Two Generals and Two women; Petraeus and Allen Last Battles

We have two women, so far, and two generals, so far. Two of our top 4 stars and decorated generals- we do not have any five stars Generals- Petraeus and Allen, both served in Afghanistan, Allen is the current commander there and Petraeus resigned the CIA on Friday. Both know the long and difficult terrains of that mountain country and both fell, Allen is in the way, to a battle that has nothing to do with Afghanistan, Al Qaeda or terrorism. A story is evolving that has various covered and uncovered, yet, events and people. We have a told story of jealousy and probably competition between two women that unveiled this whole steamy relations. And we have an evolving and related story that these two women might have known or revealed military secrets and information through these relations including a connection to the Benghazi attacks as some news reported that Paula Broadwell - Petraeus inamorata-might have  mentioned in a lecture. “The other woman”, Jill Kelly, of Tampa Florida, originally a Lebanese American from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with a maiden name of Khawam,  might not be too "innocent" after all- her emails with General Allen were of sensual nature as various news reported and might have revealed leaked secret military information . We will see how it goes. However, for our generals, the episode or episodes also reveal a hidden and protected underground culture among top officers in the US Military, the FBI, and the Secret Service; a web of sexual encounters and favors. In addition to watching each other's back and keeping the politicians away. The affair between Petraeus and Broadwell have been known to the FBI for sometime as The Republican majority leader Congressman Eric Cantor revealed through a whistle blower at the FBI but this revelations never reached the president until last week when Petraeus resigned and no information yet from the FBI director, as if the whole matter is none of his concern. Moreover, Both women, somehow, have been involved with the military establishment  either by graduating from a military academy like Paula Broadwell, or as working at the Pentagon as a liaison in the case of Jill Kelly. This is not new to the defense and national security establishment, few months ago, The Secret Service Personal in charge of protecting the president in and outside the US were caught in Colombia having parties with call girls while the president was on an official visit. Few years ago, in December of 2009, a year after being elected president, a couple, uninvited-  crashed the first State dinner that the Obama hosted and it happened to be for  the Indian Prime Minister Singh and the visiting Indian delegation; trespassers that managed to go through all types of security to reach the room where the president was hosting the formal dinner. The Secret Service confirmed then that this wise couple- The Salahis- were not on the guest list. So how did it happen, and where were the Secret Service. The head of the Secret service is still in place. Back to the “Allen Petraeus Kelly Broadwell”  A conclusion  might be reached that these  uncoordinated events might hide some sort of contempt and lack of  respect for the presidency and maybe in particular to the presidency of Barack Obama. No conspiracy theories here, just a chain of events and similarities for few years now. We have many crossed lines and we need clarity and transparency and answers.  So is it just the classic Women, politics, scandals, add to that Generals now or is there more to it than meets the eye.

A Legacy President; Not an Accidental President, Obama 2012...by Jamil Shawwa

The election of Barack Obama in 2008 was historic, no doubt about. He was the first African  American to be elected  president in a country that is still struggling with the way it looks at race relations, but at the same time a country that went the long way, and took the long haul to correct itself and do right to those that it did wrong.

America though elected Obama not because he was black, but because there was then no choice but his; McCain was seen as an extension to the failed Bush economics and politics.But America still crossed a bridge and jumped over a barrier, and elected Obama because he looked and sounded like the right choice. So it was not difficult for America to move beyond race to elect someone it thought that can change things around and clean the mess left behind.

Obama’s election today was not about the economy, it was about him, about Obama, and nothing else.America tonight, across race lines, sent the strongest message ever in race relations, it made it clear, that the legacy of a dominant race or ethnic group is finished in America, done, does not exist.

**The Romney campaign was all about race, and ethnicity and keeping the status quo. The Romney camp made it clear, indirectly, that it is Obama and nothing else, and the American people were confronted to choose, either Obama, the African American, or Romney, the son of the good old boys network who went to furthest destination to rally the disgruntled white vote and made his bid that those whites will turn things around not because they are the majority but because they vote as a majority.

The whole Republican establishment during the election went after Obama, talked again about his birth, and whether he is an American, Trump offered  five million dollars if Obama can produce his birth certificate and school credentials.

In a strong statement, the renowned Barbara Walters was so fed up with Trump that she asked him to drop it, people across the spectrum felt that he made and continue to make a fool of himself and in the process making more Americans fed up with his politically motivated ploys. But he was hardly alone, the purpose was to continue to cast doubts on Obama and show him as some sort of “not one of us”.

The election tonight erased all this, Obama is no longer the accidental president that got lucky in 2008, tonight it is Obama that made history and built a legacy by just getting reelected. It is today, the new day in America, its importance is not less than  independence day or the day after the civil war. America tonight ended forever the so called old boys network, no race any longer can claim America to itself. Obama claimed it tonight and earned it  for all those that bear the US Citizenship. A legacy is in the way and a new America is in the making.

** Update: 09/03/2016-Trump is the Republican nominee for 2016 presidential campaign, Romney denounced Trump divisive politics using the strongest terms to descreit his campaign. In comparison to Trump, Romney now comes across as a first rate politician.

Check Trump here:

A Different 4th of July for America 2016 by Jamil Shawwa

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg Endorses Obama

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a leading former Republican party figure, independent since 2007, and the mayor of New York City has endorsed the Democratic candidate for president, Barack Obama, to be reelected as president of the United States.

