20071018

WWIII : playtime

"We've got a leader in Iran who has announced that he wants to destroy Israel. So I've told people that, if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon".

The man who said that is a fundamentalist leader who wants to destroy peace and democracy. The man who actually provided Iran with the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon : Bush's United States of America had research documents forwarded to Ahmadinejad's Iran, supposedly with the intention of leading that country to a wrong track, but we know better, don't we* ?

If you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing this man from remaining in power : impeach Bush and Cheney before it's too late.

The Democrats are having fun putting things in order with History (genocide against Kurds in Turkey, a medal of honor for the Dalai Lama), it's time for members of Congress who really love democracy to go one decisive and much needed step further.


* see "Iran : who wants war and why" (20070925). Note that this declaration follows critics by Putin on how Bush deals with Iran, and his warnings about murder attempts (see "Archduke Vladimir Putin's assassination attempt" (20071015).

20071015

Archduke Vladimir Putin's assassination attempt

You want to watch for false flags these days. Cheney and other trigger happy hawks are desperate to ignite World War III and deliberately putting out fires with gasoline. The yet-to-be-confirmed terror attack on Putin during his yet-to-be-started trip in Iran definitely smells like Dubya's dream team spirit.

All fundamentalist doomsayers know History and remember which incident ignited WWI : the murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Este in Sarajevo. Back then, the Balkans were the hotspot for warmongers, and now, all the heat is on Tehran.

Vlad the Impaler knows how to orchestrate terror and is quite an expert himself in false flag operations. Russia's next lifetime Prime Minister is transferring the pressure, but off Ahmadinejad's shoulders and directly towards Bush : I know you are up to something but I cannot tell what nor when, I know you want to make people believe Iran is responsible for your dream war but I want the public to make no mistake : if anything happens to me or anyone else, you will be the one holding the smoking gun.

20071007

Benedict XVI's "coming out"

To those who doubted, the Pope gave the ultimate proof.

I'm not talking about the existence of God but about the nature of John Paul II's successor : a Christian fundamentalist who after attacking science and education* decided to bulldoze democracy and justice.

Benedict XVI wants "natural law" to rule where "civil law" does : about abortion, euthanasia, ethics, moral, and other issues that have no clear frontiers and can ultimately claim all human activities. Actually, the aim is to leave no room for civil law. Or else, the whole society collapses - call it Judgment Day, Armageddon or moneytime, you get the general idea. "No man-made law can subvert the norms written by the creator in human hearts without society itself being dramatically attacked in what constitutes its necessary basis". Some can translate "in human hearts" by "in the Bible" or in whatever opus they want.

Trim off the "feel good" verbiage and what do you get ? This man is once again talking about the substitution of the law of man by the law of God. This man is once again trying to put religion at the core of the society and at the core of politics. This man is once again crossing the line and opening the gates to fundamentalism.



* see "
Red blogule to Benedict XVI - fundamentally wrong" (20060921) and other blogules related to Benito the 16th.

20071005

David Attenborough attacked by Fundamentalist apes

EO broadcasted Sir David's "Life of Mammals" series in the Netherlands, respecting the 5 mn of edition allowed by the BBC.

But Evangelische Omroep / the Evangelical Broadcasting Organisation is a Christian fundamentalist channel, the parts edited were key to explain evolution (ie "our closest relatives" becoming "the apes"), and one whole episode was censored. Flemmish radicals tend to upset me these days : when they don't fuel hatred and racism, they promote ID and creationism. Both sides of what's left of the Belgian border.

David Attenborough is not dead yet*, he is quite angry, and so should we all. This battle is worth fighting for the great white Dave.


* see "
David Attenborough, one life on Earth" (20070716)
** see "
Red blogule to Luc van den Brande" (20070627)

20070925

Iran : who wants war and why

Some influent people want Iran at war with Israel at any cost, whatever the motive, ideally before the end of this year but anyway before the end of George W. Bush's mandate.

Don't look for rational explanations for this war.

Just like with Iraq, this war has nothing to do with WMDs, nor with removing a despot and spreading democracy. And just like with Iraq, this even isn't about oil.

