The Ukraine:

July 17th, 2014, Donetsk Region of The Ukraine:

Terror In The Sky

I have waited until as much information as can be assessed has become available before commenting on yet another tragic air disaster involving Malaysia airlines., this time all 298 persons on board perishing.
The first thing is to express sincere condolences for the all victims, their families and loved ones on the Malaysia-KLM flight 9M-MRD/MH17 from Schiphol Airport (The Netherlands) to Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia. Secondly, to express condolences to Malaysia Airlines in what has become their darkest year ever.

I have traveled on Malaysia Airlines (possibly on the same ill-fated flight path as that of 9M-MRD) en-route to the Far East and hardly gave one iota of a second to the announcement by the Captain or Co-Pilot about Ukrainian airspace other than it being a minor distraction to something I was either contemplating or reading on-board.

The other most disturbing fact, other than the tragic loss of life, is that it has been reported that the plane of Russian Federation President Putin with similar underbelly or side markings to the untrained eye, was in the same vicinity as that of the downed Malaysian airliner within a relatively short time prior to the disaster.

Indeed earlier today I was musing as to whether to mention the dangers to Air Force One or whether such an inclusion in an article would just be read as a cynical attempt by myself to 'hype up' an already tragic situation for personal reasons.
I agonized about it this afternoon and decided I would omit it when I blogged something about this tragic event (rather than stand accused of being 'over-dramatic' and attempting to 'capitalize' on a tragedy through a blog.) Hearing the news about the Presidential plane hit me like a bombshell and I have now changed my  mind and am including my original thoughts (as a side issue) to this terrible event in the Donetsk region of The Ukraine.
Earlier today, after hearing the tragic news of the Malaysian air disaster, I was immediately thinking of the 'prized' value to many terrorist and criminal organizations of 'bringing down' Air Force One.
One of the few airlines in the world to have sophisticated anti-surface-to-air missile technology is El Al Airlines-,the national civilian airline of Israel. However, such technology would be useless if a determined and triangulated coordinated  attack was to be launched against any civilian airline. Unless a squadron of fighter jets was escorting every civilian airliner, such technology is more for localized and unique deterrence than ability to fend off coordinated surface-to-air missile attacks. The technology is valid only up to a point.
I said at the time that the forced downing by the European Union of a plane carrying the President of Bolivia and it's diverting to a country within the borders of the EU was a terrible mistake and has set a very dangerous precedent for the future. Who am I, however, to understand Imperial Hubris? What individuals who are supposed to be intelligent consistently are seeming to lack is ability to both empathize and appreciate the ramifications of arbitrary actions when taken out of their own 'comfort zone' and placed in unfamiliar environments. The technology for all such systems has, until recently, remained outside the hands of potential terrorist groups and few have ever had the technical sophistication to impact bullseye. It should not be assumed however that this will always be the case. Neither should it be assumed that a third party, with such technology, would not, out of sympathy,'lend' (or sell)  it's services to either a criminal or terrorist group (for example, it could be a drugs cartel in Central or South America attempting 'payback' for loss or extradition of it's members to the United States.) There are enough countries in Latin America where such
a scenario is not entirely without foundation. Bringing down Air Force One with the President on-board would be a major 'trophy' for the drugs cartels, hard hit by the DEA in recent decades. Republicans in Congress are making this possible by their ignorance and lack of foresight .   By cost cutting on Federal security services surrounding Air Force One Republicans are assisting such potential terrorists and drug cartels and bringing forward the day when such a hypothetical scenario turns into a real tragedy. In the light of this airline tragedy in the Ukraine, after the political 'blame game' ends, the international airline community, if it has any common sense, should unite to brain storm about further safety measures for civilian airlines with the emphasis not just on (in my opinion, short-term) sophisticated on the ground air terminal security but near landing, take-off and in-flight (external) measured threats.  There are a number of relatively cheap measures which could be immediately taken to improve security in these 3 arenas. I do say 'relatively cheap' because, for example, fiber optic systems need not push operating costs to astronomical levels and will improve passenger safety as well as security. This must now be a priority for the civilian airline industry worldwide because a variation of what appears to have happened in the Ukraine today, could happen anywhere else tomorrow.

Addendum:
The Blame Game:
A number of theories are being advanced as to the cause of the MH-17 tragedy.
The most prevalent one is that it was shot down by a sophisticated surface-to-air missile.
One thing I noted about the distressing sight of the bodies  strewn about the wreckage of MH-17 was the fact that most shown showed remarkably little signs of injury. One would expect shrapnel, metallic or composite fragment impact from a bomb or explosion, to have grievously disfigured and torn apart most of the unfortunate souls on board the airliner - depending on the point of impact and or  location of a bomb or missile. This would suggest that if it was heat or radar seeking that it either impacted on the extreme rear of the plane, the front of the plane or on the hottest source - a wing.  This would account for a further impact of fragments hitting the main body, quickly depressurizing it and literally sucking the victims out through the depressurized torn sectors - hence bodies would still be intact and external death would have been caused in an instant by hypoxia and internal by impact with terrain. (The study of shockwave impact, of the type we are discussing ,on each sector of the human body, is still an area of active scientific investigation.)
To treat the Russia Federation as a pariah because of this tragedy would, in my opinion, be a very serious mistake with consequences which could trigger or at least move the world towards a new global military confrontation. I am really not sure whether today's media truly understand the global fire storm they are playing with as they 'cash in' on the blame game without giving the experts their opportunity  to scientifically examine all the facts so that those individuals responsible  (and I am talking about the individuals who 'pushed the button')  are brought to account by military justice in the natural course of events, should interdiction indeed be found to be the case, in this war zone.  Nobody for one second would ever suggest that President Obama be personally held responsible for atrocities or 'mistakes' by coalition forces in Iraq or Afghanistan which led to the accidental or conspired deaths or grievous injuries to civilians.  Neither is it sensible (or diplomatic) to accuse President Putin, the President of the world's second Superpower on this planet, of 'pulling the trigger' resulting in the deaths of all those 298 souls on board flight MH-17. and subsequently treat Russia as Libya, after Lockerbie.  To do so is itself likely to trigger a tsunami of titanic proportions, the consequences and aftermath shocks  which would be felt worldwide for decades, if not longer, as a new Iron Curtain or 'firewalled' global political and economic realignment of 'camps' , with all the implications of such an environment for North and South Poles resource cooperation and distribution, to the new El Dorados -including The Caspian Sea, emerge.
We are talking about a war zone  on the actual physical border of a world superpower. If we are not very careful, we could be literally sleepwalking ourselves into a third world war,of sorts, if not literal, through misperceptions and recklessness.   In this instance, history will call world leaders to all account for their actions - if there is somebody left to write our history.

