, boots on the ground, combat is concerned.
The French will enjoy better mobility, better communications, better electronic intelligence and superior firepower. None of that will make any damn difference. The Tuaregs, whom the French are now fighting have been at this war literally for years, and now they have benefited from an absolutely huge influx from fighters and military equipment from Libya, courtesy of France's war on Libya.
As for the Islamists, as the attack in Algeria has shown, they can strike anywhere they want, even in Senegal, Ivory Coast or even Cameroon. Heck, they can easily strike even in France itself, which now has something in the range of 25% of all of its population immigrants from northern Africa.
Bottom line: France is walking straight into a disaster of epic proportions, and it is doing that at a time when the French economy has come to a practical standstill and under the rule of a clueless President whose only distinguishing characteristic is his formidable mediocrity and absolute lack of imagination.
This is an explosive situation which could explode into a real social crisis very rapidly.
The Saker
Nevermind that the French soldiers are underpaid, under-equipped, and that most their promotions have been put on indefinite hold. Hollande has clearly tried to show some good old machismo, and the results are a total disaster.
a) In Somalia, the French botched a commando rescue operation to save one of their operatives who had been kidnapped 3 years ago. Result: dead hostage, one killed commando, one missing in action.
b) In Mali, the French have embarked on a major military operation to try to somehow prop up the collapsing Bamako government.
c) In Algeria, French hostages have been taken by Islamist insurgents.
In the first case, the French have been on the wrong side of history since many years already, but in the second and third cases, this is a direct result of "blowback" form the French war on Libya to topple and murder Muammar Gaddafi.
It is sadly ironic that the forces which the French Rafales are bombing today in Mali are the very same forces on whose behalf the French Rafales bombed Libya. This time, however, the French are engaged in a war they simply cannot win. Take a look at the size of the real theatre of operations:
This territory is *huge*. Just the size of the newly declared state of Azawad (in red in the picture above) is twice the size of Germany. The actual theatre of operations is far bigger as this map shows in green. One could wonder what in the world the French were thinking before taking on such an insane task?
The sad reality is that France has a long history of engaging in insanely stupid military operations. Most of you probably heard of the Dien Bien Phu disaster. But very few people know that under President Jacques Chirac the French proposed a copycat of the Dien Bien Phu operation to the NATO command, but this time in the mountains of eastern Bosnia: the French offered to send paratroopers into the Bosnian-Muslim city of Gorazde which was surrounded on all sides by mountains controlled not by the Viet Minh forces, but by the Bosnian-Serbs. Take a look at where the French wanted to send their troops:
All they wanted from the Americans was to have US helicopters transport the French troops into Gorazde. Needless to say, the Americans categorically refused. In disgust, Holbrooke even called this crazy idea ‘Dien Bien Gorazde’! Anglo pragmatism and sense of history really saved a lot of lives on this occasion!
This time around, the French don't want to send their paratroopers into a surrounded "rice bowl bottom" as in Dien Bien Phu or Gorazde, this time they want to control most of the Sahara desert with roughly 1'400 men and airstrikes. Brilliant no?
Nevermind that there are no good targets to strike there. The best the French aviation can provide is reconnaissance and close air support to its contingent on land. Useful, yes, but most definitely not enough to make a real difference. Desert warfare is very similar to naval warfare in which the battlefield constantly changes, with no real lines of defense, no key objectives to control, and an environment which basically cannot be "held" in any meaningful way. Logistics, however, are always a nightmare.
According to the BBC these are the forces available to the French right now:
- Some 1,400 French troops in Mali, 900 troops involved elsewhere in Africa
- French Mirage and Rafale jets, Gazelle helicopters
- Chad to send 2,000 troops
- Nigeria to send 900 troops; Senegal, Burkina Faso, Niger and Togo expected to send 500 each, and Benin 300
- Ghana, Guinea and Chad also to send troops
- UK providing two C17 cargo planes for French effort
- Belgium and Denmark also sending transport planes
- US to provide communications help
As for the transport planes provided by NATO allies, they are not sufficient and this is why Russia is "helping" France by transporting heavy equipment in AN-124 heavy lift transporters (for money, of course). Needless to say, the Western corporate media is not reporting this rather embarrassing need for Russian assistance.
The USA has secret bases inside Mali, even in Azawad, mostly special forces deployed as part of the GWOT and the US hunt for al-Qaeda, but they are staying well clear from the French operation. For all practical purposes, the French are very much on their own, at least as far as real, boots on the ground, combat is concerned.
The French will enjoy better mobility, better communications, better electronic intelligence and superior firepower. None of that will make any damn difference. The Tuaregs, whom the French are now fighting have been at this war literally for years, and now they have benefited from an absolutely huge influx from fighters and military equipment from Libya, courtesy of France's war on Libya.
As for the Islamists, as the attack in Algeria has shown, they can strike anywhere they want, even in Senegal, Ivory Coast or even Cameroon. Heck, they can easily strike even in France itself, which now has something in the range of 25% of all of its population immigrants from northern Africa.
Bottom line: France is walking straight into a disaster of epic proportions, and it is doing that at a time when the French economy has come to a practical standstill and under the rule of a clueless President whose only distinguishing characteristic is his formidable mediocrity and absolute lack of imagination.
This is an explosive situation which could explode into a real social crisis very rapidly.
The Saker
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Something very interesting shaping up in the IT world
For somebody like me who has been very critical of Ubuntu and its founder Mark Shuttleworth (I particularly hate Ubuntu's "Unity" desktop environment), it is a huge pleasure to see that the Ubuntu community is doing something extremely interesting which, I really believe, has a huge potential.
Please watch this excellent presentation by Mark Shuttleworth about what Ubuntu will be doing in 2013:
Now I will be honest with you, I am not ditching my Android phone (HTC One S) yet, nor am I going to change my desktop (GNOME 3). But I will be watching Ubuntu very, very closely from now on. Most importantly, I hope that the day will come soon when I will be able to recommend Ubuntu as an all-in-one platform to those of my friends who are not GNU/Linux users and who are still stuck in the "Windoze vs iThing" nightmare.
Real geeks and hardcore techies are are unlikely to adopt the all-in-one Ubuntu solution, if only because the Ubuntu stack will probably end up having as much proprietary elements as the current Android stack (for them, the future will probably be the Debian-phone and the FreedomBox). Besides, the very idea of an all-in-one solution is really aimed at either corporations or at the, shall we say, the "technologically challenged". Geeks and techies *like* to deeply adapt and configure their tools and folks like that will probably never be attracted to a single platform everywhere. Still, even geeks and techies could immensely benefit from applications and protocols developed by Ubuntu in the process of their work on their universal platform. It is really a win-win situation.
To be honest, I consider Windoze. iThing, Maemo, Symbian and probably even MeeGo as either already dead or dying. Android, however, still has a huge potential and the industry leaders are firmly behind it. And while I don't see Ubuntu as a real competitor for Android in the foreseeable future, I can be a very useful runner-up or challenger which will keep the folks of Google on their toes.
Finally, and this is a big concern of mine, if Google suddenly does "turn evil", then Ubuntu would provide a far more credible alternative that any other platform.
Bottom line: listening to Shuttleworth's presentation put a very big and happy grin on my face. At a time when 99% of the news is either disgusting or depressing, or both, it is a real pleasure to share this presentation with you.
The Saker
Please watch this excellent presentation by Mark Shuttleworth about what Ubuntu will be doing in 2013:
Now I will be honest with you, I am not ditching my Android phone (HTC One S) yet, nor am I going to change my desktop (GNOME 3). But I will be watching Ubuntu very, very closely from now on. Most importantly, I hope that the day will come soon when I will be able to recommend Ubuntu as an all-in-one platform to those of my friends who are not GNU/Linux users and who are still stuck in the "Windoze vs iThing" nightmare.
Real geeks and hardcore techies are are unlikely to adopt the all-in-one Ubuntu solution, if only because the Ubuntu stack will probably end up having as much proprietary elements as the current Android stack (for them, the future will probably be the Debian-phone and the FreedomBox). Besides, the very idea of an all-in-one solution is really aimed at either corporations or at the, shall we say, the "technologically challenged". Geeks and techies *like* to deeply adapt and configure their tools and folks like that will probably never be attracted to a single platform everywhere. Still, even geeks and techies could immensely benefit from applications and protocols developed by Ubuntu in the process of their work on their universal platform. It is really a win-win situation.
To be honest, I consider Windoze. iThing, Maemo, Symbian and probably even MeeGo as either already dead or dying. Android, however, still has a huge potential and the industry leaders are firmly behind it. And while I don't see Ubuntu as a real competitor for Android in the foreseeable future, I can be a very useful runner-up or challenger which will keep the folks of Google on their toes.