No wonder we see exactly the same pattern : Cheney preparing false flag scenarios, Weapons of Mass Disinformation brainwashing US minds to turn Iran into the Evil Kingdom, hawks forging "proofs" including illegal smuggling of nuclear designs while the intelligence community tells the opposite, the local leader dubbed "the new Hitler", a clear and immediate danger of nuclear attack denied by the international agency in charge of the inspections... and of course the same warnings by experts : be careful, such a war would be a terrible mistake for the Iranian people, for the future of democracy in the region, for the international fight on terror, and to the contrary a perfect boost for the enemies of democracy.

Because this war is about religion. Or kind of. And the people most eager to ignite it are fundamentalists : Islamist fundamentalists who believe in the return of the Mahdi, Christian fundamentalists who believe in the second coming of the Christ. According to their crazy prophecies, Israel must face Iran in a final war that will lead to these joyful events and the rule of God himself*. Never mind the fact that the bulk of the World's population gets erased from the map in the process.

So here we are, John and Jane Smith, sitting on a sofa and watching madhatters pretending to take care of the countries that put them in charge : Ahmadinejad praying the same prayer as George W. Bush, both wanting the same bloodbath for similar reasons.

Here are John and Jane Smith, complaining about the way Bush deals with Iraq and ready to follow him in another crusade, even crazier and more suicidal.

Here are John and Jane Smith, horrified by a President having an affair with an intern but not at all alarmed by a President ready to cause a human tragedy thousands of times more catastrophic than the war in Iraq.

Here are John and Jane Smith, with the only weapon able to stop this mess : impeachment.

Will John and Jane Smith be found guilty for not doing anything ?

* see : "Jesus vs Mahdi prophecy"

20070911

General Petraeus in "surge" of credibility

As Lobby Dick Cheney taught us a while ago, insurgents are in their "last throes" in Iraq. And the US army is winning the war on terror. And Osama bin Laden is about to be "smoked out".

And "the surge" in US troops to Iraq has been a complete success, adds General Petraeus.

What is the outcome of the said "surge", Sarge ?

Baghdad looks a little bit quieter these days, because fewer US troops are killed there these days, not fewer Iraqi civilians.


Baghdad looks a little bit quieter these days, because it is being "pacified". Not by your troops but by the civil and sectarian war you ignited with this invasion. The traditional Sunni-Shi'ite mix belongs to the past, an ugly separation wall to the present, and the partition of Iraq to the future.

Baghdad looks a little bit quieter these days, because the surge helped insurgents to export chaos and terror in parts of the country that had been relatively spared until now. Parts that would have proved useful come the time of reconstruction.

Bush wanted this surge to accelerate the collapse of Iraq and the final destruction of any hope of reconciliation between the parties. And now he is asking for more time to fulfill this agenda.

Bush should be the one to answer the questions, not Petraeus.

Bush should be the one accused of betrayal, not Petraeus*.


* see MoveOn's ad "General Petraeus or General Betray Us ?"

20070830

Forging another case for Iran

Model democracy Amerika abducted some more citizens illegally on a foreign soil. Iranians in Irak. Just the kind of peace initiatives that region needs...

Bush-Cheney already forged a case for the invasion of Irak, and they're at it again. If America doesn't wake up,
something really nasty is bound to happen. Time to impeach both of those enemies of peace and democracy.

Elsewhere : the Kremlin said Anna Politkovskaya was killed by Chechen terrorists, and Russian Prosecutor - General Yury Chaika said Anna Politkovskaya could only be killed by foreign-based ennemies of the Kremlin. Does it mean that the Kremlin considers Chechnya a foreign country ? Or more simply that in this FSB dreamland, the Putin clique doesn't care anymore about the credibility of their lies ?

Hope ? Some echoes of my "
Universal Declaration of Independence from Fundamentalism" in Nablus...

20070814

Whale Hunt at the White House

"You've got a bunch of people up on Capitol Hill auditioning for Captain Ahab, and I'm Moby Dick."

Karl Rove is a big fish all right. But he is not a victim, and certainly not the idea I have of a noble specie worth preserving from Capitol Hill sharks.

The Architect announced his resignation in The Wall Street Journal, as if it were business as usual, not the last throes of a controversial mastermind under subpoena... Instead of a beautiful whale, an ugly rat* abandoning the ship to save the actual Captain.



* what's in a nickname... "Turd Blossom" isn't as cute as Ratatouille.

20070809

Universal Declaration of Independence From Fundamentalism

1 - What is fundamentalism ?

At the beginning, the word used to designate a deviant Protestant movement but now, it can be applied to trends found in all major religions.

