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25
Jan

The Movie Industry Threatens Canada … Foolishly

By Cynapse 2 Comments
Categories: American Politics, Politics, Technology and World Politics

(Via Jack’s NewsWatch) Canada.com is reporting that movie distributor Twentieth Century Fox –apparently on behalf of the entire American film industry- is threatening to delay releases in Canada due to rampant piracy:

As much as 50 per cent of the world’s pirated movies come from Canada, prompting the film industry to threaten to delay the release of new titles in this country.
…
Changes to laws in the United States have seen movie piracy in that country plummet … one man caught with a camcorder in a theatre was jailed eight years and fined $250,000.
…
Because of movie piracy, a U.S. congressional committee has added Canada to a “country watch list” that includes such well-known piracy havens as China, Russia, India and Malaysia.

As a member of the The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), Fox is attempting to scare Canadian authorities into ignoring such trivialities as terrorism and serial murder in order to recover Hollywood film profits.

Could 20th Century Fox and other film studio truly be contemplating delaying movie releases throughout Canada to pre-empt the release of pirate movies overseas by a few days? Unless the lot of them has gone completely mad, the answer is almost certainly “no”. Retarding a prosperous market to stem the proliferation of inferior products to and from an unstable market is economically dubious. Furthermore, the suggested course of prevention and punishment would only irritate legal movie goers while presenting little or no deterrent to pirates familiar with modern data transfer technologies.

Camcorder Movies are Poor Quality

It is important to understand the nature of these Canadian bootlegs before assessing the validity of Fox’s threats. First, consider the source – As the article states, movie pirates are literally recording movies using camcorder in the theatre. In the hacking world, these bootleg movies are known as “Cams” and are known for having extremely bad quality: Camera angles are usually not perfect since the camera has to be obscured by the bootlegger in order to avoid arrest. This means plenty of shaky pictures, cutoff images (most camcorders record video in 4:3 aspect ratio – the same as television – whereas theatres show movies in 16:9 widescreen), and silhouettes of moviegoers getting up to go to the washroom. The sound is typically recorded using the camcorder’s internal microphone, making the sound unclear and easily drowned out by cell phones or audience chatter.

To be fair and balanced, there are bootleggers who make deals with theatre owners to record movies in an empty theatre; however, even under perfect shooting conditions (the camera is placed on a tripod with a direct connection to an external audio source), the picture quality of a bootleg –in this case called a Telesync bootleg- would still be poor because video cameras simply can’t photograph television or movie screens with any degree of accuracy (for a live demonstration, try videotaping your own television!). Thus, any camcorder videos produce a quality slightly worse than home-taped VHS cassettes – definitely unacceptable in most first-world nations and increasingly unacceptable for even third world nations.

Now consider the destination format of the bootlegs. Originally these videos were sold on VideoCD discs, a low-resolution CD-based format popular in Asia but generally ignored in North America. Until a few years ago, VCD’s were dominant in the Far East and sold for between $0.75US and $2.50US. However DVD’s have since taken over and tend to retail for around $7.00US.

While Cams and Telesyncs were good enough for VideoCD discs, their low quality is quite visible on bootleg DVD’s and are avoided by people even slightly concerned about quality or who would otherwise be willing to pay for the “movie experience”. In other words, camcorder bootlegs threaten the movie industry the way home cassette taping threatens CD sales – not greatly.

Asia is an Unstable Market; Canada is Not

Quality is only part of the story, however. Fox news knows as well as anyone that Asia is very much a market dominated by individual merchants who survive on offering basement bargains (which inevitably includes piracy of films, music, video games and computer software). There is little chance that the entertainment market will be dominated by Blockbuster-style chains that can be easily influenced by MPAA threats or demands. Moreover, there is little incentive for Asian authorities to comply with American demands – any job or economic losses caused by piracy of American films will not affect local Asian economies but the sales of those discs could stimulate economic growth. Furthermore, India and Hong Kong both have prosperous film industries (the former being the largest film industry in the world) far more likely to successfully lobby for legal favor against pirate activities.

Asian piracy is also inadvertently perpetuated by protectionist government policy. China in particular limits the number of foreign films released on Chinese screens in order to favour the local film industry. Chinese consumers respond by seeking illegal copies of the movies online or through the underground market, contributing to the staggering 93% of Chinese film sales purchased illegally.

