July 2007 Archives

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Hezbollah's Youth

Filed under: Middle East

I stumbled upon one of the many articles on Hizbullah. This one is pretty interesting. I observed during the years that young men and women (though I personally met only few) that are part of one of HA structures always speak with great passion and conviction about the party ideology, what they think is their duty etc. Those whom I have met were all intelligent, well mannered persuasive and passionate individuals. Entering into a debate with any of them was a challenge. The idea is that not all are as some think a bunch of stupid, crazy people. I am not discussing here about the masses. If I say this, and I am not a fan imagine the impact HA has on Muslims. If we want to succeed we should keep ourselves well informed.

"My problem with Israel, says Bashar, is not only that it marched into Lebanon uninvited and stole parts of our land but is that we cannot survive as long as Israel exists. It is a foul entity that is consistently ever-ready to attack. I believe it to be the cause of all conflict in the Middle East."

Realizing that he said something the party will not admit (publicly) he backs down: "I may aspire to wipe Israel off the map, but I realize that this is not our responsibility. My responsibility as a young Lebanese is to liberate my land, and bring our prisoners of war back home."

Read the whole piece here.

Update: You can read here and here, Sheikh Nasrallah's latest interview with Al Jazeera.

Manuela Paraipan · July 26, 2007 9:41 AM

Jihad on Horseback

Filed under: Africa

"Two years ago, Al Arabiya producer Nabil Kassem was asked to put together a documentary film on Darfur. What he witnessed there, and recorded in this film, were scenes of unspeakable brutality and untold suffering, scenes he thought would surely wake up an Arab public all too willing to let Darfur pass by. But Jihad on Horseback never made it across the airwaves. Watch the film to see perhaps the most provocative Arab documentary ever made." ( Atlas Shrugs)

You can see the video here.

Manuela Paraipan · July 26, 2007 6:24 AM

Has the government gone mad?

Filed under: Middle East

The Education Ministry has authorized Arab schools to use a history book featuring the establishment of the State of Israel as being disastrous (Nabka) for the Palestinians, Israel Radio reported Sunday. Read more about it here

It is not only that the current Israeli government is weak, it seems they are stupid too!

Manuela Paraipan · July 26, 2007 5:44 AM

Danish Candidate MP - OK to Attack Danish Troops in Iraq

Filed under: Europe

"Asmaa Abdol-Hamid told BT that she supports the Iraqi resistance movement against the occupation forces and that they have the right to live in a country where they can make their own decisions. She therefore does not want to distance herself from Iraqis using weapons against Danish forces in Iraq either. In a reaction to the controversy which her interview started, she maintains her support for the Iraqi resistance, and even goes as far as to compare them to the Danish resistance movement against the German occupation during Second World War. She thinks resistance against a foreign occupation is not only legitimate but even a human right."

Some appear to think that she is confused. I doubt it. She is just being honest.

Manuela Paraipan · July 25, 2007 4:23 PM

Syria's audacious democracy

Filed under: Middle East

President Bashar al Assad began his second term (7 years) in office on Tuesday. Once again Syria as other Arab and Muslim countries gave us a valuable lesson on democracy and basic human rights. 1) Assad was the only candidate to the Presidential Chair and 2) 97% of voters supported him

Let us not forget that Bashar inherited (mind you this is synonym with democratic elections in Mid East) his position from his father, Hafez al Assad in 2000. I suspect that we are about to see the same thing happening in Egypt soon enough. Any thoughts on that?

Manuela Paraipan · July 19, 2007 4:57 AM

New entry in the blogosphere

Filed under: Middle East

For those interested in the Mid East economy a new blog under MEMRI banner has just started. You can find it here
Nimrod Raphaeli explains why the interest in such a project. "There are gaps - some would say large gaps - in the Western media of coverage of economic news and development in the Middle East. For example, while the Islamic banking sector rapidly grows, elevating terminology like sukuk [Islamic bonds] and murabaha [profit sharing in lieu of interest which is prohibited by Islam] to world recognition, much of this phenomenon is overshadowed by the more dramatic political events in the region. Middle Eastern economic news is often relegated to secondary, if not marginal, coverage, and the MEMRI Economic Blog will strive to compensate for it."

