Iran says Bush is a war criminal

Iran is being funny again. President Ahmadinejad has made the statement that Bush should be tried as a war criminal for using nuclear weapons against innocent people and using nuclear ordnance in Iraq. [Article Link]

I like heem. He seelly! (think Speedy Gonzales)

China, North Korea, and Iran are dangerous

Looks like I'm not insane in thinking that China is one country we should worry about. And, the other two countries are pretty bad, also. So, the country's leaders agree with me. Awesome! [Article Link]

The Illusion of Calm

From an international perspective, things appear to be calming down - today, at least. France maintains that the riots are dissipating - burning cars aside - and there are no major explosions at the present time. An air of tense quiet seems to be settling momentarily. It's anyone's guess as to how that quiet will be shattered next, but such moments tend not to last very long.

Has France truly gotten a grip on its internal unrest? Have the copycat incidents in Germany and Belgium stopped? The infuriating silence of the mainstream media about these things makes me uneasy that any true control has been restored. Mark Steyn predicted civil war in Europe in 2010 and has been saying he's been too optimistic by 5 years, but from all reports, the violence is slowly dying out. Calm of a sort is slowly being reasserted - the same sort of uneasy calm that descended upon Europe before the autumn of 1914.

As for Iran, they seem to be trying to un-ruffle some feathers and appear to play nice while preparing for a storm to come. I certainly hope someone more sane manages to ram some sense in there, but that's a far-fetched wish.

As for the rest of the world... we'll see what happens.

Iran's going to do WHAT?!?!

This is f***in' amazing! Iran is going to submit to the UN a proposal for a peaceful solution pertaining to Israel and Palestine. I usually just post a link to the article, but this article is just too delicious to risk the link going defunct:

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran, whose president has called for Israel's destruction, said on Monday it will submit a proposal to the United Nations for a peaceful solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

The Islamic Republic does not acknowledge Israel's right to exist and is known to support militant Palestinian groups.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called in a speech last month or Israel to be "wiped off the map," sparking international condemnation and Israeli calls for Iran to be thrown out of the United Nations.

Iranian officials have said his remarks were merely a re-statement of the Islamic state's pro-Palestinian policy and did not represent an actual threat of violence against Israel.

"To restore peace in the Middle East, Iran will submit a proposal to the U.N. based on what the Supreme Leader has said," Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told a conference on Central Asia in Tehran.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the last word on all state matters, said on Friday Palestinian refugees should be allowed to join all residents of Israel, the West Bank and Gaza in taking part in a referendum on how to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israeli leaders say a return of Palestinian refugees to Israel would spell demographic suicide for the Jewish state.
[Article link]

I bet Israel's thinking, "Hoo, boy! I wonder what they'll come up with THIS time..." Probably, Israel could peacefully dissolve itself, all the Jews could peacefully shoot themselves in the head, then all the Palestinians could peacefully clean everything up and live perfectly happy, peaceful lives. See? Peaceful all the way!

France riots

Things are becoming very interesting in France. The rioting ha spread to 300 towns in the country, and unrest seems to be spreading to neighboring countries. Many countries have warned tourists to be careful in and/or avoid violence-hit areas. Many countries have also denounced France for being unable to quell this violence. [Article Link]

The France riots have gotten very interesting. Many people in government are calling for harsh action against the rioters (causing the rioters to get more angry, of course). However, some liberals are calling for more funding in social projects, which I find amusing. The typical liberal response to a problem: dump money into it until it goes away.

France is already a socialist country. Unfortunately, no country is fully capable of completely supporting the entire population. Some people fall though the cracks and never get found again. That's what these riots are about. I think the only way a socialist state can withstand these kinds of things is if they take the next step and become totalitarian, like Stalinist USSR.

To me, it seems like France's arrogant culture has failed itself. It probably never occurred to any Frenchman that someone would NOT want to be more French. Probably their call for peace consists primarily of cheese and wine. Funny: most of the rioters are the downtrodden Muslim population, who wouldn't WANT the wine in the first place. Another thing that the French probably can't understand.

Taking Cole Porter a Little Too Far...

"I love Paris in the summer, when it sizzles."

It may not be summer, but Paris certainly is sizzling. I wonder, though, if the unchecked - and supposedly spreading - violence is not merely a slightly starker form of what is already unchecked violence in France, or the beginnings of a true general uprising against the French government? Many are already applying the label "Intifada" to what's going on - and I can't really say I blame them all that much. Will the French grow a backbone - or continue to try and appease the "discontented youths" rampaging through the main link between Paris and the outside world, Charles de Gaulle International Airport?

UPDATE: Whoops. Looks like it has. I hate to seem prescient (I'm not), so I can't really in honesty say "I told you so." Here's hoping the French cabinet starts listening to Msr. Sarkozy post haste.

Iran removing ambassadors

Iran has stated that it is planning to remove 40 ambassadors from posts abroad. Many of these ambassadors supported warmer ties with the West. [Article Link]

This, to me, seems more like a prelude to armed conflict than not. Iran has been riling itself up ever since it made its statements against Israel. It's typical for a nation to recall ambassadors during a conflict. Ambassadors are very important to relaying messages between governments. Removal of ambassadors is a major step to isolating the country from the world. Nothing good can come of this.