I am aware the world is not all fairy dust and marmalade, but neither are the actors in it so dull witted and stupid as Mr Perkins would have us believe nor business leaders so self centered as to put up with the kind of shortsighted nonsense to which Perkins attributes all motive and with which he indulges his self importance. I do hope you do not hold me with the same esteem Mr Perkins holds humanity.

I suppose given the story of our current economic colapse, and the involvement of our politicians, there may be some veracity to Perkins Claims. But it does explain to me a great deal, perhaps.

Insults… my favorite topic.

So, would “bin Sharmuta” mean “son of a Whore”?
How do you say “son of a pimp”?

Do you know any really juicy ones? I want to amaze my Arab acquaintances, that hold the notion that one can’t really properly insult in English.
(Please transcribe into English phonetics, I can’t read Arabic)

Thx!

I am not familiar with the book. But, I will look it up.

Thank you for confirming in no uncertain terms your absolute hatred of Lebanese Christians. I take it no one will need a course in English subtleties to understand this.

For those who do not understand Arabic. The first phrase translates into “Daughter of a Whore”. Does anyone disagree that this is an insult? How about the rest of the post?

What I find really humorous is that while you try to insult and demean others, you have actually shown how crude and uncivilized you are.

I truly hope no one reading will take your assertion that you are an American as a reflection on the rest of us.

You insult Marwan and Pierre for working in Dubai. What are you doing there? Should all Americans be denied their rights because you are not here?

I will respect the rest of the readers and refrain from telling you what I really think of you. But, I sure hope Marwan and Pierre will hear this and know who you are.

Cadmus

I was not referring to evil. I was specific in my post in addressing the inconsistencies and flip flopping in our policies. There has been no consistent direction in our approach to that region for a long time.

As far as control is concerned there has also been very little. If the US had control over events, things would have worked our way a lot more than they have.

I never expected anyone to believe me or give me the benefit of the doubt. Unfortunately the truth is stranger than fiction, and is very hard to believe. I am sure if I told where I have been you would be more willing to believe, but that is not the intent. This is not about me or my reputation. In here, I am just a code.

The intent is to instigate critical thinking.

I have spent enough time in the halls of Government addressing these issues – independently and not as an employee – to know that most people entrusted with making these decisions, unfortunately do not know what they are doing.

I have found that while there are many good people in Washington, the whole government structure is badly infected with three nasty viruses, arrogance, ignorance and wishful-thinking. There is a pervasive belief of superiority and a dismissive attitude towards what their opponents are capable of doing. I am sure all have heard the adage “Underestimate your enemy at your own peril”. There is also a sad lack of knowledge about the region and the way people think that often leads to failure. Finally, it appears that many simply roll the dice and hope they win.

Vice President Chaney’s answer on TV in 2004 should be taught to all political science students. With Iraq falling to pieces, he was asked how come the US did not seem to have had a plan to deal with Iraq after the take over. He responded that the US had a “very detailed and extensive plan, but when the plan met reality it had to be revised substantially and quickly”

“WHEN THE PLAN MET REALITY!!!” Shouldn’t the have been based on reality to start with?

As free thinkers we must always keep an open mind about all possibilities. I have learned not to discount what I hear with antagonism and absoluteness. Even if it is the words of the enemy, it behooves me to listen carefully, for I may learn something about them that could be critical in determining how I handle the conflict and win.

I also believe the fastest way to loose our freedom is to entrust it to others and turn away. It is not only our right, but our absolute DUTY to key a keen eye on those making decisions on our behalf and point out mistakes, whether they be intentional or not.

I once was young (No insult intended) and very idealistic. I believed in absolute right and wrong. I saw things in black and white. You are either with us or against us kind of mentality. I believed that our side is never wrong and the others are evil and always wrong. I believed in clear delineating lines.

But, the scars on my back, left by knife wounds – there are many on the chest also, as some would not care to wait until you turn your back – over the years have taught me that things are almost never what they seem.

Global politics is more like a demolition derby than a race. Those who assist you in one case will be your worst nemesis in the next and so on.

The old adage that “There are no permanent friends or enemies, but only permanent interests” is absolutely true.

As far as hard proof is concerned, you will not find it on Google. I am fully aware of the transfer of WMDs from Iraq to Syria and the Syrians working with Sudan in Darfur (points brought up here), but has any of you seen “hard evidence” in this string, or anywhere else? I have.

Now to your points, in the order you make them.

The Pakistanis shared their nuclear knowledge very well. Have you read the recent reports from the UN commission about Egypt and its nuclear program? There are also programs in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Sudan, Libya, Morocco, etc. Scary to think that if Qaddafi had not turned over evidence in that regards a year or so ago, the West would still be in the dark.

The house of Saud is inextricable from the Wahhabi religious leaders, and cannot go against them. All the talk about change is just talk. Al-Saud does not exist without the Wahhabis. We are deluding ourselves if we expect any real change from these guys. Unfortunately having them bowing down to the Wahhabis is better than the alternative at this time. But, that does not mean we must take our queues from them. We should recognize them for what they are.

Hizbullah and Iran. Khomeini was in Paris until he moved to Iran on the heels of the revolution. Do you really think he could have conducted all this without the Western powers knowing? How can all those mullahs and revolutionary guards be trained under the watchful eyes of the Shah’s henchmen?

The South Lebanon training camps are very well documented. We were on the ground and saw those happen. We fought them and tried to stop them. This was one of the triggers for the war in Lebanon.