Manuela Paraipan · July 13, 2007 2:54 AM

Imperialism: a phase Iran is going through

Filed under: Iran

Hussein Shariatmadari, one of the Supreme Leader (Ayatollah Khamenei) delegate said recently that Bahrain is a part of Iran and that three-disputed UAE Islands in the Gulf are Iranian. (Akhbar Al Khaleej, July 12 article by Sayyid Zahra)

Iran's role in the region is on the wave and it is causing destruction and despair from Iraq to Lebanon (Hezbollah), territories (Hamas), Afghanistan and now they got to Bahrain. Is there a clash in site between Arabs and Iran? It might if we continue to sit on our hands and allow the mad mullahs take control through their terrorist networks.

p.s I did not mention Syria, because Assad willingly (that is open to debate though) follows Iran

Manuela Paraipan · July 12, 2007 9:42 AM

Ecuador: If you have to deny you're an idiot...

Filed under: Americas

"I am not an idiot!"
Source: Prensa Latina (Cuba)

Is there any clearer way to prove one is an idiot than to insist one is not?

The idiot who proved himself just that is President Rafael Correa, the Marxist prettyboy president of Ecuador, an ally of Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, who makes John Edwards look like an august man of substance.

Ecuador has a long tradition of buffoons in high office, but none approach the idiocy and corruption of Correa and his cabinet. Desperate to be a dictator like his hero Hugo Chavez, he's rapidly sunk Ecuador to new lows. He's "fired" Congress to get rid of opposition lawmakers, stacked Ecuador's courts, jacked international bond markets through manipulative threats to default on on the sovereign debt that amount to 'dump and pump,' lied and cheated the World Bank, called on the world pay him $350 million not to pump oil, endorsed the confiscation of a billion dollars in assets from Oxy Petroleum, his top foreign investor, instituted baying mob rule against opponents, vowed to sic illegal immigrants on the U.S., hurled lawsuits at Colombia, sheltered FARC guerrillas, installed phony cameras on the streets of Quito as security measures to fool the public into thinking they're safe instead of making them so, and as cherry on this cowpie, had Daryl Hannah come to Ecuador to denounce another major U.S. investor, Chevron, as 'genocidal.' Oh what an investment climate he's created! Oh what a stable foundation for prosperity he's fostered! Oh what a picture of trust and responsibility he's projected.

I blasted his government over free trade in a piece I wrote for another publication and was surprised to get a furious reply from the Ecuadorean government, obviously a sign that I'd hit a nerve with these touchy devils.

But that's nothing compared to what writer Carlos Alberto Montaner got from Correa himself. Montaner, you may recall, wrote a masterpiece, 'Guide To The Perfect Latin American Idiot,' with with Alvaro Vargas Llosa and Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza, outlining every political pathology that plagues Latin America. That recently led to a sequel appropriatedly called 'The Idiot Returns' focusing on the new wave of populism hitting the region, from Hugo Chavez on down.

In the second book, Montaner & Co. included a special section on Rafael Correa as a perfect specimen of the populist idiocy that has kept Latin America poor, backward, stupid and hopeless, as the rest of the world progressed on. Correa was a textbook example of what they were talking about, so he made the text.

You'd think Correa would have been pleased to have merited a chapter in a book by such distinguished authors, or else just kept his mouth shut given the topic and his pedestaled place in it, but not so in the case of this big-headed Marxist egomaniac.

Carlos Alberto Montaner, in a hilarious essay, (in Spanish) described how he'd actually got a raging letter from Correa himself, insisting he was not, repeat, not an idiot. Hear that? Take it from him, pal, he's not stupid at all. He said so himself, spitting mad.

Memo to Rafael Correa: If, as head of state, you have to deny being stupid to the author of a book whose title is 'The Idiot Returns' where he's made you Exhibit A, it's a pretty forgone conclusion that you are even stupider than you were written about! If you had a lick of sense, and you don't, you might like to keep it all as quiet as possible.

