Came across this on the internet just today. The right to one's own opinion is respected. If the events spoken of in this article come about there are many questions we could ask: for example, will the world be more secure/safe? did the Israeli nation act in its own self-interest or in concert with its allies? does a nation have the right to act unilaterally out of a sense of self-survival? will the Prime Minister of the Israeli government be a "war criminal?", etc.
War is always a very difficult subject. Communicating about such an important subject via a little blog such as we have in this site is great BUT little is achieved if we do not at least inform ourselves - fully - about such topics without emotionalism and with as much objectivity as is possible.
It goes further than merely labeling this or that personality a "war criminal" - I guess whether one is or not depends on one's perspective. The Israeli Prime Minister has let it be known for quite a while now that (my words) "Israel is prepared to do what it must to insure its survival..." The definition of "self interest/survival" largely falls on the leaders of nations - in this case the Israeli PM and in recent memory the President of the US and the British PM for wars we have experienced over the last 20+ years or so...
The world has never been more insecure and unstable than it now is... let us work for peace but let us not fear to stand firm for what is right and just.
xxxx
Pre-election Israeli airstrike imminent
Chad Groening (OneNewsNow.com)
Friday, August 31, 2012 9:54 AM
David Rubin, a U.S.-born Israeli author and terrorism expert, expects Israel to attack Iran before this fall's U.S. presidential election.
The Israeli people continue to prepare for what many believe will be the long-anticipated airstrike against the Iranian nuclear threat. Polls show that while most Israelis agree on the need to stop Iran's nuclear program, a majority of Israelis would prefer that someone else do it. However, 70 percent of the country does not believe U.S. President Barack Obama will be that someone else.
Rubin is the former mayor of the Israeli city of Shiloh and author of The Islamic Tsunami: Israel and America in the Age of Obama. He believes Israel will have no choice but to go at it alone -- before November 6.
"Obama has been probably the most hostile American president towards Israel in American history," Rubin observes. "I think that Israel will strike before the elections, when Obama would not come out strongly, at least not publicly against Israel for launching such a strike."
And the expert notes that a pre-election strike could benefit Republican challenger Mitt Romney.
"Clearly Romney would come out strongly in support of Israel for launching such an attack," he asserts. "Obama wouldn't be able to be seen as less supportive. Romney coming out strongly in favor of an Israeli pre-emptive strike after the strike has actually happened would be seen as the much stronger pro-Israel candidate, which he is."
He concludes that would be a win-win political situation for Israel.
xxxxx
Since you challenged the Southern Poverty Law Center's (SLPC) calling the American Family Association (AFA) (which runs that OneNewsNow operation) a "hate group" I thought a bit of information about the Southern Poverty Law Center might be helpful. According to their web site:
"The Southern Poverty Law Center is a nonprofit civil rights organization dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry, and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of society.
Founded by civil rights lawyers in 1971, the SPLC is internationally known for tracking and exposing the activities of hate groups. Our innovative Teaching Tolerance program produces and distributes – free of charge – documentary films, books, lesson plans and other materials that promote tolerance and respect in our nation’s schools.
We are based in Montgomery, Ala., the birthplace of the modern civil rights movement, and have offices in Atlanta, New Orleans, Miami, Fla., and Jackson, Miss.
A Rich History
The SPLC was founded to ensure that the promises of the civil rights movement became a reality for all. Since our founding in 1971, we’ve won numerous landmark legal victories on behalf of the exploited, the powerless and the forgotten.
Our lawsuits have toppled institutional racism in the South, bankrupted some of the nation’s most violent white supremacist groups and won justice for exploited workers, disabled children and other victims of discrimination."
it is, by the way, not an isolated account of issues surrounding that part of the world... there are a variety of sources for other such accounts and interpretations of world events as they present themselves nowadays...
opinions are always a personal matter of persuasion and interpretation...
BTW - nobody has called me "sir" since I retired from the Army in 1990...
am not at all sure that a declaration by the Southern Poverty Law Center merits much respect in terms of them naming AFA as a hate group...
but, then, I haven't researched that and am seemingly not nearly as well informed as you seem to be...
best regards!
One News Now is a "news" outlet for The American Family Association (AFA) which (according to Wikipedia) is ". . . . a United States non-profit organization that promotes conservative fundamentalist Christian values. They oppose same-sex marriage, pornography, and abortion. They also support public policy goals such as deregulation of the oil industry and lobbying against the Employee Free Choice Act. It was founded in 1977 by Donald Wildmon as the National Federation for Decency and is headquartered in Tupelo, Mississippi.
The AFA defined itself as "a Christian organization promoting the Biblical ethic of decency in American society with primary emphasis on television and other media," later switching their stated emphasis to "moral issues that impact the family." It engages in activism efforts, including boycotts, buycotts, action alert emails, publications on the AFA's web sites or in the AFA Journal, broadcasts on American Family Radio, and lobbying. The organization has an annual budget of US $14 million and owns 180 American Family Radio stations in 28 states.
AFA has been listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center as of November 2010, for the "propagation of known falsehoods" and the use of "demonizing propaganda" against LGBT people.
FWIIW