Depleted Uranium, Israel's Self Inflicted Curse

Thank you, to Red State Son for this clip from the Monkees.

And finally -- The Monkees, from their album "Headquarters" on which they played their own instruments, "Randy Scouse Git," an anti-war song written and sung by Micky Dolenz.



As always, anti-war songs are always relevant. As war is always with us.

I'm done with Jim Howard Kuntsler's blog. Today's entry is filled with extreme rhetoric and hate that is prevalent among extremists of every stripe. If you change some of the names of ethnic groups around, you can use this template for hate speech in any situation.

Now I'll admit right up front, I could only read a portion of it. It sounded so much like the KKK arguments I grew up hearing in East Texas and in Bible School that it made me sick to my stomach.

It's easy enough for Amateur Chickenhawk Generals like Jim to get excited about the slaughter in the Middle East, but he won't be delivering Israeli babies over the next few million years with deformed bodies and cancers from the Depleted Uranium they are ingesting, thanks to Genocidal Chickenhawks on this side of the pond.

What matters to these folks is clearly not the future, as this international conflict must create more problems than it will solve, but instead what matters is their lust for vengeance and the joy they take in knowing that they are helping to support this slaughter.

Even if Israel manages to kill 150 million Arabs and takes control over the entire Middle East, the poisons they injest by using depleted uranium ordnance, will cause their family lines to wither.

Missing limbs, missing organs, organs growing outside of their bodies and babies born with no brains will become the new Israeli curse as a result of this war, even if they win. The curse that the US has inflicted on Iraq and it's own servicemen will soon be a curse on Israel, as they intend to live on the land and breath the air and drink the water, poisoned by their own war, for many hundreds of generations to come.

The UN Calls For A Ceasefire

Israel responds by deliberately targeting and killing 4 UN Observers in a well known location.

BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- A diplomatic firestorm raged Wednesday after four U.N. observers died in southern Lebanon in what the U.N. chief said was an "apparently deliberate" Israeli airstrike.

Israel angrily denied the accusation.

The U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon initially reported that two peacekeepers were dead and two missing but early Wednesday confirmed that all four were killed in the late Tuesday strike

The observers were Austrian, Finnish, Canadian and Chinese, Lebanese security sources said.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he was "deeply distressed" by the "apparently deliberate" strike.

"This coordinated artillery and aerial attack on a long-established and clearly marked U.N. post at Khiyam occurred despite personal assurances given to me by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that U.N. positions would be spared Israeli fire," he said in a statement.

I can't say I'm surprised. Israel, the US and Britain are making it clear that they want the rest of world to butt out while they destroy oil infrastructure and life's blood of the world industry and economies.

Once US and British troops are in Syria and Iran, there's no way that international markets will be shaken, oil prices wil rise, as will unemployment all over the world.

I've heard arguments that the intention now for the US and Britian is to make a last military attempt to gain complete control of Middle East Oil. And maybe our intrepid leaders will succeed, for a time.

But then we'll have to defend that oil, and pump it, and refine it. If we don't pump it an refine it, what do we do? Buy oil from Russia at $150/barrel to power our tanks in the Middle East?

Already we are buying Russian fuel to power our military efforts in Iraq. I don't see how more of the same would help anyone, except to make some folks richer as the world self destructs around them.

But these people make reality and historians write down what they do. As Cheney has argued, future generations will look back and judge them. It's not our place to point and say, "That move was really stupid!" It's a time for idiots to show the world that 'Stupid is, as stupid does', to borrow a phrase from 'Forest Gump'. And the historians can look back and say, "Man! People sure were stupid in the old days!", as they sift through garbage to find bits to make farming implements from.

Strange Goings On...

Israel's invasion of Lebanon is turning out to be the event we've been waiting for. The spin is heavy. The attack is moving along as if it's been planned for some time. In fact we're now hearing that Israel has been working on this battle strategy for a year now.

And when those two Israeli soldiers were captured, we first heard that they were deep in Lebanon on a commando mission. then we heard they were kidnapped in Israel. Then Lebanon, then Israel again.

Clearly the spinmeisters didn't all get their memos on time.

But regardless of whether those boys really were in an American made tank, on a secret assasination mission in Lebanon or not, hardly matters now. The war is on.

