Gord's Notebook : FOX NEWS Insults Canada & Maligns Canadian Military & Galloway Canadin Debacle & Israeli War Crimes

Update: 12: 55 AM, March 24, 2009

There are two stories I am tracking as it were .

One is the story of Canada and the Canadian military being insulted by blow-hard Americans on the FOX NEWS NETWORK where there are more clowns and buffoons than one could imagine. So first a little rant about how Americans know so little about Canada and are dismissive of our country , our history etc. and make jokes about Canadian soldiers dying in Afghanistan. To me this is just another reason we shouldn't be involved in Afghanistan since it began and is still seen as an American Mission to end terrorism and yet Bin Laden has still not been caught so why are we in Afghanistan. If there is failure there it will be blamed on Canada and the other NATO countries while if there is success the Americans will take full credit for it as they still seem to take credit for winning single handed the Second World War. Those millions of Ally troops fighting beside the Americans in Europe in North Africa , in Russia , in the Pacific according even to Ken Burns film about WWII never existed- there were only American troops so they keep telling themselves.
Unfortunately many Canadians and Brits have bought into the American Myth-Making and Propaganda.

The second story is the continuing story of George Galloway and the Canadian governments refusal to allow him into our country. Connected with this is the developing story on Israeli War Crimes committed during its action against Gaza.

Anyway there's bit of a flap over some negative comments made about Canada and especially our military by the dim witted dumbed down folks at Fox News USA. The ignorance of most Americans concerning Canada is often amazing sometimes funny ie Rick Mercer interviewing Americans and other times down right insulting. But it shouldn't surprise Canadians since to Americans their country is the only real country of importance. They believe that they have been chosen by Destiny or God or as a result of Natural Selection to be superior to all other nations. They see themselves as never doing anything wrong. They also believe all other countries are envious of them. But we are not.

Because Americans don't really study history but rather the Myths about America- They arrived on an empty continent - well not that empty - everyone was treated justly and fairly except if you were female or Black or Red or not a Christian and so on and so forth.

America - Democratic, Equality , Fairness, Justice - I don't think so.
From the mass murder of Native Americans approximately 20-40 million
Millions enslaved
Jim Crow & the KKK
Denial of Women's Rights
Gay Rights still not recognized
Invading Sovereign Nations to Grab land- Mexico , The Philippines , Central America, Middle East- some might even think of Israel as an extension of the US or a colony or puppet state

Remember the Americans have built up this imaginary Mythological History which helps them forget all of the mistakes they have made and that they were not really much a democratic state until after the Civil Rights Legislation of late 1960s.But America to its shame did not pass the Equal Rights Amendment to give equal rights to women since many Americans especially the Far Right and the Religious Right believe that would be going too far. Of course many of these people like Rush Limbaugh and other Conservatives and their supporters believe that the country started to go down after the Supreme court decision of Brown v. The Board of Education. So it is also not surprising that many Americans like John McCain and others supported South African Apartheid up to the bitter end. Many Americans still consider Nelson Mandela a terrorists along with Martin Luther King Jr. But then again these patriotic Americans are also against equal rights for Gays and Lesbians . The Americans in their bigotry & ignorance are still tossing Gays out of the military when they are uncovered. They believe that if someone is born into a poor family that is somehow your own fault and if you were to die of starvation they don't care its all part of God 's plan as Pastor Hagee has said.

So Americans are not in favor of a Universal Health Care system paid for by the government because to them what would then be the difference between the rich and the poor so they have one of the worst Health Care systems of any Western Industrialized Nation and their Education system is less than adequate. But they believe that only those who are well to do have a right to good health Care or Education. They do beat out all other nations in having the largest prison population which is over two million. They would rather spend money on Nukes than on education.

The Americans still treat those who lose their jobs as if they were criminals or just free-loaders- maybe this will change after a few million more lose their jobs. But unfortunately the most outspoken defenders of the Free-Market, Deregulation and Laissez Faire Capitalism will not be hurt by this economic meltdown as they can always sell a couple of their houses or move to the island where they have been hiding their money in an off-shore account.

