Manufacturing A Humanitarian Disaster
On this past Christmas day, while people around the world were engaged in whatever celebrations they associate with the holiday season, the nation of Israel was plotting a grand fireworks display; commonly known as war. Originally reported as a response to Hamas' resumption of rocket fire on southern Israel following expiration of a truce. We now know that the truce did not expire and which party to the truce actually broke it.
The cease fire had lasted only four months; ending on the day Obama won the election. Once again, Israel claims to have been defending itself. Yet, this defense has been typical of the cancerous behavior they have exhibited for over 60 years. The current episode appears to be part of a plan dating back to 2001. This would include the 2005 withdrawal of Israeli settlers, which has prompted claims that the action was only to set the stage for turning Gaza into a giant open air prison. Obviously, what we're being told and what is actually occurring don't exactly coincide. How else can we explain what motivates "terrorists" to throw rocks at people with guns?
Israel has been described as a racist military state that sustains itself only through its arms trade and foreign aid. They do, of course, have exports other than weapons. The CIA Factbook lists: high-technology projects (including aviation, communications, computer-aided design and manufactures, medical electronics, fiber optics), wood and paper products, potash and phosphates, food, beverages, and tobacco, caustic soda, cement, construction, metals products, chemical products, plastics, diamond cutting, textiles, footwear. However, the term high-technology projects kind of glosses over what turns out to include the IMI Tavor TAR-21, the Uzi (the weapon of choice when the term drive-by entered the American vernacular), and this jewel:
Although they are moving down the list, Israel has consistently ranked among the world's top exporters of deadly weapons for some time.
I am concerned about what effect what's happening now will have on the future of peace in that part of the world. The pro-Israeli commentators are pointing fingers at Iran as sponsors of Palestinian aggression. Those who don't know better could assume that Iran was smuggling weapons directly into Gaza. Israel controls all access to Gaza by land, sea and air. The very existence of tunnels indicates that the people of Gaza are in need of something that is not getting in by other means. News reports mention tunnels used for smuggling. They also mention that food, medicine, and fuel are among the items being smuggled. Any map will clearly show that the country at the other end of the tunnel is not Iran. And, it's unclear just how 'Iran must not be allowed to get nuclear weapons' even fits into the picture. So, the question is: What is the endgame; where does this all lead? I honestly don't know and I probably don't want to find out. Someone has recently launched rockets into Israel from Lebanon. I wouldn't put it past the IDF to be responsible. Nor would I put it past Israel to be using this act of aggression to field test the weapons systems they manufacture for export. I can only hope that someone, with the power to influence the outcome, can find a way to calm the situation before it escalates into something really nasty. Almost a decade before former president Dwight D. Eisenhower warned us about the military industrial complex, he said, "Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. The world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children… This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron." Now would be a good time to consider converting some of that iron to plowshares.
The cease fire had lasted only four months; ending on the day Obama won the election. Once again, Israel claims to have been defending itself. Yet, this defense has been typical of the cancerous behavior they have exhibited for over 60 years. The current episode appears to be part of a plan dating back to 2001. This would include the 2005 withdrawal of Israeli settlers, which has prompted claims that the action was only to set the stage for turning Gaza into a giant open air prison. Obviously, what we're being told and what is actually occurring don't exactly coincide. How else can we explain what motivates "terrorists" to throw rocks at people with guns?
Israel has been described as a racist military state that sustains itself only through its arms trade and foreign aid. They do, of course, have exports other than weapons. The CIA Factbook lists: high-technology projects (including aviation, communications, computer-aided design and manufactures, medical electronics, fiber optics), wood and paper products, potash and phosphates, food, beverages, and tobacco, caustic soda, cement, construction, metals products, chemical products, plastics, diamond cutting, textiles, footwear. However, the term high-technology projects kind of glosses over what turns out to include the IMI Tavor TAR-21, the Uzi (the weapon of choice when the term drive-by entered the American vernacular), and this jewel:
Although they are moving down the list, Israel has consistently ranked among the world's top exporters of deadly weapons for some time.
I am concerned about what effect what's happening now will have on the future of peace in that part of the world. The pro-Israeli commentators are pointing fingers at Iran as sponsors of Palestinian aggression. Those who don't know better could assume that Iran was smuggling weapons directly into Gaza. Israel controls all access to Gaza by land, sea and air. The very existence of tunnels indicates that the people of Gaza are in need of something that is not getting in by other means. News reports mention tunnels used for smuggling. They also mention that food, medicine, and fuel are among the items being smuggled. Any map will clearly show that the country at the other end of the tunnel is not Iran. And, it's unclear just how 'Iran must not be allowed to get nuclear weapons' even fits into the picture. So, the question is: What is the endgame; where does this all lead? I honestly don't know and I probably don't want to find out. Someone has recently launched rockets into Israel from Lebanon. I wouldn't put it past the IDF to be responsible. Nor would I put it past Israel to be using this act of aggression to field test the weapons systems they manufacture for export. I can only hope that someone, with the power to influence the outcome, can find a way to calm the situation before it escalates into something really nasty. Almost a decade before former president Dwight D. Eisenhower warned us about the military industrial complex, he said, "Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. The world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children… This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron." Now would be a good time to consider converting some of that iron to plowshares.
posted by Ebony Ghost at 5:27 AM
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