It is less than two weeks and already, there are noticeable changes, at home and abroad. The President's economic package has passed the House, even though not a single Republican supported it. They will rue the day. The President extended his hand to them, courted them and even visited them on the Hill and yet , they could not get over their petty jealousies and their partisan ways. They stuck to their traditional/ ideological line. They fiddled, while all around them, the signs are that the recession is here and has to be dealt with directly and immediately. Pres. Obama also sent a message that he is committed to his green policy, by issuing orders/ guidelines for the auto industry and taking other measures to show his seriousness. He also introduced "pay equity",( fair pay law), correcting the dioscriminatory policy of paying women and minorities less. On average women are paid 23% less than men and minority women receive even less. This law signed by Obama, amended the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and put the old Equal Employment Opportunity Commission  standard, into law (the Supreme Court had struck it down in 2007, by a 5-4 decision, by declaring that claims must be filed 180 days of first offence and thus made it harder to sue. The EEOC HAD ARGUED THAT THE 180 DAYS BEGAN WITH EACH NEW PAY-CHEQUE).

      Overseas, the Obama impact was seen in the Israeli rushing to withdraw from Gaza, before Obama was sworn in. He has appointed Sen. Mitchell as his special envoy to the region, Mitchell had successfully negotiated the end of the Northern Ireland violence. He has his work cut out for him, but Pres. Obama swift action has indicated his committment to this so far, intractable problem, unlike Bush who frittered the gains that was made during the Clinton years. His appointment of Richard Holbrooke to be his "super envoy" to Afghanistan and Pakistan, again demonstrate that he is engaged , no more buisness as usual. Holbrooke had successfull negotiated the Dayton Accord ending the genocide in former Yugoslavia. Both Hillary Clinton, Sect. of State and Holbrooke are on record as not willing to support the corrupt and ineffective Karzai administration. Clinton has referred to Afghanistan as a "narcostate"and Holbrooke has very critical in his speeches about Karzai's government, saying among other things that Afghanistan's " central government has shown that it is simply not up to the job". Any chance of success in Afghanistan must begin without Karzai. Pakistan is also being put on notice. The recent strikes by "drones", has shown that Obama is not hesitant to use force.

      Russia is also signalling that it is willing to change its recent bellicose position on U.S. missile shields in Poland and the Czech Republic. Plans to base Iskander missiles in the western region of Klainingrad and direct them toward Europe, have been suspended. This avoids another Arms Race and another Cold War, because unlike the Bush Administration, Obama is, at least, for the time being not pushing ahead with the plan to deploy an anti-missile system in Poland and the Czech Republic, to "defend  against threats from Iran". Common sense is prevailing, not jingoism.

      There is more optimism, both at home and abroad. Pres. Obama 's appearance on al- Arabiya, and his direct address to the Muslim world during his Inaugural Speech, were clear signals that he wants to open dialogue without pre-conditions. This bodes well for the future.          

      Finance Minister Flaherty, consulted and laboured and produced a hodge-podge spending spree, with short-term gain but long-term pain, all to please the Liberals and cling to power. It took the scatter-gun and not the surgical approach. It threw money at a lot of groups, but was not well targeted. It needed to make more money available immediately and directly to Canadians, in the form of tax cuts and social infrastructure spending.....schools and hospitals where most of the workers are women.... 40% of women do not make enough to benefit from the meager tax cut, they do not make enough to pay taxes.  The budget lacks vision and is more political than economic.

      The E.I extension is good but needed to go further to make more out-of work Canadians eligible for benefits, and it did not get rid of the two-week waitng period.There is nothing for day-care, to help families who have to juggle more than one job. There is money for the oil and nuclear sector, dressed up as green spending, but nothing for the environment ( compare this to what Pres. Obama has announced for the U.S.A.). The Calgary Oil Patch lobby continue to control the environmental policy of this government.

      There is money for home renovation and assistance for first time buyers. This will help the forestry and construction industries. There is some tax relief for seniors and a slight adjustment for personal exemption. $12 billion for infrastructure...bridges, roads and rail, but this is long-term. Building, paving and dredging...homes, roads, federal buildings, aboriginal reserves, hochey arenas...nicer bathrooms and driveways, new windows, summer jobs for students and electronic medical records, all well and good but, the economy cannot wait. It needs an immediate injection of money/ cash, not this timid attempt at staying in power. People need help and they need it now. The economy need help and it needs it now. Not this pussy-footing, dilly-dally, scattered and vapid approach. The Ref/Con. ( Refor/ Conservatives), chewed on but could not swallow wholly the idea of an interventionist government. Harper and his true-blue coterie, raised on the idea of small government and fiscal restraint, on laissez-faire and market forces, just could not accept the fact that at this time, government is the solution. They whimpered when they needed to roar.

                                   Iggy caved in

      Michael " Hamlet" Ignatieff, made a "decision" not to make a decision. He fell into Harper's trap. He is indecisive and typical of academics, he dithered. Harper can now keep the promise he made to the G.G., not to call an election for six months. Any benefits from this mild attempt to deal with the recession will go to Harper. Expect him to wait until things start to change, before he pulls the plug and cause his defeat on a vote of non-confidence. He will then blame the Liberals and use that as his campaign theme, grinning all the way to a majority. "Iggy" wimped out.     

     

The despair of British Colonialism and the Promise of Tomorrow

 

      In 1947, India was dismembered. Its shoulders were chopped off to create Pakistan. Its right shoulder became West ( Punjab) Pakistan, and its left shoulder became East (Bengal) Pakistan. The departing British were the axe-wielder. They, the British are responsible for many of the problems that haunt the world today, from India to Africa to the Middle East and elsewhere. Their policy of “divide and rule”, playing off one ethnic/ religious/regional/linguistic group against another and their arbitrary drawing of boundary lines, separating tribes and clans and families, into different states/territories have been a recipe for disaster. Hindus and Muslims in India, Jews and Muslims in Arabia, Zulus and Zhosas and Boers in South Africa  Yorubas and Ibos in Nigeria and elsewhere in “ British” Africa,  Sunna and Shia in Iraq, Sinhalese and Tamils in Sri Lanka, “white” Australians and Aborigines, “white” New Zealanders and Maoris, “white’ Canada and the First Nations, and Israelis and Palestinians. Wherever they had colonized, they looted the land and exploited the people, and when they were forced to leave, the poison of ethnic, religious and linguistic hatred were such, and so deep, that the years after have been filled with death and destruction.

      Sixty years ago, India threw off the yokes of British colonialism, but only after it had been shorn of two vital parts. The tens of thousands who died and the millions who were displaced are slowly coming to terms with their forced and violent births, working to build a viable society. Some, like India, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, have come to terms with their past and have taken remedial actions, and are more successful than others, while South Africa, Uganda, Ghana, Nigeria and more recently Bangladesh, Sierra Leone and Kenya, have made important strides .Others, like Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Iraq, Israel and the Palestine, are caught in a vortex of violence, that seems unending. Zimbabwe is under the nightmare of the megalomaniacal Mugabe ( when he goes, Zimbabwe will slowly but surely begin to heal). precondition for success. Nigeria still has to deal with ethnic, religious and regional problems and a fairer distribution of its oil wealth (especially in the Ogoni region) or it will spiral into violence and secession. South Africa has to deal with rising violence and a leadership crisis. Jacob Zuma is not the answer and until some one emerges to build a viable coalition, South Africa will be in turmoil. The Israelis and the Palestinians are locked in a dance to death.

      All eyes are turned to the new American President Obama. He has brought hope and a belief that the seeming impossible, is possible. Much is riding on his presidency, especially in the desperate and forlorn regions of the world. In Kenya, where his father belonged to the Luo, there is a saying that “it is easier for a Luo to become president

      The recently concluded elections in Bangladesh and Ghana, are indications of better things to come. They are both blessed with a large, educated middle class, a necessary of the U.S.A. than to become president of Kenya”. Well, a son of a Luo has become president of the U.S.A. and now a Luo child as well as children everywhere can hope.    The possibilities are endless. The world has changed and there is the promise of a better tomorrow, a tomorrow that is more inclusive, more optimistic, and more decent, when everyone can hope and dream again. Dream on.            

