Are You Not Entertained?

The Thin Line Between Entertainment and War
(Screamer Post)

 Are you not entertained Mr.Obama?

Is this not what you wanted Mr Putin?

War does not take from one more or less than it takes from another. All those who are subjected to it's wrath are forever changed. Those who see it's face and walk away with their lives will forever bare it's wounds. It is a crime that makes no distinction between combatant and civilian. It only seeks it's pound of flesh, it's ounce of blood. Once invited... once provoked, war takes us further than we could have ever dreamed possible. Where we give an inch, war tends to take a mile. For the innocent civilians in Syria this has been a war that refuses to end. It was invited through the excesses of a few and yet claims far too many. The wounds it has left may never truly heal. 

The West has sat on the sidelines of this war. Like so many cases that came before it, we told ourselves it was acceptable for a barbaric regime to kill it's own people in any way it saw fit. Then, with the images of children being killed playing on our screens, we made a bloody line in the sand. Our leaders, in all their so called wisdom, decided to play a game of chicken with the enemy of all free peoples. We told a sadist that there was a form of torment that we would not tolerate. We expected that our entertainment with his downfall would continue, that Assad would refrain from provoking us. 

Assad showed that he was far more than capable of crossing that line. 

Bombing bread lines, using cluster munitions, utilizing chemical weapons, and firing SCUD missiles upon his own citizens; Assad showed the West where his line in the sand was. It is a thin line between his own ego and total war. It is a line that he is happy to dance around while the West remains shocked by the brazen arrogance of Syria's tyrant. All the while Putin and China try their best to drag Assad well past the point of no return. 

For three long years we have dictated to the rebels in Syria what we wanted of them. We criticized them for allowing extremists into their ranks while refusing to answer their pleas for intervention. We told them to avoid acts of barbarism that parroted Assad's own abuses while refusing to ship them weapons with which to defend themselves. We told them to avoid shooting prisoners of war while refusing to provide them supplies with which to keep the captured Shabiha alive. For three long years President Obama has used the Syrian resistance as pawns in his games with Russia. 

When was the last time we seriously attempted to bring the war to an end? When was the last time we honestly asked the Syrian people what they actually want? Why can't America and Russia back down and allow the Syrian people the right to self-determination that we all claim for ourselves? 

If we were to strip the radical mercenaries from both sides of the battle lines, if we were to send the Hezbollah thugs back home, if we were to make the Iranians leave the front lines; what would Syria have to say about it's own fate? 

If Putin was to back down from his support of a tyrant he is attempting to make into a puppet, if Obama was to honestly back away from his supposed support of the rebels; what would the civilians in Damascus want the world to hear about this war? 

(Female rebels prepared to fight alongside their male comrades)

Would we hear stories of families being forced to surrender their sons and daughters to a fight they didn't want in the first place? Or would we hear tales of entire communities sending all able-bodied men, women, and youth off to the front? Would we see families torn between loyalist dedication to Assad and open rebellion against the dictator? Or would we see the battle lines drawn strictly between communities and religious factions?

War has a way of fogging the reality that rest just beneath the surface. It creates a barrier between what is real and what we want it to be. Once the line between the two is erased we are left with a brutal realization of where we failed to act and where we overreached. Syria has not broken that barrier in the eyes of Western onlookers. It remains shrouded by the haze that war brings with it.

For the time being we are not able to see the complete picture of what is happening on the ground in Syria. Yet we find ourselves fixated by the carnage that peeks out from beneath the fog. For some it is heart wrenching. For others it is a perverted form of entertainment as they cheer one side or the other.

In the politics of the West verse East Syria is a form of perverse entertainment. Even though it threatens to force us over the thin line between entertainment and proxy war, Syria remains a chess game for politicians who act like dictators in their own right. While the people of Syria face one of the worst humanitarian disasters of our time our world leaders use their suffering to gain political capital.

(Syrian Refugees Fleeing For Turkey)

When this is all over will we be able to look the victims in their eyes? Will we be able to tell ourselves that we did our part in protecting the vulnerable? Will we be able to say before the world that we took a stand against this hedonistic slaughter? Or will the world have to hang it's head and apologize in the same way we did after Rwanda... after Bosnia... after Cambodia... after the Armenia?

As for our leaders, for those who hold the power to call off the dogs of war, are you not satisfied? Have these past three years not been entertaining Washington? Moscow? London? Beijing? Tehran? Have the people of Syria not suffered enough for your selfish desires? Or have they not paid enough in blood to satisfy the divide between the West and East?







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A Line In The Sand

United States Shows Yellow Streak Over Red Line Comment
(The Darkness Visible series)

In August of 2012 President Obama said before the world in no uncertain words that the United States would not tolerate Assad's regime crossing the "red line" by using chemical weapons. In the strongest words the President could afford, Obama told Assad's regime that the use of Syria's chemical weapon stockpiles would have "serious consequences". The audience was supposed to recall Gaddafi and the US military's actions in Libya. This was Obama's moment to sound like a war hawk while seeking to be a dove.

“We have been very clear to the Assad regime but also to other players on the ground that a red line for us is, we start seeing a whole bunch of weapons moving around or being utilized.”

~ President Barack Obama, 20th August 2012

Well today we know that Assad crossed that "red line" after dancing upon it and the bones of the dead beneath it. This was Assad's way of telling the West that he doesn't fear them. This was Assad's way of telling Obama that unlike Gaddafi, Assad will not be removed from power by any UN or NATO action. Assad showed his teeth when Obama attempted to back him into a corner.

With the use of sarin gas Assad showed the world that his military is only getting started in a long fight to maintain power over the people of Syria. While the world watches and cheers on the rebel forces, Assad still has plenty of resources to draw upon to win this fight. He has shown with the use of chemical weapons that he will utilize whatever weapons he needs to to win this war. And once the fight has ended, Assad's al-anfal campaign will begin.

"We need to expand the evidence we have, we need to make it reviewable, we need to have it corroborated," ~ Jay Carney, White House Press Secretary 4th June, 2013

While the White House drags their heels the forces of Assad's brutal regime continue to move chemical weapons about Syria in preparation for wider use. The intent to suppress unorganized units of the rebels while pinning down battle hardened opposition has proven to be useful to Assad's military. They have been able to hold their ground while the opposition has been able to only shift the line on one point just to lose another. All the while Assad has been receiving arms and goods from Iran, Russia, and China. Allowing the regime to hold out while the rebels beg for supplies from the West. 

With every passing day the civilians trapped between the trenches are sacrificed to an ever shifting line in the sand. Obama's promise of action had shifted that line in their favor last year. Now it has been dragged back over the border as the Syrian people become refugees in their own country. For the lucky ones there is still the hope to cross the only permanent lines by fleeing the country for Turkey and Lebanon. 

“These weapons are made to be used strictly and only in the event of external aggression against the Syrian Arab Republic.” ~ Jihad Makdissi, Foreign Ministry Spokesman.

