current events

I’ve not said very much on this blog about current or news worthy events what I think of them.

The current crisis in the Middle East is revolving around Israel and Hezbollah – according to Wikipedia it is Operation Truthful Promise (Hezbollah) and Operation Change of Direction (Israel).

What do I think about this? Not sure really, mainly because I’m not really sure I have enough information about the conflict to make an informed opinion.

There is a large Lebanese community in Australia and therefore the focus of news bulletins here is the Israel Armed Forces v the Lebanese people . . . . often the only mention of Hezbollah is in the brief opening headline. So I don’t really feel that I know what is going on, although many Australians have fled Lebanon.

Obviously, I’m non-violent so as a matter of principle don’t support armed conflict and think it should be avoided at all cost. In which case I support calls for an immediate ceasefire (listen to me, you’d think I was talking directly with Condoleezza Rice). On the other hand, old George Dubya thinks the conflict should continue until a suitable resolution has been reached. (To be honest I’m not exactly sure how that works, do you just keep killing civilians until one side calls for mercy??) Anyway, what I am wondering about his opinion on the current crisis is – how does it fit in with the greater Middle Eastern Conflict? As time goes by I’m getting the feeling that the US aren’t bothering to try and disguise their intentions any more. With the Iraq war we were feed the “WMD” argument, now it’s about terrorism, democracy, and freedom (and the American way). Can the US really claim that they are trying to create democracy around the globe, and to do this they need to eliminate those who stand against democracy – terrorists – and expect that the rest of us will just sit back and say “well thank goodness someone has that under control”??

How long will it be before the US just comes out and says, “yeah, look, the price is getting a bit high at the bowser. . . . so if we just antagonise a little over here, and inflame a little over there, that ought to bring the prices down”

People often ask how different the world would be if Al Gore or John Kerry had become president of the US, I wonder if we should be asking how different would the world be if everyone decided to use public transport???

Then there would be the added bonus of reduced greenhouse gas emissions!!!