Why President Vladimir Putin Is A Prime Target For Assassination

It's pretty much accepted that if you are the President of the United States, that you and your family are always targets for assassination.

This is just a sad fact of the world created, for better and for worse.

It has never, however, entered into the psyche of Russians that their leader too could be assassinated – because, excluding Leon Trotsky in Mexico (on the orders of Stalin) such has never happened, at least not in recent history.

All the signs are bad for President Putin. None augur well and there is every likelihood that he will be a main target for an assassin – with a vigor rarely present by terrorists in a Russian setting – but one which security services in the United States are, sadly, all too familiar with.

The brazenness with which some fruitcake, speaking from inside the likely cockpit of a battered vehicle or non-functional airplane will, without any attempt to disguise voice nor features say 'Putin, we're coming for you' is, sadly, a sign of the times.

Perhaps we should have been more cognizant that such events were long overdue – for all world leaders.
Imperial Hubris

Let me explain. Superpowers, and their successors, multinational corporations (the next, in my opinion, on the terror 'hit list') and their 'Chief Executives' and 'Senior Officers' have, in the minds of the terrorist and Jihadi fanatics, 'plundered' and wreaked havoc in the world, on it's people, their religion (in this particular case, Islam), culture, customs and natural resources, almost to extinction and with impunity, for centuries.

So much hate and obsession for vengeance and retribution now exists that, for example, 'Jihadi' fighters are prepared to travel from, say El Salvador, Guatemala, Venezuela, Chile, Argentina and Brazil, from Gaza, from Egypt, Chechnya, from Syria, Afghanistan, Libya, the Lebanon and other parts of this small planet, on what are, in essence, revenge and suicide missions - to avenge the deaths (perhaps recently or decades ago) of loved ones at the hands of the 'oppressor' and it's 'allies'.
Other high-profile countries where Islamic fanatic 'volunteers' are likely to originate are Colombia (South America), Bangladesh, Myanmar, Pakistan,  Australia, Nigeria, Somalia and India.
These are all outside the border control supervision of the United States and Europe - which is why I have included them.  I have only included Australia because it is such an unusual origin for fanatics but it  may well be worth examining how it's (Australia's) own internal 'isolation' and racial ethnic provenance, unchanged over centuries (other than for minor regional economic factors) have motivated zeal amongst Jihadi fighters committing around a different flag (one, incidentally, as 'universal' as Christianity) which, in  their interpretation of their version of the Koran, appears a 'promised' and 'prophesized' 'fulfillment' by Allah as an answer for many 'sufferings' of the Muslim 'Ummah'.
The 'Ummah' in Spirit 
I have covered the concept and reality of the 'Ummah' in an earlier blog reference.  This reference shows the concept of the 'Ummah' from a Jihadi perspective as opposed to the worldwide concept of 'Ummah' by the majority of Muslims on the planet as a peaceful kinship and peaceful spiritual cooperative and harmonious worldwide unity.
The 'Mahdi' or 'The Chosen One'
Islam, as with Christianity, has a long history of charismatic Prophets, the 'chosen' Ones.  To the best of my historical knowledge, Muhammad Ahmed 'The Mahdi' (Sudan) was the last One of such prominence.  That ensuing, were, what became known as, The Mahdist Wars.
One of such prominence of the Islamic faith usually 'appears' about every 100-150 years, to be precise.  Since Muhammad Ahmed, whom I would identify as the last prominent Mahdi from the Levant and North Africa, including the Sudan, there have been other 'claimants' to the 'title'.

This has now been given an 'incarnate' form by ISIL and other 'Messianic' movements. In my opinion, it is this incarnation (sic. as 'Satan') which encourages radicalized individuals, particularly those with long held 'blood vengeance' pledges for the deaths of loved ones or innocent Muslims at the hands of 'the Infidel' or 'Kuffar' for example, to rally around a 'flag'.   It could have been a political flag but just happens to be one which ISIL have, unwittingly or calculatedly, tapped into at a particularly convergent time in history.  
The Shattered Mirror
A convergence of local issues originating with the appointment of a U.S. Administrator or 'Proconsul' (Mr Paul Bremer) after the defeat of Saddam Hussein, the complete dismantlement of the social, political, economic, military and ethnic culture and the impoverishment of a very proud, very ancient and very tribal Sunni population in one country - Iraq - all were added ingredients just waiting for a spark. That spark was, ultimately, ISIL.   Experts think 'Oh just give the Sunnis what they want and everything will return to normal.'  I beg to disagree.   Things have gone far, far too far, for the shattered mirror to be now, unbroken.
Historic Conversion Of The 'Heathen' and 'Infidel' To 'The Book' by The Sword - A Shared Christian and Muslim Inheritance

I have had some past contact and experience of individuals in the democratic world who formulate the policies which have input to the creation of the chaos we now see and what has always struck me about them is the arrogance with which they are convinced about their own invincibility – be it their imperial perceptions, beliefs in the ultimate triumph of 'democracy' and 'free range' capitalism, sometimes belief in the fact that, ultimately, they will 'convert' the 'heathen' to the true (Christian) God and destroy tribal and ethnic idolatrous effigies, cultural and social practices, in favor of 'Western values' as promoted through, for example, the United Nations. But, interestingly, their arrogance in frenetic commitment, is now equally matched and mirrored by ISIL – so these doppelgängers become the 'perfect' adversaries for confrontation.