Then there remains the threat that Syria issued in July of 2012 when Assad was beginning to realize that UN or NATO troops might intervene. It was at that time that Assad raised the stakes by declaring that his forces would use any and all chemical weapons against foreign soldiers and/or nations who interfered. This now (that we already know Syria has used chemicals) hints that Assad has something worse than sarin gas to use on outsiders. It also leaves one to wonder just why Assad went ahead and used sarin gas in the first place. 

So we should therefore ask ourselves, us in the United States, if we want our troops exposed to a war where the other side has already used chemicals and promises to use them again. We must ask if we wish to sacrifice our blood and treasure to end the suffering of Syrian civilians trapped between two armies (or more). And just how much will we invest to end the bloodshed? Will we accept the cost of spilling blood to supposedly end the flow of innocent blood? Just how much more suffering can we stomach? 

"Russia has been a key supporter of Assad, protecting his regime from the United Nations sanctions and providing it with weapons despite the two-year civil war in which more than 70,000 people have been killed." ~ CBS News

With the cold war supposedly dead the West finds itself face to face with a man that reminds many of Stalin reincarnated. Putin's Russia has supplied Assad with weapons that the unstable regime had previously only been able to drool over. Now the crazed president uses Russian munitions upon his own citizens, killing women and children rather intentionally. All of which has brought a weakened West to an awkward feeling of déjà vu (think Vietnam, Afghanistan, or even Korea). 

If the United States is to overcome its reputation of making false promises and hollow threats it will be facing off with Russian made weapons and Soviet trained units. This would be a war where the UN and NATO forces would not necessarily be better armed than their prey. Instead Obama would be throwing American lives into the breach without knowing what the opposite side is willing to bring to the table. 

So once again, should we be ready to join the fray? 

For over two years I have listened to the loudest and most persistant voices here at home say that "it is sad what is happening to those Syrians, but... it's not our fight.". The irony to me is that most of the time these are the same people who uphold President Bush's decision to invade Afghanistan and Iraq. When there was the promise of gain from the sacrifice of others, these were the people who were ready to "liberate" an opponent. These were the brave warriors of "freedom". These were the ones who claimed the moral high ground while we, the underclass, sacrificed our brothers and sisters for their wars. 

Now we are faced with a war to end the slaughtering of innocent civilians by a tyrannical dictator. For the first time in a generation we are presented with a good fight. And suddenly the West backs down with their tails between their legs. Where have the war hawks gone? Where did the moral high ground disappear to? Where is Uncle Sam's conscience now that the blood of innocence is upon our President's hands? 

Promises of this magnitude can not be backed away from just because the other side has taken the opportunity to up the ante. When we tell a dictator that we will act we must do so. Any hesitation is complacency with the crimes committed by the enemy. Any motion that even hints that we are turning away from our word is a defeat before we ever begin. Barack Obama must be forced to stand up and be a man. He must be forced to uphold his promise to the people of Syria. 

What if China and Iran back Russia and engulf the region in civil war? What if the West is being dragged into a proxy war? What if Syria is just the first domino to fall? 

There will always be reasons to stand by while innocent lives are being destroyed. We will always have fears to face when we are presented with the right thing to do. If doing what is needed was easy then France would already be mobilizing. But the reality that Syria presents to the West is that when faced with massacres and the war crimes that Assad has given us we have no other option. This is where we prove that freedom is not free. And that no matter what, we will never surrender our belief that the liberty of others is always worth the risk... the fight... the suffering... and the blood we will surely spill. 

Putin and Assad may have led us to this moment. Their desire to prove our weakness may very well be reason for the constant antagonism that Syria displays to the West. Yet in the end we have to live with the fact that a promise was made. We drew the line in the sand. And we can't let it be moved again.

Source Documents
(Note: not all sources listed)

CBS News
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57587640/france-says-sarin-gas-used-in-syria/
-
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57587531/putin-russia-has-not-sent-s-300-air-defense-missiles-to-syria-yet/
-
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57587007/russia-to-sell-mig-jet-fighters-to-syria-jet-maker-says/

NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/05/world/middleeast/obamas-vow-on-chemical-weapons-puts-him-in-tough-spot.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
-
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/21/world/middleeast/obama-threatens-force-against-syria.html
-
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/24/world/middleeast/chemical-weapons-wont-be-used-in-rebellion-syria-says.html

Faceless Killers

The Anonymity Of Myanmar's Murderers
(The Darkness Visible series)

When Hitler came to power the world was shown the face of the evil that had befallen it. That little mustache and comb-over hair style has come to define what it means to be evil for many of us. No matter how you dressed the man, no matter how many kissing baby scenes are shown to us of him, Adolf is still the man who launched the Holocaust. For Jews, Romani, Sinti, Communist, Poles, and countless other victims the simple addition of that mustache to an image invokes the memory of his terror.

A similar attachment to the image of Pol Pot can be found in Cambodian communities around the world. The memory of what happened when the Khmer Rouge took power still haunts the landscape of Cambodia. The men who helped bring about the horrors of the "party" still linger as old reminders of what once was. Old men now, the rest of Cambodia wait for the Khmer leaders to pass away as the world forgets the hidden genocide that these savages unleashed.

It is in this way that the two genocides define what it is in historic cases of this crime for the people, the victims, to know who it is that oppresses them. In the case of the Holocaust survivors it was their neighbors and their countrymen. They could almost predict who it was that sold them out to the gestapo. Old rifts in the social fabric were brought to the surface as the Nazi regime exploited the worst tendencies of mankind. For these victims of genocide there was clearly the Nazi party itself to blame... Hitler at it's head.

In Cambodia the order of the Khmer party was clouded. Most victims knew their attackers. They had grown up with these people. Like the Jews of Europe, the Cambodian victims of genocide could often name their attackers by name and often where they had lived and grown up. But the major difference was that in Cambodia, most of the victims of the genocide couldn't identify just why they were being selected for death. Instead of being selected for ethnic differences the Cambodian regime chose their victims by social class, political affiliation, level of education, and level of "pollution" by foreign influences. Just as to who was giving the orders, most Cambodian victims couldn't tell you any of the other party leaders outside Pol Pot himself.

What links the two genocides in just how they came about is the establishment of a "cult of personality" that their architects were able to create prior to the start of the killing itself.

Adolf Hitler came to power almost against the will of the German people... almost. With the acceptance of his political style (fascism) the German public warmed to the ideas the man presented. This was aided by the fact that Hitler offered the world, literally. For all the setbacks the German people felt they were suffering under the rise of the Nazi party Hitler always seemed to have a perk to offer so as to soften the blow.

Pol Pot on the other hand came to power through war. It was in this conflict to gain control that Pol Pot was able to manipulate his followers into blind obedience. With promises of utopia at the other end of the tunnel, Pol Pot was able to build camaraderie amongst the old peasant class. His cult went from being the outsiders to being the rulers. Thus allowing Pol Pot to force ideals that the majority of Cambodia had rejected upon them through military dominance.

