Why Does Obama Smile When Speaking With Dictators?
I found this write-up very interesting and it made for a good read ~ enjoy!
The picture of the president of the United States smiling broadly as he met President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela startled me. Our president is a nice guy. Chavez is anything but.
The State Department maintains that Chávez has attacked democratic traditions and has put Venezuelan democracy on life support with unchecked concentration of power, political persecution, and intimidation. Foreign Affairs magazine says that Chávez is a power-hungry dictator with autocratic and megalomaniacal tendencies whose authoritarian vision and policies are a serious threat to his people. In testimony before the US Senate, the South American project director for the Center for Strategic International Studies said that Chavez’s government engages in “arresting opposition leaders, torturing some members of the opposition (according to human rights organizations) and encouraging, if not directing, its squads of Bolivarian Circles to beat up members of Congress and intimidate voters-all with impunity.”
In spite of a presidential term limit of six years, Chávez has suggested that he would like to remain in power for 25 years. Hmmm. An autocratic dictator who abuses human rights and undermines democracy being warmly embraced by the American president. There’s something wrong with that picture.
Then there was the incident of President Barack Obama seeming to bow before King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia at the G-20 summit in London. The president’s people denied it was a bow, but it certainly was a sign of great deference from the American president to the dictator of a country who just six weeks ago sentenced a 75-year-old woman to 40 lashes for having been secluded with her nephew after he delivered bread to her home. This is the same Abdullah whom, when asked why Saudi Arabia prohibits the public practice of religions other than Islam, said, “It is absurd to impose on an individual or a society rights that are alien to its beliefs or principles.”
Obama is also pursuing a renewed relationship with Cuba, a country which engages in systemic human rights abuses, including torture, arbitrary imprisonment, unfair trials and extrajudicial executions. Censorship is so extensive that Cubans face five-year prison sentences for connecting to the Internet illegally. And not only is emigration illegal, but even discussing it carries a six-month prison sentence.
Not only do we have this latest exchange with Hugo Chavez, and Obama taking a beating by Ortega and other Latin American leaders, but Fidel Castro is now calling Obama a liar in a round-about way and Iran’s Ahmadinejad is insulted and upset that Obama skipped the racism summit at the U.N.
Is it sinking in that dictators will yank your chain and use you as they have used everyone else, including their own, for their power, control and gain? These men have a history of abuse, hate, violence, you name it – it’s not going to change overnight for one man because his ego makes him believe it’s so.
Nothing anyone does will ever please these guys… They will always find an excuse to hate.
Russia Moves In On Georgia…Again!
Russia seems ready to make another move on Georgia and may also be instigating the unrest in Georgia to oppose and oust the current President and administration that is “Western-leaning” and more conservative.
Russia has stationed its forces just 25 miles (40 kilometers) from the Georgian capital, in violation of the EU-brokered cease-fire that ended last year’s brief war. And in recent weeks, it has sent even more troops and armored vehicles to within striking distance of the city ahead of street protests against Georgia’s president.
The ongoing protests, which began April 9, drew about 10,000 people Tuesday, and opposition leaders said they would continue daily until President Mikhail Saakashvili resigned.
The demonstrations have been fed by public anger over Georgia’s humiliating defeat in the August war, which left Russian troops on previously Georgian-controlled territory and drove tens of thousands of Georgians from their homes.
By reinforcing its military presence at a time of potential political instability, Russia appears determined to maintain pressure on Saakashvili, whom Moscow has openly said must be replaced before relations can be repaired.
Georgia’s Western-leaning government, meanwhile, has accused the Kremlin of hoping to capitalize on political unrest to restore its influence over the former Soviet republic, which for almost 200 years was ruled by Moscow.
The presence of the Russian troops poses a dilemma for Washington as it aims to improve relations with Moscow. Georgia worries that the Obama administration will be reluctant to pressure Russia to comply with the cease-fire while seeking its cooperation on priority issues such as the war in Afghanistan and North Korea’s nuclear program.
Tensions over Georgia also complicate efforts to restore ties between Russia and NATO, which broke off contacts following the war. Russia has strongly objected to NATO military exercises scheduled to begin May 6 in Georgia and has warned the United States against helping Georgia to rebuild its army.
The military checkpoint near Akhmaji enforces a new boundary between Georgia and South Ossetia, the Russian-supported region that was at the center of the fighting. After routing the Georgian army, Russian troops took over entire districts of South Ossetia that had long been under Georgian control.
The question is how will The United States react? We already know that the United Nations and NATO are weak and will most likely only send a “strongly worded letter,” to Russia.
I fear that the United States may also be taking lessons from the U.N. and NATO with its recent “Blame America Tour,” and universal appeasement.
But Wait a minute. Didn’t Gov. Tim Kaine say Obama had solved this problem last August? Here’s what he said back then: “It was a bad crisis for the world. It required tough words but also a smart approach to call on the international community to step in. And I’m very, very happy that the Senator’s request for a ceasefire has been complied with by President Medvedev.”
Sadly, nothing was done about this last summer either. Russia stopped because they wanted to stop not because they were pushed into a corner or were forced. I personally feel that Russia is pleased that Obama is president because they have a real window of opportunity to take back Georgia and begin their conquest of becoming the great USSR again. This has been long planned by Russia and it will be interesting to see how it all plays out.
If NATO would let Ukraine in, which it won’t, much of this probably could have been resolved.
The United States and Russia are also wrong in how they use Moldovaas a pawn in this political game.
Unfortunately, many also see Georgia as toast at this point. NATO won’t do anything, the U.S. won’t do anything, and Georgia has nowhere near the artillery or military to defeat Russia. Moscow is now issuing requests to NATO to stop Georgia’s military exercises. Many would wonder why? I think the answer is obvious and as stated above, without Ukraine in NATO, Georgia doesn’t have a leg to stand on.
