Israel’s To Blame? Really?

Israel, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, libertarianism

I’m having a hard time following the logic of the article, “Who Started ‘the Cycle of Violence’ in Palestine?”, in which Israel is blamed for the renewed hostilities between it and the Palestinians of the Gaza strip.

As circuitous as it is curious, the case woven in “Who Started ‘the Cycle of Violence’ in Palestine?” seems to hang on the claim that “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabinet lied to the Israeli and international public by pretending not to know that the [3 kidnapped Israeli] boys were almost certainly [already] dead,” and that “although the Israeli government knew the three boys were almost certainly dead, they initiated what they dubbed ‘Operation Brother’s Keeper.’ Thousands of IDF soldiers combed the West Bank, ostensibly searching for the kidnapped boys.”

OK. Let’s assume that indeed, as author Justin Raimondo asserts, “the Israeli political class exhibits a malevolence unique among nations.” Isn’t that perspective beside the point here? Didn’t the latest conflagration in fact begin with the kidnapping and killing of the three Israeli teenagers? What am I missing?

Germany Scores Twice

Europe, Foreign Policy, Intelligence, Sport, Uncategorized

Germany’s first victory this week is to have threatened to expel the top CIA official from the country. Via DER SPIEGEL:

Initially, there had been talk of a formal expulsion of the CIA employee, who is officially accredited as the so-called chief of station and is responsible for the US intelligence service’s activities in Germany. A short time later, the government backpedalled and said it had only recommended that he leave. Although it cannot be compared with a formal explusion, it remains an unfriendly gesture.
On a diplomatic level, it is no less than an earthquake and represents a measure that until Thursday would have only been implemented against pariah states like North Korea or Iran. It also underscores just how deep tensions have grown between Berlin and Washington over the spying affair. … there was absolutely no talk of any apology from Washington.

One US official dismissed the threat of expulsion of a top CIA official from Germany as a “childish” reaction on behalf of the Germans. Natürlich. When a European superpower refuses to be spied upon by Uncle Sam, they’re deemed to be acting out like kids.

An excellent account of the latest developments is here.

Germany’s second big win in short succession was a 1:0 victory over Argentina, in the game that earned the Germans the 2014 World Cup in football.

Ann Coulter should be pleased that the interminable tournament has finally concluded.

Some Americans Are Worth More Than Others

Free Markets, Labor, Military

You’ll be hard pressed to find anyone who will commiserate with your loss or dub it “dangerous and bad for the morale”—a risk to your family—in the event that you get the pink slip while serving nobly in the private economy, supplying fellow Americans with the services and products they need and desire.

On the other hand, the Pentagon “shrinks” the largest military in the world a smidgen—and the military-industrial-complex’s spokespeople fly into a rage.

Said Major Gen. Robert Scales: “It puts the soldier, the soldier’s family and the men under his command at risk.”

Seconded Sen. James Inhofe, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee:

Once again [President Obama] is putting domestic politics ahead of the security of our nation. The Army captains and majors receiving pink slips while on the battlefield is just the latest example. My heart goes out to these men and women who are risking their lives and making great sacrifices, yet are now being told they are being separated from the Army and will have no job when they return home to their families.

Why should Army captains and majors be spared unemployment, a reality that faces American working in the market economy?

Militarism gone mad.

Three Almighty Amigos

Business, IMMIGRATION

Apples and oranges. The article “Break the Immigration Impasse,” as Mark Levin pointed out today, has absolutely nothing to do with the deluge of Central-American dependents across the Southern US border. Written by three business men who’re worth many billions—SHELDON G. ADELSON, WARREN E. BUFFETT and BILL GATES—the editorial dwells on skilled immigration. The new arrivals, for whom the welcome-mat is being rolled out, are unskilled. To switch the three amigos’ words around, they’ll “make hefty withdrawals from the economy, not deposits.”

Aside from conflating their wishes with “the nation’s interests,” the three billionaires manage also to cram the short op-ed with misconceptions (or lies).

There is no limit to the number of geniuses American companies can import through the open-ended O-1 visa program, which allows unlimited access to individuals with unique abilities. I imagine that a graduate student with unique abilities can apply for an 0-1 visa.

Levin is absolutely correct. These ponces have written an op-ed in a paper no real American will even read, purporting to know what’s good for the same folks and their families. Does Gates send his kids to the overflowing and backward public schools? Do bully boy Buffett’s grandchildren mix with yours at the local community college? Do ADELSON, BUFFETT and GATES live in third-world east Los Angeles?

What hubris.