In Burma we can't seem to identify the leader of the government outside the puppet he/she/they present in Thein Sein's presidency. We are told that Myanmar is a government in transition from military rule to democratic rule. Yet the old junta offers up one of their own to act as president. So without transparency we are left with only a puppet where past genocidal regimes have offered a cult like leader.

For months now I have watched as countless activist single out Thein Sein as the supposed mastermind of the genocides against ethnic minorities across Burma. And with every claim to that extent I have countless questions that go unanswered. Such as how does the mastermind of the Rohingya genocide promise to start looking at recognizing the Rohingya as an ethnic group? Hitler never promised to help his victims in any way whatsoever. And how is that Thein Sein is the leader of this genocidal campaign when he can't seem to organize his own party let alone an offensive campaign of extermination? Pol Pot had his party wrapped up air tight before launching his genocide.

Before anyone starts to assume I'm defending Sein let me make it clear now that Thein Sein should be held accountable for his role in this genocide. The man should be tried for crimes against humanity. And for doing nothing to stop it, Thein Sein should be executed.

I just don't think that Thein Sein is the brains or the muscle behind the genocides occurring in Myanmar. He is just a willing puppet.

The old junta is still hiding behind the scenes. They still push the buttons in Myanmar's government as they hide amongst the seats of its political parties. When Rohingya were found within an opposing party they demanded (and got) the expulsion of Rohingya from positions within the government. In doing this they act like the SA prior to the formation of the SS in Hitler's Germany. They weed out their enemies and single them out for death.

Faceless, the true leaders of Burma are able to avoid guilt by pinning it to willing accomplices. If the world suddenly decided to act and stop the Rohingya genocide it would be Thein Sein left standing beneath the gallows. This is the benefit of being invisible. They can still elicit the fear that they have grown accustom to without the threat of being held accountable.

Saddam Hussein achieved this not by hiding behind the curtain but rather by forcing members of his government to sign off on the most corrupt orders that came off his desk. By affixing guilt to countless others Saddam made it less likely that he alone would be held accountable for the deaths of thousands of Kurds and Iranians. When he decided to use chemical weapons the world was unable to claim that Saddam alone gave the order since the papers were littered with other signatures. It was only through his narcissism that Saddam got himself hung.

So is it the lack of narcissist in the junta that leave us without a clear figurehead to blame for the genocides currently taking place in Myanmar? Doubtful.

The door to Burma has been sealed shut for decades. Before the country opened up a couple years ago the only stories we had of life behind the blinds was that of what refugees had told the world. Today we finding out that their tales were just the tip of the iceberg. We are seeing what it means to be trapped under the weight of mad men. Looking through the doorway we are seeing desperation, starvation, and hopelessness.

The fact that we can't write down a list of the killers' names doesn't mean that they don't exist. We can see the evidence of their misdeeds from the Shan state down to the Arakan state. On the faces of Rohingya refugees we can read the stories of these murderers' sins. The evidence is there even if we can't yet find just who it was that put it there.

Thein Sein is a admiral foe. He is far from weak, the junta wouldn't have put him out in front if he wasn't. This is a smart enemy who knows how to manipulate the media attention he receives as he lies from behind a tainted smile. When in the presence of world leaders he knows how to walk and talk. Thein Sein is a talented foe.

But he has a weakness.

No man wants his legacy to be that of destruction and murder. Thein Sein is no different. All it takes to break his facade is the correct pressure from the right leaders. With the right people cutting him off at the knees, Thein Sein's narcissism will come to the surface.

So now all we have to do is find a way to make heroes out of cowards.

We need to find ways to get our nations' leaders to come out and address the issue at hand. We can no longer tolerate lip service from the people we elect to represent us. If they will not act then we must go against the political affiliations that have guided us this far. We must seek out leaders who will seek justice even when it is hard to do.

Until then we must continue to apply pressure on our current leaders. We must be relentless in our efforts to grab their attention and hold it. Once we have them by the leash we must guide them to the actions we want. We cannot wait for them to come around to the issue on their own, G-d knows they never will. It is our duty to push them toward what is right. It is our battle to force politicians to do what is most unnatural for politicians to do... that which is right.

The Death Of The Individual Is A Tragedy

The Deaths of Thousands Are A Statistic
~ Joseph Stalin 
(part of The Darkness Visible series and Screamers series)

Almost a year ago the pogroms of the Rohingya in the Arakan began in earnest. After months of Nazi style propaganda being pumped into the region the murmur of hatred erupted into violence. We were told that the "ethnic violence" went both ways. We were told that the Rohingya started the ethnic clashes and therefore could not be considered the victims. This all came from countries that had just previously lifted their sanctions upon Myanmar and were suddenly interested in doing business with the second most reclusive country on the planet. Of course, with Burma opening up the country did jump up in the rankings leaving North Korea alone once again.

Yet with all the talk about how horrible (code in the West for inconvenient) the slaughtering of Rohingya men, women, and children; the supposedly civilized world did nothing to stop the bloodshed. European leaders welcomed Suu Kyi and Thein Sein to endless events and even awarded the two architects of death with the Nobel Peace Prize. When Thein Sein's military establishes concentration camps and converts Rohingya neighborhoods into ghettos... automatically nominated for a Peace Prize. When Suu Kyi tells the West that the Rohingya "question" can only be answered by Burma and that her country will decided who gets citizenship or not... pat on the back and oh yeah, Peace Prize.

Then there is Obama. The great supporter of democracy. The anointed leader of a failed agenda to get the world to love America once again. And yet all he can afford the Rohingya is a short speech and some hollow promises about America's support for equality and justice. But to be fair, this was another Nobel Peace Prize winner who did nothing to earn it. So it only makes sense that Obama, like Suu Kyi, shouldn't have to denounce the murderers and admit that Myanmar is committing genocide.

On April 22nd, 2013 Human Rights Watch once again released a report in which they spell out just how the government of Myanmar is committing "crimes against humanity" and "ethnic cleansing". Once again the human rights organization spells out the long list of sins the leaders of Burma have committed and just where and when these crimes were committed. The report is aptly named "All You Can Do Is Pray" (link: http://www.hrw.org/reports/2013/04/22/all-you-can-do-pray-0 )

Time and time again Alder's Ledge has recorded events from the Arakan without much help from our usual supporters. We have reported on the attempts by the Burmese government to force Rohingya out of Burma by driving them into the sea or over the border and into Bangladesh. This was then followed by reports of Burmese officials helping Buddhists "Burmese" to immigrate from Bangladesh and take over the suddenly unoccupied Rohingya neighborhoods and villages. Yet with the striking similarities to past and other present cases of ethnic cleansing the world remains silent.

