Politics-International

UN Resolutions At The Heart Of The Crisis 1559 And 485. What The Hell Are They?

Mulder

Nothing like a few rockets and missiles to make an average Joe go digging for facts. Wikipedia is a great source. The two UN resolutions I hear quoted most throughout this conflict are 1559 and 485.

Fact:

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1559 was a resolution adopted by the United Nations Security Council on September 2, 2004. It called upon Syria to end its military presence in Lebanon by withdrawing its forces and to cease intervening in internal Lebanese politics. The resolution also called on all Lebanese militias (including Hezbollah) to disband.

Fiction:

Israel is ALSO in violation of UN Resolutions regarding the Farms of Shebaa. (I heard this one on CFRA yesterday from a caller)

Fact:

Israel’s view is that the area is not covered by United Nations UN Security Council Resolution 425 that governs its withdrawal from southern Lebanon. That resolution asks for Israel to withdraw from Lebanon according to the line its forces were positioned at before the May 14, 1978 invasion.

The United Nations and most of the world community, including Israel, agree that Shebaa Farms is part of Syria.

The United Nations looked at more than ninety different maps of the region. Only one of them—which was deemed a forgery—showed the Sheba’a Farms as Lebanese.

With the UN determining the Farms of Shebaa are part of Syria, and Syria making no effort to change maps or draw the line in the sand regarding where the border between them and Lebanon is, the Israelis were found to have adhered to Resolution 485 by the UN.

Stephen Harper Thanked By Six Lebanese Organizations

Mulder

This has to spread and the blogosphere needs to do the grunt work so please help out.

We, the undersigned, representatives of the six Canadian Lebanese organizations that are listed below, extend our heartfelt gratitude to the Canadian government, represented by Prime Minister Mr. Stephen Harper and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Peter MacKay, for the correct, just and prompt positions they have taken with regard to Lebanon and the unfortunate military confrontations that are occurring on its soil as a result of the reckless hostile actions of the Hezbollah group that violate the will of the Lebanese people and the decisions and authority of the legitimate government of Lebanon. The actions and conduct of Hezbollah are extremely harmful to the interests of Lebanon and the Lebanese people, and obstruct progress of the peace process in Lebanon specifically, and in the Middle East in general.

We also thank the government for its wise and effective efforts with respect to its handling of all measures for the evacuation of Canadian citizens from Lebanon, the safeguard of their security, and their safe return to Canada.

We call on the Canadian government to continue its interventions through the United Nations and the Security Council to secure an immediate truce in Lebanon based on UN Resolution 1559, which explicitly calls for the disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias, the deployment of the Lebanese army along the border with Israel, and the extension of the authority of the Lebanese government over all Lebanese territory.

Signatories of the statement

Elias Bejjani/Lebanese Canadian Coordinating Council (LCCC)
Toni Mouanis/Canadian Lebanese Human Rights Federation (CLHRF)
Noel Haddad/Phoenician Club of Mississauga (PCOM)
Khalil Kaekati/Canadian Phoenician Community Services Club (CPCSC)
Charbel Constantine/Canadian Lebanese Christian Heritage Club (CLCHC)
Colonel Charbel Barakat/World Lebanese Cultural Union (WLCU)-Canadian Chapter

Unless I am mistaken, Toni Mouanis and his family were recently interviewed on CTV after getting out of Lebanon via Syria. Toni’s story of fighting through red tape, bribes, etc to get home was an extraordinary affair. To have someone who did not even take advantage of the Canadian evac plan make a statement like this says a lot about the man and the validity of this letter.

I bolded a key part of the letter that everyone should pay attention to.

H/T DustMyBroom

Also posted at MarkPeters.ca, Rootleweb, Judeoscope, ConservativeLife , Political Staples but you won’t find it at CTV, or CBC, or Canwest, or GlobeandMail, or Toronto Star, or Ottawa Citizen, or any other MSM that I know of. I will update this post as I spot more of this article. It just goes to show you that until the MSM gets off their moonbat asses, the blogosphere will continue to help make the news equal.