This important political endorsement that comes a day or so after the worst hurricane to the East Coast of the US, in over 80 year is very significant for many reasons; he is the mayor of New York City but Bloomberg also is a leading conservative business entrepreneur in America and by endorsing Obama, he is discrediting the whole Romney platform that Obama is against business owners or free enterprise and for big government.

Also, by talking environment, Bloomberg sounds like a progressive conservative candidate that could have a role, as an independent or on the ticket of either party, in the 2016 presidential elections.

There is a momentum for Obama now among moderate undecided Republicans and independent voters that are witnessing improvements in the economy, decrease in unemployment numbers and an overall rebound of the housing market, which is a crucial index that the economy is on its way to recover.

The Bloomberg endorsement will be echoed by many of them on 11/06/2012, especially  in Florida and Ohio; two states that are a must win- or one of them at least with other states like Michigan, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Colorado- to win the presidency.

Hurricanes, Politicians and Elections..by Jamil Shawwa

With the lack of preparations and unpredictability of the 2005 Hurricane Katrina still in mind, Hurricane Sandy could not have chosen a “better” time than now to land; at the height  and final days of the presidential elections.

The country for days has been talking and getting ready and preparing for the huge landfall, that it put the best “reception” possible to face an adversary that the US cannot defend or marginalize or prevent. But it could minimize its damage, both human and physical.

Picture Credits: Reuters

President Obama and his challenger former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney put on their best behavior, Romney disappeared, cancelled all campaigning and the president did the same but also made a statement and a TV briefing and asked the country to obey evacuation orders where warranted and needed. He stressed the coordination with states governors and local authorities and appeared comforting and presidential to a population that is in panic- Indirectly Obama showed America the much needed federal government in times of distress, a federal government that Romney wants to minimize and cut.

They both stopped being the attack dogs, for now, for couple of days until Sandy moves on and takes off again or just heads to ocean and disappear. So the worst hurricane in over 80 years is bringing the best of America and the country is facing it with humility that it did not face Katrina and with a bow to nature that the superpower is not used to have when dealing with an adversary.

Also on http://www.wespeaknews.com/politics/hurricanes-politicians-and-elections-108064.html

*Hamas: Enemy Number One...by Jamil Shawwa

Away from the name calling that probably best describes Hamas and its “wars”; and in depth analysis in its today’s actions could sound a little more focused.

Why would Hamas all of sudden and in the verge of the biggest holiday following the pilgrimage season, fire rockets at the neighboring Israeli towns and cities.

What triggered this out of the blues, yet not an unusual action by Hamas. The Emir of Qatar just visited , and started projects worth around 250 million dollars As news reported that will enhance the much historically depressed Gaza Strip , the Muslim Brotherhood government of Egypt showed willingness to open the borders, people started to hope for some peaceful time to work and build, so again why.

There is no other than the usual political maneuvers that for decades sat back the Palestinians away from their dream state in Gaza and the West Bank. Hamas though while terrorizing its people in Gaza; it’s terrorizing the people of the neighboring Israel and in the same time helping the Israeli military to test its new Missile defence interception system called the Iron Dome- the Israelis have to defend their people, unlike Hamas that kills its people.

So according to Hamas actions and rockets, it is waging two wars, a war against the Palestinian  people in Gaza and simultaneously another war against the people of the State of Israel . By bombing Israeli towns, Hamas triggers a response which is the right of countries to defend their citizens which is what Israel doing. Again, based on its actions, Hamas is an enemy state not only to Israel but also to the Palestinians in Gaza. The time is now for the people of Gaza to revolt and throw out their enemies; Hamas.

Picture is courtesy of BBC

Also on: http://www.wespeaknews.com/politics/hamas-enemy-number-one-106606.html

Mitt Romney; A dangerous Choice For America...by Jamil Shawwa

The more Mitt Romney gets exposed, and it takes guts to get him where he has no choice but to show the real him, and where he stands on policies and plans, the more we know more about who he is , and how he thinks, and how he looks at other people and other cultures. And the more we know, the more we get to realize how dangerous he is to America and Americans. Mitt Romney's style throughout the two debates with president Obama indirectly has focused on one thing , not a plan for America, not a clear choice policy to show how he can turn things around for America, but on "I'm the opposite of Obama, I'm the all American, I'm the blue blooded American and Obama is the “foreigner”. Romney's style and words have been so vague as to what he intends to do and how he is going to do it except for one thing he was clear in showing; he is the opposite of Obama not on policy but on heritages and looks. Romney rallied a base that consists of course of good Americans but also it consists of hateful Americans, those Americans that still look and call Obama a Muslim- as if it is a curse- they call  him a foreigner, they say that he was not born in America, and as someone who looks like him that should not be in the White House. The Romney campaign has been running ads and commercials warning employees that if Obama is elected,that they will lose their jobs. That campaign that is still running cannot be called anything but a smear and fear campaign that could mount to blackmailing the voters and if it was done by regular individuals, those perpetrators could be convicted in a court of law. During the whole campaign Romney never talked clearly on policy-I do not think any major newspaper could freely endorse Romney for the simple reason the *Ohio paper mentioned ; we do not know which Romney to endorse Unless you are a Republican voting along party lines, endorsing Romney is risky- but on who is in the White House now and who really should be there. During the  debate with Obama, Romney pointed at the president few times to make the above case, that Obama is “not one of us”, indirectly of course, he sounded like the death doctor Kevorkian who killed people claiming that he was curing them from chronic pain. Romney pointed at the president and said Foreign to describe his plan, the president’s plan, to move the economy forward, and pointed at the president while talking  about his “Welsh heritage”- he did not mention his African or Asian heritage, I looked at it as if he was trying to kill two birds with one stone, patronizing the president and showing his “un american” ,from his views, heritage, and then instead of using the politically acceptable terms of Middle Eastern and South American oil , he said " Arabs and Venezuelan oil”. Now, I'm not reading too much into this because I'm an  Arab American , I'm reading into this because I'm an all American and see how dangerous and ethnically divisive the Republican party campaign has been this elections. The strategists at the Republican party knew that if they have any chance to win this one, it would be by playing on the distinction, ethnically , between the two. Some among them still blame the McCain 2008 campaign for not “smartly playing” the race card.


