Formation of Palestinian State no Solution to Middle East Violence

For the entire twenty years since the fiasco named Oslo was perpetrated on Israel and the entire world we have heard the constant drumbeat droning out the mantra that the founding of a Palestinian State living side-by-side in peace and security with Israel will result in peace and calm over all of the Middle East ending all strife and violence. Even after experiencing over two years of unrest and turmoil of the Arab Spring, more aptly called the Arab Winter, we saw uprisings, violence, protests and revolution replacing longstanding dictators in the hope of founding something better all without even the mention of Israel or the Palestinians. How could it be that we had a popular uprising that replaced the government of Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen with further unrest ongoing or soon to come in Syria, Jordan, Mali, and possibly Lebanon and others. Again, none of these will be about Israel or the Palestinians with the possible exception of Jordan whose population largely consists of Palestinians. Yet still we hear the drumbeat droning out the mantra that the Palestinian Statehood being established and carved out of Israel will end all Middle East problems and the world will enter a period of blissful peace.

 

How can anybody expect a thinking person to believe such foolery after witnessing the Middle East of the recent past? The Palestinian leadership itself has demanded that one of the conditions which must be granted when forming a Palestinian State in any form other than having it completely replace the State of Israel that they retain the right to resist and fight against the Zionist existence in the rest of their homeland until all of Palestine from the River to the Sea is liberated from the Zionist influences. So, by granting the Palestinians statehood a country established in all of the lands beyond the Green Line that includes every inch of land lost by Jordan in the West Bank, all of Gaza that Egypt lost, and half of Jerusalem including all of the Old City and the Temple Mount, there still will not be peace because as long as the Jews retain any land which was once under Muslim control there can be no peace. This is not my opinion but is the opinion of the PLO, Fatah, Hamas, Palestinian Authority, Arab League, Hezballah, al-Qaeda, and countless rulers, Imams, and Islamic leaders worldwide. So, it is obvious by their own words of intent that the two state solution as a final agreement is unacceptable to the vast majority of the followers of Islam and that they will only accept the entire eradication of Israel and replacing it with a Palestinian Islamic governance where the Jews will initially be allowed to remain as long as they accept the status of Dhimmi. But, even if this result were to be implemented, would that then lead to complete calm and peace throughout the Middle Easy? I think not and here is why.

 

Does anybody actually hold that should Palestine be formed and meet even the wildest of demands of the most radical of Palestinian leaders that this would result in the end of the violence and uprising in Syria? Of course not. That alone should be sufficient to disprove the claim that all of the violence in the Middle East has as its root cause the Palestinian/Israelii conflict. Would founding Palestine end the violence against Christians and other non-Muslims in Mali or Nigeria? No chance that would end simply because Israel and the Palestinians reached an agreement. Would all the terror induced violence in the West immediately terminate once the State of Palestine was founded and borders were established between the Israelis and the Palestinians? Nope. What about the eternal standoff which flares up with consistent levels of animosity and violence between Pakistan and India over the lands which were formerly Kashmir, would that come to a conclusion after the peace was signed between Israel and the Palestinians? That would rank as highly unlikely. Would stable governance and an end to the conflicts suddenly fall over all of Somalia, especially in its capital city of Mogadishu? Not a chance. Would Iran cease their drive to attain nuclear weapons and establish a Shiite crescent and hegemony over the entirety of Muslim lands and then spread this new caliphate to encompass the entire world? Never happen as their goals would remain unfulfilled. The simple fact is that most of the violence and terrorism which exists or is rooted in the Middle East has nothing to do with Israel or the Palestinians and whatever should come to pass between Israel and the Palestinians would have absolutely no effect on the rest of the Islamic world and those places where they have extended their influence or interests.

