Yikes!! Peanut Farmer or UN Fact-Finding Mission

November 16, 2006

Yikes, check out Benny Avni's piece in today's New York Sun, entitled "President Carter Could Lead U.N. Investigation of Israel."

Hard to decide which is worse, Jimmy Carter, the peanut farmer or a UN "fact-finding" mission?! (Probably the peanut farmer...)

My favorite part is Ambassador John Bolton's response, upon being asked about the idea of a council-sponsored fact-finding mission and the establishment of a mechanism to protect civilians in Gaza.His reponse was "No."

[Posted by R.S.]

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Headlines From The Twilight Zone

November 15, 2006

Here are some of today's headlines from the Twilight Zone (aka the United Nations):

* Iranian envoy complains to UN over repeated Israeli 'threats'  - Iranian Ambassador demands UN action on Israel's threats to bomb it. The threats are "matters of extreme gravity and the United Nations Security Council should condemn them and demand that Israel cease and desist immediately from the threat of the use of force against members of the United Nations," said Iranian UN Ambassador Javad Zarif. [Oh, and btw, our own calls to wipe Israel off the face of the earth are not threats, but just friendly "suggestions."- RS]

* UN General Assembly to hold summit on IDF action in Gaza - The United Nations General Assembly will hold an emergency session Friday to discuss the Israel Defense Forces' offensive in the Gaza Strip; the discussion was initiated by the UN's Muslim bloc countries. The UN's top human rights body - The Human Rights Council - on Wednesday expressed its alarm at the gross and systematic violations of human rights violations by Israel in Gaza, and sent a mission to probe the Beit Hanun incident. [And N. Korea, Iran, Darfur, Syria, Hizbollah, Hamas, etc. be damned. What's the point of being a "top UN human rights body" if you can't kick Israel around?! - RS]

* A Mystery Erupts At United Nations Over Greece's Cash  - After sinking millions of dollars into a failed joint project with the United Nations, the government of Greece is asking where its money went?! [I am shocked, shocked to hear this! Tip for the Greeks - follow the oil-for-food money and you'll find your "sunk" millions. - RS]

Who needs to read the funnies when the UN is in town?!

[Posted by R.S.]

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New & Improved Foreign Policy?

November 14, 2006

For anyone having difficulties choosing between "Realist" vs. "Idealist" schools of thoughts, here's another choice to add to the mix, i.e., "Realism Suffused By Panic". Check out Brett Stephens piece in today's Wall Street Journal, entitled "Father Knows Best?"

An excerpt:

As president of Texas A&M University, Bob Gates abolished admissions preferences for the children and grandchildren of alumni, reportedly saying it was "unworthy of a great university." Funny, then, that he should be returning to Washington on the strength of his reputation as daddy's boy.

"Daddy," of course, is former President George H. W. Bush, for whom Mr. Gates served as deputy national security adviser and director of Central Intelligence. Today, the elder Mr. Bush is being celebrated as a foreign-policy sage whose adroit stewardship of the world stands in flattering contrast with current management. Mr. Gates, along with Bush ... more here

[Posted by R.S.]

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Watch & Ponder

November 13, 2006

Watch this clip (below) from the Spielberg archives.

Among other things, it's an excellent reminder of how a group of people with nothing but the shirts on their backs and very, very few (if any) friends in the world - but millions of enemies surrounding them - were able to create a thriving, vibrant, technologically-advanced democracy governed by the rule of law, smack in the middle of the desert (on the part with no oil), all without the use of suicide bombers!

[p.s. It's also a good reminder of how "reliable" Europe was and continues to be...]

See video here.

[Posted by R.S.]

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