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Politics : DON'T START THE WAR -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bid Buster who wrote (9081)	2/16/2003 10:13:29 PM
From: greenspirit	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 25898

One at a time. We don't want to stretch our capabilities too far. Why are we going in now? Because we should. Because, finally we have a leader in the Oval office who is more concerned about international human rights, than how successfull he can be in persuing 19 year old skirts running around the oval office. You're right to be upset Clinton ignored the Khymer Rouge massacres. A real travesty.... If the protestors get their way and Saddam remains in power. The blood of thousands upon thousand of Iraqi men women and children will be on their hands. Here's a good blogger from overseas.. americankaiser.blogspot.com THE LATEST FROM PARIS: Bonjour. It's about 6pm Saturday here in Paris, and I've had a very interesting 36 hours here. My friend and I spent much time walking around, met with the president of the local Simon Wiesenthal Center (a Jewish anti-hate group), and visited the antiwar rally here in Paris. Here's a summary: Anti-Americanism is rampant. I'm not trying to look particularly American, but it seems to come across; I speak decent French, but nobody cares. I've made sure to speak French--these folks are very testy about language--but it doesn't seem to help. I was buying the International Herald Tribune, the international version of the New York Times, and was asked if I was American or Australian. (Why the person would assume America or Australia are the only two English-speaking nations is beyond me, but these are the French.) I said I was Australian (no need for a fistfight) and she launched into a tirade about the United States and Israel. "Les israeliens, ils tuent les Palestinienns tous les temps." ("The Israelis are killing the Palestinians all the time.") I decided to listen to her, mostly out of curiosity, then responded, in broken French, "what about the bombings of Israeli children?" She shrugged and said "la colonialisme est un horreur." (Colonialism is horrible.) Irony abounded, of course, given the French legacy of failed colonialism. (Vietnam and Algeria stand out as examples.) Anti-Semitism has died down as of late, though it is still present. I'm not a particularly religious Jew, but I made a point of attending synagogue today. Prior to entering the main synagogue, I was searched by a cop and interrogated at length by two congregants. The anti-Semitism isn't as bad in Paris as it is in the suburbs of Paris, where working-class Jews and working-class Muslims live by side. The man I met from the Simon Wiesenthal Center said that anti-Semitism is rampant in those communities. He said that while most of the anti-Semitic actions are committed by Arab immigrants, the authorities often turn away. For example, the police are extremely reluctant to report anti-Semitic activity as a "hate crime." Gunshots were fired through the window of a Jewish school bus several months ago, injuring an 8-year-old girl. The police declared this to be a "smashed windshield." The shooter was told to pay a fine of 300 Euros ($350) and perform some community service. "Jews Die" was painted on the side of a suburban synagogue a few weeks ago. The incident was reported as "vandalism." The willful ignorance of the problem stretches far beyond the scene of law enforcement. The PS (Socialist Party) has made a conscious decision to avoid reaching out to the 400,000 Jewish voters in favor of the 4 million Muslim ones. (This is true even though Muslims in France tend not to vote.) The party, which lost badly in last year's elections, refused to endorse Israel's right to exist in its official platform, urging "Middle Eastern nations to work to guarantee an end to the Palestinian refugee problem" and condemning "unilateral and unjust Israeli actions against the civilian population of Palestine." The rally today was hysterical. Iraqi and Palestinian flags were everywhere, and signs openly declared that the United States and Israel are Nazi regimes. One sign showed Bush with a Hitler mustache, and another featured Ariel Sharon slaughtering a Palestinian baby at a chopping block, with the words "Israel wants Palestinian blood." One of the rallying cries was "Kill Bush." Another, delivered in English, was "Hey Hey Ariel, Your stinking ass should go to jail." I kid you not. This rally was a display of anti-American and anti-Semitic sentiments the likes of which I have never before seen. But I had the opportunity to see French soldiers, which was nice. After all, there are no French soldiers on battlefields. I'll try to post again in the next few days, now that I've found a nifty Internet cafe in my neighborhood.

To: Bid Buster who wrote (9081)	2/16/2003 10:39:21 PM
From: epicure	Respond to of 25898

He was killing people when Rumsfield was kissing him on the cheeks. 1983, I think? There are...pictures.