Wednesday, February 25, 2009
So US Taxpayers get to rebuild Gaza?
Don't we have enough problems here in the US already? Now the news is that we will give $900 million to Palestine to help rebuild what Israel blew up. The government can't agree to help GM or Ford out of their miserable state yet we can agree to give a group of terrorists and extremists who don't even like us $900 million. Maybe the CEO of GM should go to Congress next time and be a jerk and say GM hates America....then they'll get a huge bailout package?
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Hillary Clinton heads to China
Newly appointed US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton heads to Asia looking to make new inroads in bilateral relations with China . Clinton will visit four nations during the trip, but make no doubts, the real focus of the trip is China.
She has made it clear she wants to move the relationship with China dramatically forward, finding new ways to build and sustain economic growth, but also to forge new agreements on climate change and the environment .
It will be interesting to see the welcome Clinton gets in China. In 1995, as first lady, Clinton delivered a fiery speech on human rights at a Beijing conference winning a worldwide following while dismaying her Chinese hosts, who banned coverage in the country's official media.
She has made it clear she wants to move the relationship with China dramatically forward, finding new ways to build and sustain economic growth, but also to forge new agreements on climate change and the environment .
It will be interesting to see the welcome Clinton gets in China. In 1995, as first lady, Clinton delivered a fiery speech on human rights at a Beijing conference winning a worldwide following while dismaying her Chinese hosts, who banned coverage in the country's official media.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
What to do with Guantanamo Inmates?
President Obama has stated plans to close Guantanamo Bay in a year. Most Americans are ok with this decision. The big issue that has barely been addressed is what to do with the prisoners?
It has been established that most of the prisoner's home countries will not take them back under any circumstances. Now several Senators are beginning to speak out saying "do not send them here!" The objections will become louder and more widespread I am sure as the closure date approaches.
The Guantanamo prison opened in 2002 at the US naval base on Cuba and has been widely condemned by rights groups and foreign governments as failing to meet basic legal standards. President Obama is bowing to international pressure to close the facility. Unfortunately, nobody has come forward with a plan for the prisoners. Hopefully, we don't set them free, but I get the feeling many will be flat out released. Sixty prisoners that have been released over the last year are unable to leave because no country will allow them entry.
It has been established that most of the prisoner's home countries will not take them back under any circumstances. Now several Senators are beginning to speak out saying "do not send them here!" The objections will become louder and more widespread I am sure as the closure date approaches.
The Guantanamo prison opened in 2002 at the US naval base on Cuba and has been widely condemned by rights groups and foreign governments as failing to meet basic legal standards. President Obama is bowing to international pressure to close the facility. Unfortunately, nobody has come forward with a plan for the prisoners. Hopefully, we don't set them free, but I get the feeling many will be flat out released. Sixty prisoners that have been released over the last year are unable to leave because no country will allow them entry.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
North Korea threatens war with South Korea
North Korea threatened war with South Korea due to their confrontational political policies. The message was clear only two days after the North vowed to abandon all peace agreements with its southern neighbor.
Relations between the pair have been strained since conservative South Korean President Lee Myung-bak took office nearly a year ago. He pledged to take a harder line on the North. Tension heightened Friday when the North said it was ditching a nonaggression pact and all other peace accords with South Korea.
The tension may lead to "an unavoidable military conflict and a war," North Korea's main Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in a commentary carried by the country's official Korean Central News Agency.
"The policy of confrontation" by the South Korean government is "the very source of military conflicts and war" between the Koreas, it said.
The North has accused Lee's government of preparing to stage a war, which South Korea denies. Earlier this month, the North's military declared it adopted an "all-out confrontational posture" to defeat any southern aggression. In its Friday statement, the North said it would no longer respect a disputed sea border with the South on the west of the peninsula, raising the prospect for a new armed clash in the area, already the scene of bloody naval skirmishes in 1999 and 2002.
President Lee Myung-bak sought to downplay the statement and called it "not unusual." He indicated his government will wait until the North is ready for talks in good faith.
A South Korean Defense Ministry official said Sunday that the country's navy remains on alert along the western sea border. The official also said the ministry has not detected any unusual movements of the North Korean military. The peninsula remains divided by a heavily fortified border, with tens of thousands of troops stationed on both sides.
Relations between the pair have been strained since conservative South Korean President Lee Myung-bak took office nearly a year ago. He pledged to take a harder line on the North. Tension heightened Friday when the North said it was ditching a nonaggression pact and all other peace accords with South Korea.
The tension may lead to "an unavoidable military conflict and a war," North Korea's main Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in a commentary carried by the country's official Korean Central News Agency.
"The policy of confrontation" by the South Korean government is "the very source of military conflicts and war" between the Koreas, it said.
The North has accused Lee's government of preparing to stage a war, which South Korea denies. Earlier this month, the North's military declared it adopted an "all-out confrontational posture" to defeat any southern aggression. In its Friday statement, the North said it would no longer respect a disputed sea border with the South on the west of the peninsula, raising the prospect for a new armed clash in the area, already the scene of bloody naval skirmishes in 1999 and 2002.
President Lee Myung-bak sought to downplay the statement and called it "not unusual." He indicated his government will wait until the North is ready for talks in good faith.
A South Korean Defense Ministry official said Sunday that the country's navy remains on alert along the western sea border. The official also said the ministry has not detected any unusual movements of the North Korean military. The peninsula remains divided by a heavily fortified border, with tens of thousands of troops stationed on both sides.
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