Post by Moses on Nov 18, 2004 20:32:52 GMT -5
"Ohio has failed the world"
Ahmed Sobhan, Akron, Ohio
I commend the courage of Mr. Zaied Ali for his excellent article. In light of the various legislation enacted to seek out "terrorists" on the soil of the United States, such as the "Patriot Act", "Homeland Security" and "Tips", I hope and pray that Mr Ali will not end up being a victim, but rather will be afforded the freedom to express his opinion as guaranteed by the constitution of the United States.
In order to understand Mr. Ali's view point, one needs to understand the peculiarities of the US democratic system. Contrary to popular belief, the democratic system, instead of being "by the people, of the people and for the people", is more of "by the lobbies, of the lobbies and for the lobbies". To the un-initiated, a lobby is usually a person or a company (law firms in most cases) that have unobstructed access to the upper echelons of the US government. The job of a lobby is to influence the lawmaking process of the US government to enact laws in favour of the special interests being represented by the lobby. Lobbies invest heavily in presidential campaigns. Most of the funding for advertising, travel, and budget for campaign staff comes from funding provided by the lobbies. Industrial giants such as UNOCAL, ENRON, IBM, GM and Microsoft, for example, utilise lobbies to obtain business benefits and tax breaks.
Religious and political groups also utilise lobbies to further their own agenda. Two such groups are the Evangelical Christians led by Rev Billy Graham and the Zionists. While the Zionists do not have a representative leader they are comprised of political and financially influential persons in the United States. Many of the architects and supporters of the war on Iraq are Zionists, such as Ken Adleman, Paul Wolfowitz, Daniel Pipes, and billionaire publisher Steve Forbes. The objective of the Zionists is to ensure the continuity of Israel by ensuring the uninterrupted flow of money (6 billion per year, officially) and arms to Israel, and destruction of any and all states that oppose the existence of Israel. The objective of the Evangelical Christians, on the other hand, is to destroy Islam in Jerusalem. In essence, the objectives of these two lobbies are therefore the same, while they may differ in religious ideology.
With Jerusalem surrounded and protected by Israel, the purpose of the Christian Evangelists is being served. With the continued genocide in Palestine , with most of the Arab governments reduced to proxy governments of the West, with the current war on Iraq and soon to be commenced war on Syria and Iran, the objective of both the Evangelical Christians and the Zionists are being served. Add to that the voracious appetite of the US economy for oil. With Iran and Iraq each having as much oil as Saudi Arabia, subduing these two countries to ensure uninterrupted flow of oil is an added boon.
In order to maintain this comfortable status quo, therefore, Mr. Bush, with his aggressive stance was the candidate of choice of these two lobbies, among others. Mr Kerry on the other hand appearing subdued and eager to mediate the US out of its quagmire in Iraq and create a Palestinian State, was percieved as weak and ineffective.
***
www.thedailystar.net/2004/11/19/d41119110384.htm
Ahmed Sobhan, Akron, Ohio
I commend the courage of Mr. Zaied Ali for his excellent article. In light of the various legislation enacted to seek out "terrorists" on the soil of the United States, such as the "Patriot Act", "Homeland Security" and "Tips", I hope and pray that Mr Ali will not end up being a victim, but rather will be afforded the freedom to express his opinion as guaranteed by the constitution of the United States.
In order to understand Mr. Ali's view point, one needs to understand the peculiarities of the US democratic system. Contrary to popular belief, the democratic system, instead of being "by the people, of the people and for the people", is more of "by the lobbies, of the lobbies and for the lobbies". To the un-initiated, a lobby is usually a person or a company (law firms in most cases) that have unobstructed access to the upper echelons of the US government. The job of a lobby is to influence the lawmaking process of the US government to enact laws in favour of the special interests being represented by the lobby. Lobbies invest heavily in presidential campaigns. Most of the funding for advertising, travel, and budget for campaign staff comes from funding provided by the lobbies. Industrial giants such as UNOCAL, ENRON, IBM, GM and Microsoft, for example, utilise lobbies to obtain business benefits and tax breaks.
Religious and political groups also utilise lobbies to further their own agenda. Two such groups are the Evangelical Christians led by Rev Billy Graham and the Zionists. While the Zionists do not have a representative leader they are comprised of political and financially influential persons in the United States. Many of the architects and supporters of the war on Iraq are Zionists, such as Ken Adleman, Paul Wolfowitz, Daniel Pipes, and billionaire publisher Steve Forbes. The objective of the Zionists is to ensure the continuity of Israel by ensuring the uninterrupted flow of money (6 billion per year, officially) and arms to Israel, and destruction of any and all states that oppose the existence of Israel. The objective of the Evangelical Christians, on the other hand, is to destroy Islam in Jerusalem. In essence, the objectives of these two lobbies are therefore the same, while they may differ in religious ideology.
With Jerusalem surrounded and protected by Israel, the purpose of the Christian Evangelists is being served. With the continued genocide in Palestine , with most of the Arab governments reduced to proxy governments of the West, with the current war on Iraq and soon to be commenced war on Syria and Iran, the objective of both the Evangelical Christians and the Zionists are being served. Add to that the voracious appetite of the US economy for oil. With Iran and Iraq each having as much oil as Saudi Arabia, subduing these two countries to ensure uninterrupted flow of oil is an added boon.
In order to maintain this comfortable status quo, therefore, Mr. Bush, with his aggressive stance was the candidate of choice of these two lobbies, among others. Mr Kerry on the other hand appearing subdued and eager to mediate the US out of its quagmire in Iraq and create a Palestinian State, was percieved as weak and ineffective.
***
www.thedailystar.net/2004/11/19/d41119110384.htm