It just happened that in space and time they intersected simultaneously and at a point where both have synchronously and in unison, reached threshold.
Lost In A World of Darkness

It is for these reasons that the arrogance being displayed by ISIL, completely oblivious to the feelings or consequences of the suffering they are inflicting in pursuance of a spiritual ideology, is simply a naturally evolved product of a world already inherited.

This may sound very logical and very simplistic but if you carefully analyze the literature of ISIL and hold it up in a mirror, it is an exact mirror-image of it's antithesis.

My only surprise is that ISIL executioners of prisoners don't (yet) show their faces – as they (too) have lost all sense of what it is (supposed) to mean to be human and humane to all except those (perhaps, and as an act of 'mercy') who completely 'submit' and 'conform' to their 'ideology' and 'vision' for existence in the here and hereafter.

It is for these (and more) reasons that a Russian President has never been more vulnerable.

Because it is so unthinkable for Russian Presidential Security Services, there will be at least some small complacency that this can never dare to happen.

Beyond Assassins (حشّاشين‎ Ḥashshāshīn) - A Brave New World

Many years ago, I said in a small gathering, that the poor man's 'nuclear' bomb were viruses. The ability to 'create' lethal viruses have been, unwittingly, present, worldwide, for a long time, a 'by-product' of the developed world. My surprise then (over two decades ago) and now is that, as yet, it still remains beyond the capabilities of all but a few.

I will not go in to why but again this is an area where, in my opinion, border security, as exists worldwide, will, when this challenge arrives, prove as useless as a horse an cart to get from Europe to the United States.

Again, it will be the responsibility of those charged with political policy, to first understand (which most do not as yet) then create the environments where such matters can be managed and countered.

The world, far from being a safer place where freedom, democracy, open source and open electronic frontier societies flourish and prosper, will be quite the opposite, should the fanatics (on both sides) succeed.

Patrick Emek

For layman's quick reference I refer readers to the following:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahdi 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Mahdi_claimants#Mu.E1.B8.A5ammad_A.E1.B8.A5mad 

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

Can ISIS/ISIL Be Defeated?

(fact is often stranger than fiction)

I want to approach the answer to this question in a non-standard format.

I would like you to allow me the liberty to use fiction to convey the dilemmas.

What follows is a Fictional CONVERSATION BETWEEN PRESIDENT OBAMA AND THE CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF :

PRS.O : Give me the bottom line on this, can ISIL be defeated ?

CJCS : Mr President we can guarantee to wipe ISIL/ISIS off the face of the earth if you can provide us with orders where the following are in place :

The armed forces of Turkey, Syria (The Assad Government) , The Lebanese government (including an agreement to utilize the forces of Sheikh Nasrallah – that is to say, Hezbollah), the Israeli Defense forces, an agreement to utilize the services of the armed forces of the Palestinian authority – Islamic Jihad, Hamas , Al-Nusra and Al-Asque martyrs brigade, an agreement to utilize the forces of the Iraqi government and those of Muqtada al-Sadr , the Kurdish armed forces together with an agreement to utilize the forces of the government of iran and those of Saudi Arabia.

There are certain other Gulf States already providing logistical support and this could be extended.

If you can deliver this to us we can deliver ISIL's head to you on a golden platter and guarantee it's complete obliteration from the face of the earth.

PRS.O : You know what you ask is ridiculous and impossible. Now give me the next best option.

CJCS : you asked me an honest question Mr President and I gave an honest answer .

CJCS : temporary containment is the next option .

On your command We can do a, b, c, d,...... x y, z........but as with many issues in the world, this will be a temporary fix . but we can dress it up to look like a victory .

PRS.O : how soon before these so-called ISIL caliphates and emirates become a reality?

CJCS : Mr President any nutcase who creates a revolution in the Muslim world can call their state a Caliphate or Emirate and themselves part of ISIL/ISIS  ,  but ultimately they will have to trade and do business with someone somewhere and when they do , we will be ready and waiting for them . When they run out of resources, that's the end of their ability to fund the Caliphates or Emirates.

Do you remember Mr President when Hitler invaded Russia during World War II ?; it was a priority to capture the Baku oilfields. The same was true in North Africa in terms of oil security.  When Adolf Hitler was starved of oil and pushed back through the Ukraine and Poland , the war was was effectively over .  Russian , U. S. , British and other Allied  boots on the ground finished off the job.

CJCS: Mr President, do you remember why (the political reasons) the Roman Empire tried so desperately to wipe out the spread of Christianity and what the ultimate result was?

If ISIL can be starved of a, b, c, d,....x, y, z then we can achieve victory of sorts but, in my opinion , a total victory is still illusive for the reasons above.