* Cleveland Plain Dealer editorial board endorsing causioulsy Mitt Romney
http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2012/10/on_the_basis_of_sound_leadersh.html

Egypt’s Friday Morning Movement Party..by Jamil Shawwa

I cannot help but to see a birth of a new political party in the Middle East, in Egypt, that should be called the “Friday Morning Movement party”.

It is a party that ended thousands of years of dictatorship and now is trying to make the case and put the pressure on the winning party in the last elections, the Muslim Brotherhood, not to turn Egypt, in the name of Islam , into another dictatorship but this time a religious and not as it has been, a military dictatorship.

In the Name of Islam, a sentiment that is so high and deep in the Egyptian mind but in the same time, not a sentiment that the Egyptians, many of them, are willing to condone or have it employed politically.

The Friday party does not have leaders , does not have a central committee, it’s a mixture of Egypt’s society, all religions and political affiliations, social and economic classes. The back to back Friday demonstrations -they have become a way of life in Cairo-could result in the birth of a political movement if leaders are found to lead and inspire and provide programs, on target programs, that can reach the average Egyptian and relate to them.  

I understand that many Egyptians are complaining and even frustrated of these Friday protests, but to me, they are starting to look like a significant political movement, and not only a one time historic event,  that want to put  pressure on the Muslim Brotherhood and become parallel to it- even when some of the protesters actually voted for the Brotherhood in the last parliamentary and presidential elections.

The Egyptians by nature are moderates in their beliefs , in general, a peaceful people and they have proved it when they led the Arab countries in the Middle East towards peace with Israel and moving towards establishing a state for the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. Unlike the savagery of the Syrian, the Lebanese , and  the Iraqi political systems, Egypt stands out historically as a civil country with civility in transitioning powers , even from dictatorship to democracy.

*picture is via Ahram online.

The Comeback Kid; Obama Fights Back..by Jamil Shawwa

Here is a breaking story; Obama won this one, not exactly a knockout, but he won it. He sounded a leader, confident and on target with style and performance. Romney lost big, and if Obama attacked his record more, Romney would have collapsed completely. The details are as follow:
President Obama was on target tonight during the debate with Mitt Romney, Not only did he defend his record as president but he went after Mitt Romney’s record during the Republican party primaries and after winning the nomination of the Republican party and discredited his change of words and positions to fit the different moments.

He put Romney on the defensive and forced the big one; making Romney talk about the specifics of his plan to recover the economy, on taxes and jobs creation which Romney still could not defend nor was he able or willing to go into details.

On Libya, president Obama discredited what Romney claimed that Obama did not call the attack on Benghazi as a terror act, it turned to be that Obama did call it a terror attack the following morning and the moderator of the debate tonight, Candy Crowley, backed Obama on that score.

Mr. Romney kept saying that we need to elect him because he can do a better job, but refused to talk details. I conclude with the words of John Kerry, the Senator from Massachusetts, when he said that tonight president Obama overwhelmed Mitt Romney.

Also on WSN: http://www.wespeaknews.com/politics/the-comeback-kid-obama-fights-back-104399.html?fb_action_ids=502204016465577&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=aggregation&fb_aggregation_id=288381481237582

Hillary’s Confession..by Jamil Shawwa

Hillary Clinton’s statement which was a confession more than an answer to a question about the circumstances surrounding the attack and the murder of the US ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, showed a rise in the seriousness and the tension of the debate going on in the US now about how the US failed to provide any serious protection to a place that everyone who knows anything about Libya and Benghazi knew it was so unpredictable. Hillary Clinton in an interview today while visiting Peru took full responsibility for the attack, she said that she is the top person at the State Department and takes responsibility  for what happened to the ambassador. Hillary’s confession came 24 hours before the second debate of president Obama with the Republican challenger, Mitt Romney which will take place today. The ambassador's murder has been touted among Republicans and the Republican nominee and was expected that Mitt Romney would bring it up in the debate today although the murdered ambassador's father pled to the candidates not to make the murder of his son a campaign issue.. The confession also took place while Darrell Issa, the House Oversight Committee is preparing to initiate an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the killings. So Hillary needed to step in for the boss, Obama, and the least to do was to say; I Confess....

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and the peace with the State of Israel by Jamil Shawwa

The Muslim Brotherhood leader in Egypt, Mohamed Badie. equivalent-more or less- to Iran’s Supreme leader, declared today with no provocation or reason, That Israel only knows the language of force and attacked verbally Israel and the Jewish people. The Egyptian president, Morsi, who belongs to the Muslim Brotherhood, whose leader technically is the president’s boss, has been facing multiple domestic issues pertaining to what many Egyptians believe, his broken promises that in the first 100 days of his tenure, he would move Egypt forward on all levels. But instead, the Egyptian president and the group he belongs to, the Muslim Brotherhood, have been moving Egypt backward.