Finally, and this is a big concern of mine, if Google suddenly does "turn evil", then Ubuntu would provide a far more credible alternative that any other platform.
Bottom line: listening to Shuttleworth's presentation put a very big and happy grin on my face. At a time when 99% of the news is either disgusting or depressing, or both, it is a real pleasure to share this presentation with you.
The Saker
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Hypocrisy and blasphemy
Hypocrisy:
So the French are intervening militarily in Mali. The rationale behind this intervention is threefold:
a) It was requested by the President of Mali
b) It is to prevent 'al-Qaeda' from running over the country
c) It is to protect French citizens in Mali
Needless to say, the Anglosphere fully approves.
I can't help but wonder about another possibility:
Assad would request the military assistance of Russia to prevent "al-Qaeda" from running over Syria and Russia would sent its forces to protect Russian citizens in Syria. Can you imagine the outrage that would create in the doubleplusgoodthinking West?
This reminds me of one of my favorite quote by Chomsky from his Distorted Morality speech:
As I have said many, many times here, the Russians will not intervene militarily in Syria, if only because they do not have the means to do so. At the very most, they will use their forces to evacuate Russians citizens if things really go badly. And they might agree to participate to a UNSC mandated peacekeeping force.
And yet I cannot help but marvel at the insane hypocrisy of it all. The US, UK and France are arming 'al-Qaeda' in Libya and Syria, while fighting against the very same 'al-Qaeda' in Mali (or Yemen for that matter). Crazy.
On another topic.
Blasphemy:
For centuries, the Papacy's Jesuits used to justify their most obscene and immoral actions with the ad majorem Dei gloriam (to the greater glory of God) motto. Sadly, the modern equivalent appears to be the ubiquitous Allahu Akbar (God is greater).
As a religious person myself, I have no problem at all with the idea of acting for the greatest glory of God or with the idea that God is greater than anything else. By as a religious person, I am deeply offended by the use of these otherwise pious mottos to accompany the most disgusting, brutal, cruel and perverted actions.
The Internet is replete of videos of unspeakable atrocities committed by Muslim thugs and every single one of them is accompanied by a mantric repetition of Allahu Akbar by those committing the atrocity. I find this sickening.
What these people are doing is defiling the name of God each time they utter it. I can hardly imagine a worse blasphemy than the use of the name of the All-Loving God as a background to the worst kind of hateful atrocity!
These murderers claim to be followers of the Prophets, yet they completely ignore the commandment of the Decalogue which clearly states Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord thy God will not acquit him that takes his name in vain (Exodus 20:7). If speaking God's name in vain is an offense, how much more of an offense is speaking His name during the commission of an atrocity!
May those who defile the name of God be accursed!
The Saker
So the French are intervening militarily in Mali. The rationale behind this intervention is threefold:
a) It was requested by the President of Mali
b) It is to prevent 'al-Qaeda' from running over the country
c) It is to protect French citizens in Mali
Needless to say, the Anglosphere fully approves.
I can't help but wonder about another possibility:
Assad would request the military assistance of Russia to prevent "al-Qaeda" from running over Syria and Russia would sent its forces to protect Russian citizens in Syria. Can you imagine the outrage that would create in the doubleplusgoodthinking West?
This reminds me of one of my favorite quote by Chomsky from his Distorted Morality speech:
Simple, basic, and yet constantly ignored.The hypocrite is the person who applies to others standards that he refuses to apply to himself. So if you are not a hypocrite you assume that if something is right for us then it's right for them and if it is wrong when they do it, it is wrong when we do it.
As I have said many, many times here, the Russians will not intervene militarily in Syria, if only because they do not have the means to do so. At the very most, they will use their forces to evacuate Russians citizens if things really go badly. And they might agree to participate to a UNSC mandated peacekeeping force.
And yet I cannot help but marvel at the insane hypocrisy of it all. The US, UK and France are arming 'al-Qaeda' in Libya and Syria, while fighting against the very same 'al-Qaeda' in Mali (or Yemen for that matter). Crazy.
On another topic.
Blasphemy:
For centuries, the Papacy's Jesuits used to justify their most obscene and immoral actions with the ad majorem Dei gloriam (to the greater glory of God) motto. Sadly, the modern equivalent appears to be the ubiquitous Allahu Akbar (God is greater).
As a religious person myself, I have no problem at all with the idea of acting for the greatest glory of God or with the idea that God is greater than anything else. By as a religious person, I am deeply offended by the use of these otherwise pious mottos to accompany the most disgusting, brutal, cruel and perverted actions.
The Internet is replete of videos of unspeakable atrocities committed by Muslim thugs and every single one of them is accompanied by a mantric repetition of Allahu Akbar by those committing the atrocity. I find this sickening.
What these people are doing is defiling the name of God each time they utter it. I can hardly imagine a worse blasphemy than the use of the name of the All-Loving God as a background to the worst kind of hateful atrocity!
These murderers claim to be followers of the Prophets, yet they completely ignore the commandment of the Decalogue which clearly states Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord thy God will not acquit him that takes his name in vain (Exodus 20:7). If speaking God's name in vain is an offense, how much more of an offense is speaking His name during the commission of an atrocity!
May those who defile the name of God be accursed!
The Saker
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Alex Jones is an agent provocateur for Uncle Sam
Wow, I just took at look at (the excellent) informationclearinghouse.info when I came across this:
Alex Jones vs Piers Morgan On Gun Control
Now, I have to admit that I have always intensely disliked Alex Jones, not so much for anything he said, but more for his delivery: he speaks like some typical inbred redneck half wit, an almost a perfect caricature of the arrogant, ignorant, loud and obnoxious American, the kind that is hated and despised worldwide and who, therefore, stays at home and avoids learning a foreign language at all cost. Of course, that is hardly much of an argument. According to the Bible, the prophet Moses was "weak in speech, and slow-tongued" (possibly a stuttering problem) and had to speak through Aaron to get his message across. Being aware of the very real contribution of Alex Jones to the 9/11 issue, I did not want to criticize him too much. But having now seen this video, I can only come to the conclusion that Alex Jones is far worse than the hysterical imbecile he tries so hard to impersonate during this interview, he actually is an agent provocateur.
Think of it, two of the most visible "truthers" which do get (some) airing time on mainstream media outlets are Alex Jones and Jesse Ventura - the same type of testosterone-poisoned loudmouths who will immediately turn off anybody with a minimum of education. This is hardly a coincidence, I think. Folks like Jones and Ventura serve the same function in the USA as Vladimir Zhirinovsky in Russia: they say a great deal of very important and true things, but they mix in a lot of utter nonsense and a delivery style which makes them look like lunatics.
It is also rather obvious that Jones only clearly caters to the least educated part of the US population. When he shrieks that Mao, Chavez and Castro took guns away from their population or when he says that civilians armed with semi-automatic guns could prevent a despot from coming to power, he is clearing aiming his message at those whose only form of "education" is sitting in front of a TV (anybody else would only listen to such crap with a mix of amazement and disgust).
It is no wonder at all that CNN's Piers Morgan let Jones spew all this nonsense like some court jester or buffoon without interrupting him, only to then ask his opinion about 9/11. Having made a complete fool of himself, anything Jones would say at this point would sound as complete hogwash, which it does this time too, of course. Did you notice the banner "Jones conspiracy theories" which appeared at the end of the interview to reinforce the message?
It's not only 9/11, by the way. There are a lot of articulate and very well-spoken opponent of gun control in the USA who could make a very good case for their point of view, but just like the articulate and well-spoken truthers, these guys get much less air time than the "obviously crazy" ones. I would say that Uncle Sam kills two birds with one stone here: he makes both truthers and supporters of the 2nd Amendment look like retards who need to be send to grade school to get a minimal education and some lessons in basic civility and table manners.
Both Jones and his Russian alter-ego Zhirinovsky still have a substantial following and that is very discouraging, at least to me. The big difference is that at least in Russia we now have democratically elected President and government of real patriots, whereas the USA is firmly in the hands of the two factions of the 1% Party: the Republicrats and the Demolicans. This is why the situation in the USA is so much more immensely tragic.
The Saker
Alex Jones vs Piers Morgan On Gun Control
Now, I have to admit that I have always intensely disliked Alex Jones, not so much for anything he said, but more for his delivery: he speaks like some typical inbred redneck half wit, an almost a perfect caricature of the arrogant, ignorant, loud and obnoxious American, the kind that is hated and despised worldwide and who, therefore, stays at home and avoids learning a foreign language at all cost. Of course, that is hardly much of an argument. According to the Bible, the prophet Moses was "weak in speech, and slow-tongued" (possibly a stuttering problem) and had to speak through Aaron to get his message across. Being aware of the very real contribution of Alex Jones to the 9/11 issue, I did not want to criticize him too much. But having now seen this video, I can only come to the conclusion that Alex Jones is far worse than the hysterical imbecile he tries so hard to impersonate during this interview, he actually is an agent provocateur.
Think of it, two of the most visible "truthers" which do get (some) airing time on mainstream media outlets are Alex Jones and Jesse Ventura - the same type of testosterone-poisoned loudmouths who will immediately turn off anybody with a minimum of education. This is hardly a coincidence, I think. Folks like Jones and Ventura serve the same function in the USA as Vladimir Zhirinovsky in Russia: they say a great deal of very important and true things, but they mix in a lot of utter nonsense and a delivery style which makes them look like lunatics.
It is also rather obvious that Jones only clearly caters to the least educated part of the US population. When he shrieks that Mao, Chavez and Castro took guns away from their population or when he says that civilians armed with semi-automatic guns could prevent a despot from coming to power, he is clearing aiming his message at those whose only form of "education" is sitting in front of a TV (anybody else would only listen to such crap with a mix of amazement and disgust).
It is no wonder at all that CNN's Piers Morgan let Jones spew all this nonsense like some court jester or buffoon without interrupting him, only to then ask his opinion about 9/11. Having made a complete fool of himself, anything Jones would say at this point would sound as complete hogwash, which it does this time too, of course. Did you notice the banner "Jones conspiracy theories" which appeared at the end of the interview to reinforce the message?
It's not only 9/11, by the way. There are a lot of articulate and very well-spoken opponent of gun control in the USA who could make a very good case for their point of view, but just like the articulate and well-spoken truthers, these guys get much less air time than the "obviously crazy" ones. I would say that Uncle Sam kills two birds with one stone here: he makes both truthers and supporters of the 2nd Amendment look like retards who need to be send to grade school to get a minimal education and some lessons in basic civility and table manners.
Both Jones and his Russian alter-ego Zhirinovsky still have a substantial following and that is very discouraging, at least to me. The big difference is that at least in Russia we now have democratically elected President and government of real patriots, whereas the USA is firmly in the hands of the two factions of the 1% Party: the Republicrats and the Demolicans. This is why the situation in the USA is so much more immensely tragic.
The Saker
First Depardieu, then Bardot - does any of that matter?
By now we probably have all seen the footage of French actor Gerard Depardieu proudly showing his Russian passport and most of us have also heard reports about French actress Birgitte Bardot declaring that she will leave France in disgust and also ask for Russian citizenship. Does any of that matter? Depardieu was angered by a comment made by a French minister who condemned his move to Belgium to avoid paying high taxes, as for Bardot, her wrath was triggered by the fact that French authorities have decided to put down two elephants in the Lyon zoo rather than treat them for tuberculosis. Taxes, elephants and movie stars, hardly something worth spending much time on.
And yet.
There is much more to this than meets the eye.
First, all this is taking place while the European media is replete with general anti-Russian hysteria and especially vicious Putin-bashing articles. Behind all this there is a powerful constellation of big money interests which include Boris Berezovsky, of course, but also the business partners of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, top officials of BP Oil and Gaz and MI6, Chechen and Israeli mobsters and key members of the Russian "non-systemic opposition" (i.e. those parties which could not even get a single representative elected to the Duma: folks like Boris Nemtsov, Valeria Novodvorskaya, Aleksei Navalnyi, Ksenia Sobchak, etc.) and Georgian intelligence agents. To say that Depardieu and Bardot are swimming against the stream is an understatement.
Second, both stars have added insult to injury by not only heaping praise both on Russia as a country and a real democracy, but especially praising Vladimir Putin himself.
Third, and this is extremely important and yet almost totally overlooked by most commentators, it would be difficult to find a bigger contrast then between Depardieu and Bardot. No, I don't mean the looks, I am referring to the fact that Depardieu comes from a Communist family and still considers himself as a Communist whereas Brigitte Bardot has very strong connections to the French national right, the National Front, and Jean Marie Le Pen personally. And yet, for all their differences, they both looked to Putin's Russia as a viable alternative to what is taking place in their native France.
Lastly, this is happening against the background of a huge, truly unprecedented economic, social and political crisis in Europe which will probably see the collapse of the Euro and possibly part of the EU. In France specifically, a total loser was elected as President - Francois Hollande - whose nickname inside his own socialist party was, forgive the crude expression, "limp dick" (the French Socialists had planned for years to present Dominique Strauss-Khan as their candidate, an man of immense personal charisma and intelligence, but whose inability to control is sexual impulses made him a perfect target for a discreditation operation by agents of the US and British banking interests).
Why does all this matter? Because Depardieu and Bardot are but the tip of an iceberg of Europeans totally disgusted with what is taking place in their country and who are looking towards Russia as much more than just a "somewhere else" - they could have easily picked far less controversial countries such as Switzerland, Iceland, Monaco or even Costa Rica or Thailand. It is absolutely clear that both actors picked Russia because, unlike the other countries I mentioned, Russia is a *political alternative to the EU*, a country which dares to openly defy the European political elites. By their choice of Russia Depardieu and Bardot gave a direct slap in the collective face of the European elites.
It is important to realize the immense symbolical weight that the names Depardieu and Bardot have in France. Both of these actors are in a very direct way national symbols. Take Bardot, for example, not only was she considered for years as an international sex-symbol but she was actually used as a model for Marianne, the French symbol for Liberty. As for Depardieu, not only is he universally considered as the most talented French actor alive, he is also a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur and a Chevalier of the Ordre national du Mérite.
As for Russia and France, these two countries always have had a very strong, if complex, relationship. This relationship began in 11th century when the Russian Princess Anna of Kiev married the French King Henri i and eventually ruled France as the Regent and Queen for her son Phillip I. Ever since the relationship between Russia and France has always been very strong, to the point that even Napoleonic wars paradoxically ended up strengthening them (both sides very much admired each other). During World War II, I would argue that France was the only real ally of the Soviet Union (if only because both the British and the US were busy planning various types of military attacks on the USSR and even holding secret negotiations with the Nazis up to the very last days of the war). Finally, General de Gaulle, arguably the most important French political figure of the 20th century, always tried hard to strengthen the alliance between the Soviet Union and France until he was overthrown by a revolution in May of 1968 organized by a cabal of Anglo-Jewish bankers who replaced the patriotic de Gaulle by George Pompidou, an ex-Director General of the Rothschild Bank, who proceeded to immediately subordinate France to Anglo-Jewish financial interests (see for example the infamous "Rothschild Law" - Google translated) and May 68 became the prototype for all the future Anglo "color-coded" revolutions.
De Gaulle was overthrown, but he left behind a powerful and uniquely French ideology called "Gaullisme" which is a mix of strong and independent patriotism in foreign affairs and social solidarity inside France. While this ideology has been comprehensively betrayed by the officially 'Gaullist' parties, it is still very much alive in the French collective memory and, in particular, amongst the supporters of the influential French dissident Alain Soral.
The "defection" of personalities such as Depardieu or Bardot very much feed into what I would call an "underground Gaullism" which is seeing a strong rebirth in large segments of the French society. At the core of it is a comprehensive rejection of the Anglosphere's attempt to rule the planet, a rejection of the current international financial system (WTO/WB/IMF/EU/NAFTA/etc.) imposed by international banking cartels and a fundamental rejection of both internationalism and capitalism, seen as two sides of the same coin.
This is, of course, very similar to what we could refer to as "Putinism" even though Putin himself still goes out of his way not to overly antagonize the Anglosphere (if only because Russia is not strong enough yet to do so). This French attraction to Russia is thus very natural.
The rest of Europe is, however, unlikely to join into this phenomenon. Northern Europe, from Germany to the Scandinavian peninsula, is firmly under the control of the Anglosphere. Central Europe, being even more spineless and intellectually dull, has turned into a confederation of US banana republics, and only in southern Europe is there a strong sense that something has gone terribly wrong and that new ideas are needed (hence the economic warfare waged by the international banking system against countries such as Greece, Spain or Italy).
Still, France is the country of revolutions par excellence and arguably still the intellectual powerhouse of Europe. France it has the potential to become a trend-setter if it decides to do so. It therefore shall be very interesting to see if the Depardieu-Bardot phenomenon will remain a one-time-only event, or if other signs of a growing Franco-Russian bond will begin to emerge.
The Saker
And yet.
There is much more to this than meets the eye.