 

Solving the impasse between the Palestinians and the Israelis with the intent of solving all the violence and situations currently existing in the Middle East is a fool’s errand which only the most misguided would believe or expect such a result. That begs the question as to why in the world is it taken as fact that solving the Palestinian/Israeli conflict would be the cure-all of all the problems in the Middle East? The reason is the most obvious of reasons. An often used excuse for not addressing a difficult problem or not tackling a pervasive threat is to blame it on some unsolvable problem that is only loosely tied to the situation. The Middle East violence is a pervasive problem which would be extremely difficult to address, let alone solving. Much of the violence in the Middle East is of ancient origins with no resolution as long as the two sides of each conflict exist. The conflict between the Sunni and Shiite Muslims will not reach any conclusion in the foreseeable future. So, blame it on Palestinian/Israeli conflict and its lack of resolution. It does not matter if transferring the responsibility for tackling near impossible conflicts is a total ruse which anybody who takes even a moment to inspect would find the complete insanity of the claim as nobody wishes to see the truth. Seeing the realities as they truly are would require actions that nobody is prepared to undertake. Blaming the Palestinian/Israeli conflict for the entire bundle of turmoil, violence, and conflicts throughout the Middle East and related problems traceable to the Middle East is simply a way of kicking the can down the road, just somewhat more insidious.

 

This begs another question, what would happen if the Palestinian/Israelii conflict were to be resolved? Obviously, those blaming every ill or at least the majority of them, on the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians are counting on that problem never ending which is why there is never any pressure placed on actually forcing a solution. The pressures for solving the Palestinian/Israeli conflict are almost universally placed upon Israel while the Palestinian side rarely has any pressures applied to make concessions towards solving the conflict. The reasons for this is that Israel is actively seeking to meet and solve the problem while the Palestinians do not wish a solution as they are only being paid great amounts of money for as long as their “difficulties” continue. The Palestinian society is setup as being dependent on large infusions of money and on not taking the responsibility for governing themselves and simply blaming Israel. This fits perfectly with the desired situation of an insolvable situation which will continue without end allowing for a plethora of other problems to also be avoided and left unsolved. Making the finding of a solution acceptable to both sides of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict as the prerequisite for tackling the other myriad of problems which is the Middle East is exactly the same as promising to weed your garden after the last rainfall had passed. There will never be a last rainfall within reason thus the garden never needs to be weeded. The Palestine/Israel conflict also will never be resolved as long as the actual only result the Palestinians will accept is the instillation of a Palestinian State over all of Israel replacing the Jewish State and subjugating the Jewish population of Israel at best and an unspeakable alternative at worst. Since the Israelis are never going to submit to Palestinian rule over their entire homeland, the problem will never be resolved. Even if a Palestinian State is formed with recognized borders, the conflict will continue if this recognition includes a Jewish State of Israel existing beside the Palestinian State. That insures that the rest of the world can simply kick the can down the road rather than making the difficult decisions to address the rest of the problems in the Middle East. Simply stated, it is much easier to blame Israel for not completely surrendering to the Palestinians while never expecting them to do so. That is the path of least resistance when one considers that all the other paths are just as insolvable and much more dangerous to become involved. That is why the claim exists that the Palestinian/Israeli conflict is the root of all evil in the Middle East and why there will be no truthful attempts to address any of the plethora of problems involving Islam.  

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

A Question for America

The voters of the United States were sent a message yesterday loud and clear from the two countries their government has given the most assistance for change in the recent transformations in the Middle East, Egypt and Libya. This message has since been picked up and repeated with mobs rioting at US missions in Tunisia, Sudan and Morocco. In all these countries the United States suffered an attack tantamount to a declaration of war by all the rules for civilized nations. The American Embassy in Cairo, Egypt and the American Consulate in Benghazi, Libya were attacked and in the latter assault the American Ambassador and three American Department of State Employees were murdered, possibly with some assistance given by those their Libyan assigned guards. The lesson was simple, there are some people who hold a hatred so deep that no amount of kindness, friendship or assistance will ever reach deep into their spirit and soften their hearts. There are those in the world who simply want to kill everybody who is not like them in every way. This is a lesson which is difficult to grasp in the multicultural West but one that had better be learned and quickly before more such sacrifices are made by placing people in places where those who wish us harm are entrusted with our safekeeping. It can only be hoped that the Military, the State Department, especially the State Department, and everyone else in a position to exercise influence or power over our operations in any country where such hatreds have been displayed time and again that we need to trust only in our own forces to provide security for our people who serve there in the name of the country. To do any less would be an act of irresponsible madness.