P.E. The above was an illustrative work of fiction (or fictional narrative) to emphasize a number of dilemmas and paradoxes facing any administration attempting to defeat a quasi – religious movement such as ISIS/ISIL.

Patrick Emek

9-Year-Old Accidentally Shoots Her Instructor Dead - With An Uzi -
On The Gun Range

(and The Lessons For Ferguson,  Missouri)

This is a very tragic case for both parties. For the victims my heartfelt sympathy. Training children is often fraught with complications. You are dealing with young persons who often just don't think before doing something. It may be because they are absent-minded or just get too excited to remember your advice.

The training range is one such place where excitement often gets the better of premeditated thought. There is no guidance in such situations. There is no guarantee that such an incident can never happen again. This is one such situation where there are no rules. No devised test can prepare you for a situation where a child does something 'stupid'.

I suppose the one thing that future instructors can do is to always be vigilant, no matter how normal the situation. It's like security.

It is, sadly, impossible to be 100% vigilant 100% of the time in such an environment – but this is the only way to avoid accidents during training on the Gun Range.

I recall an incident many years ago, where, let me put it this way, I was asked to 'accompany', let's call them, a 'tactical' response team, somewhere in the world.

The Officer in question 'forgot' a very important procedure – which, in other circumstances, could have resulted either in his/ her death and the death of a colleague, simply, because, I am convinced, the Officer 'forgot' a basic rule.

I knew immediately what the issue was, but in those split seconds

where the Officer and his/her colleague could have been killed, the rule had been simply forgotten.

If a grown experienced individual, probably having worked a long or difficult shift can (sometimes) forget something so basic, then how in heavens name can one expect a 9-year-old to remember everything all at once?

I want to go back to Ferguson, Missouri and the shooting to death of Michael Brown, a Black teenager by a White Police Officer.

We now know that at least 11 possibly 12 or 13 shots were fired at the victim, Michael Brown. Where the factors of racism, fear, absence of community policing and, in this Officer's case, probably minimal (ever) contact with Black people except in the course of his work as an arresting Officer, come into play, all combine in an explosive combination when confronted with a youngster who simply does something 'stupid' – does not obey the instructions of the Officer. I am just guessing – and we will probably never know the full truth – but all of the factors I mention earlier - racism, harassment of the Black community and their alienation from the 'White' Police Force in Ferguson, Missouri because of the disproportionate make-up of the force – 95-98%% - White in a predominantly Black neighborhood where poverty abounds, crime and or fear of Black people grips the White segregated community in their very own 'White ghetto', and a feeling that each night in Ferguson, for some (perhaps many) White Officers, is more like a bad night in Fallujah than normal Policing (so distant are they from the local people and their problems, their hopes for themselves and their children , their desires, their feelings, as human beings.)  It's a crazy unreal situation - and man-made - caused by conscious racism – being reflected every day and night in the physical presence of the Officers whose task should be 'To Protect and Serve'.

I have no doubt that such is reflected in many parts of the country and in many parts of the world where, either consciously or unconsciously, the same pattern as in Ferguson, Missouri, exists.

Well that's my take on a double tragedy.

Perhaps they both might invite Steven Seagal, Chuck Norris, Woopi Goldberg, James Earl Jones, Michael Moore, Karl Malone and President Jimmy Carter as celebrities with national and international status, and as a 'task force', to sometime offer the benefit of their wide and diverse experiences to what are situations requiring a different mindset – and after significant grass roots reform and overhaul at the local and political levels in Missouri?

Patrick Emek

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2014/08/25/arizona-girl-accidentally-shoots-shooting-instructor/14594549/

Was President Putin The Real Target ?

     Was President Putin The Real Target ?

You many recall that I referred to the presence of the airplane of the Russian Federation President

within 20 minutes of MH17.

My source gave me two distinct information references which I could not question for further details.

The first was a 20 minute time difference.

The second was the presence of 2 Ukrainian fighter planes in the immediate vicinity.

It has since emerged that President Putin was indeed on board the Presidential Airplane of The Russian Federation, returning from a visit to South America.
According to unofficial reports, the Presidential Airplane did not fly over the Ukraine - certainly not over the war zone.

As the media in general have ignored this matter I would like to look at it again – with the unthinkable in mind:  what if the President's plane was  the intended target  ?

First, if President Putin's plane had been shot down over Ukraine, Russia most certainly would invade the country right up to the Polish border.   The West (NATO) would be effectively at war with The Russian Federation.

Not too long ago a friend from Cambridge (United Kingdom) contacted me to say that he was in no doubt that Russia would also re-occupy Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania as it would no longer be prepared to accept the humiliation of it's ethnic Russian citizens anywhere in the Baltic States.

This was a very real fear being expressed to him by his own contacts in the Baltic States.

The Baltic States are not as strategically important to Russia as is The Ukraine.

From a strategic stranglehold viewpoint, Latvia and Lithuania have less a critical value as Estonia.