First, all this is taking place while the European media is replete with general anti-Russian hysteria and especially vicious Putin-bashing articles. Behind all this there is a powerful constellation of big money interests which include Boris Berezovsky, of course, but also the business partners of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, top officials of BP Oil and Gaz and MI6, Chechen and Israeli mobsters and key members of the Russian "non-systemic opposition" (i.e. those parties which could not even get a single representative elected to the Duma: folks like Boris Nemtsov, Valeria Novodvorskaya, Aleksei Navalnyi, Ksenia Sobchak, etc.) and Georgian intelligence agents. To say that Depardieu and Bardot are swimming against the stream is an understatement.
 |
| The "new Russian" Depardieu |
Third, and this is extremely important and yet almost totally overlooked by most commentators, it would be difficult to find a bigger contrast then between Depardieu and Bardot. No, I don't mean the looks, I am referring to the fact that Depardieu comes from a Communist family and still considers himself as a Communist whereas Brigitte Bardot has very strong connections to the French national right, the National Front, and Jean Marie Le Pen personally. And yet, for all their differences, they both looked to Putin's Russia as a viable alternative to what is taking place in their native France.
Lastly, this is happening against the background of a huge, truly unprecedented economic, social and political crisis in Europe which will probably see the collapse of the Euro and possibly part of the EU. In France specifically, a total loser was elected as President - Francois Hollande - whose nickname inside his own socialist party was, forgive the crude expression, "limp dick" (the French Socialists had planned for years to present Dominique Strauss-Khan as their candidate, an man of immense personal charisma and intelligence, but whose inability to control is sexual impulses made him a perfect target for a discreditation operation by agents of the US and British banking interests).
 |
| Bardot as Marianne |
It is important to realize the immense symbolical weight that the names Depardieu and Bardot have in France. Both of these actors are in a very direct way national symbols. Take Bardot, for example, not only was she considered for years as an international sex-symbol but she was actually used as a model for Marianne, the French symbol for Liberty. As for Depardieu, not only is he universally considered as the most talented French actor alive, he is also a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur and a Chevalier of the Ordre national du Mérite.
 |
| General de Gaulle |
De Gaulle was overthrown, but he left behind a powerful and uniquely French ideology called "Gaullisme" which is a mix of strong and independent patriotism in foreign affairs and social solidarity inside France. While this ideology has been comprehensively betrayed by the officially 'Gaullist' parties, it is still very much alive in the French collective memory and, in particular, amongst the supporters of the influential French dissident Alain Soral.
The "defection" of personalities such as Depardieu or Bardot very much feed into what I would call an "underground Gaullism" which is seeing a strong rebirth in large segments of the French society. At the core of it is a comprehensive rejection of the Anglosphere's attempt to rule the planet, a rejection of the current international financial system (WTO/WB/IMF/EU/NAFTA/etc.) imposed by international banking cartels and a fundamental rejection of both internationalism and capitalism, seen as two sides of the same coin.
This is, of course, very similar to what we could refer to as "Putinism" even though Putin himself still goes out of his way not to overly antagonize the Anglosphere (if only because Russia is not strong enough yet to do so). This French attraction to Russia is thus very natural.
The rest of Europe is, however, unlikely to join into this phenomenon. Northern Europe, from Germany to the Scandinavian peninsula, is firmly under the control of the Anglosphere. Central Europe, being even more spineless and intellectually dull, has turned into a confederation of US banana republics, and only in southern Europe is there a strong sense that something has gone terribly wrong and that new ideas are needed (hence the economic warfare waged by the international banking system against countries such as Greece, Spain or Italy).
Still, France is the country of revolutions par excellence and arguably still the intellectual powerhouse of Europe. France it has the potential to become a trend-setter if it decides to do so. It therefore shall be very interesting to see if the Depardieu-Bardot phenomenon will remain a one-time-only event, or if other signs of a growing Franco-Russian bond will begin to emerge.
The Saker
Monday, January 7, 2013
Speech of Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah during the ceremony marking the 40th day after the Day of Ashura
I take refuge in Allah from the stoned devil. In the Name of Allah, The Compassionate, The Most Merciful. Peace be on the Seal of prophets, our Master and Prophet, Abi Al Qassem Mohammad and on his chaste and pure Household and on his chosen companions and on all messengers and prophets.
Scholars, deputies, brothers and sisters! Peace be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings.
Peace be on you, my master and lord Abi Abdullah, and on all the souls gathering around your holy site. Peace be on you as long as I remain alive and as long as night follows day. May Allah make it not my last visit to you. Peace be on Hussein, Ali the son of Hussein, the children of Hussein and the companions of Hussein. First, I would like to thank you all – men, women, young and old – for coming from the various cities of Bekaa and the various Lebanese regions to mark this great event and this solemn occasion. Special thanks to those who came from remote regions, walked for long hours, and spent their night in this or that town. I ask Allah Al Mighty to reward you kindly for your condolences to the Prophet of Allah (Peace be upon him and his Household) on the catastrophe that befell his grandson – the Master of Martyrs. You have always answered the call of the Prophet of Allah and the call of his grandson – the Master of Martyrs (Peace be upon him) at all stages and in all fields, squares, and confrontations. You didn't spare money, blood, attendance, voices, shouts, stances or sacrifices no matter how worthy or great they are.
Today this procession and these masses meet in a place where in year 61 (After Hijra) the womenfolk captives gathered and the heads of martyrs were raised in a very difficult, catastrophic, painful and melancholic stance. Today through walking on the same track and on the very geographic road, you are sending a message to the whole world. This message says that the moral, fiducial, spiritual, and jihadi track which offered solemn sacrifices from the very first day of the mission of the Prophet of Allah (Peace be upon him and his Household), until reaching the Battles of Badre, Uhud, and Karbala will remain vital, strong, incessant and able to make a nation and to push this nation to stances of dignity, honor and glory.
Today when we look at you, we know who won in Karbala in year 61 (After Hijra). We know who triumphed when we look at your faces, will, masses, determination, steadiness and attendance.
When we look at these millions who are overcrowding the shrine of Abi Abdullah Al Hussein (Peace be upon him) and the shrine of his brother Abi Al Fadel Al Abbass (Peace be upon him) in the City of Karbala during these very hours, we know who gained victory, who was the winner, and which logic was scored eternity. Was it the logic of "You may contrive and try however much you can? By Him, you cannot achieve our status, nor reach our position, nor can you affect our mention?" Or was it the logic of "Beni Hachem manipulated the reign; it was neither a mission nor a revelation from Heavens"? Which logic gained victory? Is it the logic of Lady Zeinab or the logic of Yazeed? Is it the logic of Al Hussein or the logic of Yazeed? Is it the logic of Islam or the logic or pre-Islam? Is it the project of Islam or the project of pre-Islam?
What we are witnessing today all over the world and what we have witnessed all through centuries affirms that the winner whom our Imam Zein Al Aabideen – the leader of the procession of melancholy, pride, determination, will and loyalty – talked about when someone asked him rejoicing at their state about who won. He answered that when you hear the call for prayers, you will know who the winner is. When you hear the call for prayers reverberating aloud: I bear witness that there is no god but Allah. I bear witness that Mohammad is the Prophet of Allah (Peace be upon him), you will know who the winner is.
Today too we know who the winner is when we hear the name of Mohammad – the Prophet of Allah – reverberating in the call for prayers, on platforms, on satellite channels and on radio stations five times a day all over the Globe. When we hear that we know that blood gained victory over the sword in Karbala, and that the project of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet of Allah Mohammad (peace be upon them) won in year 61 (After Hijra), and that the procession of captives, Imam Zein Al Aabideen, the heads which were raised high on top of arrows, and the handcuffed womenfolk who were brought on feet from a remote place to Baalbeck and then to Damascus or Sham are the winners who gained victory and consolidated their everlasting presence.
Today through this commemoration we are asserting this project and this concept – the concept of life of the nation and the life of this religion. We as well are expressing our gratitude, gratefulness, and loyalty to the Prophet of Allah, the Prophet's Household, the Prophet's companions, and those who were martyred with Imam Hussein in Karbala. Through their sacrifices, these martyrs preserved this divine mission and conveyed it to the upcoming generations so that we in this time came to believe in it, be committed to it, act according to it, and make our victories, glories, present, future and the unity of our nation and the pride of our peoples through it.
Brothers and sisters! It is important to mark this great and solemn occasion especially these years because it has special symbolisms and indications as was the case in some stages in history.
Today I will talk about walking on feet to Karbala. People are walking while they are being liable to threats of explosions, suicide attacks, massacres and mass killing because of this butchering Takfiri methodology which is being exploited by America to make a bloody sedition among the peoples of this nation and its various sects and factions. However, were the explosions and the suicide attacks over all of these years able to prevent the expression of adoration to Al Hussein and the Grandfather of Al Hussein through the procession of millions on feet to the Shrine of Abi Abdullah Al Hussein (Peace be upon him)?
