Nepal

I love hearing our president talk about why we went to war in Iraq. Almost every speech he gives, or his staff gives, tells us that we are fighting for the people of Iraq. We deposed of a tyrant leader who was ruling only for himself and terrorizing his people. We have brought to the people of Iraq the right to a democratic government, which apparently was what the people of Iraq have always wanted but were denied due to their despot leader. It was our moral obligation as a fellow free democratic society to step in and save them from tyranny and bring to them the joy of free elections.

For some reason, however, this natural right to democracy and this moral obligation to step in and make things democratic only applies to countries in the Middle East and to countries that aren’t very vocal in their desire for democracy. Apparently only Middle Eastern countries are eligible for help from the United States in becoming a democracy. Those other nations throughout the world who want democracy must fend for themselves.

Since 1980 the people of Nepal have voiced their desire for free democratic elections. They have taken to the streets in protest, as a nation, twice (once in 1990 and again in 2006). Both times the people were able to force negotiations with the King and his government and both times a free democratic system of government was promised to them. From 1991 until 2001 there was a very unstable attempt at a constitutional monarchy in Nepal but due to the inexperience of the Nepalese government these years consisted mostly of a constantly bickering house, government corruption and in 1996 a Maoist bid to take control of the countries parliament from within that resulted in a civil war, which has caused the deaths of over 13,000 Nepalese people.

In 2001 the crown Prince, after having a fight with his father, killed his family with two automatic weapons before turning the guns on himself. The end result of this catastrophe was a new King on the throne who promised democratic reforms and political change. In 2004 with the resurgence of the Maoist resistance to the monarch’s rule and the continuation of political instability public support for the king began to greatly diminish.

To crush the Maoist movement, in 2005, the King dismissed the entire government and took back full executive powers. Through that time there was a continuing Maoist movement and public disapproval of the king. In early 2006 a joint, nationwide strike, led by The Seven Party Alliance and supported by the Maoist movement took place to protest the King’s idea of multi-party democracy. Finally, due to the civil-unrest on April 21 of 2006 the King announced that he would give up absolute power and would return power to the people. Then on April 24^th the King called for the reinstatement of the House of Representatives, which has led to today, Friday April 28^th, being the first meeting of the new Nepalese government.

I know I have gone on a kind of tangent giving the history of Nepalese politics but I ask you now where were the United States during all of this. We are talking about a nation where the people, as a nation, have publicly voiced their desire to form a democratic government. A nation that has come so close to forming a government that failure was only due to inexperience and tragedy. If the United States feels a moral obligation to help other countries to form democracies what better chance than this to illustrate this cause? They wouldn’t even have had to send in troops, all they would have had to do was send advisors, yet, still nothing. Why you ask? Well, at the end of the day what good would helping Nepal do for the United States? Nothing really. They are not a super-power by any means. They have no global weight to throw around and most importantly they have no natural resources that could aid the United States financially in any way. This all leads me back to my point. When you hear that the reason why we are in Iraq is to spread democracy can you really believe them? Especially when there was a nation, such as Nepal, where the people have been practically begging for democracy, as a nation, for almost thirty years?

My answer is no, of course not. Spreading democracy is the excuse that the Unites States likes to use to give itself some moral ground to walk on when we do things for our own gain. We have used this excuse before in places such as Vietnam and Korea and where did that get us. Luckily for us our technology is such that it is easier for us to go to war and wipe out entire defense forces quickly allowing us to walk in and take over. Yet, I have a feeling that if Iraq weren’t a big desert and was instead a jungle covered landscape we might very well be in the same position we were in back in the 60’s and 70’s.

After saying all this I would like to say that I am one of those people who believes in what George Washington, our first President, believed. I believe that the Unites States should not interfere with international problems and become entangled in affairs that we have no reason to be involved with. So instead of the United States helping Nepal it is my belief that the United States should never have gotten itself involved with the Middle East at any point in it’s history. The only reason why we are there and the only reason why we have ever gotten ourselves involved in any international conflict, is for our own gain, either politically or financially. We may claim that we are doing things to help people but we all know that at the end of the day if there is no political or financial advantage to getting ourselves involved in something, we wont get involved. Sad but true.