For the rest of us, it'll probably be impossible not to buy a copy of that new book as soon as it hits Amazon just to see how it pushed the vain fool's buttons! Doggone idiot, and funny as heck, a thrashing man we truly laugh at, not with. I hope Montaner frames the damning letter from the president of Ecuador and smiles. What a bozo to get 'fan' mail from!

Hat tip: ECrisis

A.M. Mora y Leon · July 10, 2007 1:51 AM

Sorry, Colombia! Officially Launches

Filed under: Americas

A website I've been working on since Congress announced that it would not seek a free trade agreement with Colombia has officially launched. It's called Sorry, Colombia!, a play on SorryEverybody.com, where users submit their apology photos for letting GWB get elected.

In this campaign, we are seeking photos from readers who are sorry that their Congressional leaders voted against the FTA, the disrespect is shows in the relationship, and the embarrassment that it brings upon us.

I implore you to check out the site and add your picture. Also, vote in the poll so that Colombians can see just how many people support them.

We will have blog posts, news updates, and podcasts that you can view. In fact, there is already some news and a podcast that you can check out already.

So like I said, check it out, blog about it, and tell everyone you know who may be interested!

UPDATE: By the way, I have created a Facebook group that you can join as well. Join it to make our numbers known! It is also a convenient place to upload the photo that you create, and I will add it to the main campaign site as well.

MC · July 9, 2007 1:14 PM

Rewarding Palestinians for killing Jews

Filed under: Palestine

The Israeli cabinet on Sunday approved the release of 250 Palestinian prisoners as a goodwill gesture to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. I think Olmert must be crazy! Why should Israel do any friendly gesture towards Fatah? The same Fatah who attacked Israel on countless times. Moreover Abbas controls nothing and rules over no one. If he was seen as weak now he is considered a traitor by many Palestinians, because he received support from Israel and the United States. Abbas called for an international force of 20,000 soldiers to be sent to the Gaza Strip. Imagine that: more infidels taking the side of evil Israel! Sheikh Yassin must be turning in his grave. Lets hope Meshal will join him soon. But till that moment, Abbas has no word whatsoever in front of the Palestinians and by giving him millions of $ and weapons both Israel and the US proved their stupidity and lack of vision.

In time Abbas will have no other choice than to reunite with Hamas. If Israel wants to try to negotiate peace with the Palestinians then Hamas is the right party to talk to. After all, it is the party that is liked and elected by the people. Now if they do not want peace -- namely a two state solution, negotiated borders and no right to return for the Palestinians inside Israel -- fine, then Israel should do whatever it can to protect itself and its citizens. Hard to accept but after 59 years we are still submitting to terrorists will!!

Hamas made a very nice PR stunt when it convinced the Dugmush family to release Alan Johnston. They did not do it for free. Apparently 5 mil $ and weapons were given to the Army of Islam. On top of it, Hannyeh and Mumtaz Dugmush, a former activist in the Popular Resistance Committee, and the all mighty leader of the Army of Islam agreed not to wash their clothes in public, meaning not to say a word about the crimes Hamas and Dugmush militia did together. We should not forget that it was Dugmush and Hamas who kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Before of the new agreement Dugmush said that his militia and Hamas tried to assassinate Dahlan five times. I wonder what else would have Dugmush said if it were nor for the generous payment.

This mentally disturbed, wealthy individual is part of a mafia type of family in Gaza. He now signs the official communiques of his terrorist gang with "Sheikh Mumtaz Bin-Muhammad Bin-Dughmush"

Some say that he formed the Swords of Justice, yet another terrorist gang responsible for burning internet cafes, harassing women who they thought are dress "unIslamic", shootings and other such kind of "educational" activities. Dugmush is affiliated with al Qaeda.

Manuela Paraipan · July 9, 2007 9:43 AM

A New Campaign in Support of Colombia

Filed under: Americas

We at Publius are starting a new campaign in support of ratification of a free trade agreement with Colombia called, "Sorry, Colombia!" The name derives from the fact that the Democrat-controlled American Congress has rejected the FTA on extremely dubious grounds. It also plays on the "Sorry Everybody!" campaign started by Americans who wanted to apologize for George W. Bush's reelection in 2004.

