olehmusings

Just a Short Post

2007-02-02T02:09:00.000-08:00

Well, it's Friday morning, and for a change, we don't have to do any cooking. It's nice, having invitations for Shabbat dinner and lunch... All that extra cleaning around the house that hasn't gotten done in the last few weeks will finally get done, and then we'll all play with Sabra Baby and finish off Big Girl's brithday cake. And this evening, it's off to a friend's place for to celebrate Shabbat. Sounds like a good day to me.

As usual, Shabbat Shalom to all my Jewish readers, and best wishes for the weekend to the rest of you.

See y'all on Sunday!

In the News Today

2007-02-01T08:58:00.000-08:00

Ah, what is going on today...

Well, for starters, it seems that the palestinians keep truces with each other about as well as they do with Israel. From YNet News:

Gun battles erupted in the Gaza Strip on Thursday between Hamas gunmen and security forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and at least six people were wounded in the violence that tested a 3-day-old ceasefire.

Isn't it amazing though, how inter-pali fighting "tests" a cease-fire, but sending a suicide bomber to Eilat, or shooting Qassam rockets at Sderot doesn't? Gotta love that editorial slant... Arutz Sheva does seem a bit more realistic on this one:

Hamas and Fatah terrorists renewed their bloody clashes in the streets of Gaza Thursday afternoon, ...

Six Palestinian Authority residents were wounded in the shootout...

More than 50 percent of PA residents believe that terrorists have escalated their street battles into a civil war, ...

And the Jerusalem Post reports an ominous development from Iran:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday that Iran will celebrate the "stabilization" of its nuclear program as early as next week, a comment believed to mean Teheran will announce the start of installing 3,000 centrifuges at its uranium enrichment facility in Natanz.
...
Last week, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency said Iran intended to begin work in February on an underground facility for the centrifuges. "I understand that they are going to announce that they are going to build up their 3,000 centrifuge facility ... sometime next month," Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said.

Two points here: El-Baradei's solution to the issue, as you may recall, is to put Iran in "timeout." I think there may be a reason why the UN don't get no respect in the world today...

The second point is this, from the article:

The status of the new centrifuges has been unknown because for the past month, Iran has repeatedly given contradictory statements. It is already behind schedule because Teheran had originally said last year that the installation would at least begin by the end of 2006.

We have no way of knowing how much of the Iranian bluster is bluff, rather like the situation with regard to Saddam Hussein before the current Iraq war. In each case, a violent government with a clear desire for mass destruction weapons and a history of using them, is trying to look stronger than it is. Saddam's bluff was called, and a dictator was removed. What will happen with Iran?

From YNet News:

The United States does not intend to strike Iran to force it to stop supplying Shi'ite groups with weapons technology to kill US troops in Iraq, Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said in a radio interview broadcast on Thursday.

Burns said Washington believed tensions with Tehran could be resolved diplomatically, although "all options are on the table concerning Iran."

I don't think that anyone really believe diplomacy can get anywhere with Iran; they've been dragging the diplomatic game out, and making the EU look stupid, for three years now. It seems that the US is looking more toward the military option. From JPost:

The US was drawing up plans to attack sites where Iran is believed to be enriching uranium before President George W. Bush's candidacy comes to an end, the UK-based Times reported on Wednesday.

According to the Times, the Bush government has been inviting defense consultants and Middle East experts to the White House and Pentagon for tactical advice.

The Pentagon was reported to be considering ways for the US to destroy nuclear facilities such as Iran's main centrifuge plant at Natanz...

And, two days ago, another US Navy assault ship joined the 5th Fleet, which operates in the Persian Gulf:

A US Navy strike group led by the assault ship USS Bataan steamed through the Suez Canal on Tuesday on its way to join the buildup of American forces in the Middle East.
...
The seven-vessel Bataan group includes 2,200 US Marines and sailors, helicopters and Harrier fighter jets, the Navy said in Bahrain.
...
The Navy is in the midst of a regional buildup, with the group of the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis on its way as well as 21,500 US soldiers being sent to Iraq. The carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower is already in the region.
...
The Bataan will join a second amphibious assault ship, the USS Boxer, which was on port visit in Dubai on Tuesday.