Fundamentalism means the total submission of a people to a strict set of principles.

Fundamentalism is not about religion (the pretext behind the means), but about politics (the actual aim of the game) ; ultimately, fundamentalism is about the total control of society in a caricature of theocracy.

Fundamentalists are humans who build the set of strict rules and define what is true and what isn't, generally developing a simplistic doctrine based on their own biased interpretation of ancient religious scriptures that can be interpreted in as many ways as there are human beings. Since fundamentalists consider their doctrine as absolute, perfect, good and unfailable, anything growing out of it is necessarily wrong, corrupt and evil, and thus has to be eradicated in order to purify the world. Beyond what people do or say, fundamentalists intend to control and judge what people think.

Fundamentalism is totalitarian because all human activities should abid to the rules, starting with the pilars of democracy : political debate, science, education, justice, information... any field where intelligence can bloom and expose the limits of a basic propaganda.

The same logic can be found in the Discovery Institute’s Wedge strategy : the ultimate goal of Intelligent Design is to undermine science and education, key entry points for fundamentalists. ID has nothing to do with science but everything to do with politics, starting with the artificial legitimation of religion at the root of the social system, and ultimately the restoration of theocracy.

The worst enemy of a fundamentalist is a person from the same religion who preaches tolerance, reason, and respect of the differences between individuals and cultures. Charismatic pro-peace leaders who happen to be people of faith, sometimes even former respected warriors : Yitzhak Rabin, Ahmad Shah Massoud…

The most embarrassing enemy of a fundamentalist is a "competing" fundamentalist from the same religion. The sales pitches are basically similar, but it brings the notion that there is not only one good answer to the question. At least one is necessarily wrong, it is more difficult to claim the true version. The best way is to either destroy this enemy or find a way to merge both franchises into a more powerful band.

The best ally of a fundamentalist is a fundamentalist from a "competing" religion. Each one becomes the "evil" of the other one, feeding him with new arguments. The more radical the opponent, the better : fear makes propaganda sound more credible and moderates less audible.


2 - Why did fundamentalisms gain momentum recently ?

Fundamentalist movements have always existed in most religions, but were traditionally limited to small circles around isolated radical doomsayers. They tend to blossom in periods of materialist decadence and crises because they leverage on basic fears : fear for one's own life and future, fear for the loss of identity and values of a whole society... In times of uncertainties, fundamentalists offer simple answers, clear visions of a brighter afterlife… and order. With a full set of golden rules.
Like fascism, fundamentalism feeds from the failures of democracy, from the intolerable gaps between peoples kept in poverty and underdevelopment on one hand, and rich corrupt regimes on the other. "Ideally", people must be fed up with their rulers, and not believe anymore in the rules supposed to hold the society altogether. An ailing dictatorship will provide a perfect background, but the fundamentalists' best moments come when self-proclaimed model democracies give the worst examples to the world. Most islamist fundamentalisms find their roots in the abuses of colonization, the failures of decolonization (not to mention the disastrous management of the creation of Israel or India / Pakistan), and many were infuriated by the aberrations of the Cold War. They usually reach power when Western democracies start sending the wrong signals at the wrong moment.

For fundamentalists from all religions, George W. Bush turned out to be the best person at the best place at the best moment.

His strategy should look like a total failure to whoever considers the Iraq quagmire, the Palestinian fiasco, or the worldwide surge in terror. But to the contrary, Bush's strategy proved a complete success.

Because George W. Bush didn't act as a President of The United States of America in the interest of his country.
And George W. Bush didn't even act as a Republican in the interest of his party.
George W. Bush acted as a fundamentalist in the interest of fundamentalism.


Right after 9/11, the whole world was behind him and the USA, but this man refused to lead the world towards peace and mutual respect. Instead, he decided to send the worst signals to the worst people, deliberately triggering a sick race between fundamentalisms. Bush's first speech after 9/11 was meant to clarify the framework for his fellow fundamentalists thanks to one single word : "crusade". In other words : let's go back to the good old times when people fought for religion, we fundamentalists are ruling the show, and I will play on the very ground Bin Laden hoped I would.

