polcom06

Sunday May 26th. 2007. at 00.08.

Please note these are my own opinions unless stated.

Please feel free to send any comments you have, or any of your own suggestions. I can't be by my PC all day, but apologies for recent lack of updates.

Prompted by other press comments and events.

This site has been compiled under Win98 with a simple sitebuilder. Any observations from the users of other OS are welcome. That means to ANY of the pages and content.

Political Comment will appear here occasionally.

Are the UK non voters regretting not voting?

This page includes comments on Lebanon from 2006 and the ongoing situations in 2007. There are regional maps and a link to Aljazeera where you may post comments on that site.

Previous comments from here are not archived.

This page PKM August 17th. 2001 Edits April 2007

Any comments are welcome. Please use the e.mail link on the Feedback page. This may not work with Hotmail or similar accounts, but mouseover the link will show you my e.mail address. If you want anything posting here, send it over or give me the link.

The destructiveness of Hezbollah / Hamas.

This group claim to be fighting to remove Israel from Lebanon. Well what was the situation before THEY and Hamas attacked and kidnapped?

Israel withdrew from Lebanon 6 years ago, to a recognised border,with very little action since then. What has Hezbollah been doing? They were supposed to disarm. The Lebanese army was supposed to be controlling Lebanon. Lebanon was steadily recovering.

Hezbollah has been firing rockets at Israel. They have built up tunnels and bunkers in and around the homes of the Lebanese and even observation posts, so that the population was effectively a "human sheild", hence the leaflet drops prior to the Israeli action. Arguably these did NOT give enough time for evacuation.

They have also been supplied with a huge arsenal of rockets, of greater sophistication and range than before, also stored in centres of population etc. These appear to have been sourced from Syria and Iran. It would appear, from the way Hezbollah is able to continue the rocket launches that Iran has supplied a vast arsenal. The whole scenario has been deliberately set up to provoke Israel and derail the peace efforts. That was the aim of Hezbollah, posted in articles some years ago. If Lebanon had intervened, this could have been prevented.

They are offering 15000 soldiers into the sub Litani region, presently controlled by Hezbollah. All well and good if they do - Israel has said the proposal is of interest. BUT this MUST also mean that the Hezbollah infrastructure is dismantled. There is NO logic behind a state within a state, despite what the Iranian President might want.

There has to be, for the sake of the whole region, a coming together of Shia and Sunni Islam. This is a major factor in Iraq, less so In Lebanon. Is it more important to be Shia / Sunni, rather than a Muslim? The Christian world has profited by ecumenism, surely the Islamic world could do the same? It has to be better than this constant sectarian destruction. Bombs and rockets are NOT the answer!

Posted on Al Jazeerah May 26th 2007

'Meanwhile, Moqtada al-Sadr, the Shia cleric leader of one of Iraq's most powerful armed movements,'

This sums up the problem! He is complaining about lack of progress in infrastructure etc. However it is HIS 'armed movement' and others like it (as well as internal factions within it!) which bears the responsibility for most of the killing since mid 2003 AND both the lack of progress on and even further destruction of infrastructure. The US and UK troops are there to support the elected government in which Moqtada al-Sadr has representatives. He should NOT still have a private army! If he is a political and religious leader he does not need one!

If there had been no 'armed movements' the so-called 'occupiers' would have been able to leave by now. It is those who are using violence to support their 'causes' who are stopping both progress and withdrawal. IF he joins with the government and his Mahdi army can be loyal to that ELECTED government it will make a world of difference! He says he wants to co-operate with Sunni and Christian elements, Well if he works with the government, he will do just that.

Start by rebuilding the Golden Shrine!

Link to Aljazeera

The map above represents 150BC. Note the named regions of Judea and Phoenicia, with Syria to the North.. Jerusalem was therefore "Jewish" at the time.