By comparison, Canada is very prosperous market upon which the MPAA has great influence. Last weekend alone, the top 10 box-office films in Canada grossed $5,440,837, with Fox’s own “Night at the Museum” taking first place [source: Tribute.ca Top 10 Movies in Canada, January 19-21, 2007]. As the article states, there are also guards at many Canadian cinemas actively looking for camcorder pirates, since Hollywood IS the local film industry (at least indirectly).

Piracy Logistics Have Advanced

The US watch list referred to in the article states that Canada has become a “dumping ground” for imported pirated goods from Russia and the Far East. This claim is rather dubious for the simple fact that these logistics are outdated for present-day movies. Aside from DVD and VCD, bootleg films can also be compressed into DivX files, which are MPEG-4 based computer files famous for allowing high quality video streaming over a low bandwidth. A 2 hour movie ripped directly from DVD can be compressed into a 700MB file that looks virtually identical to the original file. Transmitting such a file over a high speed internet connection from Russia to Canada can be done in a matter of hours. In fact, online pirates and casual internet users do so frequently using advanced file sharing technologies like BitTorrent. A transmitted DivX file can be converted back to a DVD for duplication and distribution in the local market. Transmitting pre-manufactured pirated movies from abroad is both expensive (in a market where black market movies will not sell well if priced for more than about $6) and unnecessarily risky. One has to assume the MPAA is aware of these technological advances.

Verdict: “Not … Very … Likely”

So to review Fox’s threat in terms of the information provided above and the original article –

  1. Fox would have us believe that the sale of sub-VHS quality movies in a market where over 90% of purchased films are pirated has a significant impact on their bottom line
  2. Fox and other movie studios are willing to stifle a prosperous, primary movie market over which it does have legal influence in hopes of indirectly forcing compliance on a struggling, secondary market where it has limited legal or political influence.
  3. Canadian police and customs officials should waste millions of dollars searching for bootlegged media entering/exiting via Canadian ports when a piracy operation of average aptitude realizes the cost saving and risk reduction of transmitting one copy and replicating locally.
  4. Fox is upset because Canadian authorities won’t jail camcorder pirates for as long as our nation jails murderers

One can only hope that Fox is merely saber-rattling to scare Canadian authorities into recouping some supposedly lost revenue (which is a dishonest argument, but that will be another post), because if this is an actual anti-piracy strategy then the mighty film studio is in bigger financial trouble than they think.

31
Dec

Video of Saddam Hussein Execution

By Cynapse 0 Comments
Categories: Noteworthy Events and World Politics

2006 has been unkind to dictators. Right-wing strongman Augusto Pinochet passed away from heart attack complications, Left-wing strongman Fidel Castro is gravely ill (possibly with cancer, depending on who you ask) and unexpected to regain control of his impoverished nation. Robert Mugabe and Bashar al-Asad suffered no personal injuries but probably wish they had chosen alternative career paths.

However Saddam Hussein’s demise is on everyone’s mind for this final day of 2006. The former Iraqi president, one time asset in the war against Iran and eventual nemesis to the first Bush administration, has been sentenced to death by hanging. There are numerous places where you can read about Saddam’s legacy –

Wikipedia
BBC

However, what everyone wants to know is whether the video of the actual hanging is available for viewing. From what is known so far, Arab television networks did in fact film the entire execution but have stopped short of televising the fatal part of the final act. There is also a cell phone video of the completion execution (see below). Morbid fascination aside, one question remains – does the world gain anything from viewing the death of a tyrant?

In short, yes. It is important for the people of Iraq to view the death of the former president for two reasons. Firstly, seeing Saddam killed will help bring closure to a long and brutal era in Iraqi history. Many Iraqis will continue to be afraid to speak out against the man who once killed detractors using a human paper shredder so long as there was even a minute chance that he could return to power. The Kurdish people learned the brutality of Saddam’s reprisals after the USA retreated following the first Gulf war, and most of the nation would be in serious danger if Hussein ever did become president again.

Secondly, publicizing the execution of Saddam Hussein sends a message to all foes of the American terror effort. Far from being inclined to negotiate, fundamentalist Islam understands only one language- violence. Saddam Hussein hanging for all to see tell Islamic fundamentalists that if they continue to violate human rights worldwide in the name of religion, the USA will intervene decisively and with similar brutality (while technically executed by the Iraqi government, the prosecution of Saddam was obviously inspired by American action). Whether or not you happen to agree with the methods or goals behind the war on terror, it must be acknowledged that fundamentalists understand intent only in black & white terms, negating the grey-area negotiations popularized by the UN etc.