We are aiming to do something similar. Beside an official apology and the latest news, developments, and information regarding the FTA and related scandals, we also want to create a photo gallery of Americans apologizing for Congress' ludicrous decision. I am asking for you help.

We need volunteers with a little bit of time and a wide variety of abilities, including:
- Knowledge about photo gallery and photo submission web apps that can be used
- Connections with journalists, government officials on both sides, or simply interested individuals who will pass on the word
- Good, persuasive writing ability and a knowledge of Colombian and American politics
- Use of email and social networking sites such as Digg and Facebook
- And just good ideas in general!

If you would like to help in any way and can offer any of your time, please contact me at robertmayer @ gmail.com

Thanks! And look for the launch shortly!

MC · July 6, 2007 11:54 AM

Millions Of Colombians March Against FARC Marxist Narcoterrorists

Filed under: Americas

Millions of Colombians marched as a nation together to protest the Marxist FARC's kidnappings of innocents
Source: AP, via Yahoo! News

As in Cuba and Venezuela, white is rapidly becoming the color of freedom and democratic revolution through the Western hemisphere.

In Medellin
Source: Reuters, via Yahoo! News

In Cali
Source: AP, via Yahoo! News

Millions of Colombians, all clad in white, marched through Bogota, Cali, Medellin and other cities to protest the murderous kidnappings by the FARC Marxist narcoterrorist guerrillas, who have made war on this unlucky country for more than 44 years. FARC currently holds 3000 people hostage in its jungle redoubts, in the name of forcing Marxism on an unwilling nation. Three of those hostages are Americans. This protest was triggered by the coldblooded murder of 11 elected legislators, who were held hostage for five long years in the broiling hot jungle hideouts of the terrorists, only to be shot dead when rescuers arrived for them. These terrorists easily shot their hostages dead rather than let them be rescued without a cash ransom or the achievement of their unsellable political aims.

Colombians wave the flag - their nation is at stake.
Source: AP, via Yahoo! News

Little children, standing up against Marxist narcoterror, stand up for democracy
Source: Reuters, via Yahoo! News

These Marxist monsters are detested by Colombians and have the lowest approval rating of any group in the country, something like less than 1%. It's no surprise as to why. They are well known for the inhumanity. They keep hostages tied to trees for years, and demand massive ransoms from innocents. Those who survive come out looking like feral animals. They invented the necklace bomb, grabbing farmers who refused to grow coca for their cocaine operations, putting a sort of ticking mechanical collar around their necks and letting them listen to the ticks until time runs out and they feel their head literally blow off. They invented horse bombs, where horses go into village marketplaces and explode, like random roaming car bombs. They have massacred Colombians in churches during mass, their blazing machine guns firing away on people worshipping God. They have forced children into soldierhood, and turning them into Marxist-indoctrinated automatons, and robbed others of their childhood by blocking all school routes. Some Colombian children have had to attend school through swinging pulleys across the jungle canopy just to avoid the FARC guerrilla activity below and the inevitable kidnapping. They have trafficked drugs to milllions, raining horror and misery on inner cities across America. There is no evil that they will not stoop to in the name of their Marxist 'revolution,' none.

A Colombian demonstrator demands that the chains of Marxist narcoterror be broken in Colombia.
Source: Reuters, via Yahoo! News

Starting their war against Colombia in the 1960s, with the complicity of Fidel Castro, who's always viewed the ultra-strategic Colombian nation as his biggest takeover prize, they've turned Colombia into a lawless hellhole and damaged and corrupted Colombian society in a way no other terrorist group on a sustained basis has ever done. They have stepped up their plans to attack American troops stationed there and Colombian troops foiled a plot against them just this past 4th of July. They seem to have forged an alliance with Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, whose ultimate aim seems to be war with Colombia. He's confident that America will never come to Colombia's aid.