      .            


 

      
 


       
 

  .            

 

                

      They came, they saw, they cried, they laughed and they marvelled. A day and a crowd like no other. Historic, monumental, stirring and peaceful. Over 2 million and not a single disturbance, not a single arrest, just goodwill and good feelings. It was spine- tingling, it was euphoric, it was unbelievable and yet it did happen

      There were two slight glitches, and they too were like omens...Kennedy collapsing from exertion and excitement and the Chief Justice flubbing the oath ( Freudian slip? after all, he stands for everything that was wrong with last administration...white, conservative male. whom Sen. Obama had voted against). Barack Obama became president even before he was sworn in, because, the oath was not administrated until after 12 noon and when it was done, it was done incorrectly. It, according to the constitution, had to be done at precisely 12 noon and it had to be the exact words. I guess, he has to be properly sworn in, in private. Bush looked so forlorn and Cheney showed up in a wheel chair. Lasting images of failure and futility.

      Pres. Obama was a class act. He treated Bush with respect. He hugged him and walked him to his helicopter, and it was not to make sure that he left. It was the decent thing to do. He could have gloated, but as he has shown in his treatment of McCain ( consulting with him, having a tribute dinner for him), he is above pettiness. He has established cordiality/civilituy instead of peevishness. This will serve him well, in his dealings with most of the Republicans and it sent a strong and clear message that in his Presidency, decency and not nastiness will prevail. Pres. Obama's action came naturally and it was witnessed by the media talking heads,watching every little move waiting for something to go wrong so they can fill the airwaves with their vitriol. They were dumb-struck. The multitude took notice too. They had responded with restraint when Bush entered, barely clapping, but when he got up to leave, they roared. It was a great/giant sigh of relief. They cheered lustily as the helicopter rose and departed. The nightmare was over and dawn has arisen.A new day has begun and what a glorious day it is.    

  

      The American constitutiion, written by America's first elite, ( 55 wealthy, white men), perpetuated elite rule and placed many protective devices, designed to ensure their control, through checks and balances, ( A written and rigid constitution, a federal system with residual powers to the states, a bi-cameral legislature, the House of Representatives elected every two years, the Senate, one third of whom are elected every two years but serving six years and a President elected every four years, not by popular vote but by an Electoral College, a Bill of Rights and an appointed Supreme Court with powers of judicial review). Change will be incremental, not revolutionary. 

      This is what Pres. Obama will be up against. He can talk all he wants about changes, but any change will be as a result of compromises with Congress and its powerful power brokers and they have their interests to represent....the powerful lobbies. He cam try to use the bully pulpit and appeal directly to thwe public, and this will work at the begining, but eventually, he will be worn down and will have to make deals. This is the nature of the American political beast. The window of opportunity is very small and that is why the first months will be crucial for the success of his plans. This is where the veterans of Congress, Biden, Clinton and most of all the hard as nails Emanuel will be most needed.

      The most effective weapon in Obama's armory however is the millions of foot soldiers who financed and won him the election and who have not been disbanded. They form a strong and cohesive force to be used to rally supoport at the grass roots level, using phones, letters and especially the internet( text-messaging etc.) to put pressure on  recalcitrant and obfuscating members of Congress and their financial backers. Obama's decision not to disband this this group, but to turn them into a permanent political organisation was a masterstroke. Most of them are young and dedicated. They bought into his leadershuip and his ideas and they are a potent force, so long as they remain faithful. Should they become disenchanted, all will be lost. They have to be kept engaged, informed and involved. Twice before, with Eugene McCarthy and Bobby Kennedy, they ( their parents, that is) were engasged and involved, but they drifted off, when McCarthy lost and Kennedy was killed. The Vietnam war and the Civil Rights movement were the issues. Nixon's election and the killings of Martin Luther King and Kennedy dashed hopes and shattered dreams. Forty years after, the hopes and the dreams are back and Barak Obama is leading the way, up the mountain and it is a very difficult and demanding climb.

      Tuesday, November 20, 2009, and hope springs eternal. Americans are proud to be Americans, no longer ashamed and despairing. The world looks on in anticipation, with fingers crossed and prayers on their lips. Good luck and God bless. 