One Canadian Gets Press, One Blogger Bites Back Fiercely

Mulder

This is simply beautiful. I urge everyone to read the statements of these two men. One is a Canadian business man from Halifax, and Lebanese consul, who has the luxury of getting quoted by the MSM and the other is a Canadian man who has only his key board and a bit of server memory in the blogosphere.

I think the MSM is paying attention to the wrong Canadians right now because Mark’s “rant” is not really a rant but a well crafted, logical, emotionally unemotional response.

Irwin Cotler Already On The Record Regarding Israel And Her Fight For Survival

Mulder

I am really curious what Irwin Cotler thinks about the current state of affairs in the Middle East and what he thinks of Stephen Harper’s statements. Oh wait, he already wrote something about this back in 2004 for the Jerusalem Post.

Israel and the Jewish people have been singled out for differential and discriminatory treatment in the international arena — and worst of all — singled out for destruction. The time has come to sound the alarm — not only for Israel and the Jewish people whose safety and security is under existential threat and attack — but for the world community and the human condition as a whole. For as history has taught us only too well, while the persecution and discrimination may begin with Jews, it doesn’t end with Jews.

I urge all Liberals to read the whole article.

Want Another Bong Hit Nancy?

Mulder

I often hear stories of people who don’t remember what happened the night before, or when they were in college, or when they were on that day-glo covered busride across the US with Ken Kesey and Neal Cassady in the 1960’s but to hear about someone railing for the opposite of something they voted for is not familiar to me…until today.

Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi is calling on the president to immediately declare that the U.S. will start bearing the costs of evacuating its citizens from Lebanon, instead of charging them, saying, “A nation that can provide more than $300 billion for a war in Iraq can provide the money to get its people out of Lebanon.”

But the president isn’t authorized to reverse the policy — which requires citizens to pay commercial fare plus a dollar for government evacuation — since it’s encoded in the 2003 Foreign Relations Authorization Act. That law was approved by the House and the Democratic controlled Senate in 2002. Pelosi herself voted for the measure.

I think Nancy Pelosi should contact Kevin Trudeau and take his Mega Memory course.

H/T to ShamTheToryMan

Definitions Of "Measured" and "Captured"

Mulder

Since Stephen Harper is being criticized for his use of the word “measured” with respect to the Israeli response to “kidnapped” soldiers I thought looking at the situation from a different perspective is in order.

From Dictionary.comv. meas·ured, meas·ur·ing, meas·ures
v. tr.

  1. To ascertain the dimensions, quantity, or capacity of: measured the height of the ceiling.
  2. To mark, lay out, or establish dimensions for by measuring: measure off an area.
  3. To estimate by evaluation or comparison: “I gave them an account… of the situation as far as I could measure it” (Winston S. Churchill).
  4. To bring into comparison: She measured her power with that of a dangerous adversary.
    1. To mark off or apportion, usually with reference to a given unit of measurement: measure out a pint of milk.
    2. To allot or distribute as if by measuring; mete: The revolutionary tribunal measured out harsh justice.
  6. To serve as a measure of: The inch measures length.
  7. To consider or choose with care; weigh: He measures his words with caution.
  8. Archaic. To travel over: “We must measure twenty miles today” (Shakespeare).

I would tend to think that number 7 is the usage Harper was getting at but they all really mean the same thing. Something that is compared, taken into account, evaluated etc.

So here we go. Since January (yes I said January) there have been 1000 or so shells fired into Israel from southern Lebanon. Did the Israeli’s respond? No. They showed incredible restraint by not reacting to these acts of violence.

Last year Lebanon held its’ first elections since 1976 and Hezbollah runs on a platform promise of wiping Israel off the map and wins 35 of 128 seats in the new parliament and Israel sits back with patience and restraint.

Hezbollah, an elected entity in the NATION of Lebanon crosses an INTERNATIONAL border and kills 8 Israeli SOLDIERS and CAPTURES 2 Israeli SOLDIERS and Israel finally reacts.

You really need to stop and think about this. The captilized words are the keys here.

Lebanon is, indeed, a nation. Israel is a different nation. Soldiers from one nation crossed the border and attacked soldiers of the other. This was not just a kidnapping. This was an act of war by any nations standards. In acts of war, soldiers are not kidnapped, they are captured so when you hear the MSM say “kidnapped Israeli soldiers” you can rewrite that as “captured Israeli soldiers”.