Slaughtering will not prevent the Pakistanis whose buses are being exploded on the borders on their way to visit Al Hussein from coming again. Assassinations, killing and explosions will not prevent the Iranian visitors, the Iraqi visitors, the Lebanese visitors or any visitor of the Shrine of Imam Hussein (Peace be upon him) from coming from any place in this world. Kidnapping will not prevent visitors from carrying on their visits to mark such occasions. Thousands and even tens of thousands were martyred all through history so that this occasion remains alive and becomes eternal.
Today, I tell the killers and the perpetrators of massacres that this method is fruitless. This method is incorrect. This method will make people more convinced and adherent to this track which will become more consecrated. In fact, this method will not make anyone change his mentality or conviction. Thus this method must be reconsidered whether within the Islamic sphere towards those with whom these Takfiri people differ in vision, thought, faction, track or method or within the Shiite sphere or the Sunnite sphere as well as in the more general sphere.
What does explosions in churches which we have been witnessing in the recent years especially last year in more than one Arab or Islamic country mean or what does the slaughtering of Christians in churches mean under the pretext of preventing them from marking Christmas and New Year Eve? Who says from the jurisprudential and Islamic perspective that is allowed? This is part of the rituals and ritual commemoration which Islam has respected all through history. Since Islam came to these regions, these churches mark Christmas and its others occasions and masses.
Thus you are bringing along a new religion. You are bringing along a new heresy. Seeking to impose even the minute details of your mentality through slaughtering, killing, massacres, and explosions will not lead anywhere. This path is blocked. It must be blocked anyway.
Brothers and sisters! We in Lebanon and in the region are witnessing one of the most important, dangerous, and sensitive stages. The atmosphere which is prevailing over the region in general is that of seditions. Unfortunately, the compass went astray for many. Priorities mingled and changed, and even norms and standards are lost. Grudges and hatred are the overpowering feelings and emotions. Even the speech we hear on platforms and the dialogues we watch on satellites aren't anymore dialogues unfortunately. There is no dialogue. There are abuses. Two persons sit and curse each other. For an hour or ninety minutes you hear curses except for very rare cases.
This is a very dangerous stage. That means that at this stage man must be calmer, more willing to listen, more precise and more apt to assume responsibility because the stage is very sensitive as things are being mingled to a great extent.
The most dangerous project our region and nation have been facing at this stage and especially in the latest years is the project of dividing anew the region. It is dividing the already divided to even smaller states on sectarian, factional, or racial basis. Even the country which has one religion and one sect, they want to divide it to north, south, east and west on tribal basis or the like.
Today on the day of Islam, reviving Islam and reviving the nation, we assert our principle, doctrinal stance which rejects any kind of division, and any calls for separation or partition in any Arab or Islamic state. We strictly assert on preserving the unity of every country no matter how worthy sacrifices are and no matter how tough difficulties are and no matter how tyrannical oppressions are, and no matter how rightful demands are. We are not talking about illusions and imaginations. This is threatening many Arab countries including Yemen, Iraq (where factional sedition is ignited again), Syria (which is threatened more than anytime in the past), Egypt, Libya, and even Saudi Arabia among many other Arab and Islamic countries. There are projects and schemes of division which must be confronted. Well, the people of every country must agree on running their own affairs and on the form of administrative rule. There are cases which are open but under the ceiling of the unity of the country and not rushing towards division and partition. This threat for sure faces Lebanon. Thus more than anytime in the past we must assert our adherence to the unity of Lebanon as a nation, land, people, state and institutions. If projects of small states or nations lurked from here or there, all of the Lebanese must refuse them. Lebanon is smaller than being divided or partitioned. If such a project may have any chance for life in any other country, these capabilities are unavailable at all here. The Lebanese today are called on to revive this logic – the logic of preserving the unity of the nation, the unity of the people, the unity of the land, and the unity of institutions and refusing any form or separation or division.
Second: Brothers and sisters! We must not hide behind our finger. We must rather acknowledge that Lebanon is the country that is most influenced by what takes place around it especially what is taking place in Syria. That is pursuant to Lebanon's internal formula, the sectarian, factional, and political diversity and plurality found in Lebanon. That is also because of the contradicting internal interests and because of the considerable margin of freedoms available in Lebanon whether on the level of expression, viewpoints, stance and political practices. It goes without saying that Lebanon is influenced in what takes place in Syria more than in any other place in the region because of the long borderline, because of it being the only neighbor and because of the nature of ties and the overlapping of interests. The Bekaa and the North are the regions most influenced in Lebanon in what takes place in Syria. That is because of the border, the historic geographic, residential and popular communication between the people of the North and Syria and the people of Bekaa and Syria. Other regions may not sense the same influences which the people of Bekaa and the North sense. This is a status quo that exists in Syria. There is a true war on more than one domain. Lebanon is near Syria and is influenced by this war.
Since the very first days of the war, there were two tracks in Lebanon in dealing with this issue. Let's put aside the state of being distant. Let's be serious. There are two tracks.
The first track says that we as Lebanese might differ over Syria. There is no problem in that. Everyone has his opinion, convictions, reading, vision and stance which he expresses in different ways. Through the media we may contradict. We may differ in our political stances. However, let’s try not to fight in Lebanon. Let's try not to transfer killing to Lebanon. This is the first track.
The second track is that which from the very first day and is still up till now making haste to transfer fighting to Lebanon and is seeking to transfer fighting to more than one square. Some squares have got influenced in this track. I do not want to mention names. If they failed to transfer fighting to these squares, they threaten with fighting soon based on a definite vision or conclusions which have to do with the final stages of events in Syria.
This is a wrong track. From the very beginning, we were with the first track. We said: Well, Let's differ even in the Lebanese government. We can still follow this way out. What is the problem in that? Some parties in the Lebanese government have a definite stance from Syria. Other parties have a stance that is totally different in vision, in the essence, in the content, in the form, in the terms and in the rhetoric. That does not mean that we combat and fight each other in Lebanon.
This is our stance. On the other hand, there are people who sought to cause sectarian and factional provocation, field instigations, and curses and to drag other parties to street fighting; but they failed in doing so. Here I have first to record that thanks to the position of our political side and the position of the current Lebanese government, fighting was not being transferred to the Lebanese square. That's indeed after showing gratitude first to Allah Al Mighty. Should the other party be running the country at this very critical stage, it would have involved the country not only in internal fighting but also in a fight with Syria. We all know this. Second, I want to assert our commitment to this track. I call on you and on all the Lebanese people especially the people of Bekaa which is influenced in what is taking place around it as well as the North, to show more patience, steadfastness, calmness, and not to be influenced with provocations and not to be dragged to clashing.
Today we – all sects, factions and political forces – are required to show more insistence to adhering to coexistence in our various regions, cities, towns, and villages. At the time of crisis, people are not allowed to get detached from each other. On the contrary, it is now supposed more than anytime in the past that scholars, religious men from all sects and factions, politicians, educated men, elites, and the residents, dignitaries, and people and neighbors in towns or villages and in neighboring villages to communicate further so as to contain any attempt to cause sedition, to discharge any tension, and to prevent any accumulations that might lead to dangerous results.
This is the responsibility to be assumed by all of us with no exceptions. Let's preserve our civil peace, our coexistence, the security and stability of our country through moving in this track.
Indeed, we have always called for assuming responsibilities towards those who make provocations and abuses day and night. Still no one took any action. We have to call for that and to be committed to that. We have to be committed to that, and this is what I am calling for. This is the strength of this stance now. It is not weakness. Let no one see that as a point of weakness at all. The strength today that our mind control our nerves, and that our will control our stance, and that you activate your insight and that you act with responsibility. This is what is required from all of us.
Third, we tackle the case of immigrants to Lebanon and the repercussions of this development. When we talk about immigrants, we mean the Syrian families, the Palestinian families, and the Lebanese families which used to live, stay and work in Syria. They are all immigrants to Lebanon at this stage. If we call the first group immigrants, the second group refugees and the third group displaced, these are just details. In the content, there is no specific difference. These immigrants form today a very great humanitarian case. Indeed there aren't any specific numbers; however, the latest reports issued by the internal minister talk about 200 thousand immigrants to Lebanon. The number may be greater.
As far as this case is concerned, first we call for dealing with the case of immigrants from an absolute humanitarian perspective, and not to politicize this case at all. Consequently, the families which immigrated to Lebanon and are seeking refuge in Lebanon, in the Lebanese government, and the Lebanese people must meet care whether they are with the regime in Syria or against the regime in Syria or neutral – meaning they are not with or against the Syrian regime.
This is a humanitarian case which must not be politicized. If there are any remarks over politicizing this case, they must be heard and addressed.