As soon as Israel had a pretext for attack, they bombed the airports, roads, power stations, water treatment plants, and anything else to destroy the civilian infrastrucure, just like the Geneva Conventions says not to. But then Israel never signed the Geneva Convention, did they?

Rice then made a surprise visit to the ME. The reporters were surprised anyway.

In Beirut she smiled and laughed. Her visit there has been characterized as a 'disaster'.

In Israel, she assured the Israelis that new bombs and missiles were on their way to keep the war well supplied. Then she proposed that 30,000 UN Troops come help defeat Lebanon (a US Ally).

Among those troops, she would like to see Turkey and Egypt do most of the fighting. I'm not sure why either nation would be interested in fighting for Israel as a US proxy. In fact, I can't think of any reason they would be interested at all.

So that's a nice sentiment, send in some other country's troops to die for something or other. But I doubt it's gonna happen. I doubt that happy Condeleeza Rice expects that outcome.

Soon the UN will turn down the idea (unless Israel makes consecessions, NOT!), and our illustrious Rush Libaugh and other illuminaries will scream that they are all jew hating cowards. Then with great gravity, it will be announce that US troops will have to go in. The same troops that have already shipped out for some mysterious pre-planned, 'Big Push'.

And anti-semitism is the theme for the day. Where anyone that thought Iraq was a mistake was labelled 'anti-American' and a 'terrorist sympathiser', anyone opposing World War III or IV, (starting now in a Middle Eastern Theater near you), will be labelled anti-semite. I predict that this will be the tactic used to silence opposition, so this war can rage all accross the oil fields of the Middle East without debate. Get used to the idea that lot's of folks will soon be screaming 'Jew Hater!', 'Anti-Semite!' and finally the old standby 'Leftist Terrorist!' at anyone that asks, "What is this war for?". After all, if you don't love war, then you must hate the jewish people.

I personally don't believe in this line of thinking, but it's become a very popular argument already.

On a number of blogs, people are screaming 'Anti-Semite!' at anyone who says, "I don't like what Israel is doing in Lebanon. I'm not sure that's going to work out well for Israel."

Now that Iraq appears to be utterly lost, bush needs a new war that's better than the old war. I believe this is going to be Very Ugly. Very Bloody. And Very Senseless. As our troops take on Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Iran, I don't see how world oil production won't take a hit.

Hard times are coming and we're rushing to greet them.

Much ado has been made that all of this is being waged, as a fulfillment of prophecy in the Book of Revelations. That a false prophet that professes to speak to God, will spout lies and lead his people into a great crusade. Then the Temple on the Mount will be rebuilt and Jesus will call his followers to heaven and descend to Earth, waging war against the false prophet and destroy him and all of his followers.

For those Christians eager to support this war, to meet Jesus, have you considered what role you're playing your own prophecies? Dudes! You're going up against Jesus! The folks that start the war will be followers of the false prophet. So who leads armies and professes to speak to God, and does his bidding these days? Who's killing for Jesus?

For my own part, I don't believe in the Book of Revelations. Evidence suggests it was all written as a spew against Nero. Evidently the author known as, 'John', had a beef with the guy.

But I do believe this war is really gonna bring us some hard times. Gas, water and food rationing will be the norm in a few years, all over the US. We're wasting precious resources on a war we can't win. Resources that could've been used to make the Post Energy Peak transition a little easier. This war will insure that the transition will be as painful as possible.

Well that's the end of my anti-semitic rant.
Have a nice day.

The Morning After

One practical and moral question I have asked a number of times on other forums has gone unanswered.

Assuming the following are true. There are certainly many good arguments for and few against.
1. Peak Oil is here. We're about to see a decline.
2. The US dollar is ready for a collapse. It's just waiting for a trigger point.
3. Global Warming is continuing to drain the economy through a variety of expenses.
4. Oil is going to keep rising in price.
5. Wages are going to remain flat or decline.
6. Food prices and in fact prices of most goods is going to continue to rise.
7. The Real Estate industry is imploding.
7a. Major job loss is coming as the Real Estate bubble created millions of new jobs that will disappear.
8. Every chance Congress has to hollow the economy or kill jobs, they jump on, foaming at the bit.
9. Etc...

So, the US is about to fall on hard times. Can the US continue to aid Israel forever? Can the US continue to fight in Iraq when the US economy collapses?