For Israel to arrive at the response they have is not unrealistic, nor unexpected. It is how almost any nation would have reacted to an attack on its’ soldiers. They closed down bridges into and out of the country, they bombed the airports and they cut off access via the sea. Was this to prevent innocent people from leaving? No. This was to cut off supply lines just as any good military movement is trained to do. This was to close off the escape route of the un-uniformed Hezbollah fighters who seem to melt into the crowds when push comes to shove.

This was the first step in a “measured” response to what has to happen for Israel to get her soldiers back. It was a “measured” response to wake up Lebanese voters to boot Hezbollah from Parliament. It was a “measured” response to neutralize an enemy who has sworn to wipe Israel off the face of the earth.

Do I feel for the Lebanese who are not part of the Hezbollah arm of parliament or the Shite laden southern part of the nation? Yes.

Do I feel that Israel may be doing Lebanon a favour in the long run by doing the dirty work that the pearl of the Middle East has not been able to do for itself? Yes.

Do I feel that for Canadians to choose such a hostile country to vacation in was a poor choice? You bet.

Do I feel for the families of the Canadians (including the one Israeli soldier who spent his summers in Montreal) who have died in this battle? With every bit of my heart.

But the better good is being served by this battle and in the long run, the Middle East will be better off for having this terrorist organization out of Lebanon, out of the Lebanese parliament and out of ammunition.

ACLU Refuses Support For Religious Free Speech In Case Of High School Valedictorian

Mulder

Dr. Roy has blogged a couple of times about Brittany McComb, a Nevada high school valedictorian who had her speech censored by the school. When McComb chose to read her original speech, despite the school editing out her religious remarks, they chose to cut off the power to her microphone, in effect, censoring her speech.

The ACLU has chosen to side with the school on this one. They say that the school is giving her the forum to speak and should have control over what she says. *screeching tires* What?? Back that up. The ACLU says that an authority should have control over what an individual says?? Am I hearing this right?

What’s the ACLU become? They certainly aren’t defenders of free speech anymore. This is the type of case they used to grab onto with those sharp canines and shake their head like a pitbull until their prey was screaming for mercy. But NOOooooo. In the case of it being religious, they have chosen to defend the school’s censorship over the student’s First Amendment rights.

The ACLU could have used this case to shake off the left leaning labels they are being painted with. But instead they have chosen to reveal that they are truly a biased agency.

Brittany is going to court strictly on free speech grounds (i.e no financial aspects) and I wish her, and her lawyers, the best.

The Middle East Reminds Me Of Capone vs. The Untouchables

Mulder

For those who ask why Israel is not negotiating I have two words for you.

They are.

If he pulls a knife, you pull a gun. If he puts one of your men in the hospital, you put one of his in the morgue.

-Jimmy Malone (played by Sean Connery) in The Untouchables.

But in this case.

If he kidnaps two of your soldiers, negotiate by putting 2 of his in the morgue. If he doesn’t return them, put two more in the morgue. If he doesn’t return them, put two more in the morgue and so on, and so on.

I get the impression that with the latest response from the Lebanese Prime Minister that either the two soldiers are dead or that the Lebanese have absolutely no control over the ability to return them. i.e. Hezbollah is calling the shots (not to mention firing them off 35km into Israel)

Prime Minister Fouad Siniora on Saturday called Israel’s military a “war machine” and said attacks had turned his country into a “disaster zone.”

…

Siniora called for an immediate U.N.-backed cease-fire and international help to stop Israel’s attacks.

A cease-fire, he said, will allow Lebanon to “establish its sovereignty over all its lands” based on the 1949 armistice agreement.

…

He said Israel was “punishing all Lebanese collectively, with their actions lacking any moral or legal legitimacy.”

In response, an Israel Foreign Ministry spokesman said Lebanon had triggered the crisis by failing to disarm Hezbollah.

“This whole crisis was initiated by aggression by Lebanon into Israel,” said Mark Regev.

