If attacked, Iran wants Syria to hit back at Israel. Damascus hedges

The Iranian visitor indicated that Tehran expects an Israeli attack within a month. According to Iranian intelligence, Jerusalem will take its green light from President Barack Obama's forced admission after Christmas that his policy of dialogue and stiffer sanctions have failed in the face of Tehran's rejection of the international proposal to send its enriched uranium for overseas processing.

"The countdown for war is coming close to its end," said Vahidi to the joint defense committee. "And we must get our strategic partnership in shape ahead of time."

via docstalk.blogspot.com

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NYTimes Reviews a book by David Priestland about Communism and admits more or less that it is dead, but then blames Marxism on the West? pathetic

Notice the orchestrated attack on the West for it's own conflict: "We should beware these inequalities, he writes, and also beware the West’s sometimes “messianic” desire to export its “system — sometimes by force — across the globe.” Communism may be all but dead, and let’s tramp the dirt down, but the injustices and resentments that brought it to life are thriving almost everywhere."

on the contrary it is the West that gives us the idea of goal oriented thought that allows evolving ideas. It is the West that allows us terms of thinking that we can improve things. The better part of Marxism was it's naive faith that the people could better themselves... even though it was expressed in Darwinian terms of inevitability as opposed to a will to improve and do good. It is upsetting to see the idea of Messianisic thought abused. It's like this guy didn't really learn the lesson of history. There is still within Messianic ideas the need for proactivism. While it is true that those with faith are optimists and think things will work out for the "good", on the other hand it still takes a community and cooperation to get there. Perhaps this is the part of Communism that failed more then anything. The idea that things will just fall into place is a 19th century construct of Social Darwinism and it is flawed.

"Mr. Priestland gives far more credit, in terms of bringing down the Soviet Union, to Mr. Gorbachev than to President Ronald Reagan. Communist rule imploded, he writes, “not from pressure from without but as a result of an internal nonviolent revolution, staged by the elite of the Communist party itself.”"

I did however agree with this guys idea that Islam is the new "LEFT" that is totalitarian, but that is kind of obvious at this point. Glad the guy isn't completely oblivious.

Excerpt: ‘Red Flag’ (pdf)

Musée d’Histoire Contemporaine, Paris

“On Your Horse, Proletarian!” (1919) from the Russian civil war.

AKG-Images

An 1898 German cartoon shows the traditional political parties drowning.

David Priestland Chronicles Communism in ‘The Red Flag’

via nytimes.com Posted via web from noahdavidsimon's posterous

Palinism - December 2, 2009 - The New York Sun

This started to come into view for us when she gave her interview to Barbara Walters and was asked what she thought of Israel’s West Bank settlements. “I disagree with the Obama administration on that,” Palin replied. “I believe that the Jewish settlements should be allowed to be expanded upon, because that population of Israel is, is going to grow. More and more Jewish people will be flocking to Israel in the days and weeks and months ahead. And I don’t think that the Obama administration has any right to tell Israel that the Jewish settlements cannot expand.”

Her comments ignited something of a kerfuffle on the pro-Israel left, which has long opposed Israel’s settlements. But the formulation by the former Alaska governor struck us as a wonderful statement of an emerging policy. It provides a glimpse of a leader who would respect Israel’s right to establish, democratically, its own strategy in its own sphere and could restore the standing of America’s president in the eyes in the Israelis, among whom it has plunged since President Obama’s speech in Cairo and his out-reach to the non-democratic Arab leaders.

via nysun.com

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