Iran and Ahmadinejad Condemn Jews at U.N. Racism Summit…On Holocaust Remembrance Day
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has accused Israel of being the ‘most cruel and racist regime,’ sparking a walkout by angry Western diplomats at a U.N. racism conference.
Ahmadinejad – I feel as though this would be a prime example of projection…
In a rambling speech, Ahmadinejad today pointed the finger at the United States, Europe and Israel and said they were destabilising the entire world.
Right, because the islamofascist groups, which Ahmadinejad, himself, is a part of, have not damaged or instilled chaos and destruction in various countries around the world. Read more
Israel Just Wants Middle East to Recognize Their State
The Palestinian Authorityand Hamas rejected over the weekend Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as the state of the Jewish people as a precondition for resuming the stalled peace talks between the two sides.
Netanyahu made the demand during a meeting last Thursday with US special Middle East envoy George Mitchell.
Mitchell met on Friday in Ramallah with PA President Mahmoud Abbas and other top PA officials, who urged him to pressure the new Israeli government to accept the two-state solution and honor all agreements signed with Israel as a precondition for resuming the peace talks.
Chief PA negotiator Saeb Erekat said that the demand to recognize Israel as a Jewish state was “an admission by the Israeli prime minister that he cannot deliver on peace.” Erekat pointed out that the PLO had already recognized Israel’s right to exist when it signed the Oslo Accords, while Netanyahu was refusing to mention a Palestinian state.
Azzam al-Ahmed, a senior Fatah official closely associated with Abbas, said on Saturday that the Palestinians would not return to the negotiating table until Netanyahu publicly accepted the two-state solution.
“We reject Netanyahu’s demand to recognize Israel as a Jewish state,” he said. “This demand illustrates the racist nature of Israel and the extremist policies of its government. It also shows that Israel is not serious about making peace with its neighbors.”
So let me get this straight, Palestine wants to be recognized as a state which would mean a two-state resolution, however, it refused to recognize the second part of that resolution which would be Israel? Read more
Obama’s Stance Worries Israelis, They Are Ready to Attack Iran’s Nuclear Facilities
The Israeli military is preparing itself to launch a massive aerial assault on Iran’s nuclear facilities within days of being given the go-ahead by its new government.
Among the steps taken to ready Israeli forces for what would be a risky raid requiring pinpoint aerial strikes are the acquisition of three Airborne Warning and Control (AWAC) aircraft and regional missions to simulate the attack.
“Israel wants to know that if its forces were given the green light they could strike at Iran in a matter of days, even hours. They are making preparations on every level for this eventuality. The message to Iran is that the threat is not just words,”
Israel would have to attack in an estimated twelve different locations, such as Natanz, Esfahan and Arak, in order to dismantle and destroy the facilities that house the uranium and plutonium deposits, centrifuges, gas and other nuclear materials.
The targets in Iran are over 870 miles away from Israel and the Israeli military and airforce (IDF and IAF) will most likely employ their F-15′s and F-16′s to target the specific sites, as well as drone attacks and long-range missiles.
I am quite familiar with the F-16 aircraft and know that it is the “go-to” fighter and the “cash cow” of military air force fleets. F-15 are more expensive but do have more capabilities and will eventually overtake the F-16 – this also goes for the F-18′s, which are not readily available to other countries worldwide. The F-16 radars are something I can vouche for 
Israel said that it would wait for an “O.K.” to attack Iran from the United States. But an okay from the latest administration is unlikely. However, Obama has planned a meeting with Netanyahu and Israel in June after Iran’s next election.
It was unlikely that Israel would carry out the attack without receiving at least tacit approval from America, which has struck a more reconciliatory tone in dealing with Iran under its new administration.
An Israeli attack on Iran would entail flying over Jordanian and Iraqi airspace, where US forces have a strong presence.
Ephraim Kam, the deputy director of the Institute for National Security Studies, said it was unlikely that the Americans would approve an attack.
Obama’s stance on Middle East diplomacy is worrisome to Israelis.
Watching the drama unfold inside Israel, the increasingly tense dialogue between US President Barack Obama and new Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is taking on all the trappings of a duel.
Almost every day brings news of another sore point between the two countries, a source of yet further inflammation of their once warm relations.
One could be forgiven for thinking that the more immediate threat to Israel’s national security lay across the Atlantic rather than from closer to home.
It is bad enough that President Obama uses almost every opportunity he can to set the parameters of a final peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. Now US officials are openly using Israeli anxiety over Iran’s fledging nuclear program as a bargaining chip to force Israel’s hand on giving up control of the West Bank Palestinian territory.
No less a figure than White House chief-of-staff Rahm Emanuel — whose father fought with the militant Zionist group the Irgun, and whose appointment had provided such reassurance to Israeli officials — was quoted this week laying down the law to Israel.
If Israel wants US help to defuse the Iranian threat, Mr Emanuel was reported to have told Jewish leaders in Washington, then get ready to start evacuating settlements in the West Bank.
Talkback radio blazed with fury across the country the same day, as Israelis protested that no US official had the right to tell them where to live.
Whatever the case may be or however, this situation plays itself out Netanyahu and his administration have expressed the following:
“Many of the leaks or statements made by Israeli leaders and military commanders are meant for deterrence. The message is that if [the international community] is unable to solve the problem they need to take into account that we will solve it our way,” Mr Kam said.
“Israel has made it clear that it will not tolerate the threat of a nuclear Iran. According to Israeli Intelligence they will have the bomb within two years … Once they have a bomb it will be too late, and Israel will have no choice to strike — with or without America,” an official from the Israeli Defence Ministry said.