Additional Information
July 21, 2014
Russian media have recently announced that there was one other fighter plane (unidentified) in the immediate vicinity at the time of the downing of MH17. My source (not from Russia) suggests that there were actually 2 fighter jets and that they have both been identified (by another country) as positively those of the Ukrainian Air Force. In addition to this that same source places the near vicinity of  the plane of the Russian Federation President at 20 minutes of a difference between the time of MH17 flight path and it's proximity near to this flight path at interdiction -  within striking range of surface-to-air missiles.
(This has not yet been announced, to the best of my knowledge, anywhere in the world.)
I must stress that I have had this information for some time but have delayed it's inclusion because I have not been able to corroborate, with a second source, this single source of such information. To date, I have no independent confirmation of this source but the recent announcement by Russia media sources lends more credibility - hence my decision to include this, as, of yet, unverified, information.
Even if there were 2 Ukrainian fighter jets within several kilometers, this in itself does not presume their involvement in the downing of MH 17. (3)

1 or 2 Ukrainian Air Force Planes In The immediate Vicinity of the Downed MH17 at the Time of The Incident?

It's beginning to look like there was only 1 fighter plane and I misinterpreted something which had been said to me.
The time of approximately 20 minutes and proximity (across the border) of the The Russian Federation President remains exactly as I heard it.  This does not suggest that President Putin was on board.  The Presidential plane could have been on it's way to or from routine maintenance or on a  flight check. Unfortunately with Malaysia Airlines this year there have sadly been far too many coincidences and this further matter (of a coincidence) would not in the least surprise me.

23rd July, 2014
Black Box Flight Recorders:

Now on their way to the United Kingdom.
Both will be analyzed in the United Kingdom.
This is probably the least controversial country where expert forensic analysis is second to none in the world.
There would have been just about some time for civilian radar on board the ill-fated Malaysia airline to pick up an object approaching.  It's identification time minus the time of impact will give at least some indication as to it's speed and (hopefully) trajectory.  With some modified calculations it's point of origin can be at least back-tracked to a specific ground location.  This together with 'chatter' extracts (in cooperation with the Russian Ministry of Defense and The Department of  Defense, The United States) should help to accurately pinpoint the type and nature of the originating talk and it's associations.

Why Was MH17 Shot Down?

A number of of speculations have been made about what shot down the ill-fated airliner.
It is now not beyond the realm of possibility that  it was indeed shot down by an Anti-Ukrainian Rebel surface-to-air missile. It is also not beyond the realm of speculation that they were trying to hit the Ukrainian fighter jet reportedly flying nearby - but missed - with the tragic results we have witnessed.
Whether there was a deliberate act of provocation on the part of the Ukrainian Air Force jet - with premeditated intent and knowledge that a civilian airliner was unable to manoeuver to avoid being hit, or whether it was just a terrible tragedy, a so-called identification friend or foe [IFF]  'mistake' it could take years if not decades for an official acknowledgement.
However, there is increasing belief (not evidence, at this point) that it was not an act of deliberate intent on the part of the Ukrainian rebels.


Patrick Emek

1. http://www.standartnews.com/english/read/spanish_air_traffic_controller_mh17_shot_down_by_kiev_after_escort_by_fighters-4446.html

2.
 http://www.therakyatpost.com/news/2014/07/18/mh17-report-claiming-putins-plane-actual-target-pulled/

(3)
 http://www.businessinsider.com/russias-story-about-mh17-2014-7

Murder by Design:

''The Gates Of Hell Will Open''

The very brutal and callous murder of 3 Israeli youths, Gilad Shaar, Naftali Fraenkel and Eyal Yifrah was greeted by Hamas not with regret or, at the very least, a statement of determination to bring to justice those responsible for the murder of the 3 young boys, but simply an utterance that this was yet another Israeli 'conspiracy' to provoke a war with the West Bank and Gaza strip and a warning that such a war will 'open the gates of hell' for Israel.

I cannot confirm reports which state that Hamas representatives actually 'praised' the kidnappers prior to the boys being found murdered.

Dehumanization appears to be the natural order of things today in the Middle East.

This is as much reflected in the chaos of 'democratic' politics and political leadership in the Middle East and North Africa as it is in the everyday treatment of their own fellow Arab men and, in particular, women, in many (but not I must add, all) Arab Muslim societies throughout the region in this, the 21^st century.

If there was any humanity left in the region there would be universal condemnation of this very evil

deed and a general desire to ensure not vengeance, but that the murders of these innocent young civilians were not in vain and act as a bridge to bring those of peace and goodwill closer together rather than, as Hamas is intending, to further divide and sow even more seeds of hatred and despair.

I have, in my time, travelled to many different parts of the world and have been, without any backup nor protection whatsoever, in different war zones, but it is still to this day rare for me to recall a part of the world where, even amongst the bitterest of foes, there was not some modicum of regret about the senseless loss of innocent life - particularly of men, women and children just accidentally caught up in a tragic situation – in the wrong place at the wrong time and on the wrong day of the year.          The Middle East appears to be the exception to this general rule.

My hope is that one day the 'genetic' 'thinking' profile of this region will change - and the Gates of Humanity and Common Sense will open widely and herald to facilitate a higher level of thinking above the living hell that Hamas and Fatah, spurred on by Saudi Arabia and Iran, have destined and designed for their Palestinian populations in the West Bank and Gaza.

Addendum:
[As if this heinous act against 3 defenceless youths was not the worst thing that could happen, another name, that of Mohammed Abu Khadair, a young boy, on his way to early moning prayers, during the advent to the holy month of Ramadan, who  was abducted, murdered and his body mutilated, needs to be added to those of Gilad Shaar, Naftali Fraenkel and Eyal Yifrah.  In this case and unlike their Palestinian counterparts, Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Peres have both condemned this evil act and have vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice in an Israeli Court of Law.]

Patrick Emek

The Devils Brew

History tells us that it has never been easy for the Persians (modern day Iran) to think practically until almost on the verge of total annihilation. By this time it has always, without exception, been too late to save Kings and Empires.

I am not going to give a history lesson here (I have given it in articles several years ago) but suffice to say the Iranian Clergy find themselves in the same historical 'location' as their predecessors.

They have a enemy whom they have demonized (sic. The United States) yet without the military (or, at the very least, technological) assistance of this very enemy, Shiasm itself may not survive. Their enemies can see this but the Iranian leadership is blinded by it's very own rhetoric and thus finds it impossible to 'do a deal with the devil.'   Pride.   America, on the other hand, agonizes as to how to stabilize Iraq without destroying it's relationships (economic, military and political) with the Sunni world – which, on the whole, is more 'practically minded' than their zealous Shia counterparts.   On the other hand, it is that very zeal which will motivate Iranian Shias (and many in Iraq not under the direct military control of the government) to stand and fight their ground in a way their Sunni counterparts will not.  Be in no doubt, these ISIL fanatics, highly motivated by religion, will not stop at Iraq.  The 'apostate Satan Iran' and the 'Satan Israel' will both be high priorities for their next crusades – adding to decades (maybe centuries) of new strife in the region.   They will be as inflexible about doing a deal with Iran as Iran currently is in negotiating for it's very survival with the United States.