As far as the time line of Hizbullah is concerned, this is how it evolved. The training camps produced a Shiite group called Amal (an Arabic acronym for the Brigades of the Dispossessed) under the leadership of Imam Mousa Sadr. If the name sound familiar, he is the uncle of the Sadr in Iraq, the current leader of Al Mahdi Army. He was a Lebanese born and raised in Iran. His brother went to Iraq to work on the Shiites there.

Sadr, however, did not fulfill his fanatic destiny. He immediately began to advocate coexistence with other Lebanese and merely insisted on giving the Shiites an equal roll (Whatever he meant by that) In 1977 Sadr supposedly boards a plane from Libya to Italy, but never arrives in Italy. It was a commercial plane. The Italians say he never arrived, and the Libyans provide evidence that he got on the plane. That remains a mystery to be solved.

Those who took over the leadership simply turned into a rag tag band of thugs without much direction. Soon after, a break away group called Islamic-Amal came into existence proclaiming to correct the path of the movement. That is what eventually became Hizbullah in the early 1980s. Hizbullah did not actually proclaim its existence until 1985, but trust me; they had been there long before.

Taliban and Al-Qaida. You deny any connection and then admit that Carter approves the introduction of fundamentalism. It is no secret that we recruited Bin Laden. Washington does not deny this.

Bin Laden was officially a guest in Afghanistan, but effectively ran the country. Taliban and Al-Qaida are two sides of the same coin.

The Saudi base can be checked with old military personnel if you wish. Some of you said you had been in the military, you can ask some of the older guys. I personally know the people who built it and some who used it as far back as 1973. It was not Kuwait, and not oil assets.

The Iraq-Kuwait issue is a little more complicated. During the Iraq-Iran war, the shipping lanes from the Iraqi ports were not very reliable. The Iraqis made a deal with Kuwait to extract Iraqi oil and ship it and pass on the proceeds to Iraq – less any commission to do so. The wells were drilled at an angle from Kuwait under the border to make them look like Kuwaiti fields.

At the end of the War, Kuwait claims Iraq owes it the funds they gave them and claims the fields were actually Kuwaiti. The US took the side of Kuwait and encouraged them not to back down. We promised them protection and told them to hold their ground.

When Saddam masses more than 100,000 troupes at the Kuwaiti border and threatens to attack, our ambassador to Iraq clearly tells Iraq it is an internal issue that we have nothing to do with, but that clearly was not the case. Iraq takes that as a green light and strikes, and the rest as they say is history. The ambassador was not allowed to talk to reporters and then simply went off screen.

You may want to check which company was drilling and extracting that oil, and who owns it. I know you will not believe me if I told you.

Russian support for Iran. Chechnya is a problem for Russia, but not a real threat. The real Russian fear at that time stemmed from the more than 60 million Moslems in ex-Soviet central Asian republics and their extension into Afghanistan and Pakistan. Add to that the war in Yugoslavia and Turkey’s position in relation, and you have a serious threat.

In fact it was that fear of the central Asian Moslems that played a major, if not the primary, roll in the break-up of the Soviet Union. The Slavs wanted to separate from them. Remember, the initial plans of Gorbachev and Yeltsin were to keep the European side the union in a federation, but once the chain was broken, all the beads fell out.

All this was happening between 1988 and 1992. The same time frame as the end of the Iraq-Iran war and the end of the first gulf war.

Finally I will encourage you to read the writings of some of the operatives who were involved in all of these issues. It will shed a whole new light on the workings of international politics. A good place to start is “Confessions of an economic hit man”.

One Israeli Mossad operative in another book explains how when Israel wanted to strike an enemy, it would often strike its enemies enemy. It would make look like its enemy did it, thus starting a conflict and sitting back to watch and feed the fire. Espionage 101.

More to come.

Cadmus

Actually, Dubaisucker, the country that has more pain in its a**, is yours ! unemployment rates are higher than by ours ! and don’t worry for our freedom, our laws code is effective, plus we had not 2 presidents that advocated for Turkey being an EU country (ie your 2 Bush & Obama), one wonder for which firms they voiced, any idea ? got to say that Brezinsky was/is still the US state policies guru !

recent years, before the financial crash, what is loosely known as the French model came in for fierce criticism, chiefly for failing to generate enough growth or jobs. Its detractors have not only been les Anglo-Saxons but have also included Nicolas Sarkozy himself. He may be better known now for proclaiming the end of laissez-faire capitalism. But he was elected France’s president partly by arguing that the French model was moribund, and picking out the British and American models for praise.

http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13610197

soooo-go fight for whats yours. ahhh, whats that…Marwan tooooo busy seting up a ladies underware shop in abu dhabi, ahh Pierre busy getting that green card. well, i guess you snooze you-loose. just like the cuuuuubanossss on calle ocho in Miami

I bet you’re under drugs cuz your livin in a parallel world, and mummy won’t be there when you’re going to wake up —-> tic tic Booooom !

binti charmuta…i’m america-born and raised- and laugh my head off diggin how blouted leb egos are shocked at seeing there country slide into the sewer. guess ya gotta tell pretty Marwan or Pierre that freedom ain’t free !!!

soooo-go fight for whats yours. ahhh, whats that…Marwan tooooo busy seting up a ladies underware shop in abu dhabi, ahh Pierre busy getting that green card. well, i guess you snooze you-loose. just like the cuuuuubanossss on calle ocho in Miami

sorta like blouted cubans in miami, looking down their snoots at other latinos.