Friday, December 16, 2005

Hamas Wins Sweeping Victory In West Bank


Fatah is swamped in municipal elections in an ominous sign for prospects for a two state solution.
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6 comments:

Scott W. said...

Hi Anton,

Let me just start by wishing you a happy Festivus!

I have a question unrelated to the specifics of this post but still within that whole "Israel vs. the rest of the Middle East" area...

I read a Charles Krauthammer column today which I found chilling. I don't much about CK except that I believe he's generally conservative and is at times mocked in the liberal blogosphere.

His column, however, says the following about the president of Iran:

"...a Holocaust-denying, virulently anti-Semitic, aspiring genocidist, on the verge of acquiring weapons of the apocalypse, believes that the end is not only near but nearer than the next American presidential election."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/15/AR2005121501428.html?nav=hcmodule

Now, CK 's column could be full of lies. I don't know. But if it is true, or even partly true, the prospect of Iran getting nuclear weapons is very frightening.

You once said, "Why shouldn't Iran have nukes?"
My question is: does the story that CK tells, if it is largely true, answer your question?

IFs

11:34 AM
Fons said...

CK is the neo-Cons neo-Con. A self righteous war monger that has always argued for the most extreme jackboot of every action of the US and Israel in the last 40 years. He likes the current world system where the US and its allies run the world and inequality reigns.

His point is that the Iran should not have the bomb. And he wants the US or Israel to bomb Iran so that they won't get it. I think he should get out of his wheel chair and volunteer and go fight in the Zagros with the Iranian People's Fedaii Guerillas if he is so concerned.

First of all Iran does not have the bomb. They may want to have it because their avowed enemy, the US and Israel, both do and have shown a propensity to stop others from having them; Israel bombed an Iraqi nuclear reactor which had the potential to make enriched uraniaum-a neccesary ingredient for the bomb, in 1981. They want it as a deterant because the US has targeted them as 1 leg of the "Axis of Evil" which now only has two legs.

Secondly, as a signer of the nuclear nonproliferation treaty, Iran has opened their country to UN inspectors to try to prove that their intentions in nukes are non military. They have violated this treaty at times but as of now there are inspectors on the ground who have not proven that a nuclear bomb program exists. They are not now in violation of the treaty.

Do I like the regime in Iran? No, it is an Islamic theocracy that has a holocaust denier as President. But guess what? Iran has not invaded all of its neighbors like the US and Israel. They actually have been the victim of US meddling, the coup of 1953 and the Iran/Iraq war to mention the majors. Hundreds of thousands have died as a result of US policies in Iran and the people of Iran fear the US because we now have targeted them and have an embargo on them. The regime in Iran actually has some democratic legitimacy unlike the corrupt dictatorship, also an Islamic fundamentalist theocracy by the way, Saudi Arabia-the most important Arab ally in the region.

My point is that Iran, regardless of the nature of the regime, has a legitimate right to defend itself in a hostile environment and US policies in Iran are one of the primary resaons it is in power. The history of US and Israeli actions in the region have shown them that strength is the only deterant and lacking advanved technology the dumb technology of nuclear weapons is their next best option.

There is a bit of racism in the discussion around nuclear proliferation. When people start talking about the "Islamic bomb" I get very nervous. The Christians of the US have used nuclear bombs, claim the right to use them first, claim the right to have nuclear superiority and have implemented a regime that keeps things that way. This helps keep 2 billion in the world making less than 2 bucks a day, allows them (the Christian/capitalists) to intervene anywhere at will and maintains a monopoly on resources unknown in human history.

I think a little balance of power is better then the current uni-polar world with kleptocrats like Dick Cheney and ENRON-ilk running the show.

12:17 PM
Fons said...

Did I mention bombing a nuclear power plant is probably the greatest act of envoronmental terrorism in human history?

12:18 PM
Fons said...

SW,

Did you look at my post on the holocaust denier below?

12:48 PM
Scott W. said...

Thanks for the well-argued response. As I said, I didn't know much about CK.
I still think there are reasons, beyond racism, for wanted to stop the spread of nuclear weapons. I'd very much like to see the U.S. get serious about disarming its arsenal, in coordination with other nuclear powers.

I did read the BBC article (today).

Also, are you saying that billions are in poverty today because the US threatens them with nuclear weapons to maintain the status quo?

IFs

1:46 PM
Fons said...

Nuclear weapons and the military are just one way that the US keeps the rabble in line. But these are the tools of last resort. The IMF, World Bank, WTO, NAFTA, GATT, elections, threats, embargos, boycotts, diplomatic pressure and other nefarious means do the job also and are prefered. If the US got rid of all of its nukes it would still have an up on lots of countries but nukes work as a deterent.
The current division of labor in the world with the lighter people of the industrialized North controlling the darker non-industrialized majorities resources and wealth is maintained by "markets" that keep prices high for things we sell and prices low for things they sell. In other words we want to sell things with value added for a high price and buy the stuff that makes that stuff cheap.
Now, if China or Nigera happened to have the natural resources, immigration patterns and had industrialized in the late 19th century like the US I am sure they would do the very same thing. But it's the US that plays the role of hegemon now and it is our job to point out the injustice of this system and try to change it.

3:48 PM

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