Hi Bob...thanks for the history lesson. Now that Warren Buffet has invested in Israel (a "tool" company?? if so, I'm sure it must be tools for working in the garden...yeah right) and Newt Gingrich (spelling?) has decided to call this WWIII (and others have decided to grow this image), this time around has the feel of something much larger that I don't think any of us wants to imagine. So I'm not. By the way, how much room do you have on those 2 acres in "paradise"??? Mike DuPree
----- Original Message ----- From: "Bob Molloy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <biofuel@sustainablelists.org> Sent: Thursday, July 20, 2006 10:11 PM Subject: Re: [Biofuel] Check Your Beliefs > Hey guys, > It's a war; dirty, messy, cruel, inhuman and > unnecessary - unless you happen to be a Palestinian yearning for your land > back or an Israeli who's been threatened with annihilation since birth. > It's > also a war that's been going on since mankind began. It's about land and > religion and culture and who dominates who. There are no rights and wrongs > there are only who wins and who loses. The winners write history and we > move > on. > > Mike Weaver made the point when he wondered if he might be living on land > owned by an indigenous people, a point which also applies to you too, > Fritz, > despite your disingenuous attempt to justify occupation of "unwanted" > land. > However, before you think of noble savages, remember that all those nice > peace-loving indigenes slaughtered and plundered their way through the > millenia since they left Africa (where we all originated) to wherever they > finally settled. The 19th century saw the last vestiges of this land grab. > > If you were a theologian you'd call it original sin. Darwin was earthier, > and more enlightening, he called it survival of the fittest. You may take > sides, wring your hands, jump up and down, talk about human rights but we > are all - even those nice people in the rain forest who we think live in > harmony with nature - guilty of genocide and dispossession. In the present > case it's called the Arab-Israeli war. We'll know who was right when > somebody wins. > > And if you've forgotten how it all began, here's a brief sketch. I found > it > on my thumbnail. > > The UNO blessing on the establishment of Israel in 1948 was merely the > recognition of a de facto situation. From that moment on Israel was de > jure, > i.e. a legal entity in international law. The Arabs disagreed. Five Arab > armies (Egypt, Syria, Trans-Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq - including the > British-trained and armed Arab Legion) immediately invaded the fledgling > state. The world responded by clapping a total arms embargo on Israel. > Against that the Israelis had nine obsolete aircraft, a few tanks, fewer > than 20,000 armed civilians -and balls. They won, and pushed out their > frontiers to safeguard their collective backsides from future attacks. > > The attacks never stopped (rockets, mines, cross-border shelling and > guerilla incursions) but the next big one came in 1967 - the so-called Six > Day War. This time the Arabs meant business. Egypt closed the Straits of > Tiran to all Israeli shipping, cutting off Israel's only supply route with > Asia and stopping the flow of oil from its main supplier, Iran. > > President Nasser of Egypt challenged Israel to fight. "Our basic objective > will be the destruction of Israel. The Arab people want to fight." He > ordered all UN peace-keeping forces stationed on Israeli borders to leave. > The UN complied without even calling a meeting. The Voice of the Arabs > radio > station proclaimed: "As of today, there no longer exists an international > emergency force to protect Israel. The sole method we shall apply against > Israel is total war, which will result in the extermination of Zionist > existence". Syrian Defense Minister Hafez Assad was more blunt: "The > Syrian > army, with its finger on the trigger, is united....I, as a military man, > believe that the time has come to enter into a battle of annihilation. > Nasser topped that: "We shall not enter Palestine with its soil covered in > sand; we shall enter it with its soil saturated in blood." He meant > Israeli > blood. > > The armies of Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon massed on the borders of > Israel. Backing them with men and munitions were Iraq, Algeria, Kuwait, > Sudan and the whole Arab world. The actual count was 465,000 troops, more > than 2,800 tanks, and 800 aircraft. President Johnson warned the Israelis > not to fight. The Red Cross stocked up on blankets, the rest of the world > stood by and watched. Israel couldn't get a hearing in the UN. The > Security > Council, it seemed, was difficult to contact. > > We all know what happened. The Israelis didn't wait for the war. They > pre-empted it. In six days (about