George W. Bush - Cowboy Diplomacy

The War on Terror as we know it will never be won. President Bush should get credit for vision, but non for execution. President Bush had a great plan; he would strike the heart of the Middle East and invade Iraq. By invading Iraq he satisfies many objectives with one move:

1) Eliminate one of the biggest headaches for Israel in Iraq (Iran is another big threat still).
Saddam used to support Palestinian suicide bombers with monetary gifts to their families. Historically Saddam has always had intent to hit Israel (Israel bombed a nuclear installation plant in 1981 in a one day operation to nip that initiative in the bud). Saddam always thought of himself as the 20th Century Salah El-Din and wanted to bring victory to his Muslim/Arab world by destroying Israel.

2) Eliminate Saddam who tried to assassinate his dad (George H. Bush - President 41). This sounds childish but there are many who thought G. W. Bush had it in for Saddam from the beginning.

3) Establish a democracy in the heart of the Middle East. This is where it gets very interesting. I think Bush wanted a Domino effect with this one. a) Invade Iraq b) Establish a Democracy (whether to go along with US interests or not is not important at this point but to entrench the process and the culture of democracy and freedom in one of the least liberal regions in the world) c) People in Iraq will celebrate their new found freedoms, freedom of speech, religion, economic freedom, less corruption, elected offices, capitalism, etc. d) People in the rest of the Middle East (Arabs) will notice the difference between their rotting political and economic systems and the new shinny Iraqi one and would put pressure on their governments to reform - The Domino Effect. e) The Arab world reforms leading to a liberal, tolerant and a more capitalist/meritocratic society-which means a better chance at peace with Israel and less reason to for the young to be attracted to extremism and terrorism. f) The cherry on top for Bush would have been that all these predicted changes would have come under heavy American influence and thus will likely become pro-American which is great for political stability and economic potential (Iraq has a huge amount of Oil Reserves) which means better business opportunities for American companies which equals more jobs, more revenue, and probably cheaper cost on Oil.

If this plan was to go through, this President would have gone down as one of the greatest US Leaders who changed the dynamics of our world for the better. Bush recognized something everybody knew. The difference is he decided to face it head on while everyone else were afraid to acknowledge or admit. He recognized the seriousness of Muslim Fundamentalists and their lethal and increasingly popular movement. This is why he deserves respect.

September 11 was the blow that changed the perception of the US. It brought the United States down from the superpower that no one could approach to a powerful country that was more vulnerable than ever imagined. It gave a spark, a hope to those who wanted to destroy the US and their foreign policy for years. Bush realized that this movement is anti-democratic, anti-liberty, and very violent and thus recognized that it must be defeated. Across Europe, Canada, Arab Countries, etc... all knew the same thing but no one would dare lift a finger to help stop it. Everyone kind of ignored it, Bush didn't and that’s why he is to be admired.

The way he handled this war however was a tragedy. He handled it as an arrogant, ignorant, and stubborn leader would (he was the epitome of what the world thought of America). Starting from over doing the bombing of Afghanistan, statements such as "You are either with us or against us", to linking Saddam to Osama Bin Laden, to the shaky story about Saddam acquiring yellowcake from Niger, to Colin Powell's embarrassing evidence to the UN, to ignoring and eventually overriding the UN, to sending less troops to Iraq than needed to secure the borders and protect the rebuilding of the infrastructure of Iraq (a country seeing its third major war in less than thirty years), to Abu Gharib, to Gitmo, and many more.

All in all, Bush lost the gamble, a big gamble that is. He underestimated history (or he didn't know or care much for it). He forgot that the Arabs and Muslims have been feeling disrespected, let out of the modern world, bitter over the Israel/Palestine situation, angry with American interference in their countries politics with the US helping dictators rule over them for decades. All those who felt out of place, felt left out found sympathy for Bin Laden and his murderous ways. Some sadly recognized him as a hero. Bush failed to recognize that. He thought he would bomb the tar off Baghdad and the Iraqis will come out in their Kobe Bryant Jerseys and Nike t-shirts and sing the American national anthem in thanks. He failed to see that these are battered people, psychologically distraught from three wars (Iran, Kuwait, and the US) along with dealing with their own tyrant Saddam. He failed to see that the Iraqis wanted electricity, security, education, entertainment, things that everyone should get. He failed to provide them with such things because he was arrogant (or stupid) enough to concentrate on defeating Saddam's army more than maintain or stabilizing the country after. He didn't think thoroughly about establishing security, and providing basic needs for people to appreciate his service of removing their brutal dictator. They couldn't appreciate it because their daughters were being rapped, their sons were getting killed, and their fathers were being held hostage for petty cash.