Iran

So, Iran is developing nuclear weapons. There are those in the United States that would have you believe that this is a threat to the global community and that a terrorist state such as Iran should not be allowed to have weapons of this kind because they will use them for evil purposes. Granted, Iran has some ties to certain terrorist organizations and it’s true that the leaders of Iran harbor few good feelings towards countries such as the United States or Israel. One must consider, however, how the Iranians must be thinking.

If you were the Iranian government and you were to look at the history of the Middle east from the beginning of last century up until the present I think that you, yourself, might actually feel the same way that the Iranians do and you, also, might find the incentive to defend yourselves in the same fashion that the Iranians are doing.

At the end of World War II the nations of the west felt so guilty about the Holocaust that they decided to give the Jewish people a country of their own. To do this, however, they had to displace a large number of locals (who, mind you, were not Jewish) and move them elsewhere. It is this kind of disregard for the peoples of the Middle East that is one of the main roots of this conflict.

At the time of the creation of Israel, Israel was surrounded by all Islamic nations, Egypt, Palestine, Iraq, Iran, etc. So, even though the nations of the west backed Israel in every conflict that has arisen between Israel and the Islamic nations there were still enough countries in the Middle East to form a kind of alliance to help each other out. Today, of course, things are different.

As of today, both Afghanistan and Iraq are, for the most part, colony-like entities of the United States. There are large numbers of United States troops in each of these countries. Israel has grown in power to the point where their standing army can effectively defend itself and the world has done nothing but allow the United States to declare war with impunity.

If you were to look at a map of the Middle East, the precarious position of Iran might also make itself visible. Iraq borders Iran on the west and Afghanistan borders Iran, directly opposite, on the east. The Caspian Sea is the northern border to Iran and the Persian Gulf is the southern border, it is almost a one hundred percent guarantee that there are United States military ships in at least one, if not both, of those bodies of water. Taking all of this into account Iran is, effectively speaking, surrounded on all sides by United States military forces. On top of this the United States does not feel the need to hide, in any way, it’s dislike of Iran.

So I ask you, if you were a small nation who suddenly found itself surrounded by one of the most powerful armies in the world because this army was allowed, without reservation, to attack two of your neighboring allies, wouldn’t you feel the need to try and defend yourself? Especially if that surrounding army was so technologically advanced that they have the capability of wiping out most of your standing defense systems within a matter of days thus leaving you almost entirely defenseless?

I am not saying that I approve of Iran having nuclear weapons, but then again I do not approve of the United States having any kind of weapons either, especially since we are so immature as to just use our weapons to take over small countries and try and control the planet. All I am saying is that before people say that Iran is evil for developing nuclear weapons, look at where they are and look at the recent events that have shaped the Middle East and ask yourself, how would you feel if you were in their shoes?

Today's Multiple Posts

The following two posts are political in nature and have an anti-US policies flavor to them (as do many of my posts) so if you do not like to hear criticism about the US or if you do not like to read polotical points of view then continue no further. Anyway, on with the posts....

Manhattan College RFC (post 3 of today)

Just a quick note to all those who read this. Manhattan College has recently formed a Rugby squad and we have just posted our schedule online. The site is http://www.mcrugby.741.com all of the information that you need to know is on there. Just click on the link and navigate the page. If you get the chance please come out and support us at one of our matches, on our first season. Thanks.

Man's Inhumanity to Man (post 2 of today)

This past Friday something happened to me and my girlfriend that has caused me to experience a number of feelings and emotions. I have always tried to believe in the overall goodness of human nature and the general sensibility of the human race. Both of these views have been challenged in me. I have also always tried to think of myself as a more peaceful person, but this incident has caused me to question what is truly inside of me. On Saturday morning at 2:30 AM while sitting at the 125th street subway station for the Bronx bound 1 train a man grabbed and stole Melissa's purse.

