Good thing...

"Iraq said Thursday it will bar Blackwater Worldwide from providing security protection for U.S. diplomats because its contractors used excessive force, sanctioning a company whose image was irrevocably tarnished by the 2007 killings of 17 Iraqi civilians."

It's about time, they've been killing innocent people for far to long, not just in Iraq, they did it in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina as well...

Not Quite a cease-fire

"At least nine people, seven of them school girls, have been injured by an Israeli air attack in the southern Gaza Strip, sources tell Al Jazeera."

Unfortunately, Israel decided to break the cease-fire by attacking the tunnels that lead to Egypt (Gaza's lifeline because of the blockade), so Gazan's responded with rockets, Israel responded with injuring school girls...when this war starts up again at some point, Hamas will be blamed for breaking the cease-fire.

A little bit of courage...a little bit too late

"The Turkish prime minister has stormed out of a heated debate at the World Economic Forum in Davos over Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip."

Finally, Turkey's government got some courage....and Netanyahu is wrong, nuclear weapons in his hands are more dangourous then nuclear weapons in the hands of the Iranians because Netanyahu is way more fanatic and racist then Iran will ever be.

Stimuli

Detailed information about the stimulus plan, I happen to be rather supportive of it...

Cease-fire breaches anyone?

"Two people have been wounded in an Israeli air raid on the Gaza Strip, Hamas and Palestinian medical officials have said."

Israel doesn't believe in cease-fires, it's as simple as that...

Silly Foreign Policy things...

Sorry about not blogging yesterday, I was kinda busy, but anyways, here is something...why is Obama so pressed over Pakistan. He has a government there that is willing to do whatever he wants, and he's talking about invading? You don't invade countries like that, you buy them, arm their military make them able to fight al-Queda and the taliban. More importantly, these attacks and silly rehtoric are making Pakastanis hate Obama, does he really want them to side with al-Queda? Being irresponsible about this will have dire consequences to American interests in the region.

War Crimes anyone?

"While the vast majority of Palestinians were killed by conventional weapons, a Norwegian doctor, Erik Fosse, said injuries he had seen in Gaza were consistent with the use of Dime (dense inert metal explosive) bombs. "It was as if [patients] had stepped on a mine, but there was no shrapnel in the wounds," he said. A UN convention, which Israel has signed, prohibits "the use of any weapon the primary effect of which is to injure by fragments which in the human body escape detection by X-rays". This could apply to Dime bombs, but by their nature it is extremely difficult to prove they have been used.

Amnesty International last week called on Israel to give details of weapons beside phosphorus it had used in Gaza, so that medics could better treat the injuries they inflict. Donatella Rovera of Amnesty, currently on a munitions fact-finding mission to Gaza, said doctors were encountering "new and unexplained injuries, including charred and sharply severed limbs" after air strikes. The UK human rights agency also quoted Dr Subhi Skeik of Shifa hospital's surgery department as saying: "We have many cases of amputations and vascular reconstructions where patients would be expected to recover in the normal way. But to our surprise, many of them died an hour or two after operation. It is dramatic.""

And some claim Israel is a humane nation?

Not really donating anything...

"A bitter struggle is taking place over the right to oversee the reconstruction of Gaza, even as the leadership of Hamas emerges from the rubble of areas that were devastated by 23 days of Israeli bombardment. The international community insists that it cannot channel billions of dollars in reconstruction aid to Hamas, and is calling for the involvement of the more moderate Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas. But Hamas is insisting on sole control of Gaza's rebuilding, as well as claiming moral leadership of the Palestinian people."

Bush Doctrine Continued...

"Asif Ali Zardari, the Pakistani president, has called on Barack Obama, his US counterpart, to end American missile attacks in South Asian nation's tribal border regions with Afghanistan."

Like that will ever happen...Obama's foreign policy will not be much different then Bush's, it may be even worse.

Reality

Obama yesterday gave a speech on what his policy towards the Israelis and Palestinians is going to be like...the same as Bush's. He made a huge point to condemn Hamas rocket attacks but barely said anything about the Palestinians. For example, the only thing he said somewhat against Israel was that he was "deeply concerned" about civilian loss on both sides, he couldn't even say anything soley for Palestine, this is is not the kind of thing you expect from "the agent of change", this is a clear continuation of the Bush doctrine in the Middle East.

Nothings changed...

"Missiles fired from suspected US drones killed at least 15 people inside Pakistan today, the first such strikes since Barack Obama became president and a clear sign that the controversial military policy begun by George W Bush has not changed."

They say 3 kids died in the attack, I am sure they were al-Qaeda members...

A good thing he did...

"Barack Obama, the US president, has signed an executive order overturning a ban on US funding for groups that perform abortions or provide information on the option, the White House says."

Well, one more thing I agree with!

More Crimes...

"A total of 53 installations used by the United Nations Relief and Works agency, Unrwa, were damaged or destroyed during Israel's Gaza campaign, including 37 schools - six of which are being used as emergency shelters - six health centres, and two warehouses."

You know that a country is guilty of war crimes when they are forming a defense before chargers were even filled...

Interesting choice...

"In 2000, he [George Mitchel] also presided over a committee investigating the ongoing violence of the Middle East conflict and recommended Palestinians do more to stop attacks on Israel and an end to Israeli settlement building on occupied land."

Sounds like every other congress man in this country when talking about the middle east, nothing is going to "change"; I know it.

Worth doing...

" President Barack Obama's first public act in office Wednesday was to institute new limits on lobbyists in his White House and to freeze the salaries of high-paid aides, in a nod to the country's economic turmoil."

Good move, well done Mr. Obama!