There was also a message which has been made here at BTC in the past and must be stated again; the upcoming election has to be about foreign relations and the place of the United States in the world. The next occupant of the White House will be taking the oath of office facing threats from many spots in the world unlike anything the United States has ever experienced and we are going to have to act responsibly with great determination while all the time keeping a guard in place ready to do all that may be necessary to guard the American people and interests against numerous assaults from various fronts often simultaneously. Yes, the campaign for President is about the economy and about jobs and a myriad other domestic problems and situations which are as dire as they appear. The thing is that even if every single domestic problem is repaired tomorrow, it does us no good if a day later we are attacked in multiple cities causing untold and unprecedented damage to our infrastructure, people, and economy. We have been warned that al-Qaeda is more anxious than ever to have another great victory over the Great Satan. In Iran every Friday they chant “Down with America! Down with Israel!” The order of that chant is not by accident. Sure Iran has a deep burning desire to attack and destroy Israel. We need to remember that they have an even deeper and hotter hatred fueling a virtually unstoppable desire to destroy the United States and the United States is at the top of their list even ahead of Israel. One must concede that this latest violence stretching across the Middle East has said nothing about Israel; every ounce of the hatred is solely being displayed against the United States, the Great Satan. Israel is simply the Little Satan while the United States is the Great Satan and they know that if they are able to attack the United States and cripple America that their drive to wipe out Israel will have become almost a given. They wish to destroy the United States as they have been taught that the United States is the force that corrupts their children, the United States is pushing its hegemonic influence taking over the entire world, the United States is the root and supporter of nearly every single evil and is at war with Islam, and worst of all, the United States is the lifeline and support which allows Israel to resist their great forces of Jihad. The United States is the lynchpin that holds everything they loathe and all that stands between them and the world domination that Allah has promised them. So, go on believing that all these forces of Jihad want to do is destroy Israel and ignore the machinations of the forces of darkness in the world at your own peril.

Neither of the main party candidates for President have stellar records when it comes to foreign policies. Mitt Romney’s closest thing to a foreign policy resume is the Salt Lake City Olympics, pretty lame. President Obama’s resume is thicker and includes everything he had accomplished and everything he has fumbled in the first three and a half years in office. It is up to the American people to decide which of these men would be the stronger representative as President and most likely to defend the United States against all comers, and they will soon be coming. It is also up to the American voting public to decide what this election is all about. Is it just about jobs, the economy, the stock market, green industries and investments, and the rest of the domestic agenda or is it about America’s place in the world and whether the United States will stand for our freedoms and making them universally available to all people who desire to be free? Are the American people going to go to the polls in November looking no further than their own pocketbooks, bank accounts, and wish list being filled at the mall or are they going to vote while considering the growing threats and violence which are plaguing much of the world and threatening to only get more violent and all encompassing. Will the Americans vote looking inward or outward, the fate of much of the world may reflect their choices, reflect your choices? It’s just a thought or two that some might want to include in their formula when deciding the next President and the next Congress as it may have ramifications beyond your wildest fears. Just a thought.

Beyond the Cusp

Iran Nuclear Talks Conducted by the Blind and Deaf

Somewhere a decision was made which placed European Union Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton in the lead for the P5+1 negotiating team who are presumably talking with intent to curb the Iranian nuclear program before they attain nuclear weapons capability. It has been reported that the Iranians have graciously granted the P5+1 mediators another meeting in Moscow in order to discuss the demands regarding nuclear uranium enrichment and the offers to Iran should they comply. This was accomplished after Lady Catherine Ashton held a one-hour phone conversation with Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili where she managed to convince him to allow the meeting. This meeting was originally scheduled during the negotiations in Baghdad last month and was touted as a great achievement as it was the sole accomplishment to result from the meetings. Since then the Iranians, as stated by Ahmadinejad as well as chairman of the Iranian Parliament Ali Larijani, Iran claimed that to continue with the negotiations with the P5+1 was simply assisting the West in wasting time. This is what made it necessary for Lady Ashton to beg for Iran to return to negotiations and resume their meetings as scheduled in Moscow. I am sure this will be touted as a great step and a sign of progress and the seriousness with which Iran is treating the negotiations. Does anybody outside of the governments of the P5+1 honestly believe that any amount of negotiations with Iran will produce any results other than an eventually nuclear armed Iran?