I cannot help but feel an extreme amount of anger at the person who did this. In fact, if I had been able to catch this person while I chased him, I am almost afraid of what might have happened. That night, I found in me a rage and passion that I did not truly know existed. I found that if someone, anyone, were to intentionally hurt one of those that I love and care about, there is nothing that would stop me from wanting to bring harm to those who perpetrated the hurtful act.

One can argue that the man's financial situation in our society has caused him to resort to stealing people's belongings and that instead of getting upset with this person we should help him. In my opinion it is never right to hurt or steal from other people. To intentionally hurt someone, in my opinion, is the lowest possible thing a human can do. There are no excuses for hurting other people.

Self-preservation is a feeling that all animals feel. It is what, in the wild, allows animals to survive. Animals will stop at nothing to survive. I would like to think that our human sensibility would be able to counter that feeling of self-preservation that is biologically imbedded into all of us. Yet it seems that is not the case, however. Every intentionally hurtful act that is done to one human by another human has its origins in self-preservation. Even hurtful comments can be attributed to this; one would rather commit an intentionally hurtful action against another rather than compromise their own peace of mind.

I am still very upset about what happened this weekend. I feel that I was too careless and did not pay enough attention to the situation at hand. I feel that maybe I did not react fast enough to the situation and I feel that I did not run fast enough to catch the guy. Whenever I look back on what happened I feel that there are a million little things that I could have done to prevent this from happening. I am very happy, however, that Melissa is okay. I know that she is upset with what has happened and I know that she is still uneasy but she is okay. I wish to take this opportunity to apologize for what happened and I am sorry for all those things that I could have done to prevent this from happening. Sorry.

Has the Whole World Gone Mad? (post 1 of today)

At what point should our planet stop, take a step back and ask itself what the fuck are we doing?! Last September a Danish newspaper ran a series of cartoons depicting the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Firstly, the comics themselves were controversial in the fact that they were poking fun at the supposed violent tendencies of the Islamic people and also making fun of the misinterpreted ideologies that exist in the Qur’an. Secondly, what the publishers of the comics did not know (or maybe did know and did not care) was that it is against the Islamic faith to depict the prophet Muhammad in any shape or form.

The initial publication of these cartoons set into motion a series of protests my European Muslims who found the cartoons to be far too controversial and asked for an apology from the papers that printed them. The initial response of the papers (as should have been predicted) was that freedom of the press and freedom of speech allowed for the printing of the comics. The complaints and protests that ensued were met with a wall of statements saying that there is nothing that can be done.

The problem could have ended there, but for some reason, deep seeded animosity between the religions and cultures of the Middle East and the Western world seem to have allowed for this problem to smolder and slowly fester over time. Then, this past month, a series of papers from countries such as Spain, Germany, Norway, Denmark and even New Zealand, republished all of the original comics.

I cannot think of any possible reason for these papers to have republished these cartoons other than purposely sticking it to the Islamic peoples and to show that they can do or say anything they want because of the freedoms of our culture. This issue, if left alone, could have died over time. It could have faded away and never been seen or heard from again. Unfortunately, with the republication of these cartoons the world seems to be coming apart at the seams.

The problem has even spread to countries such as Thailand, Indonesia, India and even New Zealand. The issue at hand has grown to such a fervor and has stirred so many people into action that Islamic extremists are using it to fuel their own wars by making up propaganda by saying that the current issue is a Zionist conspiracy against the Islamic faith.

I firmly stand behind the freedom of speech. I believe that it is the right for anyone on this planet to be able to voice their opinions and views in any way they see fit. I do not, however, agree with people who use this freedom in such a way as to snub others or to purposely offend others as these papers have done when they republished the cartoons. One of the greatest things about having freedoms is having the maturity and responsibility to wield these freedoms. Just because you can say to something offensive to someone that you hate, not mean that you should. The countries of the West have grown too complacent with the idea that they can get away with anything at no cost. This has turned the countries into very immature and irresponsible entities and unfortunately I do not see this whole incident changing any of that.