Because "the Sheik" new perfectly what kind of leader he was facing : a (stub)born again Christian fan of fundamentalist Billy Graham, a man who set from the start his mandate in a theocratic frame by saying some Higher Being was in charge and driving his decisions. Dubya not only made Bin Laden the official "evil" figure of his crusade, but he happily obliged by becoming the official "evil" figure for Islamists. Everything he did was meant to fuel hatred, sideline the moderates (ie those coward weasels in the West, promoters of the Israeli-Palestinian peace agenda in the Middle East...), and sabotage all attempts of peace or reconciliation. Where multilateralism and pragmatism was the answer, he avoided all forms of debates and sticked to his radical black vs white, us vs them, good vs evil rhetoric.

During the 2004 US presidential campaign, I raised a few eyebrows a couple of years ago by dubbing Bush a fascist, pointing out the disturbingly accurate echoes of Benito Mussolini’s definition of fascism in BC00’s Amerika. The propaganda reacted with a karlrovishy counterattack on the weak point : all of a sudden, Bush was facing “Islamofascists”. The actual fascists were at the other end of the spectrum… but that other end is a mirror, and fundamentalism fueling fundamentalism, propaganda feeding counter-propaganda, extremists ideas became mainstream. Beyond fundamentalism, other forms of radicalism could gain momentum across the world. In Far-East Asia, ultra-nationalists took over Japan, and state revisionism became common in the Archipelago as well as in China.

Bush did not wage a war on terror but in favor of it : instead of focusing on terrorist networks and reducing their ground (ie by fighting injustice and poverty, promoting peace in the region and especially between Israel and Palestine), he deliberately infuriated the muslim world and helped fundamentalists recruit new flocks of followers. And he targeted a country that had nothing to do with 9/11 but everything to do with peace in the region. A new playground for international terrorism, the end of Iraq as a united country, civil war here, the rise of a new form of fundamentalism in Iran when reformers were "threatening" the Khomeini generation, the failure of Fatah and the victory of Hamas... all this was not collateral damage but the very aim of his sick game.

The war in Iraq has been misunderstood as a war for oil led by neocons. The fact is theocons used neocons because they could sell the war to SIGs and thus to Congress. The hidden agenda was not about securing energy sources but about spreading fundamentalism, and if hardcore neocons truly believed in the democracy spreading agenda, theocons knew perfectly the outcome of this madness.

Paleocons followed because money flew from the budget surplus to the hands of greedy SIGs, with significant crumbs ending up on their own laps. Paleocons followed because the official propaganda combined with Karl Rove’s witchcraft made sure 2004 elections would be a landslide victory for Bush. Paleocons were fooled because they thought it would be a victory for the GOP.

I warned Republican voters before November 2004 : if Bush wins, the Republican party loses its soul and is bound to implode. Letting this man invade Iraq was criminal negligence, (re)electing him a strict liability crime by the American people against American values.

The 2004 elections celebrated the rise of Christian fundamentalism across the US at a level never reached before. If not mainstream at this stage, it gained significant social and political power in areas where demographic tides are changing the very shape of the country. Whatever the outcome of the 2008 elections, the USA are shifting towards more internal and self-centered dynamics, and theocons are more likely to bloom in such an environment.

Bush has been isolating the US from external influences, refusing any kind of accountability for his acts but for the dialogs he pretends to hold permanently with The Lord Almighty. At home, he shunted the Congress and his not so fellow Republicans. Away, he switched off the Kyoto protocol, unplugged the Geneva Convention (with the benediction of his Chief Torture Officer Alberto Gonzales), and tried to destroy the UN from the inside (with the help of Bolton the UN bomber). He even bypassed the WTO with series of bilateral FTAs or rather unilateral PTAs (Protectionist Trade Agreements).

A dedicated fundamentalist, Bush has been methodically destroying America from the inside, corrupting justice, science and education with a caricature of religion and paving the way for theocracy. This man is a total fake : a New England brat pretending to be a Texas hunk, a coward pretending to be a soldier, an amoral fundamentalist pretending to be a compassionate saint, a theocrat pretending to spread democracy, a weak wannabe who should never have been the most powerful man on Earth.

If you think the worst happened in Iraq, consider this : this man is planning an even craziest sequel in Iran.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wrote to George W. Bush he shared the same approach of religion. The fact is both are fanatics who expect important visits in a near future ; respectively the return of the Mahdi and the second coming of the Christ. And along with by a bunch of fundamentalists from all confessions (Christian, Muslim and Jewish), they share a more than weird doomsday scenario: the final clash between Iran and Israel will lead to those much awaited visits.