Moreover, we can't in Lebanon and for whatever consideration close the borders with Syria. We can't do that while showing our comprehension and evaluation of the consequent political, security, economic and social risks that follow this great and massive immigration. However, for the same reasons that I mentioned at the beginning, we can't say: Let's take a decision to close the borders for whatever reason. We must accept this humanitarian outcome and work at addressing its economic, security and political repercussions. We mustn't take a negative choice as its risks are greater than any other choice.
Comprehending the case of immigrants needs a great and clear official stance. And I believe that the government will discuss today or soon a comprehensive plot on this perspective. This case also requires political cooperation too. Today, I call on you and on all the Lebanese – as we have called in the past – to embrace these families in the various regions – in our houses, public places, and institutions. We must embrace these families from a humanitarian, moral, and responsible respective despite the tough living conditions which many Lebanese families are suffering from. However, this is a responsibility which we must not abandon. From our perspective, we are exerting our efforts. However, all must exert their efforts on the official and popular levels. Indeed the true solution for the cause of immigrants is not closing the borders. The true solution for the cause of immigrants is addressing the reason. That means working to find a political settlement in Syria which halts bloodshed and puts an end to fighting and the war taking place so that these people return to their houses and land. This is what is required today. Thus those who hold responsibility for the continuation of immigration themselves assume the responsibility of the continuity of bloodshed. They themselves are preventing the Syrians from moving towards political dialogue and a political settlement whether inside Syria or on the level of the states in the region or on the level of the international community. These do not think except of their projects and interests. They have wrong evaluations which I have tackled before. Since the beginning of the events in Syria, they said two months. Then they added another two month. Again they added two months. Two years have passed so far, and all data say that if the battle continues militarily, it will be a long, bloody, destructive war. The horizon of a political solution is open. However, some are crippling a political solution. Again today we want to say that the tyrants and the criminals who hold responsibility of the bloodshed in Syria, the responsibility of the humanitarian tragedy of the immigrants who fled to Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, Iraq or other countries are those who are preventing a political dialogue, a political solution, and a political settlement in Syria.
This is not in harmony with the state of staying apart. That means that the Lebanese state is today concerned in telling the Americans, the Europeans, the United Nations, and the Arab League: O people! In such a way, you are making Lebanon bear what it can't tolerate on the economic, social and political levels. It is not enough to speak and comment on the repercussions of these events on Lebanon. There must be a serious political movement in Lebanon. That means that Lebanon must develop its political stance towards practicing pressure or backing all those who are practicing pressure to find a political solution, political dialogue, and a political settlement. We must not stick to staying apart, sit cross-handed and assume the repercussions of these events.
Fourth we tackle the case of the Lebanese kidnapped in Syria. This is one of the repercussions of the above case.
During all the past period, you noticed that my brethrens in Hezbollah and I tried always to remain apart from approaching this cause so that no expression, or stance or word may be misused. However, unfortunately, today and after all of this period of time, it has became clear that this case is being exploited in a vicious and loathsome political, media and moral way. It is exploited to provoke states and political forces and to cause gaps in our Lebanese society and to try to stir up discord between the Lebanese people.
Since the first day, we told the families of the kidnapped to hold the state responsible and that the state is concerned, and that the state is concerned to assume its responsibility. We called on them not to block roads and not to resort to negativism. That was a general national stance.
Today all of this period of time has past; still the required result is not reached. Still when the families of the kidnapped make any movement, some sides interpret that politically. Well, this is the families' natural right. They did not coordinate with Hezbollah or with Amal Movement. They did not talk with anyone. This is their natural right.
However, when the families feel that the officials in the state and the state are acting in a serious and true way, they won't need to resort to the street.
I personally consider that the movement of the state – all of the state and not only the government – as far as this cause is concerned is unconvincing and unsatisfactory with my respect to all the efforts which have been exerted. Some presidents, officials, and ministers say they made calls or contacts or went or held meetings. Still that does not address the cause.
Today, the state that says that it assumes the responsibility of its citizens must exert a distinctive effort.
There are two points to be tackled in this perspective.
The first point is that I clearly call on the Lebanese state or the Lebanese government to negotiate directly with the kidnappers. Where is the problem in that? That takes place in the whole world. The greatest states in the world do that. The states which refuse to negotiate with terrorists do that. Let no one set valueless political considerations. Shall I remain putting off? If I or any Lebanese talked with the Turks who may understand my tongue or make limited moves, we may not reach anywhere. First, I call for direct negotiations. The Lebanese government must charge one of the official Lebanese officials to go to Turkey and meet one of the kidnappers and negotiate with him. After all, this way is one of the followed ways. The rational people follow it, and all the states follow it.
Second: The Lebanese government must exert special effort to pressure the states that are influential on the kidnapping side. We must not deceive each other. Are there groups in Syria on which no one may practice pressure? That is not true. There are states which finance, arm and open borders. Clearly I say there are three states which are influential and which are able to end decisively this cause. These states are Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Why do we waste things? These three states pay money, finance and arm. They communicate with the fighting groups. Turkey offers the various facilitations on the border. The Lebanese state has its relations and is a member in the Arab League and in the Organization of Islamic Conference. It is not accepted anymore that the so and so official say he made such call or contacts. That does not mean there is a serious follow up on behalf of the state as far as the kidnapped cause is concerned.
I am still calling on the families to bargain on the state and the endeavors of the state. However after all, our dear state! If you find yourself incapable, tell the families of the kidnapped, tell the political forces in Lebanon and tell us too that you are incapable.
Then people will know how to address this issue and this cause. They will know how to act and what to do. After all, options are not nonexistent.
Thus as far as this point is concerned, I call on the Lebanese state to undertake a true, serious, responsible action, and not to be content with blaming the families or on commenting on the warning of the families and their wrath as they are rightful in showing wrath, agitation and anger because they did not find in the state the serious action and practice as far as this cause is concerned.
The fifth point leads us to the final part of the speech. Today there is a great file on which great expectations are linked as far as addressing or helping Lebanon in addressing its economic, living and social crises. It is the file of gas and oil.
Indeed we always insist that addressing this file is in the hands of the state. The state alone is able through its responsibility, institutions, and authorities to address the living file. The successive governments assume the responsibility of the state Lebanon reached on the economic, living and social levels.
Now to avoid attacking each other, let's say there is a gate for hope. The gate for hope is the promising oil and gas wealth which all the Lebanese officials talk about. Inshallah it would be a blessing. Inshallah, it will not turn into a wrath because some documents, journalistic reports, and studies say that one of the reasons for what is taking place in the neighboring countries has to do with oil and gas. That means that some states may be destroyed so that definite international sides may put their hands on this national wealth.
Today we have a great hope. If Lebanon could seriously make use of this wealth, that will provide Lebanon with great and reasonable financial capabilities. That will in turn help Lebanon repay its loans and address its social crisis. Thus we will not remain battling over the serious of ranks and salaries, installing university professors permanently, and enriching the deprived countries. That's because poverty is what brings along problems. Still money and wealth with tyranny, sectarianism, and insincerity may also cause wrath and catastrophes of another kind.
The current government has fulfilled the essential stages of this file. This will be added to its records. This is not an easy file. This is a complicated file for more than one reason. Now we move to other essential stages. Here we must unfortunately record that our enemy – the usurper, occupier, thief who is plundering the wealth of the Palestinian people - has achieved the various stages in three months as was said in media outlets. They will start extracting, selling and exporting, while we – the Lebanese – are still preoccupied with the preludes.
How long will the second stage take? Only Allah knows. This indeed requires a different, serious, national, and responsible action on behalf of all leaderships and officials in this state. Handling the file of oil must be in a different way. This is not a file that has to do with a party. It is not a private file. It is not a sectarian, factional or regional file. If there is an oil wealth in the sea of Lebanon whether facing the South or the North, it is an oil wealth to all of Lebanon and to all the Lebanese people. We must handle this file as being a national, historic chance to pull Lebanon from its status quo. This background imposes a different conduct.
There is another important question which must be addressed in this file. This wealth may bring along Israeli threats and dangers especially concerning the regions or the wells that may interpenetrate underground or undersea. Even the drilling companies or the companies which may be charge may also be threatened from here or there – from the Israelis or their masters to prevent Lebanon from benefiting from this wealth. How will the Lebanese state address this issue?
Here I call for a national strategy. If the state leaves this to us, we are ready.
Frankly, in the past, the state left liberating the land to the Lebanese people. It was absent. It was even negative. The Lebanese people via the various factions, movements and parties fought and made liberation in 1985. They made liberation in 2000 too. The popular resistance in Lebanon proved that it is able to defend the country. Do you like to leave this issue to the Lebanese people? Then the Lebanese people and the various classes of the Lebanese people will see what their choices are. Their options are clear. Or do you rather like to put a national strategy to protect the oil wealth?
