Sticks and Stones

Senator Hillary Clinton won the Israel vote in the Democrats Abroad Global Primary, but was defeated in the international race by Senator Barack Obama, who captured the majority of the votes cast by American expatriates who voted in the Democratic Global Primary held earlier this month.

Israel, which is home to an estimated 200,000 U.S. Citizens, is considered to be an important overseas vote, not least because of the view that the concencus of opinion in Israel may very well be reflected in the Jewish and ‘Israel lobby’ vote in the U.S.

As Clinton’s campaign has seen a sharp decline since Super-Tuesday, the race between Clinton and Obama has sharpened and a number of Clinton campaign operatives have sent around negative material about Obama’s relations with Israel, according to Newsweek. The emails have been said to attack notable Obama advisors such as Zbigniew Brzezinski, who endorsed a a book, called “The Israel Lobby,” which blames many U.S. foreign-policy problems on Washington’s ties to Israel.

In addition to Brzezinski, other Obama advisers such as Rob Malley, a negotiator at the 2000 Camp David talks (who has since written articles sympathetic to the Palestinian point of view) has been mentioned. Obama’s relationship with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the former pastor at Obama’s Trinity Church in Chicago has also been cited too, given that he is a notable critic of Israel. A publication run by his daughter, called ‘Trumpet’ gave an award for “greatness” to Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who once called Judaism a “bloodsucking religion.” That said, Obama has stated his objection to the award since talk of the matter surfaced.

An advisor to Obama commented that “there’s an increased number of these attack going around in direct correlation to Barack’s strength in the primaries and caucuses.” Obama has successfully fought off Clinton, to gain support among Jewish voters in California, Connecticut and Massachusetts whilst Clinton has won in New York, New Jersey and Maryland. Obama also has responded to recent attacks linking Obama to Brzezinski, saying: “I do not share his views with respect to Israel. I have said so clearly and unequivocally. He’s not one of my key advisers. I’ve had lunch with him once. I’ve exchanged e-mails with him maybe three times.”

Whilst AIPAC have maintained that Obama’s voting record and public pronouncements paint him squarely as an Israel supporter, Senators Clinton and Republican front-runner, Senator John McCain as well as possible independent candidate Mayor Michael Bloomberg are considered to be more pro-Israel, according to Israeli newspaper, Haaretz.

Senator Clinton has been keen to remind voters that Obama has stated his willingness, if President, to engage in talks with the Iranian regime whilst Danny Ayalon, Israel’s former ambassador to the USA, says Iran would exploit Obama’s gullibility and race ahead with a nuclear program.

Obama’s campaign looks set to face questioning on the issue of Israel, unless he can dispel rumours, being circulated by Clinton and her advisors.

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The death of Imad Mughniyeh, Hezbollah’s most secret operative who for decades managed to elude attempts by US and Israeli spies and special forces to capture or kill him, has raised many questions as to those responsible. Hezbollah, naturally, blamed the “Israeli Zionists,” in conjunction with Satan and Satan’s step-brother, Ehud Olmert for the assassination of “a great jihadist leader of the Islamic resistance.”

“Syria, which condemns this cowardly terrorist act, expresses condolences to the martyr family and to the Lebanese people,” Interior Minister Bassam Abdul-Majeed said in a statement. Iran also condemned the killing, praising Mughniyeh as a martyr and describing the attack as “yet another brazen example of organised state terrorism by the Zionist regime”.

Mughniyeh was among several suspects indicted in the US for the 1985 hijacking of a TWA airliner in which a US Navy diver was killed. Israel believes he was involved in planning the 1992 bombing of Israel’s embassy in Argentina in which 29 people were killed, and the blast at a Buenos Aires Jewish centre two years later that killed 95. A former head of Israel’s Mossad secret service, Danny Yatom, summed it up quite succinctly when he called the killing “a big achievement for the free world against terrorist organisations.”

Today, at the funeral of Mughniyeh (peace hell be upon him) in Beirut, Lebanon, Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah said the war against the Jewish State was not over: “Zionists, if you want this sort of open war, then let the whole world hear, so be it!” he declared, to a crowd of armed intellectuals and notable camel-herders.

On this glorious day of romanticism, I wait eagerly for the moment Hassan Nasrallah joins his fellow martyrs amongst 100 (other) virgins, and wish Imad Mughniyeh a Happy Valentine’s Day.

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Chanced upon an article in the Wall Street Journal, in response to yesterday’s suicide bomb attack in the southern Israeli city of Dimona - worth a read, to remind ourselves of the threat posed by Islamic fundamentalism, and the measures that have and can be taken to prevent these misguided, inhuman and murderous activities;

The news about yesterday’s suicide bombing in the Israeli town of Dimona is that it’s news. In 2002, at the height of the second intifada, 451 Israelis were killed in terrorist attacks, including 14 suicide bombings. By contrast, yesterday’s attack, which killed one and injured 11, was the first of its kind in more than a year.