For the past year Alder's Ledge has made it a top priority to highlight the plight of the Rohingya people. Now we are asking our old followers and our new ones to join with us and help spread the news about the Rohingya genocide. This is a simple act that helps break the silence surrounding the genocide and raises awareness of it. We here at Alder's Ledge call it "screaming".

All you have to do to take part is to share these articles here and the reports we share such as this one by Human Rights Watch. By posting the links on your Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or even Instagram you allow these articles a wider audience than they would otherwise receive. Reports like this one from Human Rights Watch are only usually given blips in news reports and short articles by media around the web. Your sharing them allows this important topic to be seen by people who might never hear about it otherwise.

Help Alder's Ledge bring some form of recognition to the plight of Rohingya people. Let us not fall into the mindset illustrated by Joseph Stalin. May we never believe for even a moment that the death of one person is somehow more of a tragedy than the deaths of thousand of innocent people.

Scream.

Indonesia's American Backed Genocides

Suharto's Holocaust
(part of The Darkness Visible series)

(Former President Clinton With Indonesian Dictator)

“The soldiers marched straight up to us [Western journalists]. They never broke their stride. We were enveloped by the troops, and when they got a few yards past us, within a dozen yards of the Timorese, they raised their rifles to their shoulders all at once, and they opened fire. The Timorese, in an instant, were down, just torn apart by the bullets. The street was covered with bodies covered with blood. And the soldiers just kept on coming. They poured in, one rank after another. They leaped over the bodies of those who were down. They were aiming and shooting people in the back. I could see their limbs being torn, their bodies exploding. There was blood spurting out into the air. The pop of the bullets, everywhere. And it was very organized, very systematic. The soldiers did not stop. They just kept on shooting until no one was left standing.” 

~ American Reporter Allan Nairn, 1991

Most Americans only seem to know Indonesia as one of the places President Obama mentions in his books as a place he grew up as a child. And much like Obama portrayed it in his book 'Dreams From My Father', Americans seem to picture it as a picturesque country... all be it developing at best. We tend not to be informed about the history of genocide that pot-marks Indonesian history. And very few Americans can even name the man that comes across as the Indonesian version of Hitler or Stalin. 

Sadly our government did and has always known about the history of genocide within Indonesia and East Timor. President after president has taken the time to fly out to Indonesia and pat the blood thirsty dictator on the back for his "hard work" developing the country. Not a single one even seemed bothered by the estimated 1.5 million dead that the tyrant racked up over his life time. 

So on January 27th, 2008 one can only imagine that newly elected President Barack Obama may have been disappointed that he would not join the long list of presidents to pat General Suharto on the back. That day the monster the US had backed finally died. Through old age, Suharto evaded justice and escaped punishment for the millions of deaths he had ordered and committed. 

(President Nixon with General Suharto)

(President Reagan with General Suharto)

So how culpable is the United States in the genocides that occurred on General Suharto's watch?

East Timor...

After the Timorese people gained their independence from the colonial rule of Portugal they found themselves moving away from American interest and towards communism as a means of coping with the power vacuum that followed liberation. This thorn in the American's fight against "the domino affect" was immediately identified by Washington DC with help of CIA and military intelligence services in the area. The desire to "fix" the situation in East Timor became the fixation of then President Ford. 

In reality, which is often contrary to Washington's version, East Timor was deeply divided between the right leaning Timorese Democratic Union party and the leftist Fretilin (Revolutionary Front of Independent East Timor) party. This political divide was only tipped into civil war when Indonesian and US propaganda and rumor drove the wedge till the Timor split. Thus the excuse for "solving the problem" was created. 

Indonesia, unlike America, was motivated to interfere with Timorese self-governance due to both nationalism and expansionist race theory. Much like Hitler's Nazi Germany, Suharto's Indonesia felt that the only way to grow their society was to steal both land and resources from lesser races. This was an ethnocentric belief that had been fueled by Suharto's own government and the cultural history of the ethnic groups that built up the Indonesian archipelago.

On December 7th, 1975 Indonesia launched Operation Lotus as it invaded East Timor. The death toll that would follow was horrific. To gain control over villages and cities the Indonesian military was ordered to annihilate all resistance and "clean house" of all potential threats. In modern terms this was a "scorched earth" policy in which the invader used total warfare to crush it's opponents and victims alike. 

(Suharto Used Wave After Wave of Assaults To Wipe Out Resistance)

“The Indonesian forces are killing indiscriminately. Women and children are being shot in the streets. We are all going to be killed…. This is an appeal for international help. Please do something to stop this invasion.”

~ Timor Radio Broadcast as the invasion began.

Over the entire length of the invasion the Indonesian military was unable to maintain and or control all key points throughout East Timor. The main reason was the devotion of Timorese resistance fighters and the FALINTIL soldiers who waged conventional and guerrilla warfare against the invading army. These brave soldiers fought tooth and nail to keep Indonesian soldiers from committing countless mass executions and rapes. 

However, no matter how hard the Timorese forces fought, they could not save everyone. 200,000 Timorese were killed in the invasion out of a total population of 600,000 prior to Suharto's invasion. The shear number of dead was staggering when one factors in just how ill equipped Indonesia was prior to US and English involvement and armament of Indonesian troops.

These figures (provided by Amnesty International) include deaths from military action, massacre, starvation, deaths in Indonesian concentration camps, and those who died from disease due to Indonesian policy and actions during the invasion. 

(Starvation Spread As Suharto Destroyed Any Food Supply)

(Suharto's Legacy in East Timor)

So just how much did the United States back the invasion of East Timor?

“It was Kissinger and Ford who gave permission to the Indonesian generals for their illegal annexation of East Timor, which turned into a genocide.” 

~ Christopher Hitchens in "The Accidental President" published in the 'Mirror'.

As early as March of 1975 the United States was already planning what to do about the Indonesian invasion of East Timor. The United States Ambassador to Indonesia, David Newsom recommended to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger that the United States use a "policy of silence" while dealing with General Suharto. This recommendation was nine months ahead of the invasion. It was agreed upon no later than eight months prior to Indonesia's invasion of East Timor. And it became White House policy more than half a year prior to this portion of Suharto's genocidal legacy. 

On the day of the invasion both President Ford and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger met with Indonesian President Suharto. Ford was clear with Suharto in pointing out that the United States could not put "boots on the ground" due to its embarrassing defeat in Vietnam. On the other hand Ford was forthcoming with his support for Suharto's invasion and the massacres that followed. Both Ford and Kissinger assured Suharto that the United States would supply any form of military support they could without actually pulling the trigger or putting American lives in harm's way. 

"We want your understanding if it was deemed necessary to take rapid or drastic action [in East Timor]," President Ford. "We will understand and not press you on the issue. We understand the problem and the intentions you have."

