Obama's FAILING Once Again... Concerning The Middle East

After seeing the LSM's reporting of the Flotilla incident for the past two days, I was waiting for the right moment to chime in and it happened when I got one of my long-time weekly emails from StartupMeme.com and the publisher went on an Israel bashing tirade that prompted me to leave the following comment on their website...

Lenny Vasbinder
May 31st, 2010 on 4:29 pm

I have been a long time subscriber to your email but have unsubscribed today.

You (StartupMeme.com) said:
“My only problem is that it is an absolutely inhuman act…”
“I am still trying to look into the matter and see what actually prompted the Israeli forces to attack the ship.”
“I am up for freedom of speech, but hey, why does it have to be biased? I have no animosity against anyone here,…”

I am not Jewish but you complain about freedom of speech, claim you are not biased and have no animosity against anyone, admit you are looking into the matter but then you call Israel inhuman. That sounds pretty much like you are biased and do have animosity against Israel. It’s fine if you do but just admit it and don’t try to hide behind your obvious bias.

You sound a lot like Obama over here when he commented to a reporter a while back, “I admit I do not have all the facts... but I think the police acted stupidly!" Well, how can you claim that someone was at fault when you admit you do not know the facts.

You should watch Fox News Channel, if you get it, since at least they report both sides of every story instead of just liberal and biased reporting like that from the LSM (Lame Stream Media) over here.

Have a good and biased life!!!

------------

Here is the StartupMeme original post and other select comments, including a reply from the author of the article and my counter-reply to them:

http://startupmeme.com/attack-on-freedom-flotilla-by-israeli-armed-forces-freedom-of-speech-my-sss-twitter-filteringcensoring-flotilla/

Like it or not, I think when people come up to me and talk about freedom of speech and censorship online, its loads of trash and mumbling nothing else. Forget Facebook and the ban in Pakistan for now and talk about the inhuman attack by Israeli forces on Flotilla, the ship carrying aid to Gaza. They were carrying over 500 people alongside 10,000 tonnes of aid. The social networking sites are bombarded with news, and so is Twitter. The sad part is, Flotilla is being prevented from being a trending topic on the micromessaging service. Sad and biased.

Please put aside the matter of being a Muslim or non-Muslim, I am not interested on that side of the argument. My only problem is that it is an absolutely inhuman act, especially when those who attacked are totally against terrorism in any form. I am still trying to look into the matter and see what actually prompted the Israeli forces to attack the ship. According to a report in BBC, authorities in Israel claim that they were attacked with axes, knives and were fired live rounds, injuring 10 Israeli soldiers, an act which justifies the retaliation from Israel’s forces. As per the people on ship, 30 of the passengers have been badly injured and 10 have been claimed dead. Amongst those injured are Raed Salah, leader of Israeli Islamic Movement and a well known journalist from Pakistan, Mr. Talat Hussain.

I am up for freedom of speech, but hey, why does it have to be biased? I have no animosity against anyone here, but Israil is a trending topic and Tweets with the #flotilla tag are being filtered. I would request the Twitter Folks to address this issue right away if they are filtering the Flotilla Hashtag.

------------

The original article's author's reply to my comment:

Sardar Mohkim Khan Reply:
June 1st, 2010 at 1:31 pm

Dear Lenny,

Thanks a lot for your comment and I really appreciate you taking out time to share your opinion and saddened that you have ‘unsubscribed’ after been subscribed to Startup Meme for a long time. I am afraid there has been some serious misunderstanding or rather misinterpretation given that I have only called the ‘act’ inhuman and not pointed at a state. Sadly at this point a nation attacked an aid boat and as per all the news that I have been hearing, this is the second time when the country has tried to prevent an aid ship reaching Gaza.

My statement of ‘Freedom of Speech’ is a pun. Please do read my post again and you will see that I am keeping that ‘freedom of speech’ phrase to Twitter alone.