That's a whole lot of muscle, and with Iraq being a land conflict in a country with a miniscule coastline, it seems to me that Iran is the logical target...

As I have said before, 2007 will be interesting year.

Today's an Important Day

2007-01-31T02:36:00.000-08:00

Today is Big Girl's birthday, and she's 4 Big now. She reminded us of that, this morning. So, to celebrate, here is a picture of the Big Girl, as the flower girl at her aunt's wedding, when we were in Michigan this past fall:

Happy Birthday, Big Girl. Ema and Abba love you forever.

It Must be Nice to be a Jihadi

2007-01-31T02:10:00.000-08:00

Really, it must be. After all, nothing is ever your fault, and you can just throw personal responsibility right out the window.

Can't get a job? Suffer the tragic lose of a child? Depressed because your terrorist buddy got himself killed? No problem, just do like Mohammed Siksik, and blow youself up. The multiple murders won't be your fault:

The Palestinian who blew himself up in the Israeli resort of Eilat on Monday was unemployed, despondent over the death of his baby daughter and driven to avenge his best friend's killing by Israeli troops, relatives said. [emphasis mine]

Yup, he was "driven" to do it; you aren't to blame if you're "driven" to an action. Or, you can just join a Buck Stops Over There group, like Hezbollah. Do you want to bring a country to a standstill, but you're afraid of being held accountable? That's no problem, according to Hezbollah's leader:

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah accused President Bush on Tuesday of creating chaos in Lebanon, rejecting his charge that the militant group and its allies were causing the violence.

Of course it can't be their fault; all Hezbollah did was shut down a city, burn tires in the streets, start some fatal street riots... What could possibly be wrong with that? And the damage to southern Lebanon? Hezbollah didn't do that; all they did was start a war. All of that had to be someone else's fault.

Yes, it must be very nice to be a jihadi, and to know that, no matter what kind of mess you make of your life or your country, you just aren't responsible for any of it.

Some Things are too Surreal for Words

2007-01-30T03:47:00.000-08:00

I found

this gem on YNet

:

Mohamed ElBaradei, director-general of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, has proposed a "Timeout" in the confrontation between Tehran and the UN Security Council under which Iranian nuclear work and U.N. Sanctions on Tehran would be simultaneously suspended.

Leaving out, for the moment, discussions of just how effective the IAEA really is, putting Iran in "timeout" is ridiculous. My four-year-old goes in timeout. It works for her, because being alone is the worst thing in the world for a vivacious little kid.

Making the mullahs sit in the corner, especially if the weak sanctions are lifted first, will only give them the privacy they need to finish building their bomb.

Considering the childish behavior of so many bad guys in the world today, perhaps it's time for Western democracies to consider parental experience with toddlers as relevent for officeholders...

Some Misunderstandings of "Cease-Fire"

2007-01-30T03:14:00.000-08:00

Well, it seems that both the Israeli gov't and the palestinian terrorist groups are using some strange, new definition of "cease-fire." Here are a series of articles from this morning's news:

First,

from YNet

:

Warring Hamas and Fatah factions in Gaza declared a cease-fire early Tuesday, set to go into effect at 3 am local time Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar of Hamas announced.

... Zahar said clashes that have taken more than 60 lives are to halt, security forces are to return to their bases and suspects in killings are to be handed over. As he spoke, gunfire could still be heard in Gaza City.

I love that last sentence there. It just cracks me up.

Second,

also from YNet

:

Fighting raged in Gaza Tuesday morning despite a ceasefire declaration by warring factions.

Gunfire and explosions were audible in downtown Gaza City as gunmen from Fatah and Hamas ignored the ceasefire...

Well, at least they are consistent...

Third,

from Arutz Sheva

:

Eyewitnesses in Gaza reported exchanges of gunfire between Fatah and Hamas terrorists despite the latest ceasefire. Explosions were heard from Gaza City.

The ceasefire was supposed to go into effect at 3:00 AM on Tuesday. However, none of the steps included in the agreement, such as the release of hostages and dismantling of checkpoints, appear to have been taken at this time.