Israel has a clear strategy. Brothers and sisters! All the Lebanese must know that when the oil and gas wells were discovered, Israel made amendments in its sea force, rocket force and air force, and it activated drills and all what guarding the oil wealth needs militarily and security as well as on the technical, information, technological and arming levels at the same time in which Israel was building platforms and excavating.
What did we in Lebanon do? We have a couple of rifles and rockets with which we can defend the country. We wake up in the morning and go to bed at night and we find them talking about the arms of the resistance. In such a way you want to defend the oil wealth which is a historic chance for Lebanon and for pulling Lebanon out off its crisis?
If you want that the Lebanese people do not alone assume the responsibility, please – O state – build a strategy. If you are not able to set a comprehensive national defense strategy - because some people have put impossible conditions to go back to the dialogue table - at least the dialogue table or the Lebanese government or the Supreme Defense Council must put a strategy to defend the national oil wealth. We are ready for what is required from us as a resistance in this national strategy. We have always bore difficulties and repercussions and we were not partners in the profits. You know that. We are ready to assume responsibility again because the blessings of this issue will benefit our entire nation and all of our people. We are not seeking a portion or a share or a finger lick. However we very much care that Lebanon as a nation, as a people, and as a state be able to extract oil wealth and benefit from it for the public interest of the country.
In this framework, I must assert on the day of Abi Abdullah Al Hussein (Peace be upon him), on the day of loyalty, the firm stance, and the determination which Zeinab (peace be upon her), Zein Al Aabideen (Peace be upon him) and the small children who were in the procession manifested. We too express the very stance and we know that in the next year as far as the resistance is concerned, we are before very great and important challenges. We know that the Israelis and the Americans are besieging us in the whole world and in the region. There are efforts to put Hezbollah on the European terrorist list. There are US decisions to prevent any activity or movement in Latin America. There are efforts in the Arab and Islamic world to make a devil of the resistance in Lebanon and to take revenge from this resistance which defeated Israel and embarrassed the Arab rulers and regimes. It also embarrassed many of the forces which claim being resistance movements in the nation. However on the Arbaeen of Abu Abdullah Al Hussein (Peace be upon him): All the efforts will be gone with the wind. Today in America and Israel they started discussing the repercussions of the events in Syria on the level of Hezbollah and the resistance armament in Lebanon. They are verifying if there is still arms transfer or did that stop? Did the arm stock start to retreat or it did not start to retreat? What is the horizon of this stock in the future? Indeed some people are helping them. Their only preoccupation is that in Lebanon there is this possibility for power which we must besiege, isolate, fight, and put an end to. However today – on the day of Zeinab (Peace be upon her), we tell America and Israel and all those who stand by their side and conspire with them: "You may contrive and try however much you can. By Him, you cannot achieve our status, nor reach our position, nor can you affect our mention?"
Today on the Day of Arbaeen of Al Hussein (Peace be upon him), we recall the stance of the tenth of Muharram. We tell the whole world which is thinking and bargaining on the possibility of harming us: In 1985, what did the resistance own whether from arms, equipment and numbers? Still it defeated Israel – the strongest army in the region. In 2000, what was the possession of the resistance from arms, equipment and numbers? Still it defeated Israel in 2000. True in 2006 capacities were better; but they were incomparable to the capacities of Israel. You are being wrong when you read our power in the equation of numbers, arms and rockets. Our true power is in our faith, will, determination and adoration to Allah, the Prophet of Allah, and the Master of Martyrs. It is in our determination and seeking of a noble life. It is in our culture that says: Life is in your death victorious, and death is in your life oppressed. You are wrong when you read the true power in our stance which we drew from Karbala and which we reiterate every day and every hour in our stance and practice. Again we say: The bastard son of a bastard has put us between two choices all through history: war or humiliation. Humiliation! How remote!
Today we recall the stance of our Imam Zein Al Aabideen (Peace be upon him) who was chained in the procession of captives. This state has its mighty natural and psychological repercussions. Still when he was threatened by being killed by Ibn Ziad, he said his well-known statement: "Are you threatening to kill me – O son of the freed". This is what we say to all those who threaten us. We say the word said by our Imam while being handcuffed. However, we are today saying the word of our Imam while we were and are still moving from power to power and from victory to victory: "Are you threatening to kill me O son of the freed. Being killed is just our habit. And we gain honor from Allah when we are martyred". Isn't this our culture? Isn't this our mentality and faith? Haven't we asserted this all over thirty years?
Thus I tell every foe and friend, and all those who love us and are worried and they are numerous in Lebanon and in the Arab and the Islamic world: Do not be afraid on this resistance because its will and the source of its power are from another nature.
Today we are in Marjet of Ras Al Ain. We are near the Shrine of the Head of Imam Hussein and the procession of the captives. In this square, the Imam of the resistance – Imam Sayyed Mussa Assader – stood and gave awakening and zealous speeches. It is the square of the Master of the Islamic Resistance martyrs – Sayyed Abbass Mussawi. It is the square of the first launching of the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon. From this square we renew our oath to our Prophet (Peace be upon him and his Household), to the prophets of Allah (Peace be upon them) and to our Imams (Peace be upon them), to the Master of our Martyrs, to all the martyrs, to all the freemen, to all the honorable, to all the sanctities, and to all those who refuse oppression, humiliation and occupation: We will remain in Hussein's square of Karbala. Nothing wills apart us from him: neither chilly coldness, nor extreme hotness nor death nor killing nor threats nor offerings nor sacrifices no matter what they might be. Our call will always remain: At your service, O Hussein.
Peace be on you, my master and Lord Abi Abdullah, and on all the souls gathering around your holy site. Peace be on you as long as I remain alive and as long as night follows day. May Allah make it not my last visit to you. Peace be on Hussein, Ali the son of Hussein, the children of Hussein and the companions of Hussein.
Nicolas Sarkozy ordered the assassination of Hugo Chavez
Voltaire Net reports:
The Venezuelan Minister of Correctional Services, Iris Varela, has announced on her Twitter account the expulsion of a French citizen known as Frédéric Laurent Bouquet, December 29, 2012
Mr. Bouquet (photo) had been arrested in Caracas on June 18, 2009, with three Dominican nationals in possession of an arsenal. In the apartment he had acquired, forensic police seized 500 grams of C4 explosives, 14 assault rifles including 5 with telescopic lenses, 5 with laser sighting and one with a silencer, special cables, 11 electronic detonators, 19,721 cartridges of different calibers, 3 machine guns, 4 hand guns of different calibers, 11 radios, 3 walkie talkies and a radio base, five 12-gauge shotguns, 2 bulletproof vests, 7 military uniforms, 8 grenades, one gas mask, one combat knife and 9 bottles of gunpowder.
During his trial, Mr. Bouquet admitted he had been trained in Israel and was an agent of French military intelligence service (DGSE). He admitted planning an attack to assassinate Constitutional President Hugo Chavez.
Mr. Bouquet had been sentenced to four years in prison for "illegal possession of weapons." He served his sentence. He was taken from his cell by Ordinance No. 096-12 of trial judge Yulismar Jaime, then was expelled for "undermining national security" under Article 39 paragraph 4 of the Migration and Foreigners Act.
The Venezuelan Minister of Correctional Services, Iris Varela, has announced on her Twitter account the expulsion of a French citizen known as Frédéric Laurent Bouquet, December 29, 2012
Mr. Bouquet (photo) had been arrested in Caracas on June 18, 2009, with three Dominican nationals in possession of an arsenal. In the apartment he had acquired, forensic police seized 500 grams of C4 explosives, 14 assault rifles including 5 with telescopic lenses, 5 with laser sighting and one with a silencer, special cables, 11 electronic detonators, 19,721 cartridges of different calibers, 3 machine guns, 4 hand guns of different calibers, 11 radios, 3 walkie talkies and a radio base, five 12-gauge shotguns, 2 bulletproof vests, 7 military uniforms, 8 grenades, one gas mask, one combat knife and 9 bottles of gunpowder.
During his trial, Mr. Bouquet admitted he had been trained in Israel and was an agent of French military intelligence service (DGSE). He admitted planning an attack to assassinate Constitutional President Hugo Chavez.
Mr. Bouquet had been sentenced to four years in prison for "illegal possession of weapons." He served his sentence. He was taken from his cell by Ordinance No. 096-12 of trial judge Yulismar Jaime, then was expelled for "undermining national security" under Article 39 paragraph 4 of the Migration and Foreigners Act.
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Nittel Nacht: No Sex, No Torah, Just Fear Of Evil Spiritual Forces Associated With Jesus
Shmarya Rosenberg reports:
Tonight is Christmas Eve – better known in the haredi world as Nittel Nacht. Hasidic Jews believe that evil spiritual forces are at full force tonight and to prevent giving strength to any of these impure forces, hasidim do not study Torah, Talmud, halakha or other Jewish religious subjects, and they also abstain from having sex.