American ignorance about Canadians is typical unfortunately. As for FOX NEWS it is referred to by many American commentators as Faux News since during and since the Bush administration they were the most outspoken cheer leaders of Bush's Policies especially foreign policy. But you can find lots of these ignorant and absurd comments on American Networks being made about Canada all the time. See Ann Coulter , Tucker Carlson etc.

Canada: A Ridiculous Country
Could you even imagine a more annoying and ignorant group of people? These ignoramuses sit around and disrespect Canada and its fallen soldiers while spewing a stream of stupid comments and failing to be even remotely amusing.

Unspeakably Stupid and Annoying Buffoons on Faux News Disrespect Canada, Soldiers.

Tucker Carlson Calls Canadians Retarded-Oct. 2006

Tucker Carlson has a talk with The Hour host George Stroumboulopoulos about comments he made; namely, calling Canadians "like your retarded cousin."

Ann Coulter/Tucker Carlson talk about Canada-Nov. 06, 2006
They are lucky we allow them to exist on our continent

Ann Coulter and Tucker Carlson clips debating why the US should just bomb Canada, this goes in the comedy section

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George Galloway and Israeli War Crimes
If America and the British can get away with War Crimes why shouldn't Israel !!!
On the other hand if the International Community can get Israel to answer for its War Crime maybe the world Court can go after the United States and Britain next- or vice versa as it were.

In the clip below a discussion panel was held at Al Jazeera dealing with Israel's alleged War Crimes.

Major General (RES) Yaakov Amidror FMR Commander, Israeli Army College who appears in this panel discussion on the issue of allegations that the IDF committed War Crimes just keeps reiterating various "Talking Points" that First and foremost Israel has a right to protect itself from terrorists attacks. Secondly Yaakov Amidror argues that these eye-witness accounts are really just " hearsay " and refuses to acknowledge that these eyewitnesses are members of the IDF. Thirdly He claims that Israel will conduct its own investigations into these allegations if there is any merit to them. Fourthly he claims that any international group could not be trusted to investigate the Israeli Military's actions in Gaza because all such organizations and governments are anti-Israeli and are out to destroy Israel .

It should also be noted that the Major General doesn't even bother to respond to the evidence that Israel during the Gaza invasion used White Phosphorus and other banned ordinance and that they bombed non-military targets deliberately. He also returns to the Talking Point that Hamas was using human shields during the fighting with Israel. He also claims that Michael Sfard the other Israeli in this discussion panel is not a patriotic Israeli and is really anti-Israel. But at the outset of the discussion the Major General claimed that he was out-numbered 3 to 1 that is that the other 3 members of the panel were in fact anti-Israel and should not be listened to or trusted.

He reminds one of the members of the Bush Administration who also in such discussions merely reiterated certain "Whitehouse Talking Points ". For instance they would claim that the facts were not that clear cut or claiming that certain facts were indisputable when they were not. Further the Bush defenders even now tend to characterize any American who questions the policies of the Bush Regime as being UNAmerican or not a "Real American". What the Bush administration and its supporters have argued over the last eight years is that all citizens must support the Government, the Military and all of their policies. So to criticize the way the US military has operated in Iraq or Afghanistan is to be characterized as being a traitor .

And further the Bush Regime also claimed that any International Organization, Human Rights Organization or other NGOs or foreign governments that questioned the military actions were or are really just anti-American.

This is why the Bush Regime used the propaganda ploy using the slogan " Support The Troops " in order to silence as best they could any criticism of the Bush Regime's Foreign Policy. So if someone criticized the military for certain tactics such as abusing and torturing detainees then the critic was labeled UnAmerican or a supporter of the "Terrorists " . Those who dared question the Bush policy of invading Iraq they were seen as traitors giving aid and comfort to the enemy.

In Canada we have been told by the Stephen Harper Neocon Regime that we must support unconditionally Canada's troops which are deployed with the troops of other NATO countries in Afghanistan . So to criticize this foreign policy decision is to be labeled as Unpatriotic as not supporting Canada's troops and therefore not acknowledging the sacrifices being made by our troops in Afghanistan. But the issue is not Support for the Troops but whether or not this is good foreign policy. That is should Canadian soldiers or NATO itself be involved in this conflict . The question is what is our role and are we making things better or worse by being in Afghanistan. The point is that Canadian citizens should be permitted to have different points of view on this issue without their loyalty to their country being questioned.