So without further ado, here are the videos. First, a high quality news clip documenting the moments up to the hanging then a lower quality clip of the full execution.

Google Video of full Execution

07
Aug

Reuters Drops the Ball

By Cynapse 1 Comment
Categories: Media, Politics, Uncategorized and World Politics

Merely days after CU expressed reservations about the accuracy media coverage in the Middle East, a new controversy has erupted:

Reuters, the global news and information agency, told a freelance Lebanese photographer on Sunday it would not use any more of his pictures after he doctored an image of the aftermath of an Israeli air strike on Beirut.
The photograph by Adnan Hajj, which was published on news websites on Saturday, showed thick black smoke rising above buildings in the Lebanese capital after an Israeli air raid in the war with the Shiite Islamic group Hezbollah, now in its fourth week.
“The photographer has denied deliberately attempting to manipulate the image, saying that he was trying to remove dust marks and that he made mistakes due to the bad lighting conditions he was working under,” said Moira Whittle, the head of public relations for Reuters.

Granted Ms Whittle has a job to do, but she really needs to learn the difference between removing dust marks and cloning. The former involves the removal of “specks” on a digital photographs, and cannot possibly result in the disparity of colors shown below. By contrast, cloning involves copying a portion of a photograph to another part of the photograph. When done well the picture looks seamless and unaltered. Poor cloning results in an apparent texture pattern, which is clearly visible in the smoke patterns of this photo.

beirut-original.jpg

A possible original photograph (Source: LGF)

beirut-pshopped.jpg

Beirut Photograph, as Published by Reuters

Reuters has lost any media source’s most important asset – credibility. Already, pundits are questioning the validity of Reuters’ Qana photographs and no doubt other photographs from Hajj are under scrutiny.

The original charge of photo manipulation was made by Charles Johnson of the popular Pro-Israeli blog Little Green Footballs. For his effort, Johnson was threatened via email and the email was IP traced to none other than Reuters. Current speculation is that Inayat Bunglawala, Media Secretary of the Muslim Council of Britain, may have been involved in creating the threat. Meanwhile, more charges of doctored and staged photos are being levied by the hour.

The discovery of the doctored photos and forced admission of error by Reuters represents a huge victory for the blogosphere; by forcing a large media conglomerate to admit error and correct its ways, the independent online media has established itself as a semi-reliable check and balance on news disseminated by the mainstream media.

The loser in this skirmish is obvious. Hajj is clearly the instigator of the controversy, but clearly the blame belongs with the editing staff at Reuters. With a topic as divisive and high-stakes as the conflict in the Middle East, the news agency should be going over every piece of information it receives with a fine-toothed comb. Reuters could easily argue that LGF and other blogs attacking this story are partisan and no more interested in accuracy than Hajj, and they might be right; however, Reuters is supposed to differentiate itself from blogs (for which there is no minimum bar of journalistic integrity) with original, accurate and verified content. By not adhering to such standards, Reuters gives the public no reason to trust their reports any more than those of any idealist with a Blogspot account.

Also, Reuters, fire your PR department. That was a terrible excuse.

02
Aug

The Disproportionate Palestinian Response to Condi

By Cynapse 1 Comment
Categories: American Politics, Politics and World Politics

The political left and those genuinely opposed to the oppression of indigenous peoples by so-called “civilized” nations were quick to adopt Palestinians as a client group. After all, who wouldn’t be moved by images of large Israeli tanks rolling menacingly towards little Palestinian children?

It’s a romantic story on paper, but it belies the hatred in the hearts of many Palestinians – hatred that is not all directed towards Israel. The Jerusalem post reports on the visceral Arab reaction to recent visits by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice

Calling on Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah to bomb Tel Aviv, many protesters also chanted slogans against Rice and the US. “O Condaleezza, you are a condara [shoe],” shouted a group of Fatah activists. An elderly woman yelled: “Shame on you, Condaleezza, your parents were slaves for the whites!”

Playing the fellow victim card is questionable, but at least one can always count on the Palestinians to blatantly spell out their position:

“The Palestinians hate her because of her arrogance and because of the policy she represents,” said a veteran Palestinian newspaper editor. “Moreover, many Palestinians are angry with her because they think that all black people should be on their side.”