Yup. It seems that the palestinians keep agreements with each other about as well as they keep them with Israel. At least when people are consistent, you know where you stand with them.

Unless you are the Olmert government. And then you seem to think that all is just hunky-dory. Again,

from Arutz Sheva

:

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has decided to avoid a large-scale military response to Monday morning’s terrorist attack in Eilat. Olmert expressed his wish to maintain a ceasefire with Gaza. He will meet Tuesday afternoon with Defense Minister Amir Peretz and top army officials to discuss Israel’s course of action in wake of the attack.

Mr. Prime Minister, there have been, since the "cease-fire" was declared in November, over 100 rocket hits, and now a suicide bombing, inside Israel. That is not a cease-fire. It is a terrorist campaign. Waiting almost 36 hours to even start deciding what to do in response will only confirm the enemy's belief that Israel is weak.

It is time to admit that there is no "cease-fire," and to act accordingly. The terrorists must be made to feel the punishment for every attack. Then, and only then, should Israel sit down to negotiate what concessions the palestinians are ready to make.

Rant On

2007-01-29T08:55:00.000-08:00

I wasn't planning on posting today, but after the bombing in Eilat, I changed my mind. Before I talk about the bombing, however, I want to draw your attention to Israel's enlightened Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni.

She was in Switzerland last week, where she said this:

..."A Palestinian state is not an illusion. It's there, it's achievable."

Addressing a large crowd of political leaders, business leaders and others, Livni said that Israel's negotiations with Palestinians must stick to the vision of two states living side by side as the only way to achieve peace in the region.

Livni urged the international community to support moderates in the Middle East and told Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas that compromising with extremists will not promote anything...

Ms Livni, this marks you as an idiot. A useful idiot, to use a historically apt phrase. And in regarding Abbas, you need to start taking your own advice about "compromising with extremists." The man is no moderate, nor has he ever been. Another YNet report about the Eilat tragedy:

A high ranking official from one of the Palestinian organizations told Ynet that the terrorist attack in Eilat, which killed 3 civilians, was an operation coordinated between al-Quds Brigades, the Islamic Jihad's military wing, al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, Fatah's military wing, and the previously unknown organization called the Army of the Believers. [emphasis mine -M]

Now it seems to me that if Abbas can't keep his own group from collaborating with the supposedly outlawed terrorist groups, then what good is he as a "negotiating partner?"

It is time for the Israeli government to stop talking with terrorists. Full stop, as the British say. The PM's office should issue a simple statement, in blunt language, that reads like this:

"We are done talking. The next time there is a bombing, we will absolutely destroy the nearest palestinian town. This punishment action will continue until palestinian terrorism stops permanently. It's your choice."

We need to speak a language the terrorists will understand. With the milquetoast we have in power now, though, this isn't likely...

Rant off.

More Cute Kid Stuff

2007-01-28T07:35:00.000-08:00

I was getting the kids ready to go to their respective preschool/day care this morning, and apparently I was not moving fast enough for Big Girl. She asked me to help her get dressed while I was changing Sabra Baby...

When I looked up, Big Girl was coming out of her room, with a blue dress in one hand, pink pants in the other, and message for me:

"Abba, I will get dressed by myself, like an adult."

And she did. She got her pajamas off, and her clothes on, by herself. Like an adult. I told her I was very proud of her, and we all left a few minutes later.

When I met her carpool after gan let out, I asked her how her day went.

"Well, Abba, I will tell you. I did not have a good day. I wanted to play with the kubiyot, with the blocks, but Ezra was there first, and I was achrona. So then I wanted to play with the white dress, but someone else was rishona, and I was achrona. So then I played with other things."

Rishon/a and achron/a, of course, are 'first' and 'last.' The gannenet said that her day was fine, and she played nicely with the other kids.

Isn't it interesting how adults and kids have such different views of the same school day?