I can’t be biased because the ship was just carrying people of one nationality, it had people from numerous nations all going for humanitarian aid.

I would request you to watch other channels as well, other than Fox News, there are more than just two sides of the story.

Thanks

------------

And my reply to StartupMeme:

Leonard Vasbinder
June 1st, 2010 on 5:38 pm

I do get my news from more than one source but obviously, in a country that complains of not having freedom of speech, you also lack freedom of the press. Here’s an article that shows that Israel has a blockade on these types of ships bringing so-called “aid” to Gaza and if they try, they are subject to being boarded and inspected first. They would not stop to be boarded so Israel sent in their helicopters and boarded them anyhow and the so-called passengers, armed with many types of weapons, started attacking Israel’s forces and then Israel fought back… which is the PERFECTLY NORMAL thing to do. I’m sorry, but if all you have is a knife or a pipe or a bat, you shouldn’t attack people with automatic weapons if they are not firing on you first and the video’s that I have seen show that NO GUN FIRE took place (no muzzle flashes) until after these boarding forces were attacked, including the mobs trying to throw some of the first boarders over the top rail of the ship… to an almost certain death. When faced with a potentially deadly force, these forces were forced to fight back with deadly force.

Here’s a link and more info…

http://blog.heritage.org/2010/06/01/morning-bell-time-to-change-course-in-the-middle-east/

Early Monday morning in the international waters of the Mediterranean Sea, helicopters lowered Israeli Commandos onto a Turkish-flagged ferry carrying 600 passengers determined to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza. Beset by activists armed with poles, knives and guns, the Israelis defended themselves, and the resulting violence left at least nine dead. Hours later, the International Atomic Energy Agency released a report claiming that Iran now has enough nuclear fuel, with further enrichment, to make two nuclear weapons. These two stories are not unrelated. And they ought to serve as a signal to the Obama administration that it is time to change its approach to the region.

Israel is an important ally of the United States and the most important partner the U.S. has in an otherwise tough neighborhood. Unlike most of its neighbors, Israel shares our nation’s commitment to democracy and freedom. And also like us, it has every right to defend itself. When the United States supports Israel and makes that support clear on the international stage, Israel’s enemies are less likely to provoke. But when the United States distances itself from Israel, as the Obama administration has done, it makes confrontation and conflict in the region more likely, not less. When enemies see Israel as alone and isolated, they become more, not less, aggressive. When Israel feels alone and isolated, it feels compelled to be more aggressive – to act in its own defense.

What the incident in the Mediterranean Sea demonstrates is just how likely it is that Israel will make a preventive strike on Iran if Iran provokes Israel by further developing its nuclear weapon ambitions. If such an attack were to happen, the United States must recognize Israel’s right to self-defense against a hostile Iranian regime that repeatedly has called for its destruction. The United States must also veto any Security Council resolution that does not acknowledge Iran’s provocations and continued defiance of U.N. resolutions.

Just this past Friday, the IAEA also leaked news that Iran may be hiding equipment capable of pyroprocessing, a procedure that can be used to purify uranium metal used in nuclear warheads. This is just the latest in a long line of Iranian deception about its nuclear program. The Obama administration actually enabled this Kabuki with its engagement strategy last year, which culminated in last month’s nuclear deal between Iran, Turkey and Brazil – a deal that was based off of President Obama’s own proposed deal with Iran.

And the Obama administration’s strengthening of Iran does not end there. In order to secure new toothless U.N. sanctions on Iran, the Obama administration agreed to allow the Russians to sell the Iranians S-300 anti-aircraft missiles – the very weapon system that Iran would use against an Israeli air strike.

What is most troubling here is the Obama administration policy that has helped create the Middle East we have today. Israel feels increasingly alone. Iran feels increasingly empowered. The White House should have been working to achieve the opposite.


More info here...

http://video.foxnews.com/v/4223912/inside-the-freedom-flotilla/

http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/41629/

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,593963,00.html