Now after this setup, let's say that war is raging between Israel and the US, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan, then the US pulls out and goes home...

What then for Israel?

It Begins

I'm late on the timing. I really thought the invasion of Iran would happen before it got late in the summer. I need to remember that when Rumsfield makes battle plans, he doesn't worry much about his fungible toy soldiers.

If they don't have armor, "Well hey!", you go to war with the army you have, not the one that American people would like you to prepare. After all, having a different army than the one you find yourself with, involves preparation and expense. That's money that could be funneled into Cayman numbered accounts through Halliburton, Gosh Darn It! Preparation requires work!

Of course, there's the happy story that the Army is going to end the current Halliburton contracts. They say they need an assortment of vendors in order to insure quality and competitiveness. They go on to say that Halliburton has done a great job, what with the rotten food, missing shipments and depleted uranium contaminated drinking water, whose complaining? Not the brass, that's for sure!

So I guess the plan now is for Halliburton to splinter into subsidiaries, and spread the contracts out among other Halliburton owned entities. I'm always an optimist in these things.

Over the last few months, we've been hearing rumors of massive troop buildups, equipment orders and shipments of military hardware to our major ports. One source says that the Army has built up a ready force of over 55,000 men, all prepared to board ships in one great push, when the orders came.

Between all of the armed forces, could we assume that maybe 150,000 men our shipping out?

In my own neck of the woods, the 25,000 armored semi-tractor trailers are almost all gone. They were visible in paint lots around town, getting their desert camo.

Now Israel has hit Lebanon.

In this modern age, attacking another country and spreading terror throughout the civilian population is an accepted response to heinous acts committed by a few criminals working in the shadows. The accepted response in terrorist attacks against civilians is the "Me Too!" response. When criminals kill some civilians, you go out and attack civilians too. Its winning wars by trying to sink lower in morality than your enemy. It's a competition to see who can commit the most atrocious war crimes.

Look at Iraq after all. Once we got rid of Saddam's torture chambers, ad-hoc executions and rape rooms, we began providing those services ourselves. We're out Saddaming Saddam.

Now terrorism is a big money maker. There's no doubt about it. Both sides gain prestige power and get to direct huge sums of money when terrorism is waged on a managed level. The government get's a free hand in fighting terrorism and can't spend money willy-nilly in the name of fighting terrorism. The terrorist organizations get monies from donors all over the world. The terrorist leaders gain respect and power as their organization gains notoriety.

As long as the two stay in balance, it's a money making deal for both sides. When that balance is ended, it's often because one actor sees some sort of gain in changing the relationship.

And so, Israel has changed its relationship with Hamas and Hezbollah. If it sought to end terrorism, by waging peace as Britain did against the IRA, they'd probably see much of the US and charity funding dry up. No way this would be permitted under any circumstances.

But this attack on Lebanon is just as curious. It doesn't make Israel safer. A destabilized Middle East makes things worse for Israel. All out war is worse than what Israel had.

So there has got to be a deeper meaning behind this attack.

And it's probably a part of the war to take Iran.

Taking US ships through the Strait of Hormuz is a problematic approach. The ships are open to fire on both shores. The fleet would be seen from miles away. The US would take massive causulties, if even a few ships were sunk.

An overland approach makes more sense.

So landing our troops in Lebanon, then making a convoy crossing through Syria, Iraq and Iran, seems like an obvious move, if Iran is the target. And if true, should be obvious to any military folks also. I'm simply going by strategy gaming experience.

Such a move is one that I'm sure the military in Iran has been looking at for some time to come. I have no doubt they've made some plans in this regard. I'm sure that our leaders know they are. I believe that Iran will be a much harder fight than Iraq was. But with our superior air power, we can get in and dig in successfully. After that, I don't know what the hell our plans are. Our plan in Iraq seems to be to use the chaos to justify lots of graft. Does our military industrial complex need more no bid contracts?

Regardless, expect the Middle East to lose a lot of oil capacity if this comes to pass. Iran can certainly do a lot of damage to oil fields in Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. the Strait of Hormuz will be a choke point that tankers might not be able to survive.

And if this comes to pass, get ready to walk or bicycle to work. The question may not be, "How much does gasoline cost?", but "Why isn't anyone in my town selling gasoline?"