And you thought the Democrat Party took black support for granted. People simply refuse to recognize is that assuming someone will take a specific political position just because of his/her ethnic background is just as prejudicial as any ethnic slur. Political philosophies are more so defined by upbringing, economic beginnings, indoctrination and of course personal convictions. Having worked with George H.W. Bush, former California Governor Pete Wilson and former secretary of state James Baker among others, it should be no major surprise that the right-leaning Rice would tend to favor the pro-western state of Israel over its anti-Western Islamacist foes.

Speaking of ethnic slurs, the Palestinian media’s portrayal of Condi would make Don Raye proud. Observe these two cartoons mocking Dr Rice’s public hope for the birth of a new middle east:


condi2.jpg
Editorial Cartoon: Al-Hayat Al-Jadeeda (via Palestinian Media Watch)

condi1.jpg
Editorial Cartoon: Al-Quds

Keep these cartoons and quotes in mind the next time you see Pro-Palestinian protesters chanting “Zionism is Racism”.

Update: Booker Rising linked to this post and a lively discussion is taking place. I strongly encourage you to look at the discussion (and the site in general). Special thanks to Shay for the link.

29
Jul

Antisemitic Crimes – Put up or Shut up Time

By Cynapse 10 Comments
Categories: Politics, Uncategorized and World Politics

The latest outbreak of war in the Middle East has finally resulted in an unprovoked hate crime against Jewish citizens:

Authorities said a man walked into the Jewish agency on Friday and opened fire, killing one woman and injuring at least five others in what they call a hate crime. Naveed Afzal Haq, 30, was booked into the King County Jail for investigation of homicide and attempted homicide, police said.
The gunman, who employees said claimed to be a Muslim angry at Israel, forced his way through the center’s security door after an employee had punched in her security code, said Marla Meislin-Dietrich, a co-worker who was not at the building at the time.

While the US killings can be attributed to radical Islamacists, the stateside pro-war brigade, whose hawkish tendencies in order support their own geopolitical and theological goals surpass that of even Israelis, must share some blame for these types of attacks. In column after blog after interview, pundits recklessly advocate death against “Muslims” (which inevitably encompasses a large number of people from non-Muslim middle easterners to unrelated cults), presumably in the name of Israel and the Jewish people, without any regard for repercussions. There have also been suggestions for the government to restrict the movement and freedoms of all stateside Muslims, and some citizens aren’t waiting for the law to catch up with their whims – a colleague of mine reported that here in Toronto a man was recently kicked off the TTC for yelling “I will not stand next to this terrorist!!” at a rider who entered the bus wearing a hijab.

This story didn’t make the paper, but you can bet that woman shared the story with her friends and colleagues. Guess what happens when regular citizens of a group are under siege? Local extremists, sensing the righteous indignation among moderate Muslims, take their revenge on Jews – all Jews. Like stateside Zionists and Diaspora waging the war on terror from the safety of their ergonomic keyboards, local Islamic radicals fail to recognize that Jews and Israel aren’t synonymous –

  • A portion of Orthodox Jews do not agree with Israel in its present form, arguing that Israel can only be given to the Jewish people directly from God. The very human attempt to maintain the state is dismissed as “playing God”
  • There are many secular and Jews who disagree with Israel’s policies and alleged human rights abuses. Frequently cited by detractors include the suppression of Palestinian civilians, illegal torture of prisoners and the state’s facilitation of South Africa’s apartheid government. This is not to say these Jews oppose the central concept of Zionism, but rather that they are dissatisfied with the sometimes brutal manner in which it has been implemented
  • … And of course there are many Jews who don’t have any strong feelings in favor of or against Israel, but remain faithful to Judaism and attend the same synagogues being attacked

As a Sephardic friend once told me, put 100 Jewish people in a room and you will hear 100 opinions on what Israel’s doing right and wrong. A look at the week’s editorials at the Jerusalem post confirms this diversity in opinion, which is all but drowned out in the uniform war cry of stateside Neo-Cons, Evangelicals and post-9/11 Crusaders for Israel’s unmitigated bombing of its neighbors. It’s very easy to declare war with someone else’s army (and economy), just as it is easy to go Christmas shopping with someone else’s credit card.

