Australia joins Britain in sticking it to Israel over Dubai debacle

Go Australia!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/asia_pacific/10145459.stm

We in the US would never do such a thing. "Punish" a friend for acting against our interests? And by punish I mean fire them for breaking the rules. What kind of friend does that anyway? Anti-Semites of the worst kind. And don't forget the self-hating Jews.

Australia's foreign minister said these were "not the actions of a friend".

How dare they accuse Israel of not being a friend? Don't they know that Israel is always right, always a victim? Even when they trample other peoples' rights and lives. Never forget. Never again. Never again let it happen to anyone because we value human life/rights- or never let it happen to Jews again; we will trample anyone in our path?

Sarcasm aside, it's pretty sad that I think this quote is profound and worth posting, but such is the state of the US relationship with Israel. It has become so big that it dwarfs even our own interests, laws and safety.


Edit June 2010: Ireland also expels an official over this mess.
http://www.france24.com/en/20100615-ireland-expels-israeli-diplomat-over-dubai-hit

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And Israel sticks it back to the world... banning Chomsky, yet another intellectual on their "list."

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/after-denied-entry-to-west-bank-chomsky-likens-israel-to-stalinist-regime-1.290736

Now Chomsky, too? Add him to the list. Some democracy!

After denied entry to West Bank, Chomsky likens Israel to 'Stalinist regime.'

"The official asked me why I was lecturing only at Bir Zeit and not an Israeli university," Chomsky recalled. "I told him that I have lectured a great deal in Israel. The official read the following statement: 'Israel does not like what you say.'"

Chomsky replied: "Find one government in the world which does."

"The young man asked me whether I had ever been denied entry into other countries. I told him that once, to Czechoslovakia, after the Soviet invasion in 1968," he said, adding that he had gone to visit ousted Czechoslovak leader Alexander Dubcek, whose reforms the Soviets crushed.

Australia may be close to a paid maternity leave, as I heard on the BBC today. That would leave us, the US, dead last, trailing even developing nations with zero paid leave for working mothers. Almost makes me want to move to Sweden. They get 18 months. Wikipedia has all countries. It's interesting. It made me mad, but it's interesting nonetheless.

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080529/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/rice_mcclellan_book

Condi's commenting on Scott McClellan's new book, What Happened. She sure is saying a lot for someone who's not going to comment on a book she hasn't read!

Interesting to me is that the White House and others quoted aren't really saying McClellan's making false statements. They are just "puzzled" and think it's "sour grapes". Condi is trying to take issue. She says WMD was the fundamental reason; McClellan says the primary reason was spreading freedom, etc. The way I remember it was McClellan's point, then that faded to the WMD focus. Regime change was cited after the invasion as a primary reason, I think. WMD was bogus, so they had to think of something else.

She also backpedals a bit and cites excuses:

'It wasn't just us who was concerned about WMD'

'Those skeptics should have stood against UN sanctions/oil for food'

'If you believe he wasn't a threat to international community, then why allow Iraqis to suffer under oil for food'


There WERE critics of the admin's approach! All the former officials speaking out is what made me seriously doubt Bush & Co's plan. They just chose to ignore them and dismiss them as unpatriotic, etc. There were also critics of oil for food speaking out. I read things about Hussein getting rich while the people starved. None of those things Condi cited justify the invasion of Iraq. AND, Hussein was pitched as an imminent threat against the US, not just the international community in general. He was implicitly linked to 9/11 more than once by Cheney and Bush, etc.