First, couple of days ago, he fired the Attorney general, then later he found out that under the current Egyptian constitution he cannot do the firing and retracted today after demonstration in El Tahrir square, and now his boss at the Muslim Brotherhood, to divert attention, came to the rescue, and of course could not find any issue to tackle and solve inside Egypt, that he directed his attention, the wrong direction as usual, towards Israel, hoping that the simple people, that he believes, the majority of the Egyptians belong to, would give him some “credibility”.

Now, it is obvious that he is using a language that only brought disastrous consequences on Egypt. Egypt should move beyond Nasser’s 1950s and the 1960s demagoguery slogans that made Egypt lose its dignity before losing its assets, to the 2012, to today. Meaning, Egyptian politicians and so called religious/political leaders, who inject maliciously and intentionally the peace with the State of Israel which is the way of now and in the future, in any campaign and domestic problems, should be exposed and dropped, it is as easy as dropping an empty plastic cup, in the recycle bin, I do not want to say the trash can.

The path to building Sinai and keeping it clean from terrorists and infiltrators and smugglers, does not pass through Israel, it passes through a democratic, transparent and credible government in Cairo. In the same token, a Palestinian State in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip is now the responsibility of the Israelis and the Palestinians and no one else.

Egypt’s grand movement towards peace is a not a campaign slogan, but it is the normal and the only way for every and any country in the Middle East. The New Middle East will witness a Palestinian State in The West Bank and Gaza and will witness a Jerusalem, the city of peace, as an open city for all and a capital for both the State of Israel and the State of Palestine, in the West Bank and Gaza.

Biden’s Bite

Biden’s style has always helped him, and he proved to be the best Obama could have gotten as a running mate and as number two. This is Biden’s territory to support number one and in doing so, he is bringing some zest to an Obama that all of a sudden got stale, timid and scared.

During the debate with Paul Ryan yesterday, Biden attacked and attacked and attacked while keeping his cool, his smiles, and his occasional laughs and smirks; and this is what the pros in politics do. In just three weeks to the big day of elections day, the debates proved detrimental to the Obama campaign because Obama did not deliver on 10/03/2012 debate while having the agenda to deliver. Paul Ryan yesterday from the first moment appeared scared and frightened by Biden’s demeanor and personality and reputation, he finished his glass of water by the end of the debate while Biden kept going with no sips of water or rests- as if he were on a mission from higher powers or something.

During the debate, Ryan talked about themes, but no details, and even when he was pressed on details of his and Romney’s across the board 20% tax cut, he could not explain it. While talking about Afghanistan, Ryan could not tell us how and when he intends to manage the war or the withdrawal.

So far we did not hear specifics from the Romney Ryan ticket, we only heard appeals to the American people to give them a chance and they will do something better, They both are looking for a blank check, a check written to bearer, with the amount but with no address. The media after the debate by large went smoothly on Ryan’s style, talked about that he did not collapse before Biden, and some pundits even considered it as a triumph, others, very few, said it as it was, a clear win for Biden on substance and performance.

On the other hand, during the Obama Romney debate everyone talked performance and how Obama got his behind kicked, and now for the Biden Ryan debate, everyone all of sudden is talking substance, no performance, and how Ryan held his grounds. Regardless, it is now or never for Obama to deliver on the 10/16/2012 debate with Mitt Romney, otherwise, probably, he will either have a tremendous hard ballot box day on 11/06/2012 or lose altogether, and if he lost, it would be because he lost, and not that Romney won.

In the picture, Vice President Joe Biden and Republican vice presidential nominee Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin shake hands after the vice presidential debate at Centre College, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2012, in Danville, Kentucky. (AP Photo/Pool-Michael Reynolds)

Mitt Romney; Performance Vs. Policy and Record by Jamil Shawwa

During a speech today that intended to outline his foreign policy and provides some credibility and credentials to his foreign affairs stature , Mitt Romney, the Republican  candidate for president of the United States, accused president Obama of “not doing enough” to keep America strong and said that “hope” is not an effective policy. Romney also said that Obama tried but that it was not enough and the time is now for change.  The whole Romney campaign right at this moment  is built not on  the previous theme " are you better off " because America on record is actually better off now than it was in 2008, but on a new theme that his team created just before and during and after his Performance with president Obama on the 10/03/2012 debate, which revolves  around a more attractive concept to certain sectors of America and especially undecided voters; " president Obama tried but failed, Obama tried but it was not enough and now it's time for change " . Romney is energized, as he should be, by his performance on that  October 3 debate against president Obama that his team is building a last minute, final hour , high noon, you name it, campaign that is so clever and so fluid and so misleading that is so dangerous for Obama  because its hard to attack or target or discredit-because it does not exist. With Romney’s, everything is changeable, his positions on anything is like fast food chains and disposable diapers. Quick and fast and ready as needed to use and throw and replace. I do not recall a debate in recent history not since the famous Kennedy Nixon debate in 1960 that had such effect on voters as the one Romney had with Obama on October third. Romney wants to be president and it shows and this is important in politics even if you are not very likable as most polls show Romney. And if you are likable and ahead in polls and has the right policies and the economy on your side like Obama , but you are not persistent and vigor in wanting the job and showing it and bragging about it, then probably the job will slip away. I mean I'm amazed, everything on record shows that Obama should have smooth sailing towards the shores  of 11/06/2012; job market that is best in 44 months according to the September Labor department report, housing, auto , financial on the rebound , outside the US, few setbacks but overall steady and strong policies and achievements  with one major setback and exception , the killing of the ambassador in Libya. So if Romney wins this upcoming November elections,  it would be because Obama failed in the debates and the performance and not because he failed on policy or record.