I’d like to know whether these same people are willing to help protect my family members, friends and work colleagues whose recent history and warrior class are being used in the front lines of this war. You may feel justified in supporting Israel’s front-line military action because you want to avoid another 9/11 or because you believe this is the last stage in your inheritance of the holy land, but would you be willing show real support for the Jewish people by patrolling a synagogue or donate money to facilitate such protection? Please consider it.

There is a higher purpose for this post and I’ll get to that later.

18
Jul

Druze Caught in the Crossfire

By Cynapse 1 Comment
Categories: Politics and World Politics

The Jerusalem Post has an excellent article on the Druse (also spelled Druze) of Lebanon:

On Friday, the residents of the mainly Druse town of Peki’in were getting ready to celebrate the marriage of one of their sons to a young woman from nearby Beit Jann.
…
Three hours before the feast, two Katyusha rockets fell on the neighborhood as the guests began to gather. One rocket scored a direct hit on the roof of the home where Salman and Dina Ali live with their children Hussein, Rana and Sari.

Galib Kheir, head of the town’s tourism department, wanted to know why no members of the media had came to see the damage that Peki’in had suffered over the past six days. It is a question also asked by town engineer Halim Muhana.
Underlying the question, which is asked with obvious resentment or hurt, is the unspoken accusation that no one cares about Peki’in because it isn’t Jewish.
The leaders of Peki’in stress that Hizbullah does not distinguish between Jews and Druse. “As far as Nasrallah is concerned, we are all Israelis,” said Galib Kheir. “He doesn’t care who he hits just as long as he hits.”

Such are the casualties of war that are forgotten during ideological battles and the media focus on Beirut. As a Druse expatriate once said to me, “we try to stay out of it” – yet this does not prevent them from taking intentional fire from one side and unacknowledged unintentional fire from the other side.

Far from being mainstream Muslims, the Druze practice a breakaway form of Islam heavily influenced by Christianity and Greek philosophy. In heavy contrast to surrounding monotheistic faiths, women are often regarded spiritually equal to or greater than men. Central tenets of Druse faith and at times public allegiance are still largely secretive out of fear of persecution in predominantly-Muslim nations. The relatively small sect resides primarily in the middle east (Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Jordan) with satellite populations across Africa and the West.

17
Jul

Measured Malice or Disproportionate Libel?

By Cynapse 0 Comments
Categories: Politics, Uncategorized and World Politics

A furor is growing over seven Canadians killed in Lebanon by Israeli airstrikes:

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Seven Canadians from the same Montreal family, including four young children, were killed in Lebanon on Sunday when Israeli aircraft bombed a house in the south of the country, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp said.

A Canadian foreign ministry spokeswoman confirmed the deaths and said three people were hurt. But she said the incident happened when the house in the town of Aitaroun was shelled.

Canadian Foreign Minister Peter MacKay said Ottawa was sending ships to help evacuate up to 40,000 Canadians believed to be in Lebanon.

The CBC named the dead as Ali El-Akhras, his wife Amira and their four children aged one, four, six and eight. The seventh family member was Ali’s uncle, also named Ali, who had moved to Montreal from Lebanon 15 years ago.

At Small Dead Animals, I got into a semi-heated discussion with Kate’s staunchly pro-Israeli readership about the relatively muted conservative response to the death of Lebanese civilians. The exchange was relatively civil – not at all like the venom being spewed at the Globe and Mail. Please take a minute to read some of the comments on the G&M discussion board. Israeli expansionism will never gain favour on this blog, and I do believe that using airstrikes on suburban areas is extremely dubious; however some of the accusations being levelled at Israel and PM Stephen Harper are simply unfair. Time to address two of them:

Accusation #1: Stephen Harper supports or is indifferent to the death of Lebanese-Canadians
Some Canadians have implied that Stephen Harper’s statement “I think Israel’s response under the circumstances has been measured.” is an endorsement of civilian attacks. However this story was reported on the 14th, two days before any known Canadian casualties. Posters are attacking Harper as valuing Israeli lives over Canadian lives before he’s had the chance to react … but not before Canada pledged to send boats to help evacuate Canadians remaining in Lebanon. The < 24 hour turnaround represents a faster response to imperiled Canadians than the previous government ever offered. Harper has not made any statement since this story broke so it is premature for commenters like Jim Roth to assume his indifference.

