Democracy by any Other Name

Many Americans are totally confounded how Iz-ra-eel is supported as a champion for democracy. There is nothing democratic about it.

In a democracy we do not have one road for Iz-ra-eelis and one road for Palestinians. That is not democracy that is apartheid.

In a democracy we have freedom of religion. We don't say you have to be at least 50 years of age before you can enter a certain place of worship. We don't call that democracy we call it religious persecution.

In a democracy we do not kick people from their homes and then tell them they can never return. In the 1948 military operation thousands of civilians from present day Iz-ra-eel, afraid for their lives, fled to present day West Bank, never to be allowed to return to the homes where their families had lived peacefully for hundreds of years. We don’t call that democracy that is called ethnic cleansing.

In a democracy we don't erect checkpoints where Iz-ra-eelis are not stopped and Palestinians have to stop and get frisked. Thousands of Palestinians have to stop at 30 or 40 checkpoints on their way to work and again on their way home. The gates of many of the checkpoints are closed at night. Mothers have given birth and some have bled to death from complications of giving birth while their husbands begged to be let through so they can make it to the hospital. Basically your neighborhoods gate is closed at night and it is not opened even for medical emergencies. We don't call that democracy that is apartheid, that is inhumane.

In a democracy we don't bulldoze the home of parents of a criminal. We punish the person who has committed the crime. We do not make homeless the innocent occupants of a home where one individual may have committed a crime. That is not democracy it is an atrocity and mockery of justice.

In a democracy we respect peoples' right to free speech. We do not run them over with a bulldozer. Rachel Corries’ crime was that she spoke out against Iz-ra-eel’s policy. This young lady from the state of Washington was run over by a Israeli bulldozer while she was protesting the bulldozing of a Palestinian’s home. No one has been held accountable for her murder. That is not democracy, it is barbaric.

In a democracy we have a free press. There are no curbs on the movements of the journalists and they can and should ask probing questions. Iz-ra-eel prevents any journalists to enter Gaza, the Arabs in Iz-ra-eel, just like the Muslims in America are not at all represented in the mainstream media. That is not democracy, that is discrimination, plain and simple.

Headline: Pakistai Forces Capture Top Taliban

When Will Pakistan Get Any Respect

Kudos all around for Pakistan. Even from America and most of all from American media. Although the media coverage is still muffled and mealy mouthed. These things are absolutely unheard of. Is this the change Obama promised the world? Is this start of something new?

Pakistan can do no right. For years everybody has maligned Pakistan for not killing their own people, for having to work with archaic equipment, for having to deal with sanctions, tariffs, custom duties and countless other ways that have hamstrung them from making any progress against the forces of evil. Not only that but it has damaged the industry, education and everything in between. Yes there is corruption, yes there are actors in Pakistan working on both sides, but name one country that does not have that problem. Name just one country please.

For years Pakistan has been blamed for Afghanistan's internal problems while ineptitude and corruption in and outside of Afghan government has gone unnoticed. The same corruption that has been going on for years including Karzai telling the opium growers to continue producing opium has just now surfaced because it is in the interest of NATO and the US to bring that out after the botched elections.

The best way forward with Pakistan is to give them what they need in training, sophisticated warfare equipment, tanks, drones, and aeroplanes. State department should remove the hoops the Pakistanis have to jump to get even a lousy night vision goggles. Pakistan has the talent and the know how to take advantage of these "facilities" and reign in the actors that are colluding with anybody that America thinks is working against their interest. Perhaps they have shown too much talent in the past that soon after the new technology is sold to Pakistan they have come up with their own by reverse engineering.

More importantly, they need to tell Karzai to straighten his own house and stop the corruption in his government. Some but not enough of that is happening. One way to deal with the people of Afghanistan: kill all the Pashtuns, Pakhtoons, and Uzbek. Another way: give these majorities their rights and allow them to participate in the government. People of Afghanistan are tired of war and they are tired of interference from outside. People of Afghanistan are tired of proxy wars and wars for saving face. People of Afghanistan want to be left alone.

People of Pakistan are tired of having their sovereignty taken away. People of Pakistan are tired of politicians that are sold out to foreign governments for pittance, and they are tired of not being able to practice freedom in their own country. People are tired of living in fear. People of Pakistan want to be left alone and find their own way out.

The recent advances in democracy in Pakistan, although not perfect, are a clear indication of that. Will America oblige?