The 6th Lubavitcher Rebbe, left, playing chess with his younger son-in-law, the future 7th Rebbe, right, allegedly on Nittel Nacht
Nittel Nacht: No Sex, No Torah, Just Fear Of Evil Spiritual Forces Associated With Jesus
Tonight is Christmas Eve – better known in the haredi world as Nittel Nacht.
Primarily hasidic Jews believe that evil spiritual forces are at full force tonight and to prevent giving strength to any of these impure forces, hasidim do not study Torah, Talmud, halakha or other Jewish religious subjects, and they also abstain from having sex.
Ha’aretz reports that Sefer Haminhagim, The Book of Religious Customs, teaches that most heretics who converted from Judaism to other religions, especially Christianity, were conceived through “illegal” sex by their parents on Christmas, the first Christian’s birthday.
So what do hasidim do on Christmas? They don’t – officially, at least – have t.v.s or go to movies. The Internet is banned. So is reading for pleasure. And for tonight, so is Torah study of all types and sex. So what is it that hasidm do?
Several things:
Play chess or card games.
Rip toilet paper for Shabbat. Since Orthodox Jews don’t rip toilet paper on Shabbat, it has to be ripped beforehand (or tissues must be uses in its place). The lore is that ome hasidic rebbes used to spend all of Christmas eve ripping toilet paper for the next year (although it may be more likely the Rebbes’ butlers, footmen or other attendants actually did the ripping.)
Pay bills, go over charity accounts.
Do mundane tasks that need to be done around the house.
One of the reasons the custom of not learning Torah tonight may have developed was a need to help prevent anti-Jewish violence. Prohibiting Torah learning meant the synagogues were closed and dark, and Jews were, for the most, inside their homes and not out on the streets, making anti-Jewish violence that often broke out on Christian religious holidays somewhat less likely.
The name Nittel Nacht could have its origins in the Latin name Christmas had in the Middle Ages – “Natal Domini,” “the birth of the Lord.”
The Sefardi haredi Shas Party’s journal Yom Leyom published an article claiming that this is really a confusion of the Latin name for Sylvester night (New Year’s Eve) Natlus.
The hasidic newspaper Hamodia claims that, “because they did not want to say the name of that same man [Jesus], the name of the wicked shall rot, they called him the hung man [“natal” means “hanged” (or less plausibly, “to have been taken away”)], as he was killed and hung from a tree," following a later – and almost certainly incorrect – Talmudic tradition that Jesus was hung, not crucified.
There are also claims that the name is an acronym.
And, of course, this wouldn't be haredi Judaism if there wasn't an argument over the observance. Some groups observe Nittel Nacht tonight, following the observance of Christmas by the Roman Church. Others will observe it next week, following the observance of Christmas then by the Eastern Churches. Others will observe it on both nights just be absolutely sure.
-------
More info here: https://theuglytruth.wordpress.com/2012/12/31/how-hasidic-jews-celebrate-christmas/
and here: http://theinfounderground.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=17009
also:
Photos of Nittel Nacht in Crown Hights: http://www.crownheights.info/index.php?itemid=49259
Tonight is Christmas Eve – better known in the haredi world as Nittel Nacht. Hasidic Jews believe that evil spiritual forces are at full force tonight and to prevent giving strength to any of these impure forces, hasidim do not study Torah, Talmud, halakha or other Jewish religious subjects, and they also abstain from having sex.
The 6th Lubavitcher Rebbe, left, playing chess with his younger son-in-law, the future 7th Rebbe, right, allegedly on Nittel Nacht
Nittel Nacht: No Sex, No Torah, Just Fear Of Evil Spiritual Forces Associated With Jesus
Tonight is Christmas Eve – better known in the haredi world as Nittel Nacht.
Primarily hasidic Jews believe that evil spiritual forces are at full force tonight and to prevent giving strength to any of these impure forces, hasidim do not study Torah, Talmud, halakha or other Jewish religious subjects, and they also abstain from having sex.
Ha’aretz reports that Sefer Haminhagim, The Book of Religious Customs, teaches that most heretics who converted from Judaism to other religions, especially Christianity, were conceived through “illegal” sex by their parents on Christmas, the first Christian’s birthday.
So what do hasidim do on Christmas? They don’t – officially, at least – have t.v.s or go to movies. The Internet is banned. So is reading for pleasure. And for tonight, so is Torah study of all types and sex. So what is it that hasidm do?
Several things:
Play chess or card games.
Rip toilet paper for Shabbat. Since Orthodox Jews don’t rip toilet paper on Shabbat, it has to be ripped beforehand (or tissues must be uses in its place). The lore is that ome hasidic rebbes used to spend all of Christmas eve ripping toilet paper for the next year (although it may be more likely the Rebbes’ butlers, footmen or other attendants actually did the ripping.)
Pay bills, go over charity accounts.
Do mundane tasks that need to be done around the house.
One of the reasons the custom of not learning Torah tonight may have developed was a need to help prevent anti-Jewish violence. Prohibiting Torah learning meant the synagogues were closed and dark, and Jews were, for the most, inside their homes and not out on the streets, making anti-Jewish violence that often broke out on Christian religious holidays somewhat less likely.
The name Nittel Nacht could have its origins in the Latin name Christmas had in the Middle Ages – “Natal Domini,” “the birth of the Lord.”
The Sefardi haredi Shas Party’s journal Yom Leyom published an article claiming that this is really a confusion of the Latin name for Sylvester night (New Year’s Eve) Natlus.
The hasidic newspaper Hamodia claims that, “because they did not want to say the name of that same man [Jesus], the name of the wicked shall rot, they called him the hung man [“natal” means “hanged” (or less plausibly, “to have been taken away”)], as he was killed and hung from a tree," following a later – and almost certainly incorrect – Talmudic tradition that Jesus was hung, not crucified.
There are also claims that the name is an acronym.
And, of course, this wouldn't be haredi Judaism if there wasn't an argument over the observance. Some groups observe Nittel Nacht tonight, following the observance of Christmas by the Roman Church. Others will observe it next week, following the observance of Christmas then by the Eastern Churches. Others will observe it on both nights just be absolutely sure.
-------
More info here: https://theuglytruth.wordpress.com/2012/12/31/how-hasidic-jews-celebrate-christmas/
and here: http://theinfounderground.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=17009
also:
Photos of Nittel Nacht in Crown Hights: http://www.crownheights.info/index.php?itemid=49259
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Russia prepares for the worst in Syria
The commander in chief of the Russian Airborne Forces, General Vladimir Shamanov, has confirmed rumors that the Airborne Forces have adopted a plan to evacuate Russian citizens from Syria. While this does most definitely not mean that Russia believes that the Assad regime will fall, this does show that this is an outcome for which the Kremlin is making all necessary contingency plans.
For a while already a number of Russian Navy ships, including at least two large landing ships, have been involved in various types of maneuvers in the Mediterranean and this had lead to speculation that these ships could be involved in a possible evacuation of Russian citizens from Syria. This is a reasonable hypothesis, in particular for the port city of Tartus. The Naval Infantry contingent upon these ships is certainly sufficient to act as a protection force during such an evacuation. What the Airborne Forces could provide, however, is the means to evacuate Russian citizens from other Syrian cities including Damascus.
Furthermore, Russia now has the means to send in a peacekeeping force on very short notice should the creation of such a force be decided by the UNSC.
Finally, while I personally absolutely do not believe that such an option is being considered by the Kremlin, the combination of Navy and Airborne Forces does provide Russia with the means to engage in an operation similar to what the French did in Rwanda in 1994 with their Opération Turquoise: get militarily involved and prop up a collapsing regime under the guise of an evacuation operation.
I really do not think that we should read too much into all this other than the fact that all the signs are showing that Russia is preparing for pretty much any possible contingency in Syria, what the Americans call "hope for the best, prepare for the worst, and settle for anything in the middle".
The Saker
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| General Shamanov |
Furthermore, Russia now has the means to send in a peacekeeping force on very short notice should the creation of such a force be decided by the UNSC.
Finally, while I personally absolutely do not believe that such an option is being considered by the Kremlin, the combination of Navy and Airborne Forces does provide Russia with the means to engage in an operation similar to what the French did in Rwanda in 1994 with their Opération Turquoise: get militarily involved and prop up a collapsing regime under the guise of an evacuation operation.
I really do not think that we should read too much into all this other than the fact that all the signs are showing that Russia is preparing for pretty much any possible contingency in Syria, what the Americans call "hope for the best, prepare for the worst, and settle for anything in the middle".
The Saker
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