This Commander in Thief only has a few months before giving up power. He is working on peace all right, but rather of the eternal kind.

Compared to such madhatters, Islamist fundamentalists who kicked the Shah out of Iran back in 1979 look like moderates. No wonder Bush does his best to help Ahmadinejad stay in power.



3 - What can be done to undermine fundamentalism ?

Like fascism, fundamentalism needs a permanent state of fear, war and propaganda to survive, and is defeated by democracy at its best : exemplary, fair, just and respectful.

America cannot be respected if it doesn’t respect its own values ; those of a model democracy.

The war on terror should be waged at its roots : helping Afghanistan out of despair and out of the reach of Talibans, converging towards a fair resolution of the Israel / Palestine crisis, focusing on poverty and injustice across the World.

The only way out of Iraq is to fire those who deliberately misfired. Bush and Cheney should be prevented from spreading more chaos and impeached… Easier said than done, but removing Gonzales would be a significant first step forward.

Moderates should speak up across the political spectrum : Dems or Reps, we share certain values and think our leaders betrayed them. We may not overpower them as quickly as we’d like to, but we want to tell the world that we want America back on track, we are not going to let that happen again, and we will do our best to get rid of fundamentalists among us.

Humility will make America stronger : it takes courage to give up arrogance. Besides, there is no other way to get out of what is basically a moral collapse (not to mention to claim any kind of leadership back in the future).

The aim is not to please atheists and condemn believers but to expose fundamentalists, especially among those who are supposed to defend justice, education or democracy. You don’t want to ignite a witch hunt the McCarthy way (are you or have you ever been a fundamentalist ?), but rather to promote transparency over the hypocrisy and confusion fundamentalists are feeding upon.

I’m asking for a much needed reverse burden of proof : nowadays, lawmakers are terrorized by fundamentalists and it should be the other way round. Instead of harassing the bulk of the candidates with questions regarding their private life, we should be forcing fundamentalists to come out in the open, give democracy the lead over the theocratic agenda. Lawmakers shouldn’t be compelled to demonstrate confusingly why they are good believers, they just should clearly tell that they don’t support fundamentalism and that, whatever they believe in, religion should not mix with politics in this country. Ultimately, if some people want religion to rule politics, let them found their own party like they do in other countries.

Once again, I’m not promoting atheism, but defending democracy. And in the US, a cultural change is needed. The fact is America has always allowed too much confusion between the religious and political spheres ; been too tolerant with sects and fanatics that are not compatible with democracy (partly because it was built by people who sometimes fled Europe for religious reasons - ie the Mayflower pilgrims). For a European such as me, it can be upsetting to hear the leader of a supposedly model democracy finish his acceptance speech with “so help me God”. And it is upsetting to see secular democracies under the pervasive threat of fundamentalists in the EU as well (lobbying for the mention of the Christian heritage in the Constitution, for the promotion of creationism and ID… with the benediction of a rather ambiguous Pope ; Benedict XVI).

Beyond the US and EU political microcosms, all moderates should voice their hope for a sounder and more transparent system. This new “we the people” should reach across the world, wherever moderates are threatened by fundamentalists, and not only in the usual hot spots : the race for juicy market shares is raging all over Asia.

Why not A Universal Declaration of Independence from fundamentalism, that perennial enemy of peace, freedom and democracy ?

blogules 2007

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ADDENDUM 20090117

"What is required is a new declaration of independence, not just in our nation, but in our own lives -- from ideology and small thinking, prejudice and bigotry" - Barack Hussein Obama (Baltimore, January 17, 2009).

Change has come to America.

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20070807

Chief Torture Officer

Impeachment. The situation requires impeachment.

I know neither Dubya nor Lobby Dick are likely to get it on time. But there is a chance their Chief Torture Officer will, as a tribute to such a disgraceful presidency.

The least one could say is Alberto Gonzales acted wrongly in the US at the head of the DOJ, but History is bound to attach two more exotic resorts to his name : Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. Not to mention these Twilight Zones where people disappeared, phantom CIA planes landed, and justice was denied.

If Gonzales is not responsible for everything ("higher" beings were in charge), he clearly provided the theory and was a mastermind for the most revolting insults made by this administration to justice and democracy.

Impeaching Alberto Gonzales would be a small step for the restoration of American values, but a giant leap for mankind.
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