Palestinian Statehood, a Travesty

Israel does not have the ability to destroy all of the cities of the Arab, Persian, Pakistani, (and increasingly Turkish) world arrayed against them. Without the implied U.S. guarantee, Israel's situation would quickly deteriorate. Several observable trends are operating, both in the world and in the U.S. whose effects are to visibly reduce the reliability and force behind that guarantee - your unsupported denials notwithstanding.

We like supporting the good guys.

Friendly Dictators

by Dennis Bernstein and Laura Sydell


Many of the world's most repressive dictators have been friends of America. Tyrants, torturers, killers, and sundry dictators and corrupt puppet-presidents have been aided, supported, and rewarded handsomely for their loyalty to US interests. Traditional dictators seize control through force, while constitutional dictators hold office through voting fraud or severely restricted elections, and are frequently puppets and apologists for the military juntas which control the ballot boxes. In any case, none have been democratically elected by the majority of their people in fair and open elections.

They are democratic America's undemocratic allies. They may rise to power through bloody ClA-backed coups and rule by terror and torture. Their troops may receive training or advice from the CIA and other US agencies. US military aid and weapons sales often strengthen their armies and guarantee their hold on power. Unwavering "anti-communism" and a willingness to provide unhampered access for American business interests to exploit their countries' natural resources and cheap labor are the excuses for their repression, and the primary reason the US government supports them. They may be linked internationalIy to extreme right-wing groups such as the World Anti-Communist League, and some have had strong Nazi affiliations and have offered sanctuary to WWll Nazi war criminals.

They usually grow rich, while their countries' economies deteriorate and the majority of their people live in poverty. US tax dollars and US-backed loans have made billionaires of some, while others are international drug dealers who also collect CIA paychecks. Rarely are they called to account for their crimes. And rarely still, is the US government held responsible for supporting and protecting some of the worst human rights violators in the world.

Friendly dictators


Abacha, General Sani ----------------------------Nigeria
Amin, Idi ------------------------------------------Uganda
Banzer, Colonel Hugo ---------------------------Bolivia
Batista, Fulgencio --------------------------------Cuba
Bolkiah, Sir Hassanal ----------------------------Brunei
Botha, P.W. ---------------------------------------South Africa
Branco, General Humberto ---------------------Brazil
Cedras, Raoul -------------------------------------Haiti
Cerezo, Vinicio -----------------------------------Guatemala
Chiang Kai-Shek ---------------------------------Taiwan
Cordova, Roberto Suazo ------------------------Honduras
Christiani, Alfredo -------------------------------El Salvador
Diem, Ngo Dihn ---------------------------------Vietnam
Doe, General Samuel ----------------------------Liberia
Duvalier, Francois --------------------------------Haiti
Duvalier, Jean Claude-----------------------------Haiti
Fahd bin'Abdul-'Aziz, King ---------------------Saudi Arabia
Franco, General Francisco -----------------------Spain
Hitler, Adolf ---------------------------------------Germany
Hassan II-------------------------------------------Morocco
Marcos, Ferdinand -------------------------------Philippines
Martinez, General Maximiliano Hernandez ---El Salvador
Mobutu Sese Seko -------------------------------Zaire
Noriega, General Manuel ------------------------Panama
Ozal, Turgut --------------------------------------Turkey
Pahlevi, Shah Mohammed Reza ---------------Iran
Papadopoulos, George --------------------------Greece
Park Chung Hee ---------------------------------South Korea
Pinochet, General Augusto ---------------------Chile
Pol Pot---------------------------------------------Cambodia
Rabuka, General Sitiveni ------------------------Fiji
Montt, General Efrain Rios ---------------------Guatemala
Salassie, Halie ------------------------------------Ethiopia
Salazar, Antonio de Oliveira --------------------Portugal
Somoza, Anastasio Jr. --------------------------Nicaragua
Somoza, Anastasio, Sr. -------------------------Nicaragua
Smith, Ian ----------------------------------------Rhodesia
Stroessner, Alfredo -----------------------------Paraguay
Suharto, General ---------------------------------Indonesia
Trujillo, Rafael Leonidas -----------------------Dominican Republic
Videla, General Jorge Rafael ------------------Argentina
Zia Ul-Haq, Mohammed ----------------------Pakistan

...

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/US_ThirdWorld/dictators.html

We like supporting the good guys.

5 dictators the U.S. still supports America was a key backer of the Mubarak regime — at least, until the uprising in Cairo intensified this week. Which other autocrats in the region still enjoy U.S. support?


1. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia
The U.S. has had a good relationship with Saudi Arabia since 1974, when Richard Nixon became the first American president to visit the country. The ties strengthened during George W. Bush's tenure — Saudi Arabia was certified as an anti-terrorism ally in 2007 — and King Abdullah maintains a good relationship with President Obama. And yet Saudi Arabia is indisputably an authoritarian regime. There is no elected parliament, public protests are banned, and the media is controlled by the state. The United States' support of Abdullah may one day backfire, says Alex Welch at The Daily Campus. "On the day the Saudi monarchy collapses, the United States may find itself powerless to defeat any anti-American sentiment that may foster as a result."