In Bush's defense, the Muslim Fundamentalists knew how to get to the US. They used dirty tactics (like firing rockets from mosques, using schools for gunfights, and others) in order to place the US in compromising situations and since the Americans are supposedly more civilized, the final product is bad publicity for the US. Think of Al-Jazeera video showing dead Iraqi children, or an American soldier shooting at the Minars (tower section) of a mosque. The Fundamentalists knew that this would enrage the Arab/Muslim world even if the Iraqis were the ones who instigated the fight. Any other leader would have had trouble with such dirty tactics, but Bush's attitude and stubbornness made the situation worse. Bush's style allowed leaders and people who don't agree with the Muslim Fundamentalists to partially sympathize with them if not flat out cheer for them.

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Thomas Friedman's Latest Column - Straight to the point.

I’ve heard the president’s surge speech, and I have a reaction, an observation and some advice.
My reaction to the president’s speech was to recall a line from Bill Maher’s book about the war against terrorists: “Make them fight all of us.” Mr. President, you want a surge? I’ll surge. I’ll surge on the condition that you once and for all enlist the entire American people in this war effort, and stop putting it all on the shoulders of 130,000 military families, and now 20,000 more. I’ll surge on the condition that you make them fight all of us — and that means a real energy policy, with a real gasoline tax, that ends our addiction to oil, shrinks the flow of petro-dollars to bad actors and makes America the world’s leader in conservation. But please, Mr. President, stop insulting our intelligence by telling us that this is the “decisive ideological struggle of our time,” but we’re going to put the whole burden of victory on 150,000 U.S. soldiers. Yes, you’re right, confronting violent Islamic radicalism by trying to tilt Iraq and the Arab-Muslim world onto a more progressive track is indeed hugely important. But the way you have fought this war — with our pinky — is contemptible. For three years you would not summon the military means to back your lofty ends. That led to a vacuum. The Sunnis, who refused to accept majority rule by Shiites, went on a murderous rampage, and that rampage has now metastasized into five different wars in Iraq: Sunnis against Shiites; Sunnis and Shiites against the U.S. “occupiers”; Al Qaeda against the U.S.; Shiite theocratic thugs against ordinary Shiites; and Iran, Syria and all the Arab autocrats against any kind of democratic, Shiite-led Iraq that could be a model for their own people.Hence my observation: The notion that the only war in Iraq now is good guys versus terrorists is ludicrous. There is no center in Iraq. And when there is no center and you put in more troops, you end up supporting a side. (See Lebanon: 1982)And now for the advice. At this 11th hour, with Iraq’s sectarian fires raging, the only way more U.S. troops might bring stability is if you add two missing elements: a deadline and a floor. You need to tell Iraqis that by calling for a surge in troops you’re giving them one last chance to reconcile, otherwise we’re gone by Dec. 1. And you need to tell Americans that you’re creating a $45-a-barrel floor price for imported oil, so investors can safely finance alternatives without worrying that they’ll be undercut by OPEC. By not setting a hard date to leave Iraq, we are only putting a floor under bad behavior and allowing Iraqi leaders to pay wholesale, not retail, for their tribal politics. If Sunnis or Shiites want it “all” in Iraq, they have to pay for it all. Of course, just leaving would be bad for us and terrible for those Iraqis who have worked with us. We need to give them all U.S. passports. We have a moral responsibility to them. But it would also be bad for a lot of bad people. They would be left to fight it out with each other. And yes, Syria and Iran would “win” Iraq — meaning they’d win the responsibility of managing the mess there or have it spill over on them. Have a nice day. And by not setting a hard floor price for oil to promote alternative energy, we are only helping to subsidize bad governance by Arab leaders toward their people and bad behavior by Americans toward the climate. Make them fight all of us, Mr. President, or don’t do it at all! If we made ourselves energy independent, we would bring down global oil prices, which would not only shrink the resources for mischief by our enemies and limit Saudi Arabia’s ability to transform Islam all over the world into its most intolerant Wahhabi form, but also, more important, would force the Arab world to reform. It would force Arab leaders, including Iraqis, to organize their societies in ways that would tap their people, not just their oil wells — whether our troops were there or not. Also, if the rest of the world saw all of us sacrificing to win this war, we might actually be able to enlist them to help a little. More troops alone will not suffice. The only tiny hope left of transforming Iraq is if its leaders have to pay the full retail price of their passions and we have to pay the full retail price of our oil. And if even that won’t work, then setting a date and setting an oil price will extract us from this disaster and make us less vulnerable to the madness we leave behind. If we fail in Iraq, at least let America be stronger — by being energy independent — the morning after.