Obama Lost and Drifted; Could He be Found by Jamil Shawwa

Yesterday's debate between Obama and Romney revealed on purpose or not an Obama that showed  itself before; scared, timid, and not himself or maybe his true self.

Instead of taking the fight to Romney and making a case to the American people that is already clear to them; Romney took the fight to him, as  the Washington Post headline articulated it this morning.


There are three explanations to Obama's performance yesterday:


1- he was overloaded by tips and advices from his staff, that he looked as he was on some sort of drugs.


2-His debates mate rehearsal spelled a curse on him, a joke somehow, but John Kerry, the former presidential nominee that lost to George w. Bush in 2004, is not like Mitt Romney , and if we go by this reason, obviously missed the trend that almost every American knows except for Obama and staff camp, it seems, which is that Romney's vagueness on numbers and other issues all along the campaign, was his style so he can be fluid and waffle and switch, which exactly what he did yesterday. Nothing should have come new to the Obama's campaign, Romney, based on record, is an open book, and he proved it yesterday.

*In a 1994's debate with the late Senator Ted Kennedy, Romney with Kennedy was like Obama to Romney last night; shaky, tired, timid, and disoriented and waffling and changing positions to fit the moment. Kennedy said then what Obama should have said yesterday, It is the same style and it was a Romney’s stamp.  Kennedy told Romney then that the problem is not that he has one choice but that he has  multiple choices, that he keeps changing positions and sarcastically told the American people that even he, Romney, could vote for him, Kennedy, if the election to last longer. Kennedy went after that and won the race and kept his family long kept and held Massachusetts  senate seat.


3- it was Obama that likes to lose the first round, likes to have his opponent appears the victor on the first round, like to look temporarily as the underdog, the underachiever. It happened with McCain  in the 2008 first debate, after that Biden did well against Sarah Palin in the vice presidential  debates and then Obama had a comeback against McCain and won the elections.

The second debate with Romney will for sure tell us  which Obama, among the above Three Obamas, Obama will be...




*http://cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/politics/2012/09/04/dnc-1994-romney-kennedy-debate.cnn.html
The Kennedy -Romney debate of 1994.

The Obama Doctrine...by Jamil Shawwa

President Obama’s speech yesterday  at the opening session of the UN General Assembly in New York City was in my opinion his strongest since he became president. And the timing and the events prior to the speech could not have served him to make the talking points in the speech better. Six weeks before 11/06/2012, the US presidential elections day, and couple of weeks or so after the US ambassador to Libya was killed in a terror attack on the consulate in Benghazi. Obama  laid out to the US and the World a new doctrine in international and US relations moving forward- the slogan of his campaign, Forward. In the US, he could be very well getting over or in his way to get over  a perception by some as being an accidental president that in 2008 came to power when the economy was near collapse and when the international community did not  buy-in into George W. Bush doctrine" either with us or against us. Obama yesterday was out there, no limitations, and no moments of awkwardness, hesitations or discomfort and timidity. As if he was where he likes to be and belong, among people from all over the world and from all backgrounds. He at the podium felt as a plant in its natural habitat. Obama yesterday, as well,  started a new era for America's relations with the world, a relation that throughout recent history, in the past one hundred years, proved vital and detrimental to world peace. In both historic and decisive occaisons in world and human history, America went to war on behalf of and for the free world and against tyranny. It happened in 1914 during the first World War and it happened again in 1942 during the Second World War. and since then, America never disengaged itself from the world that surrounds it or America surrounds. On 09/11/2001, America proved vulnerable to world events, and the thought that no matter what, America will continue to be out of reach of those that can harm it or try to change its way of life, has collapsed. The terror attack on America was the moment that the Bush Doctrine was born, and frankly speaking at the time, probably, there was no other choice" Either with Us or Against Us". That was what Bush said at the opening session of the UN General Assembly on the same day as Obama but  in 2001. 09/11 shocked the world, Afghanistan turned to be a terrorist backward country run by Osama Bin Laden, a spoiled rich family man from Saudi Arabia who was so bored with richness and the empty life in the oppressed Saudi society, that he decided to turn into a terrorist, and of course a gang called Taliban that was created by some intelligence services, some claim the ISI, the Pakistani Services to fight the Soviets and then to create a safe haven , a buffer zone and stands against the powerful tribes in Pakistan. So Bush did not have a choice, the message was strong, America was injured, a lion that roared from pain, a lion that needed to collect its dignity and again has his head high and be ready for a new morning.We went to Iraq and we went to Afghanistan, and arguably, we won in both places. Not a perfect victory yet, of course, in the eyes of many but we won. Last year, in May, Obama gave the orders after the intelligence said that Bin Laden was there, and Bin Laden was killed, US Navy seals took action, went to Pakistan and completed the mission. Obama takes credit, he is the president, as Bush takes credit for getting rid of Saddam in Iraq and Taliban in Afghanistan. Yesterday Obama took the Baton from George W. Bush, and ended the Bush doctrine, which lives now in military and history books, and started what I’m calling the Obama Doctrine, which is You and Us Together....The United States and the world together in fighting terrorism and in creating an environment where people in suppressed societies can get rid of their dictators and then build infrastructure for what could become prosperous societies. America realized the hard way after 2001 that prosperity cannot be one sided, and prosperity cannot live long with dictators and America cannot  unless there is no choice and people accept, cannot accept tyranny that will eventually breed terrorism and will reach the US. In the Middle East where these doctrines have been tested and will be tested, all the 09/11/2001 terrorists and murderers came from oppressed dark societies like Saudi Arabia- oppressed and dark- for the most, and then Egypt and Lebanon- oppressed more than dark. They were all Sunni Muslims, the traditional allies of the United States and the heart of Islam. And then the Movie came, an Egyptian copt, created few minutes mocking and showing hatred to the Prophet Muhammad, and a new mini earthquake started in Arab and Muslim countries. Embassies were attacked, US flags burned in the Streets and people chanting slogans against America. In Libya, gangsters, will known to the libyan government and probably to US intelligence services, went and killed the popular ambassador. And America has nothing to do with movies made. But the Movie raised the discussion on free speech, and as president Obama said during the speech “The future does not belong to those that slander the prophet of Islam, but also the future does not belong to those that deny the Holocaust, or burn churches or slander other prophets..The president also did not ignore Iran and its rhetoric in regard to Israel and its potential nuclear power, he made it clear, not very forcefull though, that he will not allow a nuclear power or weapons Iran. Obama highlighted very eloquently, I thought, The US long standing position for a Two state solution for the State of Israel and the the State of Palestine in the West Bank and Gaza and said that the US stands behind A Jewish State of Israel and an independent prosperous Palestine. In formulating his ideas and his points, Obama did not say that its an American duty but said its a world duty to put the efforts and do something. It is also and more importantly its the people duties in respective countries in the Middle East in particular to own their countries and change things. The thrust again, the US will not do it for you but the US will do it with you.