Blinded by their own rhetoric, Iran's leadership cannot see that it's very existence is at stake.  If there every is a 'pact' between Iran and ISIL it will be a Molotov-Ribbentrop, holding position, in outlook, and, again, Iran will be the ultimate loser and will face total destruction at the hands of a very vengeful enemy – not the United States but their own Sunni 'co-religionists' backed by the rest of the powerful Sunni world united as one to rid itself of 'the Iranian heretics' for once and for all.

History would suggest that the Iranians will not 'see reason' until the 'Barbarians' are not just at the 'Gates of Rome' but are actually sacking the 'Eternal' city and putting all it's citizens to 'the sword'.

The sad fact is that today our politicians and many religious leaders have all painted themselves into corners, making it virtually impossible to escape the prisons of their own vanity, pride and rhetoric. This equally applies to the United States as it does to Iran. No superpower can survive as an insular island.  Likewise Shiasm will not survive as a religious force of world influence without the assistance of that one power which has the technological capabilities to assist it at this time of extreme crisis.   Be assured, even if the religious leadership in Qom and Tehran cannot see it, this is more a long-term crisis of survival for Iran than it is for the United States.  But both countries will ultimately be weakened should ISIL succeed in Iraq.  First Iran then the interests of the United States because in the (extremist) ISIL Sunni world Caliphates and Emirates will no doubt demand Islamic compliance codes both amongst themselves and in their dealings with 'Infidels' which the Christian world (it's citizens in particular) will ultimately find unacceptable for most interactions, except dealings in trade and commerce.

Hence my earlier statement about the ball being 'kicked' further down the road before hard choices and decisions have to be made and taken where ideologies based on religious extremism are not just in ascendancy but become the status quo.

America's (Sunni) allies in the region are all warning about doing a 'deal with the devil' (Iran).   The Shia religious leadership at Qom and Tehran are all warning their Clerics and politicians about doing a 'deal with the devil' (The United States.)  In the United States powerful politicians are equally warning about doing a 'deal with the devil' (Iran.) In this schizophrenic situation they are all damned if they do - but believe you me, they are all most certainly damned if they don't.

In the end it may well be that we will have to walk away from our responsibilities to the entire region and leave it to it's own bloody fate - only to return when the regional Puppet Masters have settled their leftover 'scores' from the era of the Prophet – or when so much innocent blood has again been shed amidst so much destruction and havoc reaked throughout the entire region, that they all have no choice but to grudgingly and universally sue for a temporal peace.

Patrick Emek

(amended June 24, 2014)

Muqtada al-Sadr:
Where History Meets Destiny

It is sometimes said that there is a time for every great leader to meet history and destiny.

This is Muqtada al-Sadr's time of destiny.

Revered by the Shias in Iraq as both as a spiritual and a military leader and being prepared in Iran for spiritual ascendency, over last weekend, al-Sadr reportedly visited the leadership of border forces in the area of Hira, South of Najaf.

''He met its Leader to discuss the latest developments and Border Protection he checked the progress of operations of Border Protection.”

Far from fleeing to Beirut, al-Sadr was reportedly providing spiritual inspiration and blessings to Shia Commanders at various locations and is coordinating with other spiritual and military commanders in the overall region to effectively rout the ISIL (Islamic State/Caliphate in Iraq and the Levant) forces and bring to justice those Sunni butchers responsible for despicable War Crimes against prisoners of war and defenceless civilians.

Let us just hope (and if you are religious, pray) that he succeeds in those endeavors and that when they are triumphant, that he and the Shia leadership offer those captured Sunni extremists the benefit and mercy of a civilised trial without torture – something which these evil people failed to show to their captured Shia PoWs and helpless civilian victims.

I would also expect that, as a future leader of Iraq, Muqtada al-Sadr will equally bring to justice all Shias involved in the summary execution of Sunni prisoners and of innocent Sunni and any other civilian victims.

Patrick Emek

http://www.abna.ir/english/service/middle-east-west-asia/archive/2014/06/16/616416/story.html

Reference from my earlier blog The Ukraine: ' The Slide Towards Civil War-Who Is Really To Blame?': 

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iraq/al-sadr.htm

Crisis in Iraq [Part III]

                           Crisis in Iraq [Part III]

As fanatical Jihadi insurgents force a reluctant President to again commit U.S. troops to Iraq I am looking in this article at the prospects of defeating the insurgents.

I have no doubt that the civilized world stands with President Obama in attempting to stop the bloody carnage these religious zealots are bringing both to Iraq and to Syria.

My take here would be that the President may be acting too late and he also fails to address the root cause of the problem - Saudi Arabia. For so long as the West believes that Saudi Arabia will bring ultimate peace and unity to what will emerge as Emirates and Caliphates, the wholesale butchering of thousands of captured prisoners of war and of innocent Shia civilians in Iraq, Syria or elsewhere these apostates of Islam arrive, contrary to every concept of modern  humanity and harking back to a medieval past where such were the order of the day, in the name of the Pope, of Christendom or in the name of Islam, will continue.
What their merciless actions will do will be to most certainly strengthen the resolve of the world to defeat them and bring them all to justice at some time in the future.

I said in a previous article that the media in West has not prepared itself psychologically for the fact that it will be impossible to operate under such conditions – in war zones where absolutely zero international rules govern the treatment of civilians, PoWs, women and children, apply. These insurgents are not frightened at the prospect of appearing before any Western War Crimes 'tribunal' ,or, as they might say, one created by 'Satan' [sic. America and it's Allies] Indeed they are only too pleased to pose beside the mutilated corpses of hundreds or thousands of unfortunate Prisoners of War or other men, women and children, they have butchered without a shred of mercy.

I could express my disgust, my outrage, my anger or indeed cry or grieve for those helpless civilians caught up in such tragedies and lament about the futility of war – but that will neither bring ultimate, infinite, justice to the dead, nor solve the current problem. 
When I look at such refugees (either dead on the ground) or fleeing in fear with what little they can carry, with their confused and scared children clutching a precious toy, I never stop to reflect on how fortunate we are that we live in a civilized and tolerant society and remember that such extremists causing this misery would, if they had their own way, create the same conditions of intolerance and division at home.  This is the only way that they, the extremists, can survive.  This is why they have to be confronted, regardless. 

The first thing that should happen, by Presidential decree, via the Attorney General's Office and The Department of Justice, is an immediate end to the 'show trials' against the (former) Blackwater contractors, that they be restituted in full, and reinstated into an immediate support or advisory service (should they still be willing to serve) on behalf of the nation. It is individuals like this that the country needs to diffuse such an offensive in Iraq  (or at least hold the line) as conventional troops are simply out of their depth confronting such butchers. You require a different type of 'army' to confront religious zealots, one which the West is woefully unprepared for warfare against.  Neither is NATO  configured for battle against such spirited individuals.  It's like having a giant colossus, writhing and lashing out blindly with it's muscular body, hands and feet while being felled by David with his humble stone - aimed precisely where that fatal blow will do the most grievous damage. No, you simply cannot put conventional forces into such a melee.  But the good news is that America does have patriots and professionals equally motivated to confront such evil (and if there is such a thing,Satanic) forces in a way they most certainly will understand and fear in terror, and, given carte blanche, will most certainly prevail, as day follows night.

At this point in time it is akin to suicidal to commit conventional combat forces to Iraq without additional specialized resources. Public opinion should be held in check because a very clear strategy – entry and exit - needs to be devised before committing forces in these conditions, into harms way.

Secondly, these evil individuals watch carefully and understand the impact of 'public opinion' in our Christian societies. They understand 'shock and awe' probably better than we ourselves do. They manipulate divisions between Republican and Democrat, Left and Right for their own advantage. In their eyes such divisions are simply Lucifer's children fighting over the spoils of existence, which, in their perfect Islamic society, shall never exist because all would be one under one version of Allah – with all heretics (Muslim and Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Jew and the rest) erased from the face of the earth.

So then, we need to 'get ahead' of the game.

Thirdly, Saudi Arabia and Iran both continue to be at the root cause of all our problems in the Middle East. To weaken one is to strengthen the other - and both are equally pernicious.

Indeed letting Baghdad fall will put these Sunni zealots into direct confrontation with Shia Iran.   But Iran's defeat will hasten the creation of Emirates and Caliphates and could herald the end of Shiasm as a dominant force in the Islamic world – leaving the road ahead for Salafism and Wahhabism to dominate the Muslim globe at a more rapid pace than I could ever have imagined. I still contend that Saudi Arabia will be unable ultimately to control the [religious] forces it has unleashed – so we will still be on a confrontational path with a zealous Islamic world.  In this scenario, the ball will simply have been kicked further own the road before hard decisions, choices and actions have to be made and taken.

It's not an easy call for President Obama, conscious as he must also be of his place in history.  But there are few options on the table – these fanatical Sunni butchers have, by their merciless actions, ensured this is fact.  I have misgivings about rushing U.S. (or indeed any conventional ) troops back into Iraq in any large numbers, given hindsight and the existing circumstances.

America's armed forces will do their job effectively and will hold the line for the politicians but they need to be supported with unconventional U.S. units more accustomed to the operating conditions of the new environment.

U.S. ground forces must also be made aware that additional resources for 'shock and awe' are being deployed in the field to support their endeavors and guarantee outright and unequivocal victory on this occasion.

Republicans will simply see this issue as something to 'bash Obama' with, failing to appreciate that our very way of life could be drastically altered if there is not unity behind the President and U.S forces when confronting extremist Islam throughout the world and, more specifically, showing that there are issues around which America and it's Allies can unite with one voice and around one flag, just as our enemies can so do.

Patrick Emek

Caliphates and Emirates-World Futureshock

    

         Caliphates and Emirates-World Futureshock

About 6-8 years ago I was asked by a major television network to 'paint' the face of Islam under extremism (that is to say, the 'vision' Islamic Jihadi groups have for the world.) That world news network extrapolated what I had said in words onto a (visual) 'world map'-showing quite accurately what Al-Qaeda and their sub-contracted groups had in mind - to create an Islamic Empire consisting of Emirates and Caliphates, as I had described them and as such were projected to evolve. As usual I was something of an embarrassment (the network was probably told not to follow-up and quietly drop the alarmist rhetoric of the world as I described it potentially emerging under a resurgent Islam.) I don't profess to always get it right but, in this case, I was 'right on the money'. [This is why I have empathy with individuals whom, for their own personal reasons, are not within the 'system' (of eminent think-tanks nor corporate industry nor government) but who nonetheless have have enough experience in their field to be able to accurately see how trends are evolving and are not constrained to express their views independently of government, institutions and corporations.]

Futureworld

Now that Islamic extremism is becoming mainstream in the Middle East we are now too war-weary and unlikely to go back with overwhelming force into the chaos today called Iraq and Afghanistan, I want to look at how we should be thinking of interacting with Emirates and Caliphates which stretch from The Southern Philippines, through Malaysia, Iraq, the Gulf States, through Afghanistan-Pakistan (border tribal regions) through to the parts of Kurdistan which straddle Iraq, Syria and Turkey in the Levant and across to Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt.  With regard to the latter, I am looking beyond possibly decades of Islamic Jihadi (Muslim Brotherhood-Al-Qaeda linked) insurgency against the al-Sisi regime before these Caliphates emerge as a unitary entity.

''Just Get Used To It''

Several years ago I asked a prominent politician how do you 'adjust' to an an emerging China as a super-giant.  His answer was quite interesting and equally profound: 'Well Patrick I suppose you just have to get used to it.'   In much the same way as we have adjusted to China being both a vital economic partner while at the same time, a potential enemy or, at the very least, a primary key  rival, in the battle for global resources, military and economic global governance, so too it might be well worth our while seeing what economic and other areas we might find common ground to pursue within such Emirates and Caliphates so as not to create economic and military vacuums – which other superpower rivals will most willingly occupy.

Islamic Banking

Islamic banking is probably the easiest to adjust to – and one which both the Christian West and Emirates-Caliphates can equally agree.

International Trade and Commerce

Again here is no reason why religious differences should interrupt the flow of trade and commerce between willing partners.

Religious Tolerance

The repression of Christianity within such Emirates and Caliphates is likely to mean that Christian Europe and the Christian Americas will not be well disposed toward the continued expansion of Islam within the Christian world. Such will be an inevitable consequence of the (likely) widespread discrimination and repression of Christians under such Islamic regimes. The likely scenario in these Emirates and Caliphates will be, as it exists in Saudi Arabia today, that it is a criminal offence (for a native Saudi) to be anything other than a Muslim, illegal to build Christian Churches (on the grounds of heresy) and (as in Saudi Arabia) that such heretics are subject to capital punishment (the death penalty.)  On such matters it is unlikely that there will be few grounds for understanding.  The likely scenario is that, in the interests of trade and commerce, as currently takes place with Saudi Arabia for example, such matters will go, for the most part, unreported in the mainstream Western media, on the grounds of national (economic) security. Such reporting could also be construed as promoting racial or religious hatred but in any event, whether voluntary or otherwise, the fate of Christians in such lands has already been discounted in favor of trade and commerce. That's the harsh reality. In many respects such Christian communities will be portrayed to be 'leftovers' of imperial and other European empires over the millennia about whose ultimate fate, well, it does not really concern us but is the ultimate responsibility of their 'new' political (and religious) masters. I already saw this happening with the Syrian Christians in the run-up to (what was anticipated by others to be) U.S. intervention to topple the Assad regime whose minority Shia (Alawite) community were being 'painted' as minority ' lackeys', inferior, and 'out of touch' with reality.) The objective was to demonize Assad prior to invasion. Let me be clear about something here: Assad himself is a very ugly character running a tyrannical terror state where, before the uprising, you were murdered by the Secret Police just for expressing opposition to his regime. The problem however is that what was intended to replace him-Al-Qaeda- was infinitely a worse enemy of the The United States and the West than the terror regime we already knew¹. Apart from everything else, Assad's intended successors were directly responsible for the murder of thousands of Americans on American soil and the murder of  U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and his Staff in Libya.