For the most part the United States had thrown its weight behind the Indonesian military with hopes that the invasion would be "swift" and without any real resistance. This meant that Ford's regime would need to supply the best weapons and ammunition that the United States could afford to hand over to a dictator. And yet at the same time the United States needed to make sure that US built weapons were not found in the hands of murderers should the invasion turn into a prolonged bloodbath. 

"It is important that whatever you do succeeds quickly," Kissinger directing Suharto. 

To assure this the United States handed over everything from destroyer escorts that were used to shell Timor coastal villages, the landing crafts that Indonesian troops came ashore on, the C-47s and C-130s from which Indonesian paratroopers dropped from, to the M-16s the Indonesian soldiers carried and the 50 caliber machine guns that supported them. US military personnel trained the Indonesian paratroopers on how to jump and where to jump in at. US navy officials were brought in to train Indonesian navy personnel on how to land the landing craft and where they could be brought ashore. In short... Ford spared nothing in his support of Suharto's bloody invasion. 

In total, the United State's backing of the invasion is often said to have amounted to an estimated $250 million dollars stretching from 1975 to 1979. This figure is only as trust worthy as the government that gave it however. 

"I probably have a lot of blood on my hands, but that’s not all bad."

~ US Embassy Worker in Jakarta, Indonesia

(West Papua Genocide Continues)

(Image from 2009)

West Papua...

In 1949 West Papua found itself the subject of fierce debate and a pawn in a hate filled rivalry between the colonized and the colonizer. Once Indonesia was granted its freedom from the Dutch it immediately set its eyes upon New Guinea. However the Dutch claimed that the area of West Papua was a distinct geographical area that was both culturally and ethnically different than that of Indonesia. The results of this feud live on into present day. 

The West Papua people formed their own flag, national anthem, and country's name before the Dutch left for good. The Netherlands noted that "West New Guinea" was clearly forming a national identity. They were beginning to thrive in ways that Indonesia have not yet accomplished as an already established country in its own right.

Suharto came to power in 1965 and after killing nearly 500,000 of his own countrymen he set his eyes upon West Papua. Indonesia had already begun small scale incursions into West Papua with backing of the United States. Suharto was determined to consolidate his power by increasing the size and severity of these incursions and ultimately the total invasion of West Papua. 

The Dutch stepped in one last time in the August of 1962 by forcing Indonesia before the UN. The disagreement over the fate of West Papua was carried out between the Netherlands and the Indonesians with the UN acting as mediator. The citizens of West Papua however were excluded from the decision that followed.

The 'New York Agreement' was the hammer that sealed the coffin for hundreds of thousands of Papuans. This agreement allowed the UN to maintain control of West Papua for a short period of time before handing the reigns of governance over to Indonesia. By the end of 1969 the fate of West Papua was sealed. 

Throughout the time that the UN was said to be in control of West Papua General Suharto's military encroached upon the already limited freedoms that West Papuans had. Brutal forms of torture were employed to make the outside world believe that Papuans wanted to be part of Indonesia. Countless lives were lost as Suharto's silent genocide got under way. 

In 1969 the UN committed the execution of West Papua before the world. The UN announced a rigged election they called "Act Of Free Choice". This election allowed Suharto to handpick 1,000 West Papuans to vote as they were told under duress and often at gun point. No one was truly surprised when West Papua was declared to have voted unanimously in favor of becoming part of Indonesia. The UN, with direction of the United States, had allowed Suharto to invade West Papua without the need to use all out military force. 

All throughout the UN's involvement in West Papua's "free state" period the UN observers sent to monitor the situation had complained about Suharto's military presence within West Papua. Countless times these very UN observers had sent complaints back to New York telling of Indonesian troops restricting UN movement within West Papua. When word of atrocities spread the UN was unable to investigate due to Suharto's policy of confinement when it came to UN personnel. This campaign of committing war crimes behind the scenes had gone on all the way since 1962 till the 1969 vote. 

(Jeny Badi, 18 year old Papuan girl, gang raped and shot by Indonesian troops. July 2012)

Dutch Report regarding West Papua upon the end of Dutch rule in 1961, "the first signs of the violent action taken by the Indonesian military, which would also characterize the new administration in the coming decades, soon appeared. Rapid impoverishment ensued, together with a substantial decline in legal certainty and a loss of civil rights across the board."

Once the UN was officially gone after the vote in 1969 Suharto declared West Papua as a "military operations zone". This allowed the Indonesian military full authority over West Papua and free reign over its unarmed population. Suharto's atrocities would go almost completely unnoticed in West Papua due to the restrictions that came with this declaration. 

In 1998 the "occupation" era of Indonesia's military presence was said to have officially ended with the overthrow of Suharto and his military regime in Indonesia. 100,000 Papuans were estimated to have died during the military occupation period that stretched from 1969 to 1998. This is once again out of a total population of 800,000 prior to the occupation. It does not include the 30,000 Papuans that were estimated to had been killed from 1963 to 1969. 

(Picture taken by Indonesian Soldier after he killed Ninuor Kwalik in 1998. He titled it "Trophy")

"In the three years since [Suharto] fell ... a broad, civilian-based Papuan independence movement has emerged along side the guerrilla fighters and, for the first time, poses a serious challenge for Indonesia"

~ 2001 Human Rights Watch Report

Suharto's legacy lives on in the way Indonesia deals with the "Free West Papua" movement. The movement had it's roots in the armed resistance by the same name that started in 1965. However the influx of common civilians into the guerrilla movement took shape almost immediately after Suharto fell from power in 1998. This movement has sparked the continuation of Suharto's policies across the board in Indonesian government. 

In 2003 Indonesia took Suharto's plans further by parceling out West Papua and dividing it up into three new territories. Their actions were based off the same philosophies the United States used to deal with Native American tribes across America. This action has helped to deprive West Papua of its unity and separate Papuans from one another. 

So just how big of a role has America played in the West Papua genocide?

In 2003 the Indonesian government launched a military operation meant to spread terror and disperse Papuans from the highlands. The actions taken by Indonesian troops included raids, rapes, countless murders, and the burning and looting of countless villages. 

Like so many of Indonesia's military campaigns, this one clearly was committed with American interest in mind. 

Freeport McMoran, a US company, operates a mine in the region where the bulk of the raids took place. Most of the violence was also linked to "security" payments the company pays to Indonesian military and police authorities.

According to Vanuatu-based West Papuan People's Representative Office, "The presence of Freeport McMoran in West Papua has not brought any appreciable benefits to the people ... Instead, the exploitation of the mine has wrought serious damage to the local culture, belief system, environment, social structure and political aspirations of the people ... Freeport also promotes violence in the immediate region by providing funds in the millions of US dollars to the Indonesian military and security forces to maintain 'security' over the mine area, beside the US$1 billion as annual dividend, paid last year to the Indonesian Government."

This is just one of many cases that show that unlike East Timor, in West Papua both American economics and politics play a role in supporting Indonesian policies of genocide and ethnic cleansing. Of course this is only accented by the same military sponsorship given to Indonesia in West Papua as was given to Suharto in his campaign in East Timor. 