Below is a timeline take from www.BBC.co.uk. The BBC have been doing a very good job at following this story and trying to report the issues as unbiased as possible. For all of you who wish to know more about what is going on or who wish to follow this issue the BBC is where I would recommend to go for your news.

2006

· 7 February: Several hundred Iranians attack the Danish embassy in Tehran as the country announces it is cutting all trade ties with Denmark.

· 6 February: Protests claim lives - at least five people are killed in Afghanistan, and a teenage boy dies after protesters attack police in Somalia.

· 5 February: Lebanese demonstrators set the Danish embassy in Beirut on fire. Interior Minister Hassan Sabeh resigns over the violent protests.

· 4 February: Syrians attack Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus, prompting UN chief Kofi Annan to call for calm.

· 2 February: The editor of the French newspaper France Soir is sacked for printing the cartoons.

· 1 February: Papers in France, Germany, Italy and Spain reprint the caricatures, defying Muslim outrage.

· 31 January: The Danish paper apologises. The Danish prime minister welcomes the apology but defends the freedom of the press.

· 30 January: Gunmen raid the EU's offices in Gaza, demanding an apology over the cartoons.

· 26 January: Saudi Arabia recalls its ambassador to Denmark, while Libya says it is closing its embassy in Copenhagen.

· 10 January: A Norwegian newspaper reprints the cartoons.

2005

· 20 October: Ambassadors from 10 Islamic countries complain to the Danish prime minister about the cartoons.

· 30 September: A series of cartoons, some depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a terrorist, are published by Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten.

Hamas and the Middle East

The history of the Middle East is as varied and bloody as any one place could possibly be. The Middle East is the birthplace for modern humanity. It is the birthplace for most of the modern major civilizations. It is the birthplace of three of the largest world wide organized religions. The thing is, is that all of these "births" happened a very long time ago. I find it funny that people around the world cannot seem to see beyond their own beliefs and history to realize the above fact. Jerusalem is not just an important city to the Christian religion, it is also important to the Jewish faith and the Islamic faith.

I can even see some people not realizing that all three religions pray to THE EXACT SAME GOD. If an Islamic person says "God bless you" and a Christian says "God bless you" they are talking about the exact same entity. The Christian faith uses almost the entire Jewish holy book as one section of their holy book with only a few additions and a slight order change. The Islamic faith recognizes Jesus (or Joshua) as a prophet of God and they accept that he existed and walked the Earth. Yet for some reason we cannot seem to share these holy places because we allow for the mixing of politics and religion and no one seems to be able to keep an open mind about other people's beliefs. "They" are wrong "We" are right ... the end!

People also fail to realize that the Middle East saw the rise and fall of such great empires as the Phoenicians, the Greeks, the Egyptians even the Byzantine Empire was mostly in and around the Middle East as was the Roman Empire. All of that history is centered around the Middle East and yet all we can do think about how much oil there is and if we could just wipe out all of the "infidels" in the area and take control we could control the world and make billions upon billions of dollars.

The radical group Hamas in Palestine recently won a majority of the seats in their countries ruling government. I can just see all of the leaders of the West who “encourage” smaller nations to embrace democracy going “….SHIT!” The people of Palestine did exactly as they were told and informed to do. They held a perfectly fair democratic election and elected a government that they wanted, it just so happens that the government elected is not one that agrees with out political and ideological agenda so what do we do now? We become the big bad bullies that we always are and hope and pray that this government will be overthrown or overruled or whatever end we can think of.

I will be the first to admit that Hamas is not the best of organizations. They are responsible for many of the suicide bombings in Israel and have a very vocal opinion about the destruction of the nation of Israel. We cannot, however, ignore the fact that they do look out for the best interest of their people. Hamas has done more for the people of their country over the past few years than the previous government did and the previous government had millions of dollars a year being poured into the government from Europe and the U.S. We are upset with the choice that the people of Palestine have made in their elections but it is still their choice, I mean come on we elected George W. Bush … twice!!

Terrorists...