The FARC is denounced as cowards by a protestor.
Source: AP, via Yahoo! News

FARC Marxist narcoterrorists are hanged in effigy - this is no soft soggy give peace a chance rally, these Colombians are willing to fight.
Source: Reuters, via Yahoo! News

The misery these Marxists have wrought on Colombia is horrendous. That's why Colombians defied guerrilla threats to massacre them in their voting lines back in 2002, and elected President Alvaro Uribe, a man who has known Marxist narcoterror up close. In fact, no one has seen Marxist narcoterror as closely as he has. The FARC murdered his father during an attempted kidnapping. They tied his foreign minister to a tree for six years - he only escaped their monstrous clutches by running through a minefield and into a jungle for two weeks to escape. Other drug traffickers, their remnants now since aligned to the FARC, held his vice president hostage for eight months, tied to a bed. It's not that common that a president leads a pprotest rally in a democratic revolution, but in his case, there is no one more appropriate. He's leading the fight for his country's freedom.

The man leading the national rally - President Uribe of Colombia, who prays at mass beforehand
Source: AP, via Yahoo! News

His suffering was emblematic of the suffering of all Colombians. The FARC has killed 200,000 people during the course of its four-decade brutal war for Marxism. They've kidnapped about 18,000. Colombians know this. But the rest of the world doesn't. That's why they've taken to the streets to show the world that their ordeal is not over, that they need the support of everyone, and that the FARC must be completely disbanded or destroyed. They love their President Uribe - who has an 80% approval rating at the last count. With a notably Catholic devotion, he's shown a long-suffering and prudent wisdom in refusing to negotiate with terrorists, refusing to give them the land they are demanding, refusing to heed anyone but the people he elected. His sufferings are many as his nation is reviled in the halls of U.S. Congress by ruling Democrats who literally know nothing about the place and its sufferings and seem to seek only to buttress the FARC and all its Marxist narcoterror.

It's like Venezuela's freedom marches, there's a majesty.
Source: AP, via Yahoo! News

Like the Venezuelans, the Colombians make gestures in the streets. Note that each tshirt represents the face of a FARC victim.
Source: AP, via Yahoo! News

A couple weeks ago, Uribe released a coterie of about 500 FARC terrorists from prison as a goodwill gesture. Requested by Nicolas Sarkozy of France, who misread the Colombian situation, this weeks ago. Naturally, the FARC returned the gesture with bombs, violence and new kidnappings. It's significant that Uribe said there won't be any more of this, thus, keeping his support from the people of Colombia intact.

The crowds were incredible in narcoterror-ravaged Cali
Source: Reuters, via Yahoo! News

What's needed now is support from the people of the world for Colombia which has consistently shown resolve in creating peace in their country. When is the United States, through aid and free trade, going to give it to them? We're waiting for the Congressional Democrats.

GatewayPundit has much more.

The Church is a major player in calling for peace from the narcoterrorists.
Source: AP, via Yahoo! News

The Cardinals join too, demanding peace from the FARC.
Source: AP, via Yahoo! News

Candlelight vigil at Bolivar Square in Bogota.
Source: Reuters, via Yahoo! News

A.M. Mora y Leon · July 6, 2007 6:40 AM

The Attire of a True Killer

Filed under: Central Asia ~ Pakistan

Taliban-style radical Islamists and Madrassah students have been holed up in Pakistan's now-famous Red Mosque for awhile now, following several months of kidnapping and killings committed by the incited students. Some of these people are killers. Way hardcore.

Not so much the cleric doing the inciting. Yesterday, the big man behind all the action was caught sneaking out of the mosque to avoid capture as Pakistani troops surrounded the area. Not only is he not the kind of martyr and jihadist that he claims to be, but he is even more cowardly because he was caught leaving in a woman's burka!

A grab of Ajj TV shows, in circle, Abdul Aziz, chief cleric of the Red Mosque, as he is surrounded by security officials after his arrest near The Red Mosque in Islamabad. Pakistani security forces arrested Aziz as he tried to flee while disguised in an all-covering women's burqa on Wednesday, officials said.(AFP/Ajj TV)

The government then proceeded to humiliate him in front of everyone, putting him on state television still clad in the burka so that he could urge his followers to surrender. I think it's safe to assume that he has totally discredited himself. My question is, why has it taken so long to beat a guy like this?