In addition to those Personnel killed by the butchers of Benghazi, others sustained terrible injuries from which they will never fully recover.

Mutiny and Military Cooperation

When President Obama was advised that mutiny within the ranks of the Armed Forces serving in Syria could not be ruled out if the President followed an (essentially Republican) agenda (which would place U.S. troops conceivably, nominally, under the command of Al-Qaeda, or, at the very least, fighting to support them) and, apart from anything else, it would most certainly become President Obama's 'Vietnam' (with the President facing a stark and certain electoral defeat – similar to that of a historical predecessor), sanity prevailed. You don't have to go to war abroad to win a general election - but sometimes it helps (!) There are many reasons why it is improbable that high level military and intelligence cooperation will exist in such a future world but such 'splendid isolation' could dramatically change overnight if these Islamic entities were faced with a common enemy – or where the support of the Christian West was vital to their very survival or stability or to the flow of strategic resources either exiting or transiting Caliphates or Emirates.

Dual Purpose Technology (Nuclear and Chemical-Biological)

Someone will make a quick buck in the future supplying such technology to Emirates and Caliphates-probably France, China, Pakistan or North Korea or all four countries. Generally speaking I would see many difficulties supplying advanced techniques to such regimes – but I do not profess to be able to read the mind of corporate America where the balance sheet is the final consideration.

[I am of course being highly cynical here.  There may well be strategic implications in such a future world which would mitigate in favor of the supply of dual technology to such Islamic regimes, despite all misgivings.]

Social and Cultural Cooperation

Highly unlikely. Even in so called 'progressive' Muslim countries in the Middle East and in the Gulf the trend is towards ultra-Conservatism. For example, Mosques are being specially built to 'placate' foreigners who visit or work in such countries and want to see where Muslims 'pray'. A sort of Muslim 'Disney World' or 'Disneyland' especially created for foreigners so that they will go home with a 'good impression' of Islam². Under pressure from Imams, Muslim girls are now forbidden to 'shake hands' or even 'hug' in greeting Western women on the grounds that such practice is 'unIslamic' and that they (Western Women) are 'unclean'². I recently read an article in a British Newspaper that Muslim schools in the United Kingdom teach that all Western (Christian) women are 'unclean' and are 'whores and prostitutes'. This philosophy was being indoctrinated to children as young as six years of age³.  The United Kingdom government had known about this for at least one decade (and possibly longer) but chose not to do anything in the interests of not wishing to upset good community relations. I was aware of extremism within the Muslim Schools communities in the United Kingdom but never imagined something as disgraceful as this could be happening – with the apparent tacit knowledge of the authorities, for some considerable period of time. I would go even further and suggest that over several decades in the United States and in Europe such extremist organizations have secretly infiltrated individuals into bodies (trusts and other organizations) which have considerable financial resources and have ensured that such extremist groups, colleges and schools have been well resourced and funded to carry out their 'evangelical' work. These then are the reasons I do not foresee a high degree of social and cultural cooperation between the emerging Emirates and Caliphates and the Christian world as a whole.

Global Survival In the 'New Age' of Islamic Extremism and NeoConservatism

Whether we agree with their philosophies or not, co-existence should, wherever possible, and practicable, continue to be the order of the day, to foster continuity in the areas of trade and international commerce. Equally, Emirates and Caliphates will also have to make painful choices if they intend to partake and interact with the non-Muslim world in any meaningful and mutually beneficial ways.

I am neither optimistic nor pessimistic with regard to this future world. So many times in the past I have thought that sheer 'common sense' would be the order of the day.  How could it be otherwise?  However, for so long as humans base their strategies on religious, political and economic (financial), racial, ethnic, tribal and clan doctrines, 'common sense' often just flies straight out the window – or indeed through it, shattering all the glass in the process.

Patrick Emek

revised typographical corrections on 28th September, 2014

1 http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/137407/leon-goldsmith/alawites-for-assad

2 unattributable source

see wikipedia speaking terms:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unattributable#.22Speaking_terms.22

3 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2651700/Hellfire-Muslim-teachers-Trojan-Horse-school- warned-six-year-olds-white-prostitutes.html#ixzz344gYkAnE

3 http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tobyyoung/100275645/imagine-if-the-religious-sect-at-the-centre-of-the-trojan-horse-plot-were-christian/

Godzilla!!!

What In The Name of Fukushima Is Going On?

Tepco's plan to build a 'Great Wall of Ice' should signal to the world that the situation is very far from 'under control'

It's been over 3 years since the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant disaster - caused incidentally by a massive magnitude 9.0 ((M_w) ) megathrust underwater earthquake (off the Pacific coast of Tōhoku) triggering a tsunami which overwhelmed the nuclear facility at Fukushima causing a major accident, the highest (level 7) on the nuclear incident scale, causing 3 nuclear reactor meltdowns and the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of local people; one of the world's worst nuclear disasters since Chernobyl, in the Ukraine, in 1986.

As I watched the radiation plume leap from the plant to kiss the horizon I instinctively felt like leaping behind my sofa to avoid contamination – fat good it would have done me (!)

