Arkady's Thoughts

An ongoing story with the Iranian ship suspected of carrying weapons for Hamas has taken an interesting twist. Last week US released the ship after determining that the cargo was not intended for Hamas , despite the fact that Iran is in clear violation of a UN resolution preventing Iran from selling weaponry. The ship is now in the custody of Cyprus and according to the latest story from DEBKAfile and surprisingly from AsiaNews , Cyprus finds itself in a pickle. US who just let go of the ship is pressuring Cyprus to search the ship and take action. One might wonder why the United States is pressuring Cyprus to do a task, that could have been just as easily done last week. Consequently, Iran is threatening Cyprus with economic and possibly military retribution if the ship is not released immediately. Cyprus fears that if the ship is released, then Israel will be forced to intervene and handle this mess in ways Israel sees fit. This could have the potential of escalating already very t...

In the midst of the massive propaganda war it is easy to forget what is truly the source of all the conflicts. Unfortunately the media is interested in sensationalizing the violence and concentrating on daily activities, they have no time to truly explain what the two sides are fighting for nor do they care or know. To further exacerbate the situation, both the Israelis and the Palestinians have launched campaigns to win over the minds and hearts of the world. While civilian death are always tragic, regardless of what side, the tragedy comes from not so much the immediate loss of life, but the utter hopelessness of the situation at hand. Specifically the mentality that currently exists in the Arab world, is such that future civilian death becomes a most certain inevitability and this is where the sadness lies. If you are truly interested in learning the source of the problem, then there are two articles that are highly recommended. When encountering passionate pro-Palestinian support...

As I watch the war versus Hamas develop and the ground invasion roll out I am thinking to myself, what is the purpose of all this? Some of the effects are quite clear, others are a bit muddied. Clear effects are the easily tangible and observable ones. A most striking and obvious phenomenon is that everyone has an opinion. The blogosphere is rife with opinions; some angry and passionate, some muted and somber. Coverage is non-stop and the pundits offer a bouquet of insight and opinions. What is clear to me at least, is that this particular war that started in the hay days of 2008 is a very polarizing war. People have for the most part scurried into two major camps; First camp is of the opinion that Hamas must be wiped out at all costs, the second camp believes without equivocation that Israel is in the midst of genocide and performing atrocities every day. Naturally there are some (minority) that find themselves in the middle, sympathetic to the plight of Israel's security and...