Pakistan – Breaking News
Freedom of speech
Freedom of Speech?
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has questioned the advocates of "freedom of speech" about the sincerity of their conviction. After Israeli advocates staged a walkout in the midst of the Iranian president’s speech at the UN anti-racism summit, Ahmadinejad criticized the "so-called advocates of freedom of information." "Why is it that the so-called advocates of freedom of information fear hearing other people’s opinions," the Iranian president asked. Speaking at a news conference in Geneva after addressing the United Nations conference on racism, President Ahmadinejad described the countries which boycotted or walked out of the UN anti-racism summit as "arrogant and selfish." "In our opinion, this is arrogance and selfishness and the root cause of the world’s problems," President Ahmadinejad told the Monday press conference. "The subject of this conference is anti-racism and the advocates of racism did not attend this summit," he added. The Iranian president’s speech at the Durban Review Conference at the UN European headquarters was disrupted several times by protesters who shouted slogans and held placards before they were escorted out of the conference room by security guards. President Ahmadinejad’s anti-Israeli remarks also caused 23 European Union delegates to walk out of the conference room. (Reference for text: Press TV. Photo: AFP/via Aljazeera.net)
( Post Date: 16:05 04/20/2009 )
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We are creating suicide bombers
Israeli soldier: Most of the Israeli public and much of the media is blind to the fact that hundreds of Palestinians have been cut to pieces by Israeli fire power
Chris McGreal in Tel Aviv The Guardian, Saturday 17 January 2009
The call came at 11pm on a Saturday. Yitzchak Ben Mocha’s mobile flashed up "unidentified number" but he knew who it was. A recorded voice ordered him to report for duty at eight the next morning. As he packed his uniform he wondered if he was heading to prison. The 25-year-old paratrooper was about to tell his commanders that not only would he refuse to join Israel’s war in Gaza but would not serve in any capacity that helped perpetuate the conflict.
He reported for duty and was ordered to erect tents for combat soldiers.
Treason of the hawks
"Treason of the Hawks"
by Stephen Walt
In Every War Must End, his classic study of war termination, Fred Iklé coined the term "treason of the hawks" to describe those tragic situations where hardliners stubbornly refuse to make peace and thereby lead their countries to disaster. Iklé, who served as Ronald Reagan’s under secretary of defense and is certainly no dove, recognized that obstinate opposition to making peace is as dangerous to a nation’s future as naïve pacifism and potentially as damaging as deliberately selling out to the enemy.