 

          

Cruel Necessity/ Senseless Brutality

 

     After the execution of Charles I in 1649, Oliver Cromwell, looking at the decapitated body shook his head and uttered under his breath “ Cruel Necessity “. The cruelty of the deed no one can question. Its necessity has been a matter of debate ever since.

     Israel invades the Gaza knowing that with its massive fire-power and due to Gaza’s dense population, that there will be many civilian casualties and says it was a “necessity, the cruelty of which escapes it and its political and military leaders. “Collateral damage,” “fifty eyes for one eye”, (more like 75 to 1…1000+ to 13(4 of whom were killed by Israeli “friendly fire”), blame Hamas, (when hospitals, schools, media centers and U.N. aid and school buildings are targeted), the propaganda machine proclaim and the impotent world “leaders” parrot and find cover for doing nothing. The ends justify the means

     After the Battle of Culloden in 1745, the Duke of Cumberland unleashed his soldiers on the Scottish population, to teach them a lesson that would send a message to others who wanted to fight for their freedoms. Carnage was perpetrated, hundreds of unarmed civilians, women and children were slaughtered…..Senseless Brutality? It was not to George II and the English Government. They saw it as a necessity. People must be taught a lesson and know their place. It made perfect sense to them and it was not brutal, just the price for law and order. The ends justify the means.

        

     On April 13, 1919, at Jallianwalla Bagh, in Amristar, Gen. Dyer ordered his troops to open fire on a crowd of 5,000 peaceful demonstrators in an enclosed garden. After 10 minutes of firing 1,650 rounds, over 1,000 men, women and children were killed and 2,000 wounded. Cruel necessity/ Senseless brutality? Overkill? Not according to the British. India the Jewel in its Crown must remain in its control, at all cost. The ends justify the means.. Gen Dyer had one regret….too many bullets wasted, because he could not use his  machine gun. This massacre marked the beginning of the end of British rule in India.

     Deir Yassin, April 9, 1948, a peaceful village, which had according to Jewish newspaper, driven out militant Arabs, and was outside the area recommended by the U.N. for the future state of Israel, but which was earmarked for an airfield, was attacked at noon by the combined forces of Irgun, led by Menachem Begin, the Stern gang and 25 Haganah commandos.. 254 villagers were systematically killed (many bodies were stuffed down the village well, after being paraded up and down the village), houses were dynamited and even the graveyard bulldozed to remove any trace of the village. It was wiped off the map..    

     Begin,(later Prime Minister of Israel), said this “ Arabs throughout the country, induced to believe wild tales of “ Irgun butchery”, were seized with limitless panic and started to flee for their lives. This mass flight soon developed into a maddened, uncontrollable stampede. The political and economic significance of this development can hardly be overestimated”. INDEED!!!!!.

     Cruel Necessity/ Senseless Brutality? Not according to Irgun, Stern,and Haganah….. . The ends justify the means.  Very efficient.

     Deir Yassin served its purpose. The brutality sent a clear message….leave or else. 750,000 fled in grief and panic. Villages and cities were depopulated and their place was taken by survivors of the Holocaust and others.

     60 years of death and destruction. The enmity runs deep. Both sides have become warped by Necessity and to them it is not Cruel or Brutal or Senseless

                               The dance of death.

 

 

 

     

          

       



 
                              

 

 

 

     

          

       

 
             

                                      The dance of death.

 

 

     

          

       

      Machiavelli, in The Prince, advised that " the first impression that one gets of a ruler and of his brains is from seeing the men he has about him ". George W. Bush surrounded himself with religious fundamentalists, Cold War idealogues and " good ole boys" from Texas and the result has been disastrous for America.

     The religious fundamentalists, led by Ashcroft were more focused on winning the culture wars on such issues as prayer in school, no sex education, abstenince, no gay rights, no abortions and marriage as a union between a man and a woman. They expended a lot of energy, time and heated rhetoric, and little else was done.