This didn’t happen by accident, or because Palestinian radicals have somehow become less hostile to Israel. Responsibility for yesterday’s attack was claimed by the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, which is affiliated with President Mahmoud Abbas’s ostensibly moderate Fatah party. Islamist Hamas remains even more ardently dedicated to Israel’s destruction, a point it emphasizes with its rocket barrages at southern Israeli cities close to the Gaza Strip.

Instead, the difference has come because of Israel’s increasingly successful antiterrorist efforts. Key to that success has been the construction of its ostensibly “illegal” security fence, its equally “illegal” targeted assassinations of key terrorist leaders, its “disproportional” attacks on terrorist enclaves in Jenin and elsewhere, and other actions that saved innocent lives but which much of the international community deplored.

One of the most common arguments against Israel’s actions is that it would feed a “cycle of violence.” It’s fair to say that what happened is closer to the opposite. As Israel put pressure on terrorist leaders, they were forced to spend their time running for their lives rather than planning the next attack. As Israel set up physical obstacles to terrorism, the need for large-scale military incursions declined, allowing a semblance of normal life to return for Israelis as well as Palestinians. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, Israel proved that terrorists can be defeated — a lesson that applies equally in Iraq.

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Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has warned the US against targeted attacks on Al Qaeda and the Taliban on Pakistani soil.

From the International Herald Tribune

Asked in the interview about a proposal under review by President George W. Bush’s senior national security advisers to expand the authority of the Central Intelligence Agency and the military to conduct far more aggressive covert operations in the tribal areas, Musharraf said he would oppose the conduct of unilateral strikes by U.S. forces without Pakistani approval.

“Nobody will come here until we ask them to come, and we haven’t asked them,” Musharraf said about the proposal. “Certainly, if they come without our permission, that’s against the sovereignty of Pakistan.”

An array of experts agree, including Pakistani military analysts and U.S. counterterrorism specialists, who say that U.S. troops would be seen as an invasion force by the Pakistani public. They argue that U.S. raids would fail and increase public support for militants, who are seen as trying to free Pakistan from U.S. domination.

In an attempt to disassociate himself with allegations of protecting notable Al Qaeda operatives, Musharraf said “[If] you’re talking about Osama bin Laden; any action against him will be free…we’ll attack the target together.”

Critics have also slated the ‘compromised’ investigation into the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, claiming that the investigative authorities hosed down the crime scene, washing away potentially important evidence.

The question must be asked; what kind of a ‘partner in the War on Terror’ is Musharraf? Surely, in order to effectively counter the causes and the perpetrators of terrorism, both on Pakistani soil, and elsewhere, all allied governments acting with the goal of eradication of global terror cells should be more complicit, consenting and willing to act alongside ‘partners.’ Unfortunately, as so often occurs in the Middle-East, the west is forced to resort to the ‘lesser of two [many] evils principle.’ Bush’s government recognise the need for Pakistani support as a central ‘democratic’ Middle-Eastern nation state for regional influence, and will have to make a choice between alientating Pakistan through targetted action against Al Qaeda and the Taliban, or acceptance of Musharraf’s non-compliance.

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Despite the best efforts of US Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama and his team of spin doctors, the questions are often raised in America and abroad as to exactly ‘how Muslim’ Obama is, whether he practices Islam, and whether his Islamic upbringing has impacted upon his political convictions? It is necessary to review biographical information about Obama, to ascertain the extent to which any of this questions bear significance.

A quick summary of his life so far:

Barack Hussein Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Barack Hussein Obama, Sr, a black Muslim from Nyangoma-Kogel, Kenya and Ann Dunham, a white atheist from Wichita, Kansas. Obama’s parents met at the University of Hawaii. When Obama was two years old, his parents divorced. His father returned to Kenya. His mother then married Lolo Soetoro, who is an Indonesian Muslim. When Obama was 6 years old, the family relocated to Indonesia and he attended a Muslim school in Jakarta. He also spent two years in a Catholic school.

Obama takes great care to conceal the fact that he is a Muslim and is quick to point out that, ‘he was once a Muslim, but that he also attended Catholic school.’ Obama’s political advisers and spin doctors are attempting to make it appear that Obama’s introduction to Islam came via his father, and that this influence was temporary at best.

In reality, Obama senior returned to Kenya soon after the divorce, and never again had any direct influence over his son’s education. Lolo Soetoro, the second husband of Obama’s mother, Ann Dunham, introduced his stepson to Islam and Barack Obama was enrolled in a religious islamic school in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Some say it is equally important to keep in mind that when he was sworn into office as the Senator of Illinois in 2004 - he did not use the Holy Bible, but instead the Qur’an, despite claiming to be a member of the United Church of Christ.

Since it is politically expedient to be a Christian when seeking a major public office in the United States, Barack Hussein Obama has joined the United Church of Christ in an attempt to downplay his Muslim background. The question must be asked as to how alert the American public must be, concerning Obama’s presidential candidacy and recent victory in the Iowa Democratic Caucus.

Whilst it is clear that Obama is in no way connected to or supportive of terrorism or terrorist activities, it is important to recognise the motives behind Obama’s desperate attempts to conceal his religious identity.

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