reed writes

A couple days ago I got this email from an anonymous blogger:

Old Grampa Gwyn on Diplomatic Immunity had it right on, probably because he reads history….How easy it was for unscrupulous mullahs to wind up those hordes of young muslim men caught in the intense opposing magnetic fields of absolute compliance demanded by Allah in home and mosque,and the lure of fast cars, girls and Ipods offered by US pop and consumer culture. As to the lack of wisdom and respect in publishing the cartoons, an African proverb says it best: “a chicken who hatches the eggs of a crocodile is asking for trouble”

lord anthony

Anon, you are so right about the eggs.

At some time or other in the course of history, religious leaders have always found those opportune moments to exploit their adherents. They seem to be able to wind up their followers to do just about anything, if the circumstances are right.

Oddly, it doesn’t much matter what the religion is…and…they all have their sects. Moreover, it doesn’t much matter what the “windup” is intended to accomplish either. The main thing it seems is that the religious leader, whether priest, mullah, rabbi, koresh or jim jones, wants something to get off on. These guys (and they are all men), relish their inquisitions, fatwahs, ibcanash and other so-called “purifying rituals”. Sadly, there are often – all too often it seems – sycophants, dullards, true believers or simply those who aspire to popedom or mullahood – who can be counted on to answer the call. Unfortunately for the princess of justice and true desserts, these people often mask themselves so as to hide their true identity from both followers and victims. We could say they are all victims.

Incidentally, this same mentality is at work daily, in “civilian” life- as when we witness the zeal of soldiers eager to go above and beyond the call of duty in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Israel, Egypt, the United States, Canada etc. etc. etc etc etc, primarily to please their civilian masters and/or mistresses. This “zeal” is not the special province of Muslims, Jews Christians, or even Buddhists, who have their own evil burden to bear. It crosses all racial, ethnic and religious lines.

You are so right about the eggs- even the Welsh believed in that idea.

It’s like the cross-breeding experiment sponsored by Fidel Castro, back in the 1970’s. He bred German Shepherds with timber wolves. Great guard dogs, but most of them got sick and died or ate their young.

When you cross a religious or fanatical political leader with a dumbass “follower-type”, the offspring will usually get sick and die or devour their babies- but not before they take a large number of other innocents with them. I don’t believe that it’s possible to eradicate this kind of thing from our midst and certainly not with 500 pound bombs, stinger missiles or hypnotic trances.

African proverbs notwithstanding, the human race has an infinite variety of new tactics at its disposal and will undoubtedly continue in the familiar strategic pattern ad infinitum.

Cheers.

Thomas Friedman has an excellent column on the dilemma faced by world leaders with respect to Hamas.

But the democratic election of people who have supported and sponsored terror is nothing new.

It’s happened many many times in the past, including in Israel itself.

But with Hamas, it has leaders and wannabe leaders stymied…falling back on old, tired, hackneyed approaches, like sanctions and shunning. These have proven to be as ineffective as military action when it comes to dealing with volatile and unpredictable situations.

Some observers have called the Palestinian-Israeli conflict intractable. But it’s not. It just involves greater political will and leadership than has been shown thus far, with the possible exception of that shown by Ytzakh Rabin and Yasser Arafat.

They had hammered out a solution, because they talked to each other. They actually talked and made visits to each others’ homes.

But the powers that be- for some reason- didn’t like that.

They distributed posters of the Israeli leader dressed as a Nazi, then arranged for his murder and for the destruction of the Arab. In the process, they killed hope.

And now, despite all the understandable reasons as to why Hamas got elected, those same little minds are doing it again.

Friedman, who knows as much as anyone about this issue, knows very well how the Palestinians feel and how the Israelis feel…they want peace…regardless of how their leaders feel. But, like so many, he doesn’t strive for or recommend anything positive; he ends his column today with the following para-

So, yes, in principle, Hamas doesn’t deserve to be treated like a democratic government. But in practice, Hamas has something Israelis badly want: a cease-fire — not recognition. Israel chose to destroy Yasir Arafat’s government and got Hamas. What if it destroys Hamas? What will it get then? I don’t know, but the answer is not simple. Designing the right policy to deal with a democratically elected terrorist group that deserves to be spurned but has something you want is not in the textbooks.

He asks the question…will Israel destroy Hamas they way they did Arafat and if they do…what will they get? He doesn’t know.

One thing is for certain, you cannot have any positive influence on the thinking of a person or a group if you shun them…you only alienate them more.

Influence is derived through dialogue, information exchange and a sincere effort at understanding.

So far none of our esteemed leaders or would-be leaders seem to have have grasped that.

This is the kind of thing that bothers me about him.

In the Toronto Star today, this man Ignatieff is quoted as follows with respect to the problems between Israel and the Palestinians.

“We can’t touch Hamas with a 10-foot pole…We cannot have Canada-Hamas relations until Hamas changes its position. And this isn’t just about the Middle East here. Canada can’t have relations with political groups which advocate and employ terrorist methods against civilians.” But he said he hopes non-governmental aid groups can continue to work with the Palestinians.

What a glib “sound-bite-friendly” approach. He neglects to remember that during Trudeau’s time as Prime Minister we had multi-level contacts with the PLO, a group characterized at the time as terrorist, employing “terrorist methods”.

This glibness is not the kind of creative, made-in-Canada approach I want from a leader. I want a leader who offers a workable solution or at least a viable plan. I want a leader who is informed about these matters. I want one who reads newspapers or at least has people around him who do. I want a leader with a real platform, not one who can only utter platitudes. I want a real leader, not an opportunist.

On this particular issue, Ignatieff displays a flat, uninteresting and uncreative attitude. His comments offer nothing beyond what hundreds of others have said.

I find it curious that a man who claims such a huge swath of territory in the realm of foreign policy and international affairs has such a paucity of really good ideas on that score. All he offers is more of what everyone else is offering…nothing new.

My advice to any leadership candidate on this particular matter would be the following.

First- yes…make clear that there can’t be the traditional diplomatic relationship between Canada and Hamas, as long as the Hamas position is that Israel must be destroyed. But at the same time make clear too…that Canada will work through the United Nations to establish and support channels through which food, and other types of aid could be sent to the Palestinian people who are presently in such desperate straits. In fact Canada could offer to lead such an effort. But to punish Hamas by punishing the people is just idiocy.

Second- Canada could lead an effort at establishing some sort of dialogue with Hamas; we could offer to chair a group including Russia, China and a group of willing European nations…to work at helping Hamas recognize that it must change its charter.

Again, his statement shows how out of touch he is. Even in Israel, there are widespread calls for support and aid to the Palestinians, regardless of Hamas.

Ignatieff is nothing but a crass opportunist, pure and simple.

anything by this man

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J.K.Galbraith