     The Cold Warriors led by Cheney, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, dragged The U.S.A. into two bloody and unending wars, that continues to bleed lives and billions of dollars. They were fixated on the idea of American military supremacy and were going to make an example of Saddam, as a lesson to the world. They acted unilaterally, broke intenational laws and in their treatments of prisoners at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo stand accused of war crimes. Over 4,000 Americans and thousands of Iraqis have been killed, many tens of thousands wounded and millions displaced. They lied about weapons of mass destruction and the threat posed by Saddam, to justify their actions. This was the same Saddam, with whom they had co-operated and armed in his fight with Iran. The real reason to go to war, other than establishing American military supremacy, was of course Oil. The cost of the war as well as mishandling of the economy eg. allowing little or no restraint on the banks and trust companies, eventually drove the economy into a tailspin and recession.

     "The good ole boys", were there to offer good companionship and Texan bravado..."dead or alive"...."you are either with me or against me" etc . Led by Karl Rove who knew how to win an election and little else, they were a cheering section drowning out those who would offer alternative advice...they even named an oil tanker after Candoleeza Rice to make her feel at home with them.

     These three groups, had W's, EARS and BRAINS and it was an unmitigated disaster. Then came Katrina ( good job Brownie ), and Bush's America was exposed as racist and uncaring. America's moral standing, already damaged by the treatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo, was now irretrievably harmed by the pictures coming out of New Orleans, re-enforcing the idea that if poor, bl;ack Americans can be treated so callously, then the accusations were true.

     Seven days to go, and another team is ready to take over. They seem to be more pragmatic and more experienced and more prepared , especially the Chicago Squad. They will be tested immediately. How they respond and how it is perceived will go a far way in determining the perception of Barak Obama. First impressions are very important. There is a lot of goodwill towards Obama, but it can disappear very quickly. It begins with his speech ( the day before Martin Luther King's birthday).        

 

             

                                Israel and the United Nations

 

     The late, great Abba Eban, who was Israel’s representative to the United Nations,when Israel was created by a vote of the United Nations, once noted that Israel was rejecting its birth certificate, when it refuses to abide by and respect U.N. resolutions. So far, it has refused to accept, the most recent resolution that was passed (Jan.8), with the support of 14 of the members of the Security Council (U.S.A abstained even though Rice worked on the wordings), calling for “an immediate, durable and fully respected ceasefire”, that would lead to the “full withdrawal “of Israeli forces from Gaza, the passage of humanitarian aid to Palestinians and an end to trafficking of arms and ammunitions into the territory.  Hamas has also refused to accept it.

     This rare show of solidarity (the U.S.A. has in the past vetoed such resolutions),was reached after a series of incidents. International aid groups have accused Israel of denying access to civilians, of killing and injuring relief workers, of civilians trapped in “nightmarish deprivation “. The Red Cross in a rare and critical ( it usually stay neutral), statement, said “ the Israeli military failed to meet its obligation under international humanitarian law to take care of and evacuate the wounded “……it found 4 emaciated children(fig.2a) next to the bodies of their dead mothers. they were too weak to stand up on their own .In all ,there were 12 corpses lying on mattresses. The Israeli military must have been aware of the situation but did not assist the wounded nor did they make it possible for us or the Palestinian Red Crescent to assist the wounded” said Pierre Wettach, the ICRC’s representative for Israel and the Palestinian territories. The ICRC also said  that on Wednesday Red Crescent medics were prevented for four days from reaching the wounded.

     The U.N. suspended relief aid after one of its drivers was killed and two wounded by Israeli fire. The vehicles were clearly marked.. U.N. Sect. Gen Moon, has made a second call for Israel to investigate the killing of 40 Gazans, who had sought shelter in a clearly marked U.N. run school.

     Cardinal Renato Martino, the head of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, in an interview in Il Sussidiaro said “Look at the conditions in Gaza: more and more, it resembles a big concentration camp”, and in La Republica, he called it “horrific”. Israel has condemned what it called “the WW11 imagery”.