Accusation #2: Israel intentionally targets civilians
Right or wrong, IAF airstrikes were targeting Hezbollah infrastructure rather than civilians. The Jerusalem Post has reported that the only homes directly targeted were those of senior Hezbollah officials. Other civilian deaths have been accidental (eg Israeli gunboats misfiring at relay stations for al-Manar television – a Hizbullah propaganda channel). The IDF often drops leaflets warning citizens to evacuate an area before striking a Hezbollah target, which has keep the number of civilian casualties relatively low. Concerning for the dead Canadians, Israel has formally apologized to Ottawa and is conducting an investigation. A similar investigation is being conducted for the killing of Lebanese soldiers, who are also not official IDF targets. And let’s face it – if Israel intentionally attacked civilians then far more than 140 would be dead by now.

My sincere condolences to the family members of those lost in this unfortunate attack. May the memory of the dead not be clouded by the half-truths of ulterior political motives.

16
Jul

Peace Without Parity

By Cynapse 6 Comments
Categories: Politics and World Politics

Do combatants in the middle east want peace?

As the violence in the middle east flares up once again, pundits and the public are intensifying the war of words over who is the blame for the cycle of violence. The only thing that most people can agree on is that, despite the indisputable human rights offenses on both sides, there is 1 side that is definitely in the right and justified in their uncivil response. For years I’ve battled both Pro-Arab and Pro-Israeli types who did not take kindly to the suggestion that their respective sides have no interest in peace.

But what is peace? When many people (myself included) speak of peace, we envision one more more identifiable groups/individuals coexisting harmoniously. Conflicts are resolved with words rather than guns. A mutual respect exists between all parties, as their special beliefs are secondary to some common principle that governs all groups. As the following quotations demonstrate, this westernized and romanticized view of peace can be the furthest thing from the minds of Arabs and Israelis alike:

Alleged Quotes from Arab/Muslim Leadership:

“Peace for us means the destruction of Israel. We are preparing for an all-out war, a war which will last for generations.”
–Yasser Arafat, El Mundo, Caracas, Venezuela, February 11 1980

“We may lose or win [tactically] but our eyes will continue to aspire to the strategic goal, namely, to Palestine from the river (i.e. Jordan) to the sea (i.e. the Mediterranean). Whatever we get now cannot make us forget this supreme truth.”
–Faisal Husseini, PA Minister of Jerusalem Affairs, Al-Safir (Lebanon), March 21 2001

“Hamas still wants Palestine from the river to the sea — and believes in retaking the land from Jordan to the Mediterranean, including Israel”
–Yasser Mansour, Hamas candidate from Nablus, The Boston Globe, 17 January 2006

“Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.”
–Covenant of the Hamas, Preamble, 1988

Alleged Quotes from Israeli/Jewish Leadership:

“We must use terror, assassination, intimidation, land confiscation, and the cutting of all social services to rid the Galilee of its Arab population.”
– David Ben-Gurion, May 1948, to the General Staff. From Ben-Gurion, A Biography, by Michael Ben-Zohar, Delacorte, New York 1978.

“Let us not ignore the truth among ourselves … politically we are the aggressors and they defend themselves… The country is theirs, because they inhabit it, whereas we want to come here and settle down, and in their view we want to take away from them their country.”
– David Ben Gurion, quoted on pp 91-2 of Chomsky’s Fateful Triangle, which appears in Simha Flapan’s “Zionism and the Palestinians pp 141-2 citing a 1938 speech.

“Israel should have exploited the repression of the demonstrations in China, when world attention focused on that country, to carry out mass expulsions among the Arabs of the territories.”
– Benyamin Netanyahu, then Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister, former Prime Minister of Israel, speaking to students at Bar Ilan University, from the Israeli journal Hotam, November 24, 1989.

“It is the duty of Israeli leaders to explain to public opinion, clearly and courageously, a certain number of facts that are forgotten with time. The first of these is that there is no Zionism, colonialization, or Jewish State without the eviction of the Arabs and the expropriation of their lands.”
– Ariel Sharon, Israeli Foreign Minister, addressing a meeting of militants from the extreme right-wing Tsomet Party, Agence France Presse, November 15, 1998.

All of these quotes can be found from various sources on the web and in many cases have proper citation. Some of the speakers cited have at least publicly moderated their views but continued to support movements that operate on the same sentiment.