In the event of the President of Russia being assassinated under such conditions as, say, the downing of MH17,  it is not easy to predict what would happen in this regard.

Who Would Be Held Responsible?

A number of scenarios  immediately come to mind:

1. Disaffected Separatist Ukrainian Rebels.  Disaffected because President Putin refused to send

combat forces to support their insurgency against the legitimate Ukrainian government.

2. An attempted coup within Russia by generals disaffected with the conduct of the Ukrainian

civil war and President Putin's reluctance to commit ground forces (other than of course the existing presence of 'volunteers' and Russian Special Forces.)

3. A political or intelligence services' organized coup d'etat against President Putin – any new interim leader being seen or portrayed as the plotters choice.

4. An extremist conspiracy plotted in Kiev to provoke NATO intervention possibly leading to a third world war at the most, a new Cold War at the very minimum.

5. Separatist Chechen or Al Qaeda/ISIL rebels present in Eastern Ukraine.

6. A rogue commander.

7. An unfortunate accident.

Whatever the case, unless world leaders can re-assure each other that agreed protocols will continue to be observed (at a time when principles of international law are being flouted by major powers on a frighteningly regular basis) traveling  over airspace not within their own remit is not going to be a very safe affair for any of them and could indeed become a very hazardous experience.

I did say last year that when countries start to 'down' (force to land) presidential airplanes in transit, for whatever given public reason, that this was the start of a very slippery slope – leading to where, nobody can at present predict but what it will imply is a breakdown in international law and protocol which itself is also so reflective of the apparent breakdown in international standards and conduct in so many spheres of diplomacy, humanitarian principles in war, international relations between states and nations and, what I grew up with and was taught, as known and observed codes of international conduct.

I hope history does not show that this was indeed the case.

It would be beyond tragic to even contemplate that innocent travelers  worldwide are now pawns in a very dark and a very dangerous game which has no future in any sane world.

Patrick Emek



Technical Analysis
 Section 1 The Buk M­1 Missile System & Section 2 The Loss of Malaysian Airways Flight MH17 :

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0ByibNV3SiUoobnpCVDduaHVORHM/edit


MH17 : Boeing's Downing By BUK Missile System Unlikely - Russian Military Expert :

http://rbth.com/news/2014/07/29/boeings_downing_by_buk_missile_system_unlikely_-military_expert_38607.html)


''Unless one of the greatest sick hoaxes of the 21st century has been perpetrated and I too am a recipient,  I stand by my decision to include this next reference below.  I have, as far as I was able, researched the background of Herr Haisenko and have no reason to believe him to be anything but genuine.  Neither do I believe him have a 'grudge', to  be a 'crank'  a 'cookie' or a publicity seeker'' (Patrick Emek, 23rd August, 2014.)

July 30th, 2014, Analysis of photos of  downed MH17 (of any credibility) made available by By Peter Haisenko
German version:
http://www.anderweltonline.com/wissenschaft-und-technik/luftfahrt-2014/schockierende-analyse-zum-abschuss-der-malaysian-mh-017/
English version:
http://www.anderweltonline.com/wissenschaft-und-technik/luftfahrt-2014/shocking-analysis-of-the-shooting-down-of-malaysian-mh17/ 

This site below  is identified as being openly pro-Russian in it's reference websites, some of which are conspiracist theory-orientated.   Some doubt exists about the authenticity and impartiality of all the photos - which are not all the same as those provided for analysis by Herr Haisenko at the website above, but much more detailed, undocumented and untraceable in provenance:   
http://guardforangels.altervista.org/blog/verita-mh17/

For those of you requiring some elementary schooling in aviation ballistic forensics, you might also consider a more impartial analysis by Mike "Mish" Shedlock:
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/calling-all-munitions-and-fighter-plane.html 
Mr Shedlock also makes reference in his blog to a You Tube video of a Militia Soldier (Anti-Kiev Rebel) named 'Elena' from Sloviansk.  This video was published on You Tube on 18th June, 2014.  MH17 was shot down on 17th July, 2014.  I have only recently become aware of this video.  What 'Elena' says, if true, lends further credibility to my statement about a total  (observable) breakdown in the norms of international law (aviation in this case) and suggests that innocent airline passengers and crew could be deliberately used as 'human shields' in zones of conflict.   This, if true, is a relatively new and frightening development.   Yes, there have, historically, been cases of the deliberate targeting of civilian and presidential airplanes in zones of political tension and confrontation to either catalyze or initiate conflict and indeed, the use of spy planes 'tailgating' civilian airliners - with tragic results -  is not unheard of; but this recent tactic, if confirmed, brings what were once far away incidents right into Europe.   There are now, in my opinion, very immediate, very real and very imminent dangers to our own Ministers and  Heads of State as they carry out their normal duties by means of air transportation if agreed international standards are being flouted.
If the lives of ordinary airline passengers and crew are expendable then rogue elements in this and other conflict regions will not think twice before creating an international incident with  more 'spectacular' gestures:

http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/calling-all-munitions-and-fighter-plane.html 

http://www.globalresearch.ca/support-mh17-truth-osce-monitors-identify-shrapnel-like-holes-indicating-shelling-no-firm-evidence-of-a-missile-attack/5394324?print=1

http://en.ria.ru/world/20140803/191662050/Preliminary-Examination-of-MH17-Black-Boxes-Reveals-Nothing.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/10996400/MH17-Black-box-reveals-Malaysia-Airlines-suffered-massive-explosive-decompression.html

Ferguson, Missouri:

The Shooting⁶ to Death of Michael Brown, a Black Teenager, by Officer Darren Wilson, A White Police Officer, and It's Aftermath

To ' Serve & Protect' or Communities Under Police Siege?