     John Holmes, the U.N. emergency relief co-ordinator called the 3 hour pause in fighting, that Israel has allowed for relief, “insufficient”, and clearly it is. 758 Gazans have been killed (257 children and 56 women), 3,100 have injured (1,050 children and 465 women) and tens of thousands have been displaced. There is little or no clean water, little or  46no electricity, there is shortage of medical supplies and there is the threat of water borne diseases such as cholera  And yet the bloodletting continues on both sides                                                            
(fig 2a)
                         

     Francisco Goya’s painting, of two men fighting with clubs, up to their knees in the mire/quicksand, clubbing each other, slowly sinking, in a duel to the death( fig 1-a)….. They are Israelis and the Palestinians. There seems to be no end to this conflict (Abraham’s betrayal/rejection of Hagar and Ishmael of biblical lore, this blood feud, replaying itself over and over again, ad infinitum, becoming bloodier and bloodier.

     Freud opined that there is no conflict bloodier than that between close relatives, and it   is so true in this case. For the past 42 years, they have been going at it and any and all excuses are used to justify it. There seems to be an insatiable blood lust, and this most recent senseless brutality, just feeds the appetite for more. Massive destruction, hundreds of dead and thousands of injuries are par for the course.

     War is the failure of politics, and as Sherman noted, it is hell. Hell has come to the Gazans and there will be hell to pay. In the meantime the world rings its hands like a frail maiden and so called leaders (Bush, Brown, and Harper etc), stand by impotently like castrated eunuchs

                   

                                                   Ishwar Prashad (www.retiredprof .com)

The safety of Canadians trapped in the Gaza, was dismissed by the supercilious Harper, as the responsibility of Hamas. Like Pontius Pilate ( fig-1b), he washes his hand and the fate of these several dozens are “the responsibility of Hamas”, according to his mouthpiece, Peter Kent, parroting the Israeli line ( the obsequious McKay and the obtuse Cannon follow suit ).. The U.N. High Commission for Refugees, on the other hand expresses “ profound shock and sadness”, at the rising civilian deaths and the continued blockade, that is keeping them in Gaza, and the U.N. refugee chief, Antonio Guterres, said that “this is the only conflict in the world in which people are not allowed to flee”. 

     The Gazans have been living like caged animals, in this overcrowded hell, with little or no access to such basic necessities as food, water, medicine, electricity or personal security and they are treated as terrorists, subjected to the killing machines of Israel. Israel, excuses itself for the killing of civilians, on the grounds that Hamas is using them as shields and the world accepts this without protests, but this is a lie. Why?, because in this most densely populated place in the world where more than 1.5 million live, there is no haven, no refuge to go, (except the U.N. run schools and these have been bombed and many women and children are among the many who have been killed), everything is intertwined and so the bombs and shells, which cannot distinguish civilians from militants, kill all, and yet Israel continue to tell the big lie, blaming the victims. 

 Hamas, which with the help of the Israeli Government (in order to offset Fatah), began as an organization doing social work among the Palestinians, became so popular that it became a political organization, fighting for Palestinian liberation. It became more militant and attracted many Islamists and took up arms. It gained control of Gaza in a power struggle with Fatah, and after the withdrawal of Israeli forces, began to launch rockets into Israel. A cease-fire lasting 6 months (40+ Palestinians were killed by Israel during this time. The border was closed, and a blockade was set up. Food, medicine and other necessities ran out. The living conditions became even more miserable, and people started to smuggle on a greater scale. No Israeli died in this time from rockets that were fired, but, Israelis were made to feel unsafe), came to an end in mid-December, and Israel launched its assault a week or so later, using the rocket attacks as their excuse.

     640+ Palestinians have been killed; most of them women and children, and 3,000 have been wounded. 6 Israelis have died, 4 were killed by Israeli “friendly fire”. The Israelis have killed more of their own, than the rockets of Hamas. Maybe the Israelis should launch an attack on themselves, to avenge these unnecessary deaths

     Who is a terrorist? Who is a freedom fighter? Jesus was deemed a terrorist. George Washington et al were terrorists. The Mahatma was a terrorist and so was Mandela. Menachem Begin and Yitzak Shamir were terrorists. What did they have in common?

They wanted freedom.  

They wanted to end repression and indignity.  

They wanted to live on their feet not on their knees.  

They wanted a world where their children can be safe and where they can grow and achieve their full potential.  

They wanted human dignity. 

This what the long-suffering Palestinians want too.