So let’s revisit the question – do combatants in the middle east want peace? The answer could actually be yes, since peace can by definition mean the absence of civil disturbance. For Hamas, Hezbollah and other militants stationed in Gaza / Lebanon, peace might mean 6.5 million Israelis swimming in the Dead Sea and the remaining population held under oppressive Islamic rule. For Israeli expansionists, peace could mean Palestinians displaced and under severe lock down similar to the apartheid enforced by one-time Israeli ally South Africa. Both scenarios would constitute genocide or a level of oppression that the West finds unacceptable; however both extreme outcomes would be “peaceful”. Obviously there will be peace if foes are completely subjugated or eliminated outright.

25
Jun

The New York Times: Illegal or Just Unhelpful?

By Cynapse 3 Comments
Categories: Politics and World Politics

The New York Times seems to have really stepped in political poo this time. Having apparently learned nothing from the controversy caused by Robert Novack’s outing of Valerie Plame or its own previous controversies, the liberal New York daily has published two front-page articles based on classified military material:

U.S. General in Iraq Outlines Troop Cuts
By MICHAEL R. GORDON
WASHINGTON, June 24 — The top American commander in Iraq has drafted a plan that projects sharp reductions in the United States military presence there by the end of 2007, with the first cuts coming this September, American officials say.
According to a classified briefing at the Pentagon this week by the commander, Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the number of American combat brigades in Iraq is projected to decrease to 5 or 6 from the current level of 14 by December 2007.
…
General Casey’s briefing has remained a closely held secret, and it was described by American officials who agreed to discuss the details only on condition of anonymity. Word of the plan comes after a week in which the American troop presence in Iraq was stridently debated in Congress, with Democratic initiatives to force troop withdrawals defeated in the Senate.

Bank Data Is Sifted by U.S. in Secret to Block Terror
By ERIC LICHTBLAU and JAMES RISEN
WASHINGTON, June 22 — Under a secret Bush administration program initiated weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, counterterrorism officials have gained access to financial records from a vast international database and examined banking transactions involving thousands of Americans and others in the United States, according to government and industry officials.
The program is limited, government officials say, to tracing transactions of people suspected of having ties to Al Qaeda by reviewing records from the nerve center of the global banking industry, a Belgian cooperative that routes about $6 trillion daily between banks, brokerages, stock exchanges and other institutions. The records mostly involve wire transfers and other methods of moving money overseas and into and out of the United States. Most routine financial transactions confined to this country are not in the database.
…
Nearly 20 current and former government officials and industry executives discussed aspects of the Swift operation with The New York Times on condition of anonymity because the program remains classified. Some of those officials expressed reservations about the program, saying that what they viewed as an urgent, temporary measure had become permanent nearly five years later without specific Congressional approval or formal authorization.

For publishing classified American war plans and espionage activities, the New York Times risks being charged under section 798 of the US Criminal Code:

(a) Whoever knowingly and willfully communicates, furnishes, transmits, or otherwise makes available to an unauthorized person, or publishes, or uses in any manner prejudicial to the safety or interest of the United States or for the benefit of any foreign government to the detriment of the United States any classified information – … (3) concerning the communication intelligence activities of the United States or any foreign government; … Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.

While prosecuting the NYT seems to be a matter of black letter law, there are also grey areas of media coverage that have been under attack by allied government and pro-war pundits:

  • Early in the war, the US government banned photographs or videos of coffins arriving from Iraq
  • The government of Canada briefly placed a ban on media attendance at funerals for dead Canadian soldiers arriving home from Afghanistan
  • Journalist Robert Fisk endured severe criticism for publishing pictures of dead Iraqi civilians, resulting from early American strikes on the Iraqi capital

None of the aforementioned incidents involve divulging classified information, but are still seen as detrimental to the war effort. Should the government be allowed to restrict freedom of the press on purely ideological grounds? What separates George Bush’s restriction on war coffin photography (re: politically unfavorable media coverage) from China’s attempted censorship of politically unfavorable web searches? The treatment of the media during this war has been a slippery slope from the start, and the prosecution of the NYT will certainly not mitigate fears of “media control”.