MC · July 5, 2007 9:45 AM

Colombia's President Responds to U.S. Democrats' Idiocy

Filed under: Americas

A reader sends forward a translation of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe's remarks regarding he U.S. Congress' decision to deny a free trade agreement with his country, translated by a Colombian writer and blogger Max Vergara Poeti whose blog you can visit here.

His words are powerful and damning. He says that Congress is completely lacking in both history as well as facts. He says that Colombia will not be treated as a servile tinpot dictatorship. Have the Democrats pushed away our only true ally in the Americas, giving the likes of Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro exactly what they want?

You can read the statements below. I am sure that readers from Colombia will be interested to know what our stateside readers think about what Congress did as well as Uribe's reaction.

MC · July 4, 2007 2:55 PM

UK government bans two Islamist organizations

Filed under: Europe

Tony McNulty, the British minister for counter terrorism and security has proposed banning two more militant Islamic organizations. In the wake of last week's attempted car bombings in London and Glasgow, McNulty has published a draft order in parliament to ban Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh and Tehreek Nifaz-e-Shariat Mohammadi in the country. They would join 44 other organizations already forbidden under the Terrorism Act, which prohibits belonging to, or encouraging, support for the groups. The two organizations have been associated with terror attacks in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, but reportedly are not connected to last week's attempted terror attacks. "Proscription powers are a key tool in the fight against terrorism," McNulty said in a statement.

The new prime minister, Gordon Brown, has informed parliament that he wants to set up a National Security Council that includes all agencies and ministers dealing with security and anti-terrorism matters.

Meanwhile, Islamist militants in the Gaza Strip have released the abducted British reporter Alan Johnston, who had been held hostage since March 2007. The BBC correspondent told a Gaza City press conference: "They were often rude and unpleasant. They did threaten my life a number of times. There was one 24 hour period when they seemed to get very angry and chained me up but that only lasted 24 hours. It was like being buried alive and removed from the world, in the hands of people who were dangerous and unpredictable." (WJG)

Manuela Paraipan · July 4, 2007 7:33 AM

Colombia Hurled Into The Cold - with a kiss

Filed under: Americas

Congressional Democrats are really doing a number on our ally Colombia, shutting it out of free trade. They say that because Colombia has some vaguely defined 'violence,' (Amnesty lists 6 cases) 46 million Colombians should get the door to free trade slammed shut in their faces. It's something they've been doing for awhile. After that, Democrats then assure us that all they want to do is 'help' Colombia.

***

The imperial majesties of the House Ways and Means Committee weighed in with who lives and who dies on free trade. Being anything but Solomons, they decided to split the baby, allowing safe passage for free trade to friendly Panama and friendly Peru.

But for allied, courageous, and dramatically beautified Colombia - the cudgel and the back of their Congressional hand - sealed with a creepy Judas kiss.

Congress put this statement out:

With regard to the Colombia FTA, the House of Representatives recently passed the 2008 State and Foreign Operations Appropriations bill, which redirects U.S. foreign assistance in Colombia. All of us regard Colombia as a crucial ally in a region that deserves our active engagement, and the bill represents an effort to have U.S. funds help address the root of numerous problems there. There is widespread concern in Congress about the level of violence in Colombia, the impunity, the lack of investigations and prosecutions, and the role of the paramilitary. Issues of this nature cannot solely be resolved through language in a trade agreement.


We believe there must first be concrete evidence of sustained results on the ground in Colombia, and Members of Congress will continue working with all interested parties to help achieve this end before consideration of any FTA. Consequently, we cannot support the Colombia FTA at this time.

So you read right - because there is some violence in a society that's been engulfed by war for 44 years, 46 million Colombians are to be denied the right to free trade with America for as long as it takes for Congress to be convinced it's over. That's Congress' idea of a solution. That'll fix 'em.

Instead of a free trade agreement, all Colombia's getting from Congress is the same deal that loudly anti-American Ecuador is getting: ad-hoc trade privileges under the ATPDEA program to fight drugs, which keep American companies out of Colombian markets but allow Colombian companies to trade here in the U.S. freely so long as the U.S. says so.