Well, it seems Mr. Osama bin Laden is alive and kicking (or at least he was alive and kicking when he taped his last message). As per usual there were threats of impending attacks on the West, especially the U.S.A., and the usual anti-United States banter. There was, however, something new this time around. This time there was also talk of a truce. Now to me this is amazing news. It shows that Osama bin Laden and his group are open minded enough and are actually looking out for the people of the Middle East and not just for themselves. (Of course I don't think that being an international terrorist is really a healthy way to look after oneself but I deigress).

This talk of a truce, however, got a very different response from the White House. Apparantly we do not make truces with terrorists. The funny thing is is that the so called terrorists do not view themselves as terrorists. They are soldiers in a war against the U.S. and as such can as for a truce, even for a short time, to help the peoples of their countries. What many in the U.S. fail to realize is that the so called terrorists under Osama bin Laden are (for all intents and purposes) at the same level as those who followed William Wallace in 1297 fight against the English. The Scots who fought alongside William Wallace were considered patriots of Scotland who did what they had to to fight against a larger more powerful force.

Look at the stories of Sir Robin of Loxley or more commonly known as Robin Hood. Now if you ask me, someone who leads a bunch of men who live in athe wild who evade the local law enforcement because what they do is attack and steal from one type of person to give to another type of person in the name of what they believe is "right" sounds a lot like what Osama bin Laden is doing. The tales of Robin Hood are sotries that every child is taught at some point because our society feels that a man fighting for his ideals is something worth while. Stories like that of Robin Hood are made to teach us that when the cause is right and just that we are allowed to fight against the standing regime if that regime is acting in such a way that is "evil". Our very government is based off of that fact, the Declaration of Independance says the following:

"But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."

So are those men and women who fought against Britain, for our independance, any way they could to get them off American soil, any different than those fighting for their own freedoms and their own culture in the Middle East?

Now do not misundertand me, I am in no way agreeing with the actions of the terrorists. I think that violence never truly solves a problem, it just leads to more violence. All I am saying is that I can bring myself to understand why they do what they do. To them fighting the West and getting them out of their countries is right and just and part of me has to agree. The only reason why Western governments have any real interest in the area is because of the oil that is produced there. The U.S. would never tolerate the military presence of any other country on U.S. soil yet we expect other countries to allow us to build bases and so on because we are the mighty U.S.

So before any of you go and say that the terrorists are all evil and cold hearted stop and think for a few minutes as to why they are doing what they are doing. Look at what they are fighting for. They see themselves as soldiers so when they offer a truce we should not just brush it aside and say we are the good guys and they are bad so no deal. We should sit down with them and see if we cannot just end this conflict without more bloodshed. Just think about it....

Update

Well Happy 2006 everyone. The past week has been amazing. This past week has seen my younger brothers 21st birthday, and my dad's 50th. 2005 has passed and 2006 is here. I have been back to both Mai Thai (Riverdale) and Azuma (Huntington area), both of which Melissa and I are regulars. I have had a three and a half day weekend and I practically partied from midnight on Thursday till Midnight on Tuesday. As of right now I am taking a breather but will be back in action this Friday till Sunday when Melissa and I go snowboarding (for the first time ever which should be interesting). It is shaping up to be a good new year. It is time to put away all those regrets and heart aches from last year and start anew. It's a beautiful day, it's a beautiful year, embrace it and enjoy. See all of you later.

Back Again

Well another Christmas has come and gone. The New Years is only a few days away and then the holiday season will be over. I hope you all got everything you wanted and I hope that you all had the rest you needed. I would put up a longer post but alas I am tired and busy. Ta.

Holiday Season

Well, it's that time of year again. Time to put aside the world and enjoy the company of loved ones. Time to let old grudges die, time to forgive past mistakes. It's the time of year when we all should bring joy and happiness into each others lives. With that said, to all my loved ones and friends, I hope you all have a very happy holiday season. I hope you get everything that you wish for and nothing that bring you pain, grief or sorrow. I love you all.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years everyone!!!