It has been more than ten years with billions spent, thousands killed and wounded and still stupid/ vile/ callous actions have succeeded in undoing much of the good that has been done. The Taliban were routed in Kandahar, their home base and in nearby Helmond, but they have been given a new life, a new set of propaganda weapons to rally support, because of the actions of a few American soldiers. They are either too stupid to learn and/ or refuse to do so and thus continue to give succor to the enemy. Marines urinating on corpses can be excused on the grounds of the heat of battle, but the uirning of the Koran (sacrilegious) has to be the height of stupidity or of racist/religious arrogance, and now to be followed by the wanton killing of 16 viilagers/ civilians,( 9 of them children, one of them 2yr.old) while they slept and then setting their bodies on fire.
The withdrawal cannot come too soon.
Netanyahu's visit to Washington, and his speech to AIPAC, muddied the Iranian issue so much that the attention of the world turned to this "imminent threat. It's attention had already been shifted to the "hammer" that Assad had been using to quell the challenge to his regime. The Israeli ruse allowed for it to go hunting for , what it called "preventive targetting"of those whom they claim was about to attack Israel. With the targetted killing of two officials of the Palestinian Resistance Committee (PRC), Islamic Jihad, an Iranian-backed group, responded by launching at least 35 rockets at Israel. 20 of those rockets were intercepted by Israel'sIron Dome anti-missile system ( you can say that this was a boon for Israel, as it was able to test this system). Eight people were wounded in Israel, but Israel's four dyt attacks resulted in 23 Palestinian killed and 74 wounded (mostly civilians).
Thwe world suddenly awoke from its torpor and the UN and Washington expressed "concern" . So far Hamas has stayed out of the fight.
Meanwhile in Syria the battle between the Assad regime and the opposition continues. Former UN head Kofi Annan held talks with Assad about a ceasefire, humanitarian aid and talks, but nothing was agreed upon. Both sides are accusing each other of massacres and civilian casualties continue to mount.
There is no end in sight. Assad will not back down. The images of Mubarak, ben Ali and especially Gadhafi must be fresh in his mind and he does not want the same fate and this will get bloodier.
The withdrawal cannot come too soon.
Netanyahu's visit to Washington, and his speech to AIPAC, muddied the Iranian issue so much that the attention of the world turned to this "imminent threat. It's attention had already been shifted to the "hammer" that Assad had been using to quell the challenge to his regime. The Israeli ruse allowed for it to go hunting for , what it called "preventive targetting"of those whom they claim was about to attack Israel. With the targetted killing of two officials of the Palestinian Resistance Committee (PRC), Islamic Jihad, an Iranian-backed group, responded by launching at least 35 rockets at Israel. 20 of those rockets were intercepted by Israel'sIron Dome anti-missile system ( you can say that this was a boon for Israel, as it was able to test this system). Eight people were wounded in Israel, but Israel's four dyt attacks resulted in 23 Palestinian killed and 74 wounded (mostly civilians).
Thwe world suddenly awoke from its torpor and the UN and Washington expressed "concern" . So far Hamas has stayed out of the fight.
Meanwhile in Syria the battle between the Assad regime and the opposition continues. Former UN head Kofi Annan held talks with Assad about a ceasefire, humanitarian aid and talks, but nothing was agreed upon. Both sides are accusing each other of massacres and civilian casualties continue to mount.
There is no end in sight. Assad will not back down. The images of Mubarak, ben Ali and especially Gadhafi must be fresh in his mind and he does not want the same fate and this will get bloodier.