Colombia doesn't want that. Colombia wants the solid permanent treaty of free trade instead. It WANTS to open its markets to the U.S. as its means of securing permanent growth, but the Democrats in Congress won't let them. Colombia wants the assurance of a permanent pact so that it can continue growing. It wants it so bad it's bent over backwards and gone through every hoop Congress has asked them to.

And it still isn't good enough.

Shunning Colombia, look at how vague those Congressional demands are - Colombia has knocked down deaths of unionists by 90% as of April 2007, and that's not good enough for Congress. It's given 1500 trade unionists bodyguards, bulletproof cars, prosecutors, special protections that ordinary Colombians don't get - all for nothing. I called the House Ways and Means Committee today and pleaded with them: What is it going to take to satisfy you? What does Colombia have to do? How can the agony end? And they had no answer for me. "I'll have to get back to you," they said - for every single one of my queries. It was painful.

But it did convince me that Colombia is being strung along with no relief in sight, and nothing it does will please the leftists who run Congress, nothing short of the overthrow of President Uribe, a democratically elected president that they don't like.

It's absolute horrible to think that the U.S. would do this to an ally that's done so much for us and asked so little in return.

I see signs of weakness in this untenable stand, in that Congress keeps falsely saying it wants to help Colombia, signalling that it fears those of us who state that their act is unfriendly, hurts Colombia's huge private sector and helps only Hugo Chavez. Therefore, there is room for fightback. Congress wants a free hand to abuse Colombia (as Al Gore has) but they don't want to be called its enemy, called to account, by bloggers like me.

Congress, I got one message for you - you are Colombia's enemy and you are harming Colombia. You are on the side of narcotraffickers. You are helping Hugo Chavez - and not doing one thing for Colombia's well-being.

Colombia has risen from the monstrous ashes of a terrifying war to become a nation that has grown into free trade and needs free trade to grow into a first world country. It's been the U.S.'s most faithful ally in the entire hemisphere, it's been a friend to Democratic and Republican administrations alike without fear or favor. The only thing that can be concluded is that Democrats can't stand this country because it's ruled by a rightwinger, a man who won office with 70% of the popular vote, and who now holds an 80% approval rating .... for Congress, this noble nation must be cut down. Colombia's on the hit list of various Soros-funded leftwing think tanks that wield tremendous influence in Washington - that's probably another reason for the unreasonable stance and why they all need to be exposed. Congress' action is a slap in the face of a U.S. ally unlike any other in history. This nation did anything for us, anything, and look how our Congress is treating it!

I am so angry I could throw things. I burn with hatred, I want to break something. How could Congress be so unethical? How could they throw away something so precious?

Colombia and the U.S. are united together by so much! We both share Atlantic and Pacific coasts. We became independent at the same time and with largely through same idea forces. We almost took Colombia's name, except that Colombia got it first, so we used the name 'Columbia' in our capital. We have so much in common, our histories and experiences intertwine. We bought Panama from Colombia and developed the mighty Panama canal from it. We share the drug war, one side buyers and the other side sellers, a war that wreaks havoc at any nation in its way and therefore have an important mission to solve together. Colombians who come here are so like us they blend in and assimilate right away. Colombia is becoming more like us in that it's developing a capitalist economy quite unlike any other in Latin America. How could we betray Colombia, which is our precious ally?

Colombia is going to be traumatized by this. The charges against it are exaggerated, and cutting off free trade as a solution is way too draconian and disproportionate. The failure to give Colombia the free trade pact it's earned is only likely to increase the violence as Colombia's economy tanks. Leaving 46 million people in the cold is no way to make them want to be your ally. Betraying a nation like this will have consequences for us and I shudder to think what they are.

Congress, I curse you!

UPDATE: Jim Hoft at GatewayPundit has an absolutely dazzling item, a must-read here.

UPDATE: Fausta has much more with lots of good newer links here.

A.M. Mora y Leon · July 3, 2007 12:14 AM