This map, dated 1100AD represents the "Christian" states in the region of "Syria". The name Lebanon is present as well, with the two yellow areas as the "Kingdom of Jerusalem". There is a broad similarity with Israel today, though the borders on the map are clearly the result of the "Crusades". The map as a whole is on the Western side of the areas where Islam was also practiced as a religion by this time. Islam had, in fact spread along the shores of the Mediterranean, eventually to reach present day Spain. Evidence also suggests that Phoenician traders had actually gone into the Atlantic earlier, but as traders, not conquerors.

United Nations Security Council Resolution 242

United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 (S/RES/242) was adopted unanimously by the UN Security Council on November 22, 1967 in the aftermath of the Six Day War. It was adopted under Chapter VI of the United Nations Charter.[1] The resolution was drafted by British ambassador Lord Caradon and was one of five drafts under consideration.[2]

It calls for "the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East" to be achieved by "the application of both the following principles:" "Withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict" (see semantic dispute) and: "Termination of all claims or states of belligerency" and respect for the right of every state in the area to live in peace within secure and recognised boundaries. Egypt, Jordan, Israel and Lebanon entered into consultations with the UN Special respresentative over the implementation of 242. However, Syria the other state concerned did not at that time or later accept the resolution.[3][4]

It is one of the most commonly referenced UN resolutions in Middle Eastern politics. It has been argued that UNSC 242 has binding force under Article 25 of the UN Charter owing to its incorporation into UN Security Council Resolution 338 and that it is also binding on Israel and the PLO by agreement owing to its incorporation into the Oslo Accords.[5]

The Middle East. (2001)

Yet more "eye for an eye" reaction / counter reaction. This has got to be reconsidered. Both sides have "rights" to various "Holy" places too, I don't propose to prioritise there as to who had "first claim", but this constant bickering defiles those places to both communities. Do both Koran and Bible REALLY say any other religion is to be condemned? After all, BOTH have only ONE God! Its just the name which is different!

The comment above was posted on 17th. August 2001

Feb 11th. The cycle is STILL continuing! The two "sides" are as bad as each other! The Israeli "Revenge Now" approach does NOT work! They have destroyed infrastructure improvements funded by the EU and seem determined to destabalise Arafat. Arafat is stuck between a rock and a hard place because of this plain unreasonableness. Instead of assisting him, all the present Israeli administration does is denigrate his attempts. If a gunman is shot as he / she attacks Israelis, reaction must END there! A suicide bomber is already dead, so why attack others who were NOT involved! All a "revenge" attack does is promote more gunmen or bombers! In Humanities name STOP IT Sharon!!!!

2006 What is the Z man of Al Qaeda talking about? Revenge of course - more of the same!

There is a new Saudi peace proposal - Comment soon on that.

From Aljazeera. The most recent post on the topic.

Added: Tuesday, 03 April 2007, 06:41 PM Mecca time, 03:41 PM GMT

The truth is, ever since its illegitimate emergence on the political map in 1947 Israel has been viewed by Muslims as pariah state of oppression. The only means feasible to prolong Tel-Aviv's existence is oppression and war-mongery. Israel is not recognised by Muslim states for the exception of tyrannical Egypt and pseudo-secular Turkey. After 60 years of oppression Israel is desperately looking for some form of recognition. Opening any form of dialog with the Saudi officials -even if it is secret talks- will give Israel what it cannot achieve by peaceful means: recognition of its pseudo-existence as a political 'Island'. This should not be allowed to happen so long as Tel-Aviv and Washington do not agree to the basic principles of International Law. While Muslims naively agree to every 'peace deal', 'road maps' and other nonsensical ideas, the world Jewry is openly and publically states that 'Arab demands are Permanently unacceptable to the Jewish state'.

Mohammad Fedah, Surrey, United Kingdom

Mugabe and other Despots

There has been action against Milosevic and against Saddam (alas left unfinished) so why not a move against Mr Mugabe? He is going to totally ruin the Zimbabwe economy! How many of the farms taken over by "war veterans" are actually producing anything at all now? He should be banned from any Commonwealth activity at once, and there is NO WAY a UK cricket team should go over there! ALL Despots should get the same approach, regardless of any so called "politically correct" arguments! Mugabe has set black against black, thus ruining what was a leading "African" economy along the way.

