Iran’s Bid for Regional Power

well, it`s always refreshing when people can admit to their own racist and bigoted views, isn`t it?

hamidm mian!!

All the info I have provided is from Israeli and Jewish sources: Dershowtiz and demographic studies presented by Isrealis themselves, etc. However, you have not provided any facts to counter the information I provided, about demographics, other than an analogous reference to peeing in one`s pants. I have never peed in my pants, so I cannot relate to the feeling you have described.........

Having said that, I actually want to set up an office in Tel-Aviv in the next ten years, if my business can grow. Which is why I am trying to find out about the place. If you have any info contradicting my info, it would be greatly appreciated............

Personally speaking, I think Jews are very successful at an individual level, because they think clearly tactically. Which is why they win so many Nobel prizes, and control half the Nasdaq (Larry Ellision, Andy Grove and Michael Dell being good examples). However, they are very poor long term planners, which maybe why only 16 million are left in the whole world, despite having control of major power centers of the world, at one point.........

Someone racistly told me that whichever country accepts Jews has always prospered. And that Jews always overstay their welcome. At the expense of being racist, I tend to agree. And they are overestimating their welcome in the USA, by getting it involved in every unnecessary war in the world. I am convinced that Israelis, despite their Noble prizes will get us all killed - Americans and Pakistanis. They don`t seem to know when to stop, which is why they keep getting themselves in trouble. It isn`t long till the Republicans will get rid of the neo-cons. And the fringe American leaders, right of the Republicans (Pat Buchanan) and left of the Democrats (Nader) are already pointing out the fact that pro-Israel lobby will get America screwed. A fact I agree with.

Personally, I am neither here nor there on Arab-Israel. I am somewhat of a racist when it comes to Arabs, since they are racists towards Pakistanis. Nor am I a fan of the Ummah. And I think Pakistan should recognize Israel, within 67 borders. And I also oppose the human rights violations of Israelis, and the potential World Wars it is starting to cause............

..... oh, that nice warm feeling!


.... i can see that the good muslims are feeling smug and happy because they have figured out they can outbreed the jews into submission (quite clever for the madrassites) .......... but do they realize that it will be humanity`s loss - between 1901 and 2003, 735 nobel prizes were handed out ....... of these, 161 are jews and six muslims (takbeer!)......... and these six include abdus salaam and naguib mahfouz who, to quote some of our more rabid co-religionists, are either infidels or whores ..........

........... so the ummah has this nice warm feeling that one gets after peeing in his pants .......... it stinks, but who cares!

Very accurate lines Omair: the term often used is that Israel is demographically doomed. There is an interesting parallel between what is happening to Israel and what happened to the Crusader state of the 12th century. Similar to those days, the Arabs remain divided and militarily outnumbered at any one time..simply because the Arabs have engaged in piecemeal war with Israel, even when Israel was created in 1948 Israeli troops at anyone time were numerically equal to the forces opposing them.


If you think about it besides the demographic challenge people forget the internal change that is happening to Israel, because of the higher population growth rate the conservative Jewish groups are now in ascendancy over the secularists. This is reflected in the electoral strength of the right wing groups opposed to peace. Internally in the USA the ``dilution`` or ``integration`` of the Jewish community into American society is reaching un precedented levels. While that does not mean that those people of Jewish descent are any less Pro Israel (to understand what I mean ..consider the role of the Irish Americans vis a vis the IRA) it does mean a weakening of interest in ever relocationg to Israel and that may effect the level of support people are maybe willing to contribute. Because of this contrast the gap between Jews in Israel and those in the diaspora is increasing and one could argue people like Ariel Sharon have more in common with Yasser Arafat than the head of AIPAC.

.... israel is the only country where arabs can vote ........ ingrates!

Ferozek #45: In my opinion, much more than the rabbis, it is the demographics that the Israelis are relly scared of.

Jewish population in the world is about the same as Karachi`s population. However, it is reducing and the demographics of the two most important Jewish areas (Israel and USA) is changing rapidly. Infact, so rapidly that Israel, in worst scenario, may not be around in 75 years. And, