Category: Foreign Policy

Israelis and Palestinians Clash

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Israelis And Palestinians Clash

D. S. Mitchell

Calamity Politics is a progressive blog which is most obviously a reflection of my own personal life view.  That vision is a forward looking view for the United States. A country where equality is the norm, not the oddity.  A place where religious freedom is never questioned.  A place where merit, not money is the basis of power.  A country fully open and fully inclusive.

I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Many would call it another Snowflake dream, however you don’t get to the moon if you are convinced no one will ever fly.  The election of Donald Trump to the presidency is like electing that guy who doesn’t believe anyone will ever  fly.  I think you need to think ‘a thing’ is possible before it will ever become possible.  I am convinced of that observation.

So, please join me as I do post-mortem examination of the political news of the day.

The bubble of American politics broke open for just a minute or two and more unrest in Israel between the Netanyahu government and Palestinian representatives and Palestinian protesters came into focus.

In the 1967 War, Israel captured East Jerusalem along with all its holy sites from Jordan.  Furthermore, Israel then annexed the area in a move that was condemned by most world leaders.  In fact, to this day the world community has declined to recognize the legality of the annexation, and that action has led to years of unresolved conflict between Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory.

Israel had allowed the Jordanians to maintain a special role in administering certain religions sites including the Aqsa Mosque.  The Aqsa Mosque is believed by Israeli’s to be the site of the destroyed Temple of the Mount, one of the most holy sites of ancient Israel.

Six people died Friday in a new outbreak of violence. At the entrance to the Aqsa Mosque, a sacred site to both Jews and Muslims.  Israeli authorities installed metal detectors and instituted a restriction on who could enter the Mosque and its grounds after the brutal killing of two Israeli guards by two Arabs who had been attending a service at the mosque.

The three Palestinian protesters were killed in separate events.  All three were fatally shot by Israeli police around the city of Jerusalem and the surrounding territory.  Israeli spokesman claimed the actions were necessary for police safety when rock throwing and firebombing became a serious endangerment.

Three Israeli’s were brutally stabbed and killed in their home, by a Muslim man in an apparent response to the previous killings of the three Palestinian protesters in clashes with Israeli security forces.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas cut a trip to China short to address the spiraling crisis over the installation of the metal detectors.  Mahmoud announced he was, “freezing contacts with Israel at all levels until it cancels the new measures” around the holy site.

Clashes came as thousands of Palestinian Muslims prayed in front of police barricades in the streets around the “Old City” of Jerusalem as Israeli authorities clamped tougher restrictions on Palestinians. The metal detectors at Aqsa have increased friction between the parties and have emerged as a symbol for the protesters.

An Arab member of the Israeli Parliament argued that “the metal detectors are a political issue.  They have them all over the world, in supermarkets, shopping malls, everywhere.  But, they are there by consensus, not imposed by someone else.”

Netanyahu government “believes the decision to leave the metal detectors at the entrance of the Temple Mount is the right decision–in the national interest.”

Israeli police issued a statement, “according to the decision of the highest political echelon,  police “will decide how strict the security checks would be, based on assessments of the situation.”

The situation for many of the Middle Eastern countries is perilous. Whether it is Syria, Iraq, Yemen or Israel the centuries of fighting and distrust have torn the region apart.  I have no answers.  I do not have the education or diplomatic experience to do much more than observe and comment.  I freely admit those shortcomings.  that is why I am going to take a moment to slap Donald Trump around the ears.

It was just a month or two ago when the American people were advised that Jared Kushner could and would, solve the Middle East crisis.

I am waiting, but I think like nearly everything else Trump, he does not know what the hell he is talking about; and neither does that spoiled son in law of his, and I guarantee that Jared Kushner will not solve the Middle East problem, this year or ever.

Join the Resistance.  Don’t forget to call the Senators and demand they halt their attack on ACA and encourage them to do some quick fixes. Organize your neighbors.  Register to vote. Run for office. Donate your time. Donate your money. Vote Democratic.  Twitter your reaction to political events.

Let’s not let Trump stop our forward motion.  Hopefully Trump will be nothing more than an ugly blot on our country’s history.

Darlene

Congress Doubts Trump Foreign Policy

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Congress Doubts Trump Foreign Policy

D. S. Mitchell

Calamity Politics is a progressive leaning political blog where we attempt to offer relevant and engaging political analysis and commentary, sprinkled with a bit of sarcasm and cynicism.  So, if you are ready, please join me as I examine the good, the bad, the planned and the unplanned on the U.S. political scene.  Some call it Mud Wrestling, I call it Russian Roulette.

Mieke Eoyang, a National Security Analyst at the Third Way, said, “I think it is setting in, especially in the Republican members of Congress, that they are not getting the kind of adult leadership out of the White House that would allow them to give deference to the White House”. Continue reading

Trump On Tour

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Trump On Tour

D. S. Mitchell

I am screaming at the top of my lungs. It’s a damn good thing this is not a pod cast commentary, because someone would be ordering psych restraints for this old girl.

I started writing for Calamity Politics because I saw Trump as a demented, narcissistic, irrational, terrifying, irresponsible, backward thinking, corrupt and dangerous individual. I was concerned that the country had just elected a gross misogynist clown as President of the United States.

I wanted to speak out against what I expected to be an immediate attack on the environment, entitlement programs and Roe v Wade. I knew the Republicans, heavily financed by the Koch Brothers, and other right extremist Superpacs, would launch an all out attack against anything progressive as soon as the inaugural partying was over.

Because of my intense concern, I felt the pressure to get on line with Calamity Politics as soon as possible. If you as a reader, wonder who I am, and what I stand for, I suggest you take a few minutes and read ‘About Me’ and ‘Mission Statement’ which are located on buttons at the top of this page.

I thought I might be alone in my outrage. Had I “lost” my mind, as was suggested by two family members, or was I one of many?

I found out soon that I was just one of an army of individuals who were truly fearful that the election of Donald Trump was a step back in time. None of us wanted to take 21st century America back to the segregated, air polluted and garbage littered mid 20th century America romanticized by Donald Trump. So fearful in fact were we, that we began organically to call ourselves the “resistance”. I embraced the label as a personal commitment to fight trump, and everything he represents. I am a soldier in the fight against authoritarianism. I am one of the ‘resistance”.

Continue reading

RUMBLINGS AND GRUMBLINGS

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Rumblings And Grumblings

D. S. Mitchell

FOREIGN POLICY

The dog has been walked. My Dinner is the remainder of my Cobb Salad, from lunch. I’m waiting for The Rachel Maddow Show to end. Dan Rather is giving an interesting interview, or I would just turn it off.

I worked on a long Calamity Politics blog post earlier today. The article focused primarily on the similarities between Donald Trump and Jared Kushner. What I want to do now, is drink an Irish Coffee, and get into the hot tub, and zone out.

But, I spend 23 hours a day wound up, thinking about the wild, turbulent, U.S. political daily may lay, and have trouble unwinding. Like right now, I cannot forget that 59 Tomahawk missiles were launched at a Syrian airbase on April 7th, 2017 by United States naval forces, for a yet, undefined purpose. Each one of those Tomahawk missiles cost a million dollars.

Less than a week later, the American military dropped the “mother of all bombs,” or, a MOAB, on a set of ISIS tunnels and linked caves, in Afghanistan. So, back to the previous question. What is the purpose? Is there a thought out strategy? We killed 36 terrorists. How much did that bomb cost? I think I read that bitch cost 314 million dollars. That is about $85 million dollars per ISIS fighter.

On top of that, the Carl Vinson and its Pacific Command strike force are headed toward the Korean Peninsula. Where apparently, the 30 year old dictator of North Korea, is having a party to celebrate his Grand dad’s birthday, and possibly detonate a nuclear weapon.

The U.S. Vice President, Mike Pence, is headed to South Korea as the first stop on his Asian tour. Is that reassuring, or not? I mean, Pence being there. If there is going to be a conflagration, wouldn’t he want to stay away? Or, maybe they know that no one is going to push the button and start a war, so it’s okay for him to go, right?

What am I gonna do? I can’t just ignore this stuff. It’s my job to report on the political news. I think I’ll have that Irish Coffee, to start with. Good night.

Join the Resistance

Dar