(emphasis mine)

I am one of those wishing for a quick, peaceful resolution to this, but I think Regev has this one right. The border has been relatively peaceful for quite some time. The incursion by Hezbollah was obviously a tactic to pull Israel’s attention away from the soldier kidnapped and being held in the Gaza Strip and after Jack’s Newswatch reminded me of this clip, it is obvious what side of the fence the Western world is on.

WASHINGTON (CNN) –Iran is responsible for the 1983 suicide bombing of a U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, that killed 241 American servicemen, a U.S.

District Court judge ruled Friday.U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth said the suicide truck bombing was carried out by the group Hezbollah with the approval and funding of Iran’s senior government officials.

The Lebanese need to boot Hezbollah out. If they need help to do it, they should ask. But it is something they need to do if they want to preserve their nation. By asking for time to “establish sovereignty” I think they are just asking for reprieve. There seems to be no way the Lebanese can control Hezbollah.

9/11 Conspiracy Theorists Need To Tighten A Screw Or Two In Their Heads

Mulder

I have been seeing a link to a mock science experiment that the right is using to downplay the conspiracy theory’s regarding the collapse of the WTC.

You can read about this mock science experiment here. It is interesting to see the effect of fire on chickenwire, but I think NIST has done a far better job at explaining how the towers came down. Most left wing whack jobs probably didn’t even gander at it.

You can view the whole pdf of the NIST analysis (over 400 pages with diagrams, charts, analysis, etc.) here. I urge you to go to about page 282 of the document, which is page 364 of the pdf file and read the 20 to 40 pages about their analysis of each tower falling and keep in mind, that the structural integrity changes once parts go into motion. A building is designed to be inert. Once parts start moving beyond tolerance of design, any architect will tell you that the building is in trouble.

But to provide my own analysis of the main conspiracy theories I have seen:

Conspiracy Theory: The jet fuel could not burn hot enough to melt steel girders.

Explanation: It would not have to melt the steel girders, just heat them up enough to allow for sag, which the NIST report points out. Once sag starts to happen on a floor the horizontal pull of the floor would cause the outer walls to be pulled inward, thus providing a kink in the shape which would cause the tower to give. Think of how much stronger your arm is when your elbow is locked straight than when you bend it a little bit and force so much more weight on the tendons and muscles holding your arm in that bent position. Give it try. Take a five lb weight in each arm and hold one straight over year head with elbow locked, and the other over your head with the elbow bent slightly and see which arm tires out first.

Conspiracy Theory: The tower was using reinforced steel and had been designed well. How could fuel have melted the girders and caused the collapse.

Explanation: According to NIST, WTC 1 fell because of buckling around floor 98 due to the heat buildup weaking specific structural points. This means that when the 12 or so floors above came crashing down on a weakened floor 97, the amount of pressure was immensely more than the structure was designed to support in a stable, inert environment. ex. Think of when you jump down about 5 feet or so and land on your feet. The pressure on your ankles and knees is far more than that of your weight when you stand on them.

Conspiracy Theory: People saw explosions around the base of the tower.

Explanation: Continuing the above example, with an analogy, when someone jumps from a buildings second or third floor to save their life and they land on the ground, they inevitably have shattered ankles and/or knees and broken foot arches from the pressure of landing and all their weight coming down on these joints. Similarly, every time the mass at the top hit downwards the pressure on the base of the tower would have reverberated the footings and pillars near the bottom almost as much as the ones at the top where the pancaking occurs. Eventually the concrete, as it does under very high stress, cracks and explodes outwards looking like an explosion. Remember, we aren’t talking about someone on the 98th floor jumping up and down. We are talking about the mass of every concrete and steel section above the 98th floor all coming down at about 10 ft/s and accelerating. The weight would crush each floor underneath and add that floors weight to the next floor being struck, and each time there would be a massive amount of pressure being applied to the floors far lower in the tower.

Conspiracy Theory: Bush killed almost 3000 people to start a war.

Explanation: Leftwing nutjob whackos grasping at straws.

Please feel free to post any other conspiracy theories here. I would be glad to debunk them.

H/T to Kate at SDA for the chickenwire experiment.

Now can I please get back to watching the F1 race before taking my daughter to see the movie Cars?