Zimbabwe is STILL suffering!

Added: Wednesday, 02 May 2007, 05:39 PM Mecca time, 02:39 PM GMT

Sanna you are way off the mark. Get that chip of your shoulder. Had it not been for the colonials and 'White' Africans you would not have a developed country.I used to produce thousands of tonnes of maize. Now that same farm is a wasteland. It's become a subsistance farm. With your attitude and hatred, Africa and in particular South Africa and your neighbour across the Zambezi, will not prosper. Look what happened to your cricket team, selected on racial grounds. Wake up to yourself.

Expat, Melbourne, Australia

Added: Wednesday, 02 May 2007, 05:37 PM Mecca time, 02:37 PM GMT

nedrauk, Manchester, United Kingdom: Was there any country in Africa better off during the time Europe was enslaving, raping, and torturing at will? And after Africa gained its freedom from Europeans, did Europeans leave us alone? Or after freedom came, they replaced it with neo-colonialism? Zimbabwe freed itself from Europeans because there was oppression. I do not know if you know what the word oppression mean? It means our people had no right, they could get killed, raped, tortured without the culprits being punished, they were used as slave in their own land occupied by Europeans, so what do you mean when you say Zimbabwe was better off during Europeans crimes in there? When you say Zimbabwe was feeding itself, do you mean whites were feeding themselves? Because as far as I know during the time of Europe, our people were starved to death, treated worse than garbage, only after Mugabe freed Zimbabwe our people lives improved; then you brought sanctions, economic sabotage to starve again.

Sanna, JHB, South Africa

Added: Wednesday, 02 May 2007, 10:49 AM Mecca time, 07:49 AM GMT

Sanna, JHB, South Africa. Can you tell me which countries in Africa are better now than when the Europeans handed over the government? The vast majority were in better than reasonable state, rather than 'destroyed' as you put it! Zimbabwe was not only feeding itself but also other countries. It isn't now! How many of the 'rightful owners' were actually housed and working on the farms Mugabe has destroyed? He hasn't handed them over in a working state! As to those living in shacks etc. Some were displaced from the farms with nothing! Did Mugabe provide housing? NO! Why not? They did not vote for him! If the redistribution has been properly organised and not left to bands of destructive thugs things might have been different!

nedrauk, Manchester, United Kingdom

Added: Tuesday, 01 May 2007, 05:15 PM Mecca time, 02:15 PM GMT

It is hard to talk about progress in Zimbabwe or Africa when Europe that totally destroyed Africa cannot let a single African country evolve without them interfering. President Mugabe has done justice by returning the stolen land back to it rightful owners; as always, Europeans injustices and intolerance of equality, found it awful for the stolen land to be returned to its rightful owners, using all their might against Africas only legend? And as always you found victims of their centuries of propaganda buying into their divide to rule game, Morgan is just one example, he is a puppet, he is fighting his own people for white supremacist interest; any African siding with Europeans on the Zimbabwe issue is simply a lost person that need help, and hopefully this forum with all the truth told in a raw format will help that person.

Sanna, JHB, South Africa

Link to Aljazeera

The map above represents 150BC. Note the named regions of Judea and Phoenicia, with Syria to the North.. Jerusalem was therefore "Jewish" at the time.
	This map, dated 1100AD represents the "Christian" states in the region of "Syria". The name Lebanon is present as well, with the two yellow areas as the "Kingdom of Jerusalem". There is a broad similarity with Israel today, though the borders on the map are clearly the result of the "Crusades". The map as a whole is on the Western side of the areas where Islam was also practiced as a religion by this time. Islam had, in fact spread along the shores of the Mediterranean, eventually to reach present day Spain. Evidence also suggests that Phoenician traders had actually gone into the Atlantic earlier, but as traders, not conquerors.