In Consideration of Which

Here are a couple of things I do not have the time to really get into but which have been gnawing at my brain:

Hu's in Sudan: The People's Republic of China is aggressively and callously playing for Sudan's oil despite Sudan's continued ethnic cleansing in the Darfur region. What the PRC is doing is unconscionable and morally bankrupt, and, frankly, it's about time the rest of the world called them on it. From the point of view of purely ulterior motives, allowing the PRC to do business with a nation that is actively supporting war crimes while the rest of the civilized world attempts to enact sanctions is economic suicide; from a moral point of view, it is despicable that we would do business with a country that props up, through its business, such a genocidal regime. At the very least, it's time to revoke the PRC's MFN status.

Iraq Shell(ing) Games): XLIII has announced that it's open season for US troops on anyone they determine to be an Iranian agent, despite the fact that nearly all attacks on US troops occur in Sunni-controlled areas of Iraq by Sunni insurgents who are almost certainly being supported by the same Sunni Arab allies in the region that this sort of anti-Iranian rhetoric is supposed to appease. Dear Mr. President, please take a moment away from believing what you believe to actually assess the intelligence, all of which points to Iran not being our greatest fucking enemy in the region. Sure, they're not peaches, and their President is a smooth-talking lunatic, and yeah, nobody wants them to have nukes, but even so, apart from Jordan, they're the ones in the region who really don't want the Wahabi-led Al Qaeda to succeed in Iraq.

Let me put it to you in terms of the President's own espoused religion, Christianity: the Shiites (i.e., the Iranians) are like the Protestants, and the Sunnis are like the Catholics, insofar as they hate each other to such a degree that suggesting that Iran is supporting Al Qaeda is like suggesting that the Brits were actively helping Sinn Fein to win in Northern Ireland in the 80s. Really, Nelson Mandela had a better chance of getting help from PW Botha than AQI has of getting support from Iran. Frankly, this kind of ignorance of what's happening in Iraq is just plain embarrassing, especially coming from the President of the United States.

Here's my multi-step plan for peace in the Middle East (send Nobel nominations now, thank you):
1) Drop Hezbollah in the Mediterranean. I mean it. I'm telling you, if XLIII said he intended to send 50k troops to Lebanon to round up and export the entire group, I'd stand up and cheer.
2) Tell Saudi Arabia and Egypt that the US is cutting off all diplomatic and economic support until they hold free democratic elections that pass muster with elections monitors (and yes, include Jimmy Carter).
3) Invite Syria, Jordan, Iran, and the newly reformed Egypt and Saudi Arabia to advise and aid the current democratically elected leaders of Iraq in the process of partitioning the country into three autonomous regions and the subsequent forced mass migration of the population to the three regions. Consider finding anyone from India and Pakistan who remembers how well that went to further advise.
4) Suggest, in the strongest possible terms, that Turkey allow any Kurds who so desire to emigrate to the newly formed Kurdish region with the understanding that anything that might be considered the Kurdish part of Turkey will not now, nor ever be, allowed to split off to become part of Kurdistan. This is a one-time deal.
5) Pull out the American troops in Iraq. Completely. Invite peacekeepers from all kinds of Islamic nations to help keep peace, but respect the religious boundaries.
6) Pass a Palestinian Bill of Rights guaranteeing Palestinians the same wages and working conditions of the citizens of any country they happen to be living in.

Whew, that was a lot longer than I intended it to be. Peace and prosperity to you and yours.