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Anti-HIV gel being developed in Brazil

Nice development out of Brazil. Not much details yet but apparently they have discovered an algae based gel to block the transmission of HIV for women. The real kicker of this gel, if and when it will be available in the market, is that it puts women in control of their own situation. The gel is to be applied by women (vaginally) and that the male partner will not be able to tell, according to researchers. Anyway to empower women to control their own situations (even if choice might not be available) especially in Africa, Latin America, and other areas of high gender inequality leads to a better situation. This way even if a woman is forced to sleep with a man (by force, for money, abusive relationship, etc.) the woman can protect herself from getting the HIV transmitted to her and furthermore her future children.

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youtube.com - Police Brutality - Egyptian Style

An interesting story popped up recently about a cellphone video showing an Egyptian bus driver being tortured and possibly sodomized by the Egyptian Police. It was all over the news in Egypt and the West. Human Rights Watchdogs and organizations have criticized the Egyptian government in its mishandling of the situation and of tolerating human right abuses against its people in general.If anybody knows Egypt, they know that their police force historically has been abusive. That comes as no shock to Egyptians (or Arabs in general for that matter) but why this was shocking is because of the video and the images. This new trend of cellphones that can take videos and pictures allows anyone to get any clip of any incident almost at anytime. These phones empowered by super influential internet machines such as youtube.com and blogging has allowed for any piece of information to be spread to the entire world. No amount of campaigning for the sake of police abuse in Egypt could come close to a single video of a man being beaten and sodomized!! It is so outrageous that even the government can not pretend it doesn't exist or that it was done for a remotely good reason. See the beauty of things like videos and pics and spreading them on the net is that it doesn't allow for the higher powers (governments or media moguls) to filter it, distort it, change it, or spin it.


For example, when the pics of Iraqi prisoner being tortured in Abu Gharib by American soldiers came out, nothing can be done to make it look anything but what it was, a disgusting and sickening act of savagery. As of late there has been videos of scandalous adult/sex parties in the Arab Gulf countries with veiled women dancing provocatively for a party of men. There was the Saddam execution cellphone video that showed us so much more than the actual hanging (I never watched the actual hanging), and now there are these videos of police brutality in Egypt.

The significance of all this is that everyone has been empowered to become a journalist of sorts. Everyone can take a clip, a pic of something that looks weird or revolting (and funny but thats not the topic here). The media has become so much less exclusive and more driven by the populous. Here are some of the Egyptian videos that were eventually aired all over the world.

Woman being tortured to confess.

Man being slapped by the Police.

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Another Banksy Classic.

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Does the White House Ever Learn??!!

You sometimes have to wonder if the decisions made in the White House come with no consideration to recent history, important trends developing in the world or anything. Its like these commands were locked in a vault somewhere three years ago and now they are being put to use.American military planes starting bombing possible terrorist hideouts in Somalia and were actively seeking to kill possible Al-Qaida leaders hiding there that were responsible for the Kenya and Tanzania twin Embassy bombings. Here is the problem with this statement, actually here are the PROBLEMS with this statement:
1) The Kenya and Tanzania US Embassy bombings were in 1998...that is more than Eight years ago!! So why haven't the US done anything about these leaders then. And what makes them believe that they have all of a sudden found them.

2) Somalia had no central credible government for over 10 years!! There are no hideouts...the term hideout assumes that there was some sort of legitimate surveillance by the government and people trying to hide from them, but if there is no government, it should be assumed that these Al-Qaida and whomever wanted to do anything could...so why are you bombing now??!! Very curious.

3) Here is where I believe is biggest problem with what the Americans did by bombing Somalia. Somalia was lawless, with the help of the UN, a moderate government was put in place but had no real power within their own country. It didn't help that they were supported by America which made it not a favorite among the populous (does this trend sound familiar at all!) so in response Islamic militias fought the UN backed government and took over most of the country, they were cheered initially for bringing order to a country that was starving for it. But then they went Taliban on their people, the people became oppressed, didn't like these Islamic but had no choice (also they were embarrassed to say anything since they would be labeled as bad Muslims), then the Islamic militias started to nibble away at the Ethiopian borders, Ethiopia found a perfect excuse to start a war to kick the Islamic forces. The Ethiopian forces with the help of the UN installed government were able to remove the Islamic forces from Mogadishu and now the UN approved government is in control at least physically.