The answer to this question will depend on whom you speak with.

For Black, Hispanic and Communities of Color in the United States, unless they are equally represented within the forces doing the policing, they will perceive as occupation and control what others regard as the normal exercise of police tasks.

So the issue of race and representation is a critical factor in how a community perceives it's local police force.

Problem Identification Formula

Anywhere in the world, you can formulate that there is a problem of race, ethnicity or religious bigotry and or intolerance where communities are not being predominantly 'served' by a proportionate number of their like-brethren who are doing the policing within that local community.

Ferguson clearly does have a problem. But is the problem in America any different from, say, Zimbabwe, or Brazil or South Africa or the Sunnis an Shias in Iraq or the Ethnic Russians and  Ukrainians in the Ukraine or minorities within the Russian Federation?

Before you say how ridiculous the comparisons I want you to reflect for a few minutes, very carefully.

How ridiculous you find such comparisons will also, more likely, depend on whether you are a member of a majority or minority within one or other of these communities. I have made my point here so I want to move on to another matter.

Senator George J. Mitchell⁷ (United States) when looking at sectarianism and racial discrimination against the minority Catholic community over hundreds of years in Northern Ireland, recommended the disbanding of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), a sectarian police force which the majority of Northern Irish Catholics found abhorrent to join, because it was blatantly racist, anti-Catholic and sectarian.

(Senator George Mitchell's Lebanese Christian origin put him in a unique position to look at discrimination against minorities, having come with historical experience from one such community.)

It was only after the disbanding of the RUC and the creating of a different culture in the recruitment and training of police officers, that Catholics en masse had the confidence both to trust and to join the Royal Irish Constabulary,  to 'Serve and Protect' the community as a whole, Catholics and Protestants, and with pride.

A similar reform of police forces across the U.S. is long overdue, as we see from supporting demonstrations against police brutality and harassment nationwide.

The Second Amendment To The Constitution of The United States – and Why It Must Be Defended by All Communities Regardless of Race, Religion and Color

The next issue is that of the 'militarization' of the police force in Ferguson and why they should be 'demilitarized'. This line of discussion is usually promoted by media networks, politicians and individuals who would, ultimately, prefer to disarm the people to concentrate firepower exclusively in the hands of the State. They would, on the whole, therefore, wish to extend this argument to the issue of gun control - and Ferguson provides an unexpected opportunity first to promote the 'demilitarization' of the local Police, then, as an extension to this, of local citizens, leaving the State (or National Guard and Armed Forces) as the ultimate 'protect and serve' guardians of the people.

The Second Amendment to the Constitution of The United States⁵  is the most precious gift of liberty the Founding Fathers have given to all Americans.

Every tyrant from Hitler to Stalin to Saddam Hussein to the Taliban in Afghanistan first seek to disarm the people – and in many instances the local police (creating specialist units – such as the Schutzstaffel (SS) and Die Geheime Staatspolizei (Gestapo) who have State authority to bear arms) before they implemented reigns of terror against defenceless communities.

Every tyrannical country in the world you can think of today make the possession of personal firearms illegal or at the very least, subject to local (State Police) control
and monitoring.  They give all sorts of excuses but the real reason is to leave the people powerless against State tyranny.

Not in the United States where citizens rights to bear arms are enshrined in the constitution.

Problems in Ferguson – Is Ferguson Unique or Just Long Due for Overhaul?

There are problems in Ferguson, Missouri, as there are problems in many police forces across the United States as there are problems in police forces across many countries in the world, but such should not turn into a debate about disarming America, as a civil society, including the disarming of the police force.

Most citizens outside the free world envy the right of every American to protect himself herself and family with as much an arsenal of weapons as they can afford to maintain (assuming they agree with the principle of the Second Amendment.)

It's at times such as this that the NRA should be universally supported so that other Fergusons become less likely and the State thinks twice before looking down the sniper sights of it's arsenal against the people exercising their First Amendment⁸  rights. 

If there ever was a reason for communities to organize themselves under the Second Amendment for protection it is Ferguson - and the NRA⁵  can provide the right guidelines to all citizens, regardless of race, religion or color, to ensure that this protection is available within the terms of the U.S. constitution.

The H.R. 1033 Program^1&2  – 
And The Rights Of Citizens Opposed To Police 'Militarization'

Unlike, for example, Russia, America is an open democracy where the rights of all citizens are enshrined in the constitution.