06
Jun

No Room for Moderation in the War on Terror

By Cynapse 2 Comments
Categories: Politics, Toronto and World Politics

“Let’s assume for a minute that everything we’ve heard so far about the foiled Toronto terror attacks is true as reported …”

Canada’s perceived immunity from terrorist threats (FLQ Crisis notwithstanding) came crashing to the ground last week, as 17 suspects spread around Kingston and the Greater Toronto area were arrested for planning to blow up several targets around Southern Ontario. Led by 43-year old Qayyum Abdul Jamal, the group was apprehended after attempting to import 3 tonnes of ammonium nitrate and other assorted firearms for terrorist activities. The 12 adults (Abdelhaleen, Qayyum Abdul Jamal , Fahim Ahmad, Zakaria Amara, Asad Ansari, Shareef. Mohammed Dirie, Yasim Abdi Mohamed, Jahmaal James, Amin Mohamed Durrani, Saad Khalid Abdul Shakur and Ahmad Mustafa Ghany) are in court facing a variety of charges while the youths (who cannot be named) are still being held. Suspected terrorist targets include the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa and the CSIS Office on Front Street in Toronto. Because the amount of fertilizer purchased was roughly three times what was used in the Oklahoma bombings, collateral damages would likely have been very high.

And so ends our delusion about not being involved in “Bush’s war”.

Canadian moderates –ever weary of the right’s endless battle cries- no longer have the luxury of dismissing the war on terror as a Christian crusade or war for oil. While business interests and Evangelical fundamentalism no doubt factor in the zeal of some war proponents, this war –as seen through our enemies’ eyes- is ideological at its core. Western affiliation aside, Al Qaeda’s targets are fairly indiscriminate: the 9/11 bombers apparently had few qualms about attacking a large building that contained business interests from all over the world – including their homelands. Similarly, the British bombers who attacked the London Underground were well aware of the diversity among their targets – a war weary city whose casualties surely included people heavily opposed to military intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq.

As the next planned target, Canada has reached a turning point. Our nation is no longer on the sideline playing quiet cheerleader, nor is our military presence in Afghanistan being labeled “peacekeeping” or some other palatable euphemism. The role of the political moderate in the war against terror should be to make sure this war –though defensive in nature- is nonetheless waged in a focused and ethical manner:

  • Actively monitoring and reporting suspicious activities or behavior within the Muslim community is necessary; terrorizing and intimidating Muslim communities is unacceptable
  • Supporting our troops overseas is fundamental to boost national morale; excusing criminal behavior by troops should be avoided
  • Supporting the right of Israel -permanently on the front lines of this “culture war”- to self-defense against militant Palestinian attacks falls under basic ethics; Support for expansionist or apartheid policies under such pretenses should be shunned.
  • Allowing police and national security officials more legal freedom for [targeted] surveillance and interrogation may be a [short-term] necessary evil; Allowing police and the government trample our basic rights to free speech and freedom of information under the guise of “security” would be both ironic and tragic

Most of all we must not lose sight of who our enemies are. These enemies cross all geographic, racial, cultural and age barriers. While all would refer to themselves as “Muslims”, their actions ultimately harm more Muslims than any other identifiable group. Similarly, the Islamacist rarely distinguishes demographic differences or political adversity among his/her prey. We are all “evil Westerners”.

Canada as a whole must help defeat Islamism, rather than merely copy and invert it. The ideal response to Western society can provide to those who would deny us our freedoms and (relative) tolerance is simply to exercise those freedoms with even greater zeal. Most of all, regular Canadians/Americans/Brits must be vigilant against fundamentalists among us who may seize the opportunity unleash their own totalitarian agendas amid growing insecurity.


What Others Had to Say:

  • Steve Janke pondered the RCMP’s claims concerning the size of the reported bomb, based on the often-reported 3 tonnes of ammonium nitrate: “Using the 94% ratio and the size of the overall bomb, and ignoring the RCMP stated amount of ammonium nitrate used, the Oklahoma bomb used 4700 pounds of ammonium nitrate, or 2.1 metric tons. That means the size of the bomb being imagined by the Toronto terrorists was somewhat larger than the Oklahoma bomb, but not as large as suggested at the news conference. Closer to 50% larger, and not 200% larger.”
  • Red Tory is highly skeptical of the notion that “freedom” is what’s under attack. “Such naïve sentiments have since been a cornerstone of faith for right-wing ideologues and a mixed bag of others from across the political spectrum that refuse to acknowledge the obvious connection between radical Islamic terrorism and the long, dark history of self-serving American foreign policy in the Middle East. Whether through ignorance or obduracy, they remain willfully blind to the historical fact that America has in the past toppled legitimate governments, propped up brutally repressive dictatorships, and even condoned mass murder and atrocities in order to facilitate its own “national security interests” in the region.”
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