How Bin Laden Bankrupted America

This is a very interesting editorial on the http://www.anti-war.com website. It discusses the how the political confluences of the neocons and the"fundementalists" with the wars in the Middle East contributed to bankrupting the US.

The genius of bin Laden's pinprick attacks, costing a few hundred thousand dollars, has left America reeling with two unending multi-trillion-dollar wars it doesn't know how to get out of. He knew that his own strength was mainly in his appeal to the minds of men, particularly to the lost dignity of Muslims trampled under the heel of their own dictators, Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, and America's military. Getting rid of the "far" enemy was the way to take on the "near" ones.

The article talks about five ways this has happened. What is very interesting is that some of the pundits have actually predicted something like this. From the article:

Editor John Feffer forecast the wars' consequences precisely in 2002:

"The successful realization of bin Laden's secret strategy will happen not with a bang but with a whimper. Having failed to use the unipolar moment for the world's advantage, the United States runs the risk of following the examples of Russia and England and Turkey, all faded empires whose ambitions overreached themselves. In the worst-case scenario, the U.S. will become the sick man of North America, a victim of military hypertrophy, extremes of wealth and poverty, decay of civil infrastructure, and loss of competitive economic advantage."

Read it. Interesting stuff.

But what is more interesting is this last quote. See the link for the full article. Here is an excerpt from that article. Remember this is written in 2002.

Bin Laden has apparently absorbed the Reagan strategy. It is difficult to know whether he really thought that a handful of terrorist acts would hobble the United States or that al Qaeda and the Taliban could defeat the U.S. and its allies in Afghanistan. What he must have anticipated, however, was the predictable U.S. response: to throw money at the Pentagon.

The Bush administration has obliged by lifting defense spending into the stratosphere. The proposed 14 percent increase brings the military budget to $379 billion. Another $17 billion will be spend on defense programs outside the Pentagon. By 2007, Bush predicts a staggering $451 billion military budget. These figures don't even include the enormous sums devoted to paying for past wars through veterans' payments and interest on the debt associated with military spending ($229 billion in 2001). Coupled with tax cuts that primarily benefit the wealthy, the proposed defense budget will eliminate the budget surpluses and do nothing to improve the health, educational level and long-term employment opportunities of U.S. citizens.

A Muslim in America - "A voyage of discovery"

Thinking out of the box to bring Islam to non-Muslims in America.

He told the story of answering a tear-filled question posed by a Midwestern woman who admitted that she'd never met a Muslim. 

" 'Do they love their children?' " Hayden, 30, remembered her asking. "We were able to tell her that, yes, they love their children. ... But the fact that she asked that question told us so much."

Very good article.

UK Jewish MP: Israel acting like Nazis in Gaza

From the mouths of...

President Obama authorizes aid to Gaza

This is quite a change from a few months back. $20 million from the US government has been authorized to go to NGOs serving the situation in Gaza.

This is a short memorandum from the office of the president. Read the link and see for yourself.

And, of course, not a word on the front page of CNN, New York Times, Washington Post, or LA Times. 

Is Peace Out of Reach

CBS 60 Minutes.

This is worth watching. Views are changing across the world about the Palestinian situation, and about the whole Israeli stance.

Obama's Inaugural Speech

This is a different era. This speech is sobering, realistic and is of leadership caliber of the highest degree. It is interesting in that it inspires hope, faces challenges and reaches out to get the best from people. We all hope and pray that the sincerity exhibited is true and, more importantly, inspires many across the world to actually change paths to the betterment of humanity. We need to seize the moment individually and collectively and move forward seeking Allah's guidance for all of the human family.

For many, the most important thing is that he is African-American. I think this is a very myopic view. Past the irrelevance of his skin color, is the vision, leadership and caliber of this man. Say what you might, and so far we have not seen much to criticize, this is a person with a vision, determination and a sense of collective can-do.

How you are serving your community

Watch the inauguration here

Watch live streaming video of Obama's inauguration on http://CNN.com/live

On Tuesday, January 20th, watch President-elect Barack Obama become the next President of the United States on http://cnn.com/live. You can watch the live video online from anywhere with broadband access. 

Coverage begins at 8am EST, with the swearing-in ceremony at 12pm EST, followed immediately by Obama's inauguration address.

UN accuses Israel over phosphorus

From the BBC about yesterday's Israeli bombing (with phosphorus) the UN compound.

The whole article is quotable. Just take a look. 

In 8 years: 20 Israelis die from Gaza rockets, 4000 from car accidents

Prespective! Sometimes that is what is needed.  This is an article by an Israeli that is much more pragmatic and humane--for both sides. The headline is 

700 Israelis arrested for protesting against war

On the number of Israeli deaths, Gordon said: "between ten and twenty people, Israelis, have died from rockets in the eight years that rockets have been launched from the Gaza Strip into Israel. During the same amount of time, 4,000 Israelis have died from car accidents."

But Israel still used that as an excuse to bomb Gaza.

"From these twenty people, we’re allowed to enter into the Gaza Strip and bomb them from the air into their cage and kill 275 children," said Gordon, who is also the author of the book Israel’s Occupation.

Gordon also talks about the propaganda war.

On the media war, Gordon noted: "Israel is dealing with a propaganda war. Israel is the one that disseminated a video of Hamas shooting rockets from a school, a video that’s almost two years old, claiming that the video was taken a day or two earlier. So Israel is in a propaganda war."

Gordon noted that "although Hamas did launch an incredible amount of rockets at the end of the ceasefire," it was Israel which broke the ceasefire on November 4th "when it attacked in the Gaza Strip."

and that Israel promotes state sponsored terrorism

"Yes, the Hamas is fighting out from a civilian population, but Israel has the choice whether it’s going to bomb the civilian population or not, and it is intentionally deciding to bomb the civilian population. So in terms of intentionality in bombing areas where there are civilians, Israel is acting like a state terrorist. So, if your definition of terrorism doesn’t take into account the identity of the actor—and state actors can also be terrorists—then when you bomb a school and when you bomb a university and when you bomb a neighborhood and you’re killing much more civilians than militants, then you’re doing something that is an act of terror," he explained. 

Very interesting read. Don't miss it.