You will never hear of protests against police brutality towards minorities in the Russian Federation because the people are powerless against the State and, of course, it is illegal for citizens to possess weapons to protect themselves and their families against criminals and the totalitarian post Soviet Police State.

If American citizens are unhappy with the 'militarization' of their local police force they can lobby their lawmakers to either scrap or amend the H.R. 1033 program¹ as applicable to their State or Community.

Indeed one Democratic Congressman, Hank Johnson^3&4  is doing just that.

There is no particular reason to have a 'militarized' police force to counteract peaceful protest (even with the presence of troublemakers amongst demonstrators) but to suggest 'demilitarizing' the police and leaving communities defenceless simply because of 'rogue' elements within forces (or indeed introducing gun control because of rogue or mentally unbalanced individuals across the country) is, in my opinion, not a solution to racial profiling, racism nor the culture of discrimination which results in minority communities being 'curfewed' or harassed after darkness by 'rogue' police forces and officers operating unter the guise of 'To Serve and Protect'.

Patrick Emek

^{1. https://beta.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/1033/text}

^{2. http://www.dispositionservices.dla.mil/leso/pages/1033programfaqs.aspx}

^{3.http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/08/14/1321575/-Rep-Hank-Johnson-to-introduce-bill-to-stop-providing-military- equipment-to-local-police-forces}

^{4.https://www.dailykos.com/campaigns/927?tag=081914splash3}

^{5.http://www.nraila.org/second-amendment.aspx}

<sup>6.I say 'shooting to death' so as not to prejudice the on-going FBI forensic and other likely subsequent investigations into the death of this unarmed teenager

7.Senator George Mitchell:
http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=m000811</sup>

8.The First Amendment To The Constitution of The United States:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

''That's My Boy!''

(7-Year Old Australian Child Proudly Holds Up Severed Head of A Syrian Soldier-May His God Have Mercy on Him)

                 -and the whole world is horrified-

        Why is the world so horrified?

We teach 7year-olds to shoot live weapons, we teach them about 'good' and 'evil';

why should our definition of 'good' and evil' be the only ones?

You can only ever understand those who differ from you if you have the strength of character to walk some distance in their very own shoes.

Here is a very proud father who has taught his beloved sons that all Christian Infidels, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus and those Muslims not sharing the family's interpretation of the Koran are apostates, incarnations of evil, sons and daughters of Satan who only appear in human guise, (like the Serpent in the Garden of Eden) to 'trick' the pure of heart and faithful and to subvert the world into (spiritual) darkness and confusion.

Cutting off a head of that many-headed Serpent is not just a test but also a re-affirmation of Islamic faith as it is a Holy Duty demanded by the one true God, Allah so that, one day, by his Grace, all infidels, the Children of Satan and all other apostates will be (ritually) slaughtered and thus 'banished' from this planet so that Allah's Eternal Kingdom will be inherited by the faithful and the spiritually pure of heart. This is how ISIL and indeed a larger number of followers of Islam, specifically of Wahhabism and Salafism, see the world; more than the majority of Western politicians and the media services in general would like to discuss and would, in any event, be too embarrassed to admit, as both continue to shed crocodile tears of shock and awe and outrage and lame proffered horror.

This is no 'wacky' one-off incident.

The fact that the Western media are now taking some small interest should tell you how it keeps the populace in ignorance about the true nature of Salafism and Wahhabist – both of which originate in Saudi Arabia (of course, where else would all this vile hatred, evil philosophy and twisted interpretations of Islam in the Muslim world be emanating from.)

My surprise and shock is the fact that the media and politicians appear shocked – as if they had no clue whatsoever as to what has been going on for the past 50 years in the Muslim world -especially in Saudi Arabia.

You can draw your own conclusions as to why the Saudis are immune from criticism but what I will say is that if nothing is done to contain such twisted and corrupted interpretations of Islam from taking root in our own societies they will continue to spread like wildfire – and we will not be blissfully immune in our ignorance - until popular opinion in Christendom forces the politicians to act to protect our own communities falling as victims to such hatreds, intolerance, and, to any sane individual, evil practices – more akin to, Cannibalism, Black Witchcraft and to the notional and ancient 'Antichrist' than to rational, tolerant, multifaith plural societies attempting to consign such barbarism and evil to the history books rather than re-invent it in the 21^st Century.

Patrick Emek

http://beforeitsnews.com/opinion-conservative/2014/08/thats-my-boy-australian-jihadist-tweets-photo-of-7-year-old-son-holding-severed-head-2892420.html

      UN Chief, Ban Ki-moon:
      ''This Madness Must Stop''

Both articles at (1) below emphasize the futility of  outsiders trying to bring permanent  peace to so intransigent parties as Israel and Palestine, Arab and Jew,  both  from the same Biblical ancestor,  Abraham.