Another News Roundup

2007-01-28T05:44:00.000-08:00

I haven't blogged the news in a while, so here is a quick roundup of events in the region:

Iran is talking out of both sides of its mouth, regarding its nuclear enrichment program. From Yahoo News:

An Iranian nuclear agency official has denied claims made by a top lawmaker that the Islamic Republic had begun installing 3,000 centrifuges at an uranium enrichment plant...

Hossein Simorgh, spokesman of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization public relations department, said "no new centrifuges have been installed in Natanz," referring to the nuclear facility in central Iran, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

Earlier Saturday, lawmaker Alaeddin Boroujerdi said Iran was currently installing the 3,000 centrifuges, underlining that the country would continue to develop its disputed nuclear program despite U.N. sanctions.

It was not immediately clear why the two officials made contradicting statements. Iranian officials have in recent weeks said the country was moving toward large-scale enrichment involving 3,000 centrifuges, which spin uranium gas into enriched material.

"Not immediately clear," hey? Well, I'll venture a guess: The Iranians are just trying to throw up a smokescreen, and confuse the West. It just another tactic, like the barring of 38 UN inspectors, to keep the civilized world guessing as to what they really want to do. We cannot let it fool us.

Here in Israel, the Knesset passed an important bill through First Reading last week (a bill must pass 3 readings to become law). This bill is the start of electoral reform here; it will limit the executive cabinet to 18 ministers (Olmer's gov't currently has 25 ministers). From the Jerusalem Post:

...a whopping Knesset majority -78 to 7- voted in first reading last week to re-impose size limitations on the government.
...
All too many existing ministries are artificial and superfluous creations.
...
These are all examples of the spendthrift inventiveness to which our politicians resort -at our expense- to satisfy extortionist demands from coalition partners and thereby secure parliamentary majorities.

I have blogged before about the need for systemic reform of the Israeli government; you can find the post here, I think it makes very good reading. I believe that limiting the size of the Cabinet is a good first step towards an effective reform. The next steps should be:

To set up an electoral districting system for the Knesset;

To increase the size of the Knesset to at least 200 seats;

To adopt legislative approval of Cabinet appointees;

To adopt executive vetting, and legislative approval, of Supreme Court appointees; and,

To require that MKs give up their Knesset seats to accept a Cabinet ministry.

Most Israelis are in favor of some sort of electoral reform, but as a friend (and fellow Anglo oleh) was telling me earlier today, it always seems to be the Americans who suggest workable reforms...

And speaking of governments that need reform, let's take a brief look at the PA territories. It seems that they are getting upset with the IDF's restraint, and to keep the number the palestinian casualties up, they have resorted to killing each other... From the Jerusalem Post again:

The number of Palestinians killed in fierce fighting between Fatah and Hamas gunmen in the Gaza Strip over the weekend rose to 25 on Saturday night, with dozens more wounded in the clashes. At least six of the victims died on Saturday.

Among the casualties was two-year-old Yehya Abu Bakreh, who was killed when Fatah gunmen fired at his father's car. Fatah gunmen and Palestinian Authority policemen also attacked a mosque in Gaza City, killing a number of worshipers.

Some things I want you to notice: First, that the PA "police" were attacking alongside the Fatah forces... If these are the cops, why are they working with a known terrorist group? And second, that the Fatah/PA forces killed a two year old and attacked a mosque, actions which, had Israel done it, would have attracted instant and scathing scorn worldwide, but which are scarcely noticed when palestinians do it...

Also from this article, it seems that the average palestinian is far more realistic about the situation in the PA than the mainstream media:

A public opinion poll published Saturday showed that more than half of Palestinians believe that a civil war has begun. Sixty-six percent expressed pessimism regarding the general situation in the PA-controlled territories, while more than 88% said they no longer felt secure.

Remember now, the fighting in the PA these days is between Fatah and Hamas. Let's see how long it takes for them to blame Israel.

And, to finish out the news roundup, YNet News reports that not all of the palestinians were busy with internecine violence over the weekend:

Anonymous persons desecrated the tombstones of three graves in a Sephardic cemetery in the Jewish settlement in Hebron.

Considering the way palestinians have treated Jewish sacred sites within their reach, I think it is safe to assume just who damaged the cemetary. This is par for the course...