Note he does make one good point which is that other countries accused of War Crimes have not been held accountable by the International Court or permitted International Investigations of these allegations.He then claims that why should Israel pay any attention to such allegations when the US and Britain and NATO have also been accused of committing War Crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan and they were not held accountable. But he only makes this point to claim that Israel in his view is once again being singled out and targeted by anti-Israeli organizations and individuals. He is right to some extent but there are many in the International Community who believe that the US and Britain and Canada and NATO forces should cooperate with an International Investigations of alleged War Crimes.

Michael Sfard legal Counselor of Yesh Din argues that the IDF has a poor record when it comes to investigating itself concerning allegations of wrong doing or of committing War Crimes.

Jeremy Corbyn, labour MP, UK- He points out that the allegations are not just hearsay but have come from personnel of Humanitarian Organizations including the United Nations. The allegations are that the Israeli forces were bombing non-military targets in Gaza including the UN main compound and schools and hospitals and industrial plants and the residences of of Gazan civilians. He also points out that there is a great deal of evidence which shows that Israel uses White Phosphorus on non-military targets.

Inside Story - Israeli war crimes in Gaza - 22 Mar - Part 1

Breaking The Silence which is a group of former Israeli soldiers who say they have new evidence of potential war crimes committed by the Israeli army during the war on Gaza. These are not the first allegations of war crimes levelled at the Israeli military and the claims have sparked a bitter debate within Israel's defence forces and wider society over the "morality" of the IDF and its behaviour in Gaza.

Inside Story - Israeli war crimes in Gaza - 22 Mar - Part 2

George Galloway "The West has DOUBLE STANDARDS when it comes to Israel"-Jan.16, 2009

George Galloway's powerful speech in the House of Commons debate on Gaza, Jan. 15, 2009 , highlighting the hypocrisy and brazen double-standards of Western foreign policy towards Israel policies, including assassinations and other war crimes.

and see for latest news on Israeli War Crimes:

Gaza War Crimes Investigation Video

and from the article:

" Guardian Investigation Uncovers Evidence of Alleged Israeli War Crimes in Gaza:Palestinians claim children were used as human shields and hospitals targeted during 23-day conflict " by Clancy Chassay and Julian Borger Guardian UK ( CommonDreams.org March 23, 2009

The Guardian has compiled detailed evidence of alleged war crimes committed by Israel during the 23-day offensive against Gaza earlier this year, involving the use of Palestinian children as human shields, the targeting of medics and hospitals, and drone aircraft firing on civilians...

...Some of the most dramatic testimony gathered by the Guardian came from three teenage brothers in the al-Attar family. The trio describe how they were taken from their home at gunpoint, made to kneel in front of tanks to deter Hamas fighters from firing at them and sent by Israeli soldiers into Palestinian houses to clear them.

"They would make us go first so if any fighters shot at them the bullets would hit us not them," 14-year-old Al'a al-Attar said.

Medics and ambulance drivers said they were targeted when they tried to tend to the wounded. Sixteen of them were killed. According to the World Health Organisation, more than half of Gaza's 27 hospitals and 44 clinics were damaged by Israeli bombs. Two clinics were destroyed. In one incident, paramedics were fired on by a tank using a shell filled with 8,000 lethal metal darts as they were carrying a wounded man to an ambulance.

In a report released today, doctors for Human Rights Israel said there was "certainty" that Israel violated international humanitarian law during the three-week war in January, with attacks on medics, damage to medical buildings, indiscriminate attacks on civilians and delays in medical treatment for the injured.

"We have noticed a stark decline in IDF [Israeli Defence Forces] morals concerning the Palestinian population of Gaza, which in reality amounts to a contempt for Palestinian lives," said Dani Filc, chairman of Physicians for Human Rights Israel.

The Guardian gathered testimony of missile attacks by Israeli drones on clearly distinguishable civilian targets. In one case a family of six was killed when a missile hit the courtyard of their house. Israel has not admitted to the use of drones but military experts say their optical equipment is good enough to clearly identify individual items of clothing worn by targets...