There are not enough words in the English dictionary nor sentences to be shaped from known vocabulary, not enough similes nor metaphors, onomatopoeia nor imagery, personification nor prose,  quotation nor article, superlatives nor syntax, alliteration nor analysis, rhyme nor reason, rhythm  nor emotion, nomenclature nor graphics, contrast nor comparison, prose nor pun, text nor narrative, style nor stanza,  emphasis nor contrast, viewpoint nor presentational device, extended metaphor nor interpretation, tone nor theme, audience nor readership....to give justice to the victims: the dead, the dying, the bereaved, the grieving, the permanently scarred, the  lives shattered and forever torn apart.... and,  above all,  the lives,  the loves, the hopes and the dreams that were never to be fulfilled.



 ©Patrick Emek   08.05.2015


(1)
http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/1.608659

http://www.un.org/sg/statements/index.asp?nid=7904


For interested readers:
Biblical background 
Why Do Jews and Arabs/Muslims Hate Each Other?
http://www.gotquestions.org/Jews-Arabs.html

Pandemic:

Why The Ebola Virus Was An Outbreak Waiting To Happen

Without getting into the medical aspects I would like to focus on why the spread of this highly contagious virus - and others to come - are inevitable in most parts of Africa, South America and many parts of the Caucasuses and South East Asia.  Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, all  in West Africa, are the identified countries most recently affected by the outbreak.

The President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, has called on the world to provide medical and human resources. While I have no doubt that such can bring some respite I must question the fundamental basis upon which societies such as, for example, Liberia, are constructed.

I must be careful here not to associate any racist element to what I am going to say as it is based solely on personal similar observations on  different continents - The Caucuses (Eurasia), Africa, Central and South America and South East Asia.

I would also like to say that, in my opinion, there are no more courageous people in the world today than the medical, the aid workers and the volunteers tending the dying and afflicted in such regions and whose own chances of survival (non-infection) are well below the 40% level.

My observations suggest systemic failures in the organization of such societies with regard to GDP/GNP allocations for public health and education services, community hygiene (including sanitation), clean drinking water, health services and education.
[I should add that Western donor nations and international development bodies (through the United Nations,
World Bank and other Institutes) including those of  the United States and, to a lesser extent, the European Union, place particular emphasis on the development and expansion of private healthcare and the privatization of, essential health, education, water provision services in such developing countries which lack basic infrastructures - hence ensuring that health, hygiene and illness associated with impoverishment and the absence of such, will, in the long-term, inevitably be victims of circumstance - resulting in disease, malnutrition and illnesses long associated with poverty and lack of such essential basics provisions.]

For centuries (up until today) whole communities in the impoverished world are highly susceptible to water borne diseases and such rarely reported viral contamination outbreaks.  They are rarely reported because proper local, regional and national health alter monitoring, crises response and statistics are non-existent.

Before racists jump on the bandwagon it should be said that up until the 1950s in many parts of what is now regarded as developed Western Europe such outbreaks, for the very reasons given above, were very common.  In some countries polio and tuberculosis were rife.  Food contamination and poisoning were rife

amongst the poor in certain parts of Western Europe as were diseases associated with poverty and unsanitary living conditions.  Deaths of children from contamination of water, food, lack of proper hygiene and basic medical care for infants were all too frequent occurrences in previous centuries.  The high morbidity and mortality rates for reasons of lack of basic hygiene and disease prevention, were therefore rife throughout Western Europe.

So to look down on these unfortunate countries or to regard them as 'backward' is not just false but ignores centuries of suffering throughout Europe for similar reasons.

My concern is that such international bodies, donor nations and countries afflicted today need to get their priorities right with regard to basic hygiene, sanitation, food processing with quality control, and, above all, health education and changes in lifestyles with an appreciation of the health dangers and how such can be minimized at local, regional and national levels.   Such are the real causes of these problems and until African, Asian, South American and Caucasian politicians appreciate the national priority for health and education and their role in disease prevention then sadly such mass outbreaks of infectious diseases will continue, albeit sporadically, until one specific mutated (and mutating), airborne, highly  transmissible virus causes a pandemic worldwide.  Such education should, in the case of highly infectious and transmissible viruses, include the promotion of change of tribal customs and traditional practices which could, inadvertently, be resulting in hibernated (semi-dormant) stasis of such viruses, ripe and poised for future outbreak, either under specific environmental conditions, cross-contamination, or factors which, by virtue of the lack of eduction, would result in unwitting exposure, contamination and human or species infection.

There is often a very wide chasm between politicians, health professionals, and academics in many parts of the developing world with the former unable or unwilling to take proper counsel or indeed to take counsel but refuse to allocate adequate resources to implement national health and education policies for all the nation, independent of the ability of individuals to pay for healthcare.  Many African countries, rather than take responsibility for transparency and proper budget allocation (easily achievable if levels of corrupt practices were reduced) prefer instead to call on international bodies to 'subsidize' both health and education.
Developed countries are usually willing, directly or indirectly (through NGOs and international bodies) to oblige - especially where there are coherent political, military, strategic or extractive resources to be traded-off.

There is a conceptual void in the way our financial systems are firewalled and organized to either fail to perceive (or simply are programmed to ignore) the 'benefits' of  universal healthcare and universal education.