Tokyo Electric Power Company, the plant managers, first tried to tackle the problem with it's own personnel. When their geiger counters ran off the scales they quickly re-grouped for Plan B: to call in the Yakuza (The Japanese Mafia!), who in turn called in their own 'markers' – offering civilian 'volunteers' to clean up the mess (and we don't to this day know what 'concessions' they were offered in exchange for this assistance by a desperate Japanese government – indirectly via Tepco of course; don't bother looking, you are unlikely to find such 'agreements' recorded anywhere or indeed reported in the Western media.) When plan B failed-and some of the world media started reporting on rather strange and shady goings on between the Japanese Mafia and the authorities, it was On to Plan C: to again try to contain what was now a monumental contamination potentially affecting not just the immediate area as proposed by Tepco, but on U.S. advice, to evacuate all residents within a 80 -100km epicenter.  The Tepco evacuation initially affecting thousands of local residents in high risk areas within the 10km radius surrounding the 3 crippled reactors and tens of thousands within a 80km area.  In addition to this, Plan C was focused on reassuring the Japanese public and a worried international community that the situation was, of course, 'under control'. When an increasingly sceptical international Western (and technologically nuclear astute) community, used to empirical thinking, started 'poking it's nose' into 'Japanese affairs' , Plan D was implemented: let the world assist (and take 'responsibility' should anything further go wrong.)   A savvy Western world wasn't prepared to 'dive in head first' but did offer technical assistance to help out a beleaguered Japanese government (but not to solve Tepco's home-grown managerial and structural problems which contributed to the disaster.) On to Plan E: blame Japanese culture as a whole, collectively, for the failings of Tepco, utilizing the concept that all Japanese must share 'collective' 'cultural' responsibility for 'failure' – so Tepco is also a 'victim' - as are the entire Japanese people – of their very own culture.  Even the Japanese people were not buying this one (!)  On to Plan F: again re-assure the world that it is safe to eat Japanese fish – forget the fact that they (the fish) don't require permission (nor passports) to 'travel' locally, nationally and (indeed internationally.) 'Japanese' fish with off-the scale radiation were turning up everywhere -and likely to be on everyone's dinner plates unless drastic (international) action was taken as the figures of the doses and levels of radiation being reported by Japanese authorities were, shall we just say, at some high degree of variance, with that which Western experts were able to discern – again from empirical analysis. On to Plan G: Prepare to loose face – by listening to international (U.S.) advice and evacuate all human life within a 50km radius this time affecting an estimated 160000 citizens – and rather humiliatingly announce to the world that a major disaster was unfolding. On to to Plan H: Well yes, tell the world that there are a few little problems with the reactors, but precautions are being take by prudently evacuating 160000 residents but the situation in still under control - and at least nobody has died. [It was only in 2014 that the official morbidity mortality figures were released and hotly contested for their accuracy by the Japanese authorities: ''More than 18,000 people died as a result of the disaster. The National Police Agency of Japan records 15,881 documented deaths and 2,668 individuals still classified as missing.'' (www.usnews.com)   On to Plan I: Blame those interfering Western busybodies for the continuing Japanese recession and the fact that nobody wants to eat Japanese fish nor farm produce in the Western world because of a few 'inaccurate' and 'wildly speculative' non-typical examples of contaminated fish (incidentally showing some 800-1500 times more radiation than would be normally expected and popping up everywhere along a 200-mile coastline – with even estimates for the contamination reaching Alaska and the Western American seaboard by 2014.) On to Plan J:Blame it on those arrogant Europeans and Americans and their international friends - Oh!;wait a minute!; we can't do that!; they're helping us at Fukushima!; onto Plan K:Launch a Trade and Travel initiative for Japan - we want those pesky foreigners to come to Japan, see that everything is 'normal' and go home telling their sceptical friends we are still in love with Manga and Hentai and everything is OK, nothing has changed - but don't make it look like a national government initiative. [Pity we didn't think of Plan K sooner! We would have made billions of dollars! look at how much the U.S. and Great Britain have pulled in from those pesky foreigners [tourists] – even the Chinese prefer London, New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Atlanta and San Francisco than seeing the beauty of Mount Fuji and our rich history.] (This initiative does not appear to have 'bought over' the discerning intrepid traveler.) On to Plan L: Lets invite in the world media so that they can see how transparently we are handling the disaster at Fukushima [yes, sadly the world now knows it's a major disaster even worse than Chernobyl so we'd better admit it quickly – and move on quickly.] But wait a minute! Many of those Western investigative journalists are professional, independent, highly aggressive, educated, and some are 'loose cannons', not like the docile Malaysians and Singaporeans. Once we let them loose, only Buddha knows what they will unearth – and we can't so easily 'buy off' their employers so as not to loose face, so we could find ourselves in even hotter water (not to pun a critical meltdown!); On to Plan M: Let's have Tepco admit their guilt, apologize to the nation and get everything back to normal again. But wait, they have already done that, haven't they?; well sort of; but that didn't work; are we back to normal yet? Perhaps nobody heard them apologize after our Official Report was published?  Shall we try that again?   No that won't work either? On to Plan N: Let's focus on lateral thinking: if we get back the Kuril Islands from Russia we shall have new fishing grounds to compensate for the 90 million gallons of radioactive water gushing out of the stricken reactors (and, by now, 2014, probably circling and polluting this entire planet.)

On to Plan O: If one of our venerated Minister's asks the elderly to kill themselves hence we will save billions of Yen on 'non-productive' 'maintenance'. They will be doing this as a service to mother Japan and saving their nation billions of Yen – which we desperately need to compensate for Fukushima. Drat! We still won't save enough to compensate for our irradiated losses!; and everything will still not be back to normal!  Why can't we just start again? On to Plan P: Why don''t we take a fresh look at the problem before we run out of plans (or characters in the alphabet for plans, whichever is the greater); On to Plan Q: Let's just give up on nuclear power, close down the countries remaining reactors and switch to alternative energy sources. But wait a minute! we don't have an alternative national energy plan for the country! There are potentially 20 geothermal sites we could look at, but nobody ever thought anything would go wrong with our nuclear energy reactors so no other source was ever developed; Onto Plan R: Reduce the amount of media airtime Fukushima gets in Japan to near zero and everyone will forget. That will surely return things to normal?  Won't it?  On to Plan S: Let's expand our diplomatic presence worldwide. That will allow us to explain to the world and our big neighbors (China and Russia) that everything is getting back to normal. Why shouldn't we? China is everywhere in the world but we are mainly in the West and South East Asia. How can we ever explain to the world that all is OK at Fukushima when they get their news from CNN, Fox, The BBC, China News and Russia Today?  Nobody has ever heard of TV Japan (let alone can understand it.) Oh, yes, I forgot, we don't want non-Japanese speakers to watch it - and do not give permission for it to be broadcast outside Japan.   We'd better change this - and get in a few Western translators!; quick! But wait a minute! Foreigners are so stupid they will never understand Japanese television – so we still cannot explain to them our version of Fukushima, and the fact that everything is OK at the plant! [give or take a few cows with three wagging tails, fish with double heads and chickens whose eggs are 4500 times the normal radiation limit. On to PlanT: Ah, Yes, Plan T! Let's call it 'Plan 'ET', 'E' for 'Extra' and 'T' for 'Terrestrial'. Bring back Godzilla! Japan's not finished – not just yet. We have our own world-wide 'Super Hero' to rival 'Superman'. Surely after this blockbuster everyone will most certainly forget about Fukushima, be visiting Japan in their millions and we can all start again? Plan U: Universal worldwide distribution of the Godzilla distribution rights: Facebook; U-Tube; A Godzilla Twitter Account; toys, confectionery, chocolates, Godzilla Sushi, e-books, T-Shirts, history of Godzilla (perhaps even an interview with the Hero itself?); If that doesn't work...On to to Plan V:''V' for Victory! Let's recall our glorious past – surely that will take everyone’s' minds off Fukushima – and we can get back to normal (!) No? How regrettable! On to Plan W: Now 'W' stands for Water. This problem all started in the sea. Godzilla came across the sea but could not take world attention away from Fukushima. Perhaps we should, in the interests of fostering good bilateral relationships,think about using Feng Shui. Yes! We will harmonize water with water! Let's freeze the soil around the irradiated stricken reactors at Fukushima! No? That won't work – unless we can freeze everything! If only Godzilla had done the job, we would not be in this crisis! No! We can't blame Godzilla! It's one of the world 'teens' favorite movie of 2014! On to Plan X: X stand for 'X-ray'. We must do something to stop the millions of gallons of Fukushima radioactive water polluting this entire planet – before some pesky journalists in the world work out exactly where these hundreds of millions of gallons of radioactive-contaminated water are actually ending up (!) [http://www.naturalnews.com/032291_Fukushima_radiation_monitoring.html:

“Radiation is continuing to leak out of the reactors, the situation is not stable at all, radiation continues to leak,” says Dr. Michio Kaku, Professor of theoretical physics at the City University of New York and top graduate of Harvard. “We are looking at a ticking time bomb. It appears stable but the slightest disturbance, a secondary earthquake, a pipe break, evacuation of the crew at Fukushima could set off a full scale melt down at three nuclear power stations – far beyond what we saw at Chernobyl ' ' .] No? That won't work either? Why can't we just get everything back to normal? On to Plan Y: Or should we can it Plan 'Why?' : Why can't we just build a massive ice wall around the stricken reactors, keep it permanently frozen for, say, a few thousand years, to give us a little time to work out how to solve this problem? Surely this must work!; and everything will go back to normal. But what if it doesn't? Plan Z: We will build the Great Ice Wall of Fukushima!; sell tickets to the Ice Wall Gala Opening; and pray that the world experts have got it wrong – they just don't understand Japanese society nor Japanese culture! We will have the Grand Gala Opening – inviting as many Pop Idols as the country can afford, stream broadcast the nuclear 'freeze' live on the internet, mobile phones,Ipods, with a fanfare of the top international music artists in attendance, all happily singing and dancing. Perhaps Billy Idol will agree to open the festivities with the song 'White Wedding'?  Will this work? What happens if the ringed coils which generate ice and fence the stricken nuclear plants cause subsidence or even worse, if there is another earthquake within the next one thousand years?

Beyond Plan Z:

(Mein Führer, I Can Walk!!! )

GAME OVER…................................................................

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© Patrick Emek

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Nuclear_Event_Scale

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_T%C5%8Dhoku_earthquake_and_tsunami

http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/387357/Two-years-after-the-Fukushima-nuclear-disaster-is-Japan-facing-a-cancer-time-bomb

http://rt.com/news/fukushima-workers-nuclear-yakuza-006/

http://www.thewire.com/global/2011/12/yakuza-and-nuclear-mafia-nationalization-looms-tepco/46803/

http://www.livescience.com/39340-fukushima-radioactive-plume-reach-us-2014.html

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/03/11/japan-marks-two-year-anniversary-of-earthquake-fukushima-nuclear-disaster

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_effects_from_Fukushima_I_nuclear_accidents

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1371930/Japan-nuclear-crisis-Fukushima-radiation-detected-MILK-2-US-states.html

http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/mar/15/radiation-exposure-levels-guide

http://www.whoi.edu/oceanus/viewArticle.do?id=167709

http://enenews.com/nhk-highest-radiation-levels-ever-detected-in-fish-at-fukushima-plant-overt-5000-times-govt-limit

http://www.travelpulse.com/news/destinations/japans-narita-city-launches-new-tourism-promotion-campaign.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/japans-government-pledges-nearly-500-million-as-tepco-deals-with-water-crisis/2013/09/03/581876c6-147c-11e3-880b-7503237cc69d_story.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/for-tepco-and-japans-fukushima-daiichi-nuclear-plant-toxic-water-stymies-cleanup/2013/10/21/406f4d78-2cba-11e3-b141-298f46539716_story.html

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/01/top-japanese-official-urges-elderly-to-hurry-up-and-die/

http://www.theinternational.org/articles/294-japans-pro-nuclear-cabinet-fight-future

http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Geothermal-Energy/Japan-Looks-at-Dozens-of-New-Geothermal-Power-Plants.html

http://www.tvjapan.net/en/

'Our Kamikaze Pilots Deserve Global Respect', Insists Japan (The Times,Friday February 7, 2014,p35.)

http://www.nirs.org/fukushima/crisis.htm

http://poleshift.ning.com/profiles/blogs/radiation-from-fukushima

http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?62507-Japan-nuclear-agency-upgrades-Fukushima-alert-level/page5

http://phys.org/news/2014-06-japan-underground-ice-wall-fukushima.html

http://enenews.com/officials-concerned-ice-wall-will-trigger-significant-subsidence-and-further-endanger-reactor-buildings-risk-of-more-nuclear-material-spilling-out-of-basements-due-to-dramatic-change-in-gro

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Fukushima-the+Great+Ice+Wall&client=firefox-a&hs=a6r&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&channel=sb&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=L1KQU8PgNOWxsASflICoBw&ved=0CFEQsAQ&biw=1024&bih=639

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAZQaYKZMTI

Mein Führer I Can Walk!!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Strangelove

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057012/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=so8NQficzZg

Ansar al-Sharia In Libya

Barbarians At the Gates

A terrorist network linked to Al Qaeda has warned the U.S. not to involve itself in Libyan political affairs. Ansar al-Sharia, the murderous network which no doubt had full advance knowledge about the butchery of Ambassador Christopher Stevens and his Staff, is just one of the many fanatical armed groups let loose in the ensuing chaos following the overthrow of Colonel Gadhafi.

Just to put the record straight, the United States was not 'defeated' in Iraq nor in Afghanistan.

It failed to achieve the objectives set – to bring democracy and stability, for reasons I have outlined in other blogs.  Libya, however, is a very different case, and if there is a country where urgent action is now required by the United States to protect vital interests in the Mediterranean and in North Africa, it is in Libya.

Infinite Justice

I have no doubt that as I write this article Ansar al-Sharia is, already, history.

To now look beyond all of these terror networks there is new hope for the future of Libya.

Pandora's Box

I said at the time that overthrowing Gadhafi was a huge mistake.