Oslo! .....by Jamil Shawwa

The first thing that comes to mind to many when mentioning Oslo, is the Oslo agreement between the State of Israel and the PLO, followed by the White House lawn signing ceremony between Yasser Arafat, Yitzhak  Rabin and Shimon Peres in 1993 that to many again mean the first steps to establish a Palestinian State in Gaza and the West Bank. 

But also Oslo means other things, it talks of the psychology in the Middle East and how some Palestinians and Arabs and others think of international agreements and how easily and quickly they could get desperate if things do not work out fine, instantly.

Oslo speaks of those that instead of working to make things happen, they start babbling about what has not happened so far and accordingly, scrapping and canceling agreements or get rid of them and do something else, maybe, it depends on the mood, and how much Scotch they drank and how many Cuban cigars they smoke and burned and puffed, besides other illegal substances- for some in the Middle East.

Oslo also speaks of how some in the Middle East acquaint manhood with violating and eliminating and destroying International commitments and agreements.

Some in the Arab countries in the Middle East, including the West Bank and Gaza, still until this moment praise those that at some point in recent history closed the Suez Canal in the face of international maritime and the same those, in Arab countries, that caused an Arab Israeli war in 1967 that resulted in an unprecedented humiliation and an unprecedented loss of land in an unprecedented number of days in the history of the world, relative to the size and circumstances of these countries.

Those same groups that think that holding a microphone by a demagogue threatening this or that, like Iran now, mounts to real manhood, a real man performing or making ongoing love without interruption- no breaks and no refueling . And that those that call for peace are pussycats with no sense of manhood. 

So instead of building (in Oslo) and building into Oslo, and on top of it, some so called politicians-  many among the Palestinians- and writers and normal humans, are asking for the Palestinians to cancel Oslo, to destroy the foundation, and start something else, or why even bother, start nothing-nothing results in nothing. 

Leadership is tough and it is not for everybody- just ask Mitt Romney- but it is for those with patience and action and talent to inspire and motivate and move mountains, all at the same time.

It is not for those setting in Ivory towers in the Middle East and elsewhere, screaming and saying cancel Oslo. The people in the West Bank and Gaza must start living, not dying, must start a national dialogue among themselves first and then with the State of Israel.

Israel is taking care of its people, do not worry about Israel. The time is now for  the Palestinians to worry about themselves, to look after themselves, to drop claims and politics that will only keep delaying the dream state.

It is time for the Palestinians to brush the dust off the ballot boxes, and go to elections and elect people or force elections of people that can deliver for them. Which means to drop the demagoguery for realistic politics, it means to think and believe that Palestine is and only exists in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

All other lands surrounding the West Bank and Gaza are called the following: the State of Israel, the Hashemite kingdom of Jordan, and the Arab Republic of Egypt; Period. Those countries that I have mentioned are not Palestinian lands, Palestine is only the West Bank and Gaza- redundancy is good sometimes. Start from there, and build on the foundation that is called Oslo.

Oslo is not just a piece of paper, it is a roadmap to a state called Palestine in the West Bank and Gaza with Jerusalem as an open city and capital for both the State of Israel and the State of Palestine; supposedly.

Bibi Netanyahu: Israel's Chief Lobbyist by Jamil Shawwa

The job of the Prime Minister- the Executive in a parliamentary system- in the State of Israel has been since its independence to make the case and build the support for their country. 

Having said the above , that political functionality is also found with various and different styles and shapes in every truly democratic country, that is a country that places, politics aside, the interests of its citizens above anything external and a political system that its politicians are elected periodically, every four years or so. But that does not mean isolationism, on the contrary , it should mean and for Israel, it has always  meant, pragmatism as well. 

Israel since its independence in 1948,  contrary to some beliefs, has never had an ideologue fanatic prime minister, never. Israel has always had prime ministers who have been very aware of its geopolitics , and the potential and the path that at some point a Palestinian State next to the State  of Israel will be established- The West Bank and Gaza . 

Of course the styles, the maneuvers of the prime ministers from David Ben-Gurion until now with Bibi Netanyahu, differed but not the core politics. 