The main difference between East Timor and West Papua is that the genocide in West Papua is still ongoing. This also unfortunately means that American support (both government based and civilian based) continues as well. Leaving Alder's Ledge to ask just how America could ever justify the deaths of an estimated 1.5 million at the hands of Indonesia's government over the lives of oppressed West Papuans to this day? 

Is it not time that the United States admit it's own past with genocide, it's involvement in foreign genocides, and it's complacency with ongoing genocides? Can we not move beyond our own selfishness and start righting the numerous wrongs these actions have led to? Or will the United States continue to back genocidal regimes like that of Indonesia and Burma?

Myanmar's Great Leap Forward

Following Mao's Form Of Reforms
(part of The Darkness Visible series)

("Flickers of Hope," Obama Speaking About Burma)

Thursday January 31st, 2013 as Reported by Burma News International

More land has been confiscated by Arakan state authorities for recently resettled Rakhine villagers in southern Maungdaw, according to a Rohingya farmer who spoke to Kaladanpress on condition of anonymity.

The farmer claims that about 150 acres of arable land that was being used to cultivate paddy was seized. Now the new settlers are utilizing the fields to grow their own produce. Another Rohingya farmer, who also didn’t want his name used, wondered how he will survive.  “We’re really struggling because the government isn’t allowing us to do anything.”

Much of the Rohingya populations in Arakan state have been restricted to their villages since the sectarian violence broke out in June. They can’t work; therefore they have no means to feed their families. Some are getting limited support from aid groups in the southern areas of the state. But in the north, where many Muslims are on the verge of starvation, there are no relief groups helping them. Groups like Nasaka (Burma’s border guard force) are making their lives even harder by making arbitrary arrests to extort money, and there has even been allegations of summary executions by the notorious border force.

Burmese Military Enforcing Barricade at Aung Mingalar Ghetto

As Myanmar enjoys the praise of world leaders from Europe to the United States and Canada the Rohingya continue to starve. Many are facing death as the country that afflicts them with hunger grows fat off of trade with the EU, China, and the Americas. Women, children, and the elderly are at the greatest risk of dieing as the world looks the other way. And yet despite all this men such as Barack Obama dare to praise Thein Sein and his fellow dictators for their "flickers of progress" in guiding Burma toward democracy. 

"Progress" in Burma appears however to be far from what we would expect President Obama to align himself with. The progress the government of Myanmar is looking at currently is the ever increasing death tolls in the Arakan state and the Kachin region. This effort to rid the state of given ethnic groups and religions does not reflect democracy, at least in the way the United States practices it, but more directly reflects Mao's cultural revolution.

With the confiscation of land to resettle the area with acceptable ethnic groups the Burmese take yet another step toward completion of their genocide. This step forward allows the Arakan authorities the opportunity to build the ranks of Rakhine people and at the same time to decrease what little food the Rohingya had available. But to the silent West this still somehow seems to be another "flicker of progress".

Arbitrary Arrests Help Nasaka Extort Bribes

Arakan authorities have also forced Rohingya out of villages that were attacked in the June and October pogroms to further make room for Rakhine settlers. Rohingya who tried to defend or protect their homes and families also now face arrest as their old villages are bulldozed. As of Tuesday, February 5th, eleven Rohingya men have been convicted to ten years for their part in fighting off Rakhine mobs. The homes and villages of these eleven men, from Zeydi Pyin and Hati Para, are now bulldozed.

This policy of arresting the male Rohingya once again only points toward the type of progress that Myanmar is looking towards. By arresting the males of the Rohingya community the Arakan authorities leave the Rohingya villages and camps helpless and defenseless. If and when ethnic violence starts again in the Arakan the Rohingya will be at an even greater disadvantage. And with the arrests still taking place they will constantly be reminded of what will happen if they even attempt to defend themselves.

Yet despite all of this mounting evidence of a government hellbent on the destruction of a designated ethnic group the world remains silent. When given the opportunity to speak out against the blatant campaign of ethnic cleansing the West has repeatedly shown their incompetence. Western media has gone out of its way to praise Burmese politicians such as Suu Kyi while avoiding the discussion of the Rohingya all together. Their deafening silence on the issue is only further amplified by world leaders who use Burma as a political tool rather than the humanitarian crisis it is.

All the while thousands of Rohingya in and around cities like Sittwe are reduced to begging for food just to survive.

“What most of the world is not aware of are the refugees that are not living in [registered] camps,” said Oddny Gumaer from Partners Relief and Development. “And those people are living in conditions that are so bad that I’m sure if the international community doesn’t do something very soon they are going to die.”

Relief workers struggle to help those in the most need as Burmese police and politicians fight to find ways to minimalism their efforts. Even with what little aid is flowing through the blockades the Rohingya are still starving to death. And with conditions constantly growing worse, disease and pestilence run rampant.

“If they are lucky they have a tarp to cover them, many of them have stitched together old rice sacks. There are no toilets, no sanitation, doctors, and no access to hospitals. I saw babies that were so malnourished and children with bloated stomachs and mothers that couldn’t feed their babies because they didn’t have any milk.” Oddny Gumaer

So how much longer are we going to wait before the world begins to act? It should be obvious by now that Myanmar is not even close to showing "flickers of progress". If this situation is not dealt with immediately the Rohingya people of Burma will perish. The outside world must force Myanmar to get serious about their so called "democratic reforms". And most importantly, we must stop the slaughter of the Rohingya and force Burma to allow all humanitarian aid to reach the Rohingya in both camps and villages.

Ultimately the world will have to protect the Rohingya and provide food for them. We can not wait till we are looking back at this and telling ourselves "never again" again.

Has Burma Crossed Obama's "Red Line"?

Chemical Weapon Claims In Kachin
(part of The Darkness Visible series)

(Myanmar Military Firing Mortars)

“Our military never uses chemical weapons and we have no intention to use them at all. I think the KIA (Kachin Independence Army) is accusing us wrongly,” presidential spokesman Ye Htut. 

When talking about Syrian President,  Bashar al-Assad, Obama said that the use of chemical weapons would have "consequences and you will be held accountable". This was the "red line" that Obama had laid out in his warning to Assad. It appeared by the end of Obama's speech that killing people with bullets and bombs was perfectly acceptable as long as more unconventional weapons did not enter the conflict. This speech also laid out a clear line in the sand for all tyrants that might be interested in slaughtering their own citizens. 

Burma is no exception to that long list of tyrannical regimes interested in committing genocide and ethnic cleansing. The one difference is that the Junta in Burma has no desire to exercise restraint. Unlike Iran or China, Burma is starting off with a virtually clean slate when dealing with the West. They are free from the sanctions that bind Iran and lack the economic leverage that currently binds China's hands. 