Like the Soviet Union, he 'kept the lid' on a boiling cauldron of ethnic and tribal tensions which, when let loose, savaged and tore apart and consumed everything in their path.

There are many countries in the world which have a 'balanced fragility'.  Libya was just one where, when you let loose the dogs of war, it's like opening Pandora's box.

Corporate Hubris

As I have said in other blogs, American (corporate) hubris, has little patience nor time to take stock of 'roadblocks' and 'obstacles' to corporate objectives – hence the encouragement and reliance on the military, as a first option, to pave the way for immediate commercial, technological and industrial full spectrum dominance. Most analysts either deliberately misrepresent this as U.S. government and military initiatives rather than for what they really are – that is to say, corporate-driven, or indeed they fail to understand the relationship between corporate America and the political and military establishments.

When a greater degree of stability is brought to Libya – which may be near at hand – the hope is that corporate America will not, as it usually does, dive in head first and attempt to parachute McDonalds, Pizza Hut and democracy onto intellectual and political pygmies with contrived pseudo-political statements like 'no two countries with McDonalds or Starbucks or Pizza Hut have ever gone to war against each other.' The sole objective in Libya should be extractive – minus the Jesus preachers, the NGOs, enforced Western consumerism and the fast food takeaways.

But, of course, this will not happen and Libyans, like the tribal Afghans, will be dragged kicking and screaming into the 21^st century by corporate America, with further disastrous consequences and results.

Topsy-turvy:

The Land of The Lilliputians

(Where Politicians Do Not Answer to Corporations but Vice-Versa)

America could learn quite a lot about how to get business done without getting entangled in local tribal, ethnic and religious politics from studying how China has advanced economically across Africa and the rest of the world.  Unfortunately this will not happen.  While China's government centrally plans for up to thirty and beyond to one hundred years of economic stability for China itself (and enjoys the luxury of dictating compliance to corporate China of what  it's vision of the world is for the next century), shareholders in the United States are constrained by the system to see no further than the short-term balance sheet, with all the negative consequences this has on their unique, limited, and very narrow perception of global governance.

Patrick Emek

 
http://magharebia.com/en_GB/articles/awi/features/2014/05/28/feature-01

Egypt:Another Farcical Arab Election:Remember You Got the Egyptian Election Results Here Before They Were Officially Announced

The Egyptian Election Results:

I am sorry to interrupt U.S. Memorial Week but I thought I would briefly let you know the Election results of Egypt before they are officially announced.
[I had the figures two months ago but  have had other more pressing blogs to deal with-where true democracy is being exercised and often in danger from undemocratic forces - so I left the Egyptian farcical  election in abeyance.]

So that you can truly understand the Arab World and the nature of 'Arab democracy' in the advent of the'Arab Spring'  (be it Muslim Brotherhood or otherwise) I am giving you those results here:

The Egyptian Election Results:

Why Even Bother to Vote?

General al-Sisi, the new Pharaoh of Egypt, won by between 93-97.5%% of the popular Egyptian vote.

The Egyptian and world  media will announce that the overwhelming Egyptian populace have voted for General al-Sisi and his 'vision' for Egypt.

Prediction:
You will see eminent analysts and Professors and even U.S. and European politicians and
'experts' confirming his 'anointing' as President.

This 'confirms' his overwhelming popularity and he is duly elected Dictator of Egypt.
Apologies, the word in the Egyptian media is 'President'.  I made a nomenclature error(!).
 
Anointment of a Dictator
Of course, CNN, Fox, the 'Bullhorn of President Putin' (Russia Today), China News and the rest of the world mainstream media will 'go along for the ride'. [Only motley fools like myself cannot see 'the truth' (!)]
[I would just like to add that The Muslim Brotherhood 'popular' vote-when they take their 'revenge' on the current 'tyrants', at some time in the future-be it decades, or centuries-will be something similar (90%-97% of the Popular vote or, if they really try to 'mask it' for 'world acceptance', '58-64%' of the popular vote)-such is the cycle of  Muslim  [Islamic] Arab 'democratic' politics in North Africa and The Middle East today;the cycles of terror will continue until, I really don't know when.]   It is debatable as to whether it is Islam itself which is not flexible enough to entertain democracy as we understand it or whether it is just tribalism juxtaposed and  uniquely interwoven with Islam in the Arab world.  I would tend to think the latter because, in the absence of religious interference, there are many parts of the Muslim world outside the Middle East where people can exercise their vote without fear and can actually replace governments. (Indonesia, the largest Muslim country in the world, being the best example.  There are, of course parts of this country which are more religious than others and there have been very serious religious riots and conflicts between Christians and Muslims resulting in many hundreds of fatalities on both sides - on the island of Ambon and elsewhere - but given the sheer size of the country - 17000+ islands - people can still exercise a real choice to change their administrations and central government in Indonesia in ways totally alien to the Middle East and North Africa.)
For this reason it is unwise to 'lump' all Muslim countries in the world together and say that none are immediately recognizable as 'democratic' -  as we understand democracy  in the United States and in Western Europe. 

Will The True Democrat Please Stand Up?

 As I said previously, despite all it's faults and failings, Israel remains the only democracy at present in the Middle East, with none existing in North Africa.  By that I mean it's Israeli citizens can vote to change their government and local administrations.  I am aware that there is a Palestinian statehood issue unresolved and I am aware of the lack of democracy within the Gaza Strip and The West Bank and I am aware that the rights of the Palestinians and their villages within the State of Israel should stir the conscience of the world towards encouraging a just settlement; but, somehow, you know, I cannot but sigh when I know that even if such were to happen tomorrow, and a Palestinian State within secure borders was agreed, the Palestinians might, in their own eyes, simply be 'exchanging' one 'prison' for another.
[The only comfort might be that, in their own eyes, the prison guards will be Arab rather than Israeli.]
 I take their fellow Arab Republic 'brothers' next door in Egypt as one poignant example of a  future Arab 'democratic' Palestine.   Of course I could be wrong (and indeed hope that I am) and a model similar to Indonesia could emerge.  Hopefully for the Palestinian people, the latter will prevail.]

Memorial Week 

Now that I have dealt with this farcical election in Egypt, I would like to get back to contemplation and prayer during Memorial Week in the United States and the remembrance of  true democrats and patriots who have given the ultimate sacrifice (hopefully, as here, not always in vain) for freedom and democracy on every continent and in so many different parts of the world.  [Three times in continental Europe during the twentieth century, with some reluctance but always a reliable and dependable ally, to stop tribal and ethnic bloodletting - where the different tribes, races and ethnic groups from Russia in the East to Spain in the South West, descended into a dark frenzy of rabid ethnic, racial, religious, minorities, genocide, slaughter, revenge and calculated scientific butchery resulting in the murder or death of up to 70 million souls and displacements of millions of citizens throughout that shattered continent.]



Patrick Emek