Today there was a report coming out of Iran where the Fars News Agency published a commentary that stated, “The Islamic World should rise up and shout that a nuclear bomb is our right.” Since the Fars News Agency is under the complete control of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, they often are utilized to release trial balloons as a method of releasing official views and judge the reactions before formally having the Supreme Leader the Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Hosseini Khamenei or other high officials announce them as laws or objectives. For some reason I find this statement released by the Fars News Agency to be more than just simply troubling. Stating that the Islamic World needs to fully insist and achieve possession of nuclear weaponry makes the efforts by Lady Ashton to be simply a waste of time. This information should leave the P5+1 with no alternative other than to place a direct challenge demanding Iranian immediate complete compliance. This Fars News Agency statement is nothing short of a direct statement that it truly is a complete waste of time holding negotiations with Iran. It proves beyond any shadow of a doubt that Iran is negotiating simply to talk endlessly and never actually make any progress. Their previous actions have been proving this ever since the entire charade started back in 2006. Despite this being obvious even to the most casual of observers, the P5+1 have chosen the Lady Catherine Ashton to lead the talks. This is the same woman who sounded like a love-struck teenager when describing how enthralled she was and what a magnificent gentleman and accomplished statesman the Iranian head negotiator had appeared to be in her judgment.

As far as the Islamic World having to demand their incontestable right to produce and stockpile nuclear weapons, it is a completely ignorant demand. The Islamic World already possesses and has a stockpile of well over one-hundred nuclear weapons which are located and owned by Pakistan. The truth of their declaration has nothing to do with the Muslim World possessing and having available for Islamic use of nuclear weapons. They are not demanding, or requesting if you wish me to be more polite, for Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Morocco, Egypt, Somalia, Eritrea, Syria (though they might settle for Syria), Sudan or any other Islamic Country to attain nuclear weapons. Their demand is for Iran to be equipped with their own stockpile of nuclear weapons, and not simply a few but sufficient nuclear weapons to intimidate the entire Islamic World into allowing Iran to establish a new Caliphate with Iran as the sole and unchallenged leadership. They want sufficient nuclear weapons for Iran to completely obliterate Israel, the United States, and any other country which they feel is not showing the Iranian leadership sufficient deference. There are those who hold some power within Iran who would even like to have sufficient nuclear weapons to cause a complete and total conflagration throughout the entire globe in order to cause the conditions necessitated to cause the return of the Mahdi, the Twelfth Imam. Yet we still are allowing Iran to talk and talk and make promises that they only intend to break.

Just to add one last example of the fruitlessness of dealing with the Iranians was made evident this week. Over the last few weeks the IAEA has been holding talks in Tehran in order to attempt to coerce Iran into allowing them access to both the known nuclear installations and also to gain access to some military controlled locations where it is suspected that work, research and possible production of nuclear trigger and high explosive shaped charge tests have been conducted which are necessary for both gun and compression style nuclear weapons. Late last week progress was announced and hope was expressed that possibly the clean-up of one of the military locations may not have destroyed all evidence the IAEA sought. Over the past three days Iran has come up with some preconditions and then excuses and finally a total reversal reneging on every agreement the head of the IAEA had announced to great fanfare last Friday. This was announced by The Hindu who wrote “Iran has announced that it is ready to open up its Parchin military facility for inspections by the IAEA.” This has been the exact modus operandi from Iran throughout the entire tortuous, strange, fruitless excuse for serious talks. It has been two steps forward, three steps backwards, install ten more centrifuges. I must honestly congratulate the Iranian negotiators as they have thus far resisted breaking into uncontrolled laughter right into the faces of the negotiators of the P5+1. Such restraint is a rare talent, even if it is being used to conceal through and through deceit.

Beyond the Cusp