When dealing with what the West affectionately calls "ethnic clashes", Burma has used every weapon in their arsenal thus far. The "reform" party has engaged in mass starvation of the Rohingya, carpet bombing of the Kachin, and illegal deportations and mass executions of the Rohingya in the Arakan. Now the Kachin rebels claim that the Burmese military is and has for some time been using chemical weapons to push the Kachin people over the border and into China. 

As with most "ethnic clashes" the UN and Western governments has once again hopped into the conflict on the side of the ruling power... in this case Burma. 

(Laiza Citizens Build Bomb Shelters)

In 2011 the KIA made claims that the Burmese military had used chemical weapons. Back then the world seemed a little more interested since at the time Burma was still closed off to the outside world. However today with Burma ready to allow foreign economic investment the rest of the world seems painfully unwilling to admit that there might be chemical weapons being used. Once again money overrides human suffering. 

According to the KIA rebels the Burmese military has been using chemical weapons to push their soldiers off key outpost along the front line of the conflict. The soldiers that have claimed to survive the attacks say that the blast occur with a large wave of heat and then people loose consciousness. However the one flaw in their claims is the fact that nobody seems able to provide physical evidence of the bombs or the their affects. 

While dead bodies are easy to come by along the battle front the evidence of gassed soldiers or civilians seems impossible to find. For the most part chemical shell fragments and what appear to be cluster bombs are the only pieces of evidence provided. And while cluster ammunitions are illegal for use in any form of conflict their use has not been punished by the UN or ICC in either Syria or during the Iraq-Iran war. So there is no reason to believe that the UN will even enforce the law when dealing with Myanmar. 

As with most cases of war crimes the UN proves itself incompetent when facing the crimes as they occur. Even if Myanmar is found innocent and has not used chemical weapons it has committed several war crimes during this conflict. Evidence of mass executions, arbitrary arrests, and intentional targeting of civilians have all been documented in the conflict with the KIA. Myanmar has also committed several crimes against humanity when dealing with the Rohingya and other minority groups across Burma. And yet the UN refuses to act. 

So the question remains, has Burma crossed Obama's "Red Line"? And if so, what will the UN or US do to enforce these said "consequences"? Or will the West simply look the other way as yet another genocidal regime perpetrates horrific crimes against humanity?

Source Documents

(Note not all sources are listed)

CNN

http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/03/world/meast/syria-civil-war/index.html

The Express Tribune 

http://tribune.com.pk/story/492081/myanmar-denies-using-chemical-weapons-on-rebels/

The Democratic Voice of Burma

http://www.dvb.no/news/burma-denies-using-chemical-weapons-in-kachin/25671

Mizzima 

http://www.mizzima.com/special/kachin-battle-report/8707-burma-govt-denies-using-chemical-weapons-on-kachins.html

The Guardian 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2013/jan/03/burma-air-strike-kachin-rebels-video

Assad's al-Anfal

Syria's Inevitable End Game
(Part of The Darkness Visible series)

(Iraqi Kurdish Children Killed in Gas Attacks)

As the fighting worsens in and around Damascus the West has begun to realize that Assad has no way to leave the battlefield with any honor left intact. This fight to maintain control of Syria has left the dictator helpless as the country has descended into the abyss of war. It is in this sense of desperation that has become nearly palpable in the heart of Syria. A sense of desperation that is leading to more hopeless means of combat. Helping fuel the fear of another al-Anfal genocide within the region. 

In 1986, toward the end of the Iran-Iraq war, Saddam Hussein launched the worse campaign of genocide since the Nazis conquest of Europe. Attacking the Kurdish villages in northern Iraq, Saddam targeted all minority populations as well, the dictator embarked upon a war of annihilation. This was a barbaric battle to rid Iraq of those who Saddam deemed to be "non-Iraqi" or "non-Arabic" populations. 

"... Allah willed to justify the Truth according to His words and to cut off the roots of the Unbelievers..." Koran 8:7 

Saddam took the name of his genocide from the Holy Koran. Yet his war was far from holy. It was so barbaric and ghastly that not even the Western world couldn't look the other way. This was a war that would scar the minds of world leaders for decades to come. 

For the first time since the world wars the West would watch as gas was used to kill off thousands of people in just a matter of minutes. Men, women, and children died where they were standing as the shells carrying the gas fell from above. The images of children gasping for air were suddenly seen around the world. All were victims of Saddam's al-Anfal. 

Today Turkey joined the United States in warning the world of the lingering threat of Assad's vast chemical weapon stores. The United States State Department managed to piece together strong words of warning for Assad as they talked about the "red line" these unconventional weapons presented. Turkey on the other hand has a very real fear of these weapons being used along the border with Syria. After all, chemical and gas don't know the limits of the battlefield and rarely behaves as the murderers intend. 

Yet for all the warnings and all the nervousness surrounding the use of chemical weapons the Syrian government has already begun deployment of chemical weapons to the embattled areas. In Aleppo the West believes that enough chemical shells could already be in place to kill the local population without warning. Hundreds of thousands of Syrian civilians could be at risk as this post is being written. Even an upwards of a million civilians could be at risk as chemical weapons make their way across the country.

“Today I want to make it absolutely clear to Assad and those under his command: The world is watching,” President Barack Obama. 12/3/2012

It is clear now that Assad has every intention to use some measure of chemical weapons on his own citizens. It is also clear that Assad will use these weapons without warning and without relent. Once the gas begins to flow it will not stop till the UN or US step in to stop it. A level of commitment that the White House has finally begun to show it is willing to take on. 

But the question remains... just how many Syrians will have to die before the West starts to take military action to stop the genocide in Syria? 

A spontaneous offensive with the use of chemicals as it's spearhead will kill hundreds of thousands of Syrians in a matter of days at best. With Syrian civilians clustered together, so as to avoid the fighting, their populations are gathered in small areas. Gas will allow their numbers to be drastically decreased in the first few hours of the attacks. This appears to be what Assad is hinging his bets upon as his chemical weapons are now being deployed. 

“This is a red line for the United States,” Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. 12/3/2012

We may be watching. We may have plans to take action to stop the attacks. But as of now the United States can not nor will not be able to prevent the gas from being used. Once again the West has put themselves in a position where they can not protect those in the most need of it. We have failed the Syrians. 

This will be Assad's end game. 

The final stages of his rule are falling in place. The rebels are closing in upon their old master's stronghold. Assad is now nothing more than an animal... an animal that has been backed into a corner. Yet like most beast, Assad won't go down without a fight.

If the West wants to declare checkmate it should had already entered the fight and prevented this scenario from ever taking place. Now we have little we can do but attempt to limit the number of civilians Assad can take to Hell with him. Yet even this depends upon men like Barack Obama who have done nothing to stop us from getting to this point to begin with. 

How much more of this wretched war can Syria take? 