The prime minister in Israel is the chief executive of the government and Israel’s main and most important spokesperson abroad, but Israel though a normal and original country and has its place among the nations as any other country on earth, has always had the urge and the necessity, politically speaking, to make a case of being forced to apply a “special status” due to its geography in the Middle of Arab and Muslim countries in the Middle East and the surrounding areas, that for the most part have not established diplomatic relations with it and have not recognized it formally or as very few, intentionally, create a continuous and dubious hostile propaganda against it. 

Case in point is the media aggression of the Iranian political system towards Israel and their demagoguery and completely politically motivated campaign to discredit the country and even speak of its legitimacy. 

A legitimacy that the Arab and Muslim countries including the Palestinian people have recognized, accepted as  a natural fact of life and geography and politics including the right of the Jewish people to have the state that they are in now. 

In the same token, the right of the Palestinian people to have their own legitimate State in the West Bank and Gaza. 

While attacking Israel daily, Iran is creating a nuclear program that no Israeli prime minister, politically speaking again, can ignore or not lobby against- as Bibi Netanyahu has been doing and did during a TV interview with NBC on Sunday’s Meet the Press when he as news reported, appealed directly to the American people and made the case against delaying a strong response to Iran’s nuclear program and probable nuclear weapons soon, six months, as he put it.

So Iran with its questionable media attacks is indeed providing two important things: first, cementing the role of the prime minister of Israel as the prime lobbyist for their country abroad and the second is Israel’s need to take care of its own nuclear program in addition to the fact that Israel’s position on nuclear power has technical legitimacy over Iran, for the mere fact that it is not a signatory country to the Non-Nuclear Proliferation treaty and Iran is. So technically and realistically, Iran is in violation when it continues to denying inspection and continues to have ambiguity over its nuclear program. and not Israel.

If we drive down or up the road few miles- sometimes it depends where you are, it is a matter of driving few feet- to the Palestinian side, there are no lobbyists making the case for Gaza and the West Bank as Bibi Netanyahu is making the case for his country; The State of Israel. 

As a matter of fact the only clever lobbyist the Palestinians ever had was Yasser Arafat. Regardless of personal opinions, like Bibi, Arafat kept going like a clever salesman, Master Salesman. The West Bank and Gaza need a chief lobbyist now not tomorrow.


More on Israel, Netanyahu and the job of the PM in Israel:

Pease with the State of Israel without a Rabin and without an Olmert

Bibi and Ehud and a Journey inside the politics of the State of Israel

Israel from 1947 UN 181 to 2016 UNSC 2334

The Middle East is on Fire...Updates by Jamil Shawwa

Here are the latest; if any of these mobs or demonstrators in the Middle East or elsewhere take American hostages, then, probably, Obama needs to say goodbye to a second term. 

Check links below.

09/13/2012 The Ghost of Jimmy Carter...by Jamil Shawwa
http://www.arabamericanwire.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-ghost-of-jimmy-carterby-jamil-shawwa.html
09/12/2012 The Night The Ambassador Was Killed by Jamil Shawwa
http://www.arabamericanwire.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-night-ambassador-was-killedby-jamil.html


Egypt is on and off, after Mursi, the Muslim Brotherhood president of Egypt, told Egyptians that it is against Islam to attack embassies..

Haaretz is reporting on clashes between police and worshipers in Jerusalem protesting the movie made by a Coptic Egyptian living in America about the Prophet Muhammad.

AP is Reporting clashes in Khartoum, Sudan with Police trying to prevent angry demonstrators and mobs from approaching the US and German Embassies. It seems the Sudanese are blaming Germany for something..or getting confused between the two.

AP is reporting that the Yemenis  are still marching towards the embassy trying to break in...

and now in Kashmir, Pakistan, demonstrators are gathering, and burning tires and throwing stones.

The Ghost of Jimmy Carter...by Jamil Shawwa

***Since 2010, I drew a comparison with Jimmy Carter, the Democratic president that got a one term, lost to Ronald Reagan due mainly to the US Embassy hostages in Iran following the Iranian revolution that kicked out the regime of Muhammad Reza Pahlavi. We have a situation in the Middle East that could snowball and become as serious to Obama as it was to Carter. Arab Muslims rioting, attacking US embassies and in Libya, a criminal group- not fully publicly identified yet- that news reports said that it had intentions to attack the consulate regardless of the video but took advantage of the chaos, attacked the consulate in Benghazi and killed a good ambassador that went in goodwill to talk to people that did not want to talk but wanted to kill- the riots are caused by the release of a low budget 14 minutes or so movie produced by an Egyptian American Copt who is wanted before Federal authorities for multiple fraudulent commercial activities, insulting the Prophet Muhammad. AP reported this afternoon that the US Attorney General is considering and looking into the film. My belief, is that the US might move on and charge this Egyptian with spreading hate that led to violence which could basically allow the US to sue. As of now, the situation in the Middle East is manageable and probably Obama has learned the Carter lesson; unless politics is driving for some reason in the opposite direction. Now, internally, internal US politics, since the election of Barack Obama,  hardcore Republicans , Mr. Romney's party, have been for the longest time trying to draw a comparison between Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama, to make a point that Obama is a one termer, or at least should be. First it was the economy but it's improving now or the signs show that it is on a recovery path . But now this one, even stronger comparison if it continues to snowball as I have mentioned. Few hours ago, Hillary Clinton issued a smart statement condemning the video and calling it reprehensible. So the big one now is to watch and see how events will unfold . But for the coming weeks, probably, the Gohst of Jimmy Carter will continue to spread its shadows over the Obama White House. Below is a link to my 11/03/2010 Carter comparison. Some of the notes above, I wrote today in a disucsion on http://www.facebook.com/groups/jamilshawwa/
***Report Card to Obama from 11/03/2010
***http://arabamericanwire.blogspot.com/2010/11/report-card-to-obamaby-jamil-shawwa.html