the same time God needed to create > heaven > and earth) the Israelis - using an army 80% of which were weekend soldiers > i.e. civilians taking time off from work -and an airforce a fraction the > size of that possessed by the Arabs defeated the lot and pushed out the > borders to a more comfortable fit. Figuring that sauce for the goose was > sauce for the gander they also closed the Suez Canal to all nations. On > the > sixth day just as the Israelis were heading for Damascus the Security > Council suddenly found time to convene and ordered a cease fire on all > sides. Nasser promptly died and left the mess to his successor, Anwar > Sadat. > > Sadat waited six years and then famously announced he was willing to > "sacrifice one million soldiers" (nice man) in a showdown with Israel. He > joined Syria in assembling a vast army - the equivalent of the total > forces > of NATO in Europe. On the Golan Heights alone 180 Israeli tanks faced up > to > 1,400 Syrian tanks. Along the Suez Canal 500 Israeli defenders were pitted > against by 80,000 Egyptians. > > There was going to be no mistake this time. Nine Arab states, including > four > non-Middle Eastern nations, actively aided the Egyptian-Syrian war effort. > Iraq transferred a squadron of Hunter jets and MiGs to Egypt and deployed > a > full division of 18,000 men and several hundred tanks in the central > Golan. > Besides serving as financial underwriters, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait also > committed troops. A Saudi brigade of approximately 3,000 men was > dispatched > to Syria. Violating a French ban on the transfer of French-made weapons, > Libya sent Mirage fighters to Egypt. President Gaddafi gave Cairo more > than > $1 billion in aid to re-arm Egypt and to pay the Soviets for weapons > delivered. Other North African countries responded to Arab and Soviet > calls > to aid the frontline states. Algeria sent three aircraft squadrons of > fighters and bombers, an armored brigade and 150 tanks. Approximately > 1,000-2,000 Tunisian soldiers were positioned in the Nile Delta. Sudan > stationed 3,500 troops in southern Egypt, and Morocco sent three brigades > to > the front lines, including 2,500 men to Syria. > > Lebanese radar units were used by Syrian air defense forces. Lebanon also > allowed Palestinian guerillas to shell Israeli civilian settlements from > its > territory (do you get a sense of deja vu?). Palestinians lined up on the > Southern Front with the Egyptians and Kuwaitis. Hussein of Jordan sent two > of his best units, the 40th and 60th Armored Brigades. Three Jordanian > artillery batteries and some 100 Jordian tanks also participated. > > Irael, having been battered for the previous six years by the propaganda > line that they were warmongers, decided to wait it out. The Arabs bided > their time and struck in October, 1967, on Yom Kippur day - the holiest > day > in the Jewish calendar. They caught the Israelis napping. Again the world > watched as Israelis died. Israel appealed but the Security Council was > noticeably quiet. While it looked as if the Arabs were winning the Soviet > Union showed no interest in initiating peacemaking efforts. The same was > true for UN Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim who stayed quiet. > > But lo and behold, on October 22, after 12 days of slaughter, the Security > Council adopted Resolution 338 calling for "all parties to the present > fighting to cease all firing and terminate all military activity > immediately." > > The vote came on the day that Israeli forces cut off and isolated the > Egyptian Third Army and were in a position to destroy it. Israel and Egypt > signed a peace treaty which stands to this day, Israel gave up territory, > the Canal was re-opened and the rest of the Arab world sulked. Sadat was > subsequently assassinated by pro-Palestinian forces for agreeing to peace. > > Since then the Palestinians have switched to killing civilians with > suicide > bombers and rocket attacks. The present debacle is the result. Israel, > maddened by constant bloodletting, has loosed its big guns. Like the > sleeper > who flails around in the dark swatting a mosquito and wrecking the > furniture, this present disaster makes sense only in the context of what > went before. > > It will never end until either Israel is destroyed or the Arabs agree to > its > existence. Neither is likely. > > > Regards, > Bob. > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Biofuel mailing list > Biofuel@sustainablelists.org > http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org > > Biofuel at Journey to Forever: > http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > > Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 > messages): > http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ > > > _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