History In Replay Mode

A Plea For Humanity To Save The Rohingya
(Part of The Darkness Visible series)

(The Darkness Continues To Engulf The Rohingya)

Words without action are meaningless when one is dealing with irrational minds. The soul once tainted with hate knows no sense of reason. The heart once blinded by this disease knows nothing but pain. This is the reason Obama's good will speech to the Rohingya in Myanmar was worthless. This is why the political gain from Obama's actions were all the President wanted from this trip. 

We live in a world where we let the voices of cowardly leaders heal our sense of injustice far to rapidly. We allow their desire to preserve their own image rather than to act boldly in the face of evil overwhelm our own desire to fight. For this we have no one left to blame but ourselves. For all evil has ever needed was for truly good men to do nothing. And by putting our faith in man that is known for what he doesn't do... we did nothing. 

As the world watched Obama's speak they did not listen to what he had to say. They did not once ask the President to clarify what America thought needed to be done to end this genocide. He did not once lay out a method of attack that America would be willing to take to end the killing. He did not stand toe to toe with the wretched men and woman who have carried out this latest spat of ethnic cleansing. Instead we got what we have always got out of Obama... softly spoken lullabies for those who were about to die.

The Rohingya in Sittwe and the rest of the Rakhine state remain on the run or in hiding as the genocide continues. The ethnic cleansing has spread eastward in Myanmar as the radical Buddhist infect the rest of Burma with their cancer. Rape has become a more pronounce weapon of war against the Muslim Rohinya as the Buddhist attempt to rid "their homeland" of this "invader". Attacks on Rohingya children are on the rise as Myanmar sinks further into the darkness. 

For nearly half a year the world has sat back and listened to their screams. We have watched as the satellite images show their homes and ghettos being burned. We have closed our eyes as images of their dead flash on random news reports. And as best we could, we have covered our ears to attempt to block out the Rohingya peoples' pleas for help.

G-d himself should not forgive those who have the power to stop this sin against all humanity. The leaders of Europe, Canada, and America should all be accused just as much as the Burmese government for these atrocities. China's leaders should burn in hell for their part in helping these crimes flourish... and not just in Myanmar; but in Sudan where China buys oil from war criminals, in Syria where they prop up Assad's murderous rule, and in Tibet where their heavy hands crush the will of a nation. 

Over Thanksgiving Americans sat down to feasts as we celebrated what we were thankful for. Over that same time span nearly a million Rohingya have picked through sacks of rice to make sure everyone had enough food to fit in the palms of their hands. Thousands of Rohingya went without water or food again as Myanmar maintains a forced famine on the Rohingya still trapped in ghettos and Burmese concentration camps. Had this same thing happened here in the States there would be public outrage beyond measure. This morning at churches across the country preachers, pastors, and fathers of the faith would be giving a call to arms for all the good little Christians to come to the aid of their fellow men. On Shabbat the Rabbis would have been pleading with their congregations to give all they had to help those in need. But none of that happened. 

Yesterday Alder's Ledge gave a short review of a movie "The Machine Gun Preacher". A line from that movie has stood out for such an occasion as this. 

"G-d doesn't want more sheep, he wants wolves. Something with more teeth..." 

Now many of you might disagree with the religious meaning of that quote. And for that I wish I could say I am sorry. But as for me, the author of this blog, that quote rings more clearly than anything else ever could when faced with genocide and ethnic cleansing. After all, sheep didn't storm the beaches when my ancestors were being slaughtered by the fascist. Wolves came to Dachau to set the captives free. Wolves came to Buchenwald to liberate those who could not fight for themselves. 

The Western world should stop being the sheep that the genocidal regimes around the world thrive off. We should show that we are willing to stop this sin wherever and whenever it arises. And when need be, we should be willing to take up arms and fight to stop it. We should be willing to die in our battle against it. 

With Myanmar this would mean taking every action to inhibit the government there from committing it. Obama should not have lifted sanctions on Burma. Obama should not have extended America's hand to a government currently engaged in genocide. And we should not be ready to reap the benefits of trade with a government that is willingly engaged in ethnic cleansing.

Instead Obama should have started speaking out against Myanmar the day these attacks began. If Obama is the humanitarian he claims to be, we as a nation should be taking every diplomatic stance we have to leverage our weight against Myanmar's willingness to kill their own people. And if need be, Obama should have taken the steps to force the US and UN into action to stop the genocide given that diplomacy had not worked. 

The United Nations should have been on the ground with guns hot as quickly as possible. Rohingya should have seen the world coming to their aid the minute the pogroms began. Peace Keepers should have been given the command to stop the ethnic cleansing at all cost. 

But all this is fantasy. We live in a world where the good intentions of our leaders is meant to suffice as an excuse for the deaths of millions as genocide spreads across the map. We live in a world where genocide in Libya is met with limited action so as to serve a political aim. We live in a world where genocide by Assad's hands is ignored as long as it stays within Syria's borders. We do not live in a world where the armies of the world come storming the beaches as evil rains all hell down upon them. We do not live in a world where brave men open the gates of hell and liberate those history had forgotten. We do not live in the world my ancestors were blessed to have been brought out of.

More Lies From The Tablecloth

Obama's Ghost Prisons

(Obama Signing The Order To Close CIA Secret Prisons)

In 2009 Barack Obama became the first president in American history to openly curtail the liberties the CIA had taken with human rights around the world. In a historic signing, Obama sat alone as his pen put into law the limits to which the CIA could go in detaining of foreign nationals. This move was supposed to end the existence of secret prisons that the CIA was running in countries around the world. 

For European governments this was a call for celebration as they were now being promised that the CIA would stop using their countries to transport terrorist into custody. For Eastern European nations this meant that their airports would finally cease to be the last destination for countless terrorist coming from the Middle East. But all this was a hoax. All those "atta-boys" and pats on the back were for nothing.


 

When Libya fell to the rebels it became clear that CIA prisons were still in operation. And when those same rebels attacked the United States Embassy earlier this year... it was obvious that at least one was still in operation within Libya itself. The order Barack Obama had given was nothing but a rouse. This demand to end the rendition of terrorists in ghost prisons was a hollow command... the law had no teeth at all. 

So once again the world is watching as the "humanitarian" Barack Obama takes to the air in a campaign for "basic human rights". We are meant to ignore that this is the man who flew off to Egypt months after the rebellion so as to claim victory for a fight he had nothing to do with. This the man who claimed that his mere election to office had ushered in a new wave of "hope" around the world. This is the man who now rushes off to Burma so that he can talk about human rights while the Rohingya die at the hands of his hosts.

All this and we are to forget that this is also the man who has sat on the fence when dealing with Syria. We are meant to ignore Obama's waffling during the "Arab Spring" when the Green Revolution started in Iran. We are supposed to forget that Obama signed an order to end illegal prisons around the world only to be caught running one in Libya. 

When it comes to human rights issues... we are meant to forget everything we have learned about Barack Obama.