The Night The Ambassador Was Killed...by Jamil Shawwa

The killing of the US ambassador to Libya yesterday night, the day America Commemorates the 09/11/2001 tragic terrorist attacks, should not pass with the regular and routine condemnation;its much bigger and grander than that. Not Enough that President Obama issued a strong obituary for the ambassador's death AND condemned the attack and asked to increase security for the embassies around the world; the crime is beyond it. It is about the questionable lack of anticipation and preparations to what looks like now to many as something that was expected. But even if it were not expected-for the sake of argument- but it should have been, due to the magnitude changes in that part of the world, where the newly elected governments of Egypt and Libya, continue to try to make “democratic statements” by allowing groups and individuals to break every law, to attack every place they do not like and jump over the walls and fences of embassies burning properties and disgracing flags and as in Benghazi killing the ambassador in premeditated action. Then  the event gets stronger consequences and have loads of more questions about how the US is perceived to encourage lawlessness in the Middle East in the name of democracy. But things even get worse, instead of just addressing the murder of the ambassador, president Obama said that the relations with Libya will not be threatened by this murder; how come, and how wrong. The issue this morning was not the relations with Libya but what is the US doing to protect its  diplomats and ambassadors in areas that are not stable and where security is obviously and well known not to be found, not enough, or lack of it is on purpose allowed. The demonstrations started earlier in Cairo Egypt, where the Egyptian government allowed demonstrators to climb the embassy walls, and burn the US flags and replacing it with flags of hate, that they called falsely flags of Islam. So the US had ample time between then, giving the administration the ultimate benefit of the doubt, to prepare for what was to be in Libya; the symptoms were  the same and the movements were the same- even as we speak more information came in that the administration was expecting an attack or said to expect that mobs, criminals, would take advantage of  protests for Egyptian American producers showing an insulting movie about the Prophet Muhammad, to attack the consulate in Benghazi. In Egypt the reaction from the Obama administration was complacent, almost nothing, no reaction for attacking the embassy- the embassy issued a statement condemning hurting the emotions of the Muslims by individuals showing a movie claiming it represents Prophet's Muhammad life, which is good but in the same time the embassy should at least have urged the Egyptian government to act and protect its walls and flags. The libyans took it further, no reaction in Cairo, then go for it in Benghazi, they fired rockets and grenades and suffocated the ambassador whom reports said went with three other individuals to Benghazi to save the consulate- went alone, no security details, no libyan escorts, nothing. I do not believe this could have been worse, three or four individuals going to a chaotic, lawless area, trying to save something that should have been in the first place saved by the marines inside the consulate and the Libyan security forces outside. Well, forget about the Libyans for now, but the Marines. America by being hypocritical to the negative side and lawlessness of the  Arabs rising in Egypt and Libya and elsewhere, is not providing service to anyone, not to itself, nor to the fledgling democracies there. Embassies should be protected and can be protected and we have the know how and the intelligence resources to protect even in chaotic places; for God’s sake, the Middle East is as a whole a well monitored American piece of real estate. Things happen, for sure, but what happened yesterday is an act of weakness or complacency on the part of the US or both and this needs to be corrected. Complacency to chaos and terror, historically, for long run,  never paid off.

An Evening with Barack Obama ...by Jamil Shawwa

During their national conventions in Tampa Florida and Charlotte North Carolina to nominate their nominees for president, The Democrats sounded Republicans and the  Republicans  sounded Democrats. Historically, the Democrats were more on social and less on defense and power, and the Republicans were less on social issues and more on defense.The Republicans at their convention did not even mention troops or Iraq or Afghanistan, as if they were ashamed of the progress on war on terror and the demise of Bin Laden, thinking thanking the troops would mean an automatic recognition of Obama's effort. The Democrats took the opposite direction, they linked the progress America made on the war of terror with the progress it made on the economy-today's unemployment report and yesterday's Dow surge helped their argument. And although Bin laden is gone, the war on terror continues and in progress, same on the economy and the bailout of GM and the auto industry. Although is done and GM is moving and profiting, the job on the economy is still not where of needs to be but progressing. All the speeches and especially those of Bill Clinton and Joe Biden highlighted the theme which is forward and personally I think that the case was made, and the defence attorneys have leveled the field for the lead attorney, Obama, to take the ball all the way and score a touchdown  unless something drastic happens in the coming couple of months or Obama falters in the debates or the message gets for whatever reason, sidetracked. 
Here are the highlights from Obama's acceptance speech yesterday in Charlotte North Carolina:

10. Obama talked as a leader and not as a politician tonight.
9.Obama asserting leadership by saying he is no longer just a candidate, he is the president..
8.I will never turn Medicare into a voucher, Says Obama
7.America is Christians, Jews and Muslims, says Obama.
6. Made in America is back in business says Obama.
5.We reinvested a car industry that is back on top of the world; Says Obama
4.We will maintain America as the strongest power on earth, says Obama.
3. Al Qaeda is on a path of defeat and Osama Bin Laden is dead, says Obama.
2. We reinvested a car industry that is back on top of the world; Says Obama.
1.Clinton and Biden leveled the field for Obama; so smart strategy, now Obama is talking point by point on how he is going to keep moving the country forward.