2. President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen
Yemen's leader for 32 years has been "one of America's foremost allies in the 'war on terror,'" says Kim Sengupta in The Independent, and has worked with the U.S. to target the country's large network of al Qaida operatives. Leaked WikiLeaks cables described how Saleh had covered up U.S. military strikes in the country and offered American forces an "open door" to execute more attacks. However, Saleh's grip on power will soon come to an end — an Egypt-style revolt has forced him to announce he will step down in 2013.

3. Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al-Said of Oman
The sultan of Oman has ruled over the country in a benevolent dictatorship since 1970, and has established an absolute monarchy under which all substantial decisions are made by him. Even so, Oman is one of America's oldest Arab allies, and one of the few Arab countries with which a free trade agreement has been signed. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently praised the "remarkable gains" made in Oman under the sultan's leadership.

4. Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea
The ruler of Equatorial Guinea was described as a "good friend" of the U.S. by Condoleezza Rice back in 2006, reports Justin Elliot at Salon, and continues to enjoy the support of the Obama administration. And yet, Human Rights Watch says Obiang's country is "mired in corruption, poverty, and repression," and his government "regularly engages in torture and arbitrary detention." The president's son reportedly spent more on luxury goods between 2004 and 2007 "than the country's annual education budget."

5. Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov of Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan borders Afghanistan, and the U.S. has pursued a strategic alliance with President Berdymukhamedov to allow arms and supplies to travel through his country. Turkmenistan received $2 million in military aid last year, and its leader has met with Secretary of State Clinton and General David Petraeus. But "Turkmenistan is run by one of the most repressive regimes in existence," says Justin Elliott at Salon. Restrictions on freedom, religion, the press, and movement are widespread, as are torture and detention of political prisoners.

http://theweek.com/article/index/211722/5-dictators-the-us-still-supports

Israel has some 200 atomic warheads. Assuming a dozen or so are artillery shells, that leaves plenty for bombing the rest of the world.

But the US is not about to stop supporting Israel. We like supporting the good guys.

Keep on whistling that tune. It may comfort you while our interests and concerns turn to other areas. It may also distract you from the continuing evidence of systematic Israeli opporssion and confinement of the Palestinian population into ever smaller ghettos continues - something that is increasingly turning Americans (and Europeans) away from Israel. There's lots of poll data confirming the changing attitudes of Americans towards Israel.

Soon enough Iran will have such weapons (don't count on the U.S. to start a war there),

and we both know that Israel doesn't have the physical ability to take out Iran's hardened underground facilities. The single strike weapons required don't exist, and the distances & needed payloads are too great for an air attack in sufficient numbers

It may also distract you from the continuing evidence of systematic Israeli opporssion and confinement of the Palestinian population into ever smaller ghettos continues - something that is increasingly turning Americans (and Europeans) away from Israel.

You not only admit to yours and the Israeli's lies, you parade them, Oralboy.

No such lies,

oralloy wrote:

No such lies,

You breathe lies, Oralboy.

They are democratic America's undemocratic allies. They may rise to power through bloody ClA-backed coups and rule by terror and torture. Their troops may receive training or advice from the CIA and other US agencies. US military aid and weapons sales often strengthen their armies and guarantee their hold on power. Unwavering "anti-communism" and a willingness to provide unhampered access for American business interests to exploit their countries' natural resources and cheap labor are the excuses for their repression, and the primary reason the US government supports them. They may be linked internationalIy to extreme right-wing groups such as the World Anti-Communist League, and some have had strong Nazi affiliations and have offered sanctuary to WWll Nazi war criminals.

They usually grow rich, while their countries' economies deteriorate and the majority of their people live in poverty. US tax dollars and US-backed loans have made billionaires of some, while others are international drug dealers who also collect CIA paychecks. Rarely are they called to account for their crimes. And rarely still, is the US government held responsible for supporting and protecting some of the worst human rights violators in the world.

Israel does not have the ability to destroy all of the cities of the Arab, Persian, Pakistani, (and increasingly Turkish) world arrayed against them.

You are wrong and badly informed on several aspects of your military claims. The conventional warhead bunker buster bombs you were referring to are 15,000 lbs , not 5,000 lbs, and even they are unable to dig a hole 150' deep and penetrate ten feet of reinforced concrete.

half the people being genetically compromised and/or retarded.

georgeob1 wrote:

You are wrong and badly informed on several aspects of your military claims. The conventional warhead bunker buster bombs you were referring to are 15,000 lbs , not 5,000 lbs, and even they are unable to dig a hole 150' deep and penetrate ten feet of reinforced concrete.

No, they are 5,000 pounds.

At the worst, Israel will have to drop one bomb down the hole made by another. But even that shouldn't be necessary (though Israel may try it just to be safe).

You are wildly outside the realm of possibility, and badly misinformed.

oralloy wrote:

georgeob1 wrote:

You are wrong and badly informed on several aspects of your military claims. The conventional warhead bunker buster bombs you were referring to are 15,000 lbs , not 5,000 lbs, and even they are unable to dig a hole 150' deep and penetrate ten feet of reinforced concrete.

No, they are 5,000 pounds.

At the worst, Israel will have to drop one bomb down the hole made by another. But even that shouldn't be necessary (though Israel may try it just to be safe).

You are wildly outside the realm of possibility, and badly misinformed.