So the systemic failure starts at the very top.

There is no financial incentive from, for example, The World Bank to allocate resources for, say, a sewage and rain drain off system for a whole village, town or city.   They would (rightly) argue that this must be a responsibility of national government as part of a national health and sanitation plan.  But condemning masses of people to live in filth and without adequate healthcare whilst at the same time servicing the privileged, is an ultimate recipe for mass transmission of infectious diseases and one to provide vibrant mediums for the mass spreading of viruses - ultimately  worldwide.

In this instance the outbreak is confined to West Africa but unhealthy individuals and  the potential for contamination of aspects of the food chain from contaminated land, to harvesting to processing to dispatch worldwide are all increased because of the inability of politicians (and international financial institutions) to appreciate the priority of developing countries to adequately budget for their masses, preferring instead to focus on developmental aid which, on the whole, is (if not directly) indirectly financially beneficial to the elite in recipient countries and not matching nor caring to enquire as to whether national plans - with State allocation of resources for hygiene and sanitation - are already operationally and effectively in place.   There simply is no 'market' for 'free' universal health care and 'free' education in developing societies.
African politicians, through lack of education themselves, assume that such should be 'subsidized' by the United Nations or other private institutions from the developed world, not understanding the true value of education and preferring instead to allocate resources to, what we would regard as, non-essential services (or indeed simply allocating financial resources to, self-aggrandisement, scenarios)
Health care, public sanitation and education are often perceived by Third World (Developing World) politicians to be either the function of  rich benefactors from the private sector or international institutions and organizations and not that of local politicians.
Most African countries leaders' lack the foresight (or education) to see the benefits of health care and eduction for their mass populations in the sense that they themselves are unwilling to invest significant proportions of the GNP/GDP in their development. (There are about ten exceptions to this rule on the African continent - including countries in the Muslim Arab North, Rwanda- near the middle, just below the Equator, and in the Christian and Animist African South.)

Because of this dysfunctional perception by both politicians, transnational organizations and corporations in donor countries providing funds in the developed world, and also the politicians in these developing countries, in my opinion, all measures taken to contain the spread of Ebola, will be, at best,  limited to containment, without addressing the root causes of the problem, as outlined above. 

The good news (of sorts!;if you want to call it good news!) is that after a worldwide pandemic, perhaps resulting in the deaths of  tens of millions of people (if not more) in the areas identified above (and likely well beyond these geographic areas, oblivious to border security controls) the world might then get it's house in order, universally, for the first time in recent history, and politicians who now have had the 'benefit' of  'personal experience' of such tragedy, might now have added motivation to proactively refocus their priorities to ensure such horrors can never happen again.

A good example of what I am saying is the response to the HIV/AIDS.  I want to again take Africa as one of many examples of bad practice - an alarmist response by many countries to an emergency situation requiring very clear thinking, research, analysis and planned coordinated health, educational, economic, social and scientific initiatives. The reaction of most African and Muslim Arab countries societies politicians and spiritual leaders has been to suppress (or evocate for the suppression) of Gay Men and Lesbian Women rather than join the global research into fighting the HIV virus.  The exceptions being South Africa (on the African continent) and Israel (in the Levant/ Middle East) which are actively engaged in national and global research projects.
Rwanda is also taking very positive steps which avoid stigmatization and focus on education, community health initiatives and is also constructively engaged internationally.

So what I want to again emphasize is, taking this specific virus (HIV) as an example, there is still no guarantee that, even after the deaths of millions, tens or hundreds of millions, world bodies, multinational and transnational corporations, politicians and religious leaders will indeed change their ways of thinking and recalibrate priorities towards proactive disease prevention, universal health care and education for their mass (or depleted) populations.


Addendum
The co-discoverer of the Ebola Virus, Professor Peter Piot, has said that the risk of transmission by proximity to a victim is minimal (1).   I am in no position to disagree with such an eminent person as Professor Piot.  What I do question is that, given the unsanitary conditions and lack of proper healthcare and infrastructural facilities across most of the under-developed (and parts of the developing) world together with other factors mentioned above, whether it is better to err on the side of caution than otherwise.
What the article also fails to point out is that, where you have highly infectious viruses affecting remote communities, in the era before modern transportation and communication, remote villages or tribal household communities may well have been completely overwhelmed (wiped out) before the virus itself could reach areas of population densities.
I am convinced that this is a forerunner for a more serious global pandemic to be caused by an artificial (synthetic) or mutated cross-species virus or complex of viruses, which, at some nearer point in time, will overwhelm this planet.
I again question as to whether, even after such a catastrophe, the lessons will have been learnt.

Patrick Emek

(1)
Ebola Co-Discoverer Professor Peter Piot:
''I would Sit Next to an Infected Person on the Train'' by Lydia Smith
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/ebola-discoverer-peter-piot-i-would-sit-next-infected-person-tube-1459154

Note: Professor David Heymann was the other Co-Discoverer of the Ebola Virus    (P.E. August 27th , 2014)

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