Here is the real issue, if Ethiopian army was to leave Somalia, the new government is supported by a robust UN force then there is reason to believe that Somalia could be on track again to being a healthier country. Ethiopia decides to stick around for a bit which enrages the locals (historically the two countries don't get along). And now America is bombing Somalia to cleanse it from Al-Qaida leaders. Somali people (in general) has been historically supportive and sympathetic Al-Qaida's cause. There are T-Shirts with Osama Bin Ladin's face being sold all over the country. Now by showing American aggression against them you have just caused a rallying point against you(US). Now the Somalis who are sympathetic with Al-Qaida's Islamic goals and Jihad have a second reason to hate and fight America....defending their country.....HELLO IRAQ!!! This type of arrogant, insensitive aggression will further distant countries and peoples who are suspect of the US and its intentions. This type of aggression will help silence the moderates in Somalia (much like in Iraq) who don't sympathize with Al-Qaida and think they are wrong. No honest citizen will rationalize that America is right to bomb its home and kill their people. Furthermore the US will create a wave of sympathy from Islamic and Arabic countries who again even if they disagree with the way the Islamic militias act in Somalia will support them because of the America aggression. And now Al-Qaida has thrown its full support to Somalia. They will rally Muslims to Jihad against the Americans, the Ethiopians, and the UN backed government.

American foreign policy has become so polarizing in its methods and results. It is aggressive and seems simplistic in thought. We are not in a simplistic world right now. The Islamic O'ma (world) is very sensitive, very hurt, and ready for battle. Why help create more radicals in Islamic countries (and of course in Europe and North America too) by being aggressive on all fronts. Why help the radical Muslim sheiks in their recruiting. For every one "terrorist" you eliminate with your million dollar missile, you destroy a road, a house, a building which causes hatred and resentment against you and creating ten new "terrorists". The White House has to start learning to treat others with respect and dignity maybe then they will receive results since aggression has not been working so far regardless of intentions....Iraq is in shambles, Afghanistan is unstable again, Somalia is foaming at the mouth, its time for a new set of values to be used.

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HIV and Malaria - Is there a Link?

HIV is most easily spread when patients have high virus levels in their blood. A bout of malaria causes a temporary surge -- a stunning sevenfold increase (some claim up to 10 times)-- in those levels, said lead researcher Laith Abu-Raddad, a scientist at the University of Washington.

The surge may last six weeks to eight weeks. That is longer than it takes adults in intense malaria areas, where people get the parasitic disease once or twice a year, to recover from a typical bout and feel up to sexual activity again, he said.

Moreover, HIV patients are more susceptible to malaria reinfection because of their weakened immune systems.

Although this is a sad link, there is a silver lining...it will hopefully double the awareness for each of the conditions. When scientific evidence concludes that they are linked in a way that each can worsen the other and realizing how significant each of the conditions are...then maybe the world will pay more attention. (check out nothingbutnet.net to help)

BBC: Malaria/HIV story

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Ugandan men getting circumcised

This is good to hear...Men in Uganda are taking action since the new findings that circumcision can reduce the risk of contracting HIV by 50%.

BBC Story

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$100 Laptop

The Organization One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) has finally done what some thought to be impossible. They have organized the development and production of laptops that will cost only $100.The idea of this initiative is to empower the young students in poorer countries who don't usually have access to computers (and subsequently the internet). Many developing countries have signed up for this program, including China, India, Brazil, Argentina, Egypt, Nigeria, and Thailand with more to come. The laptop is really cool looking, with the screen area and the keyboard being turnable (much like a Tablet PC).

It is a linux-based system. The laptop will have a 500MHz processor and 128MB of DRAM, with 500MB of Flash memory; it will not have a hard disk, but it will have four USB ports. The laptops will have wireless broadband that, among other things, allows them to work as a mesh network; each laptop will be able to talk to its nearest neighbors, creating an ad hoc, local area network. The laptops will use innovative power (including wind-up) and will be able to do most everything except store huge amounts of data.

Apparently the reason it was so cheap to produce is because of the reduced quality of display on the screen and the lack of hardrive memory. Other than that the creators say it compares well with today's PC.

Can you imagine how empowering this tool will be. If more developing countries pick up on this and I am sure they will. The potential that this will initiative will untap might be more influential than any political initiative. Communication and integration of ideas and education of the young is a potent tool for the betterment of the whole world.

They say the invention of the television did more for political advancement than policies themselves because the world was able to see what the rest of the world can. Its as if the roads were light between countries when before everyone lived in their small little community. Television caused people to see how others lived and helped give oppressed societies that feeling of "Hey we are oppressed, so we are not stupid to feel like that." It gave them courage to challenge their government. The absolute core of it is information. When information is flowing, truths are usually found. The internet will do the same in these developing countries.

Economically it will be great too. These young students will grow up to serve their country more efficiently (better computer skills, internet skills, and a worldwide library for any info they need - think wiki community).

When I first heard about this project a couple of years ago, I thought they were insane to even attempt this, but they did it and I am very excited about what will the results be.

Pictures of the different styles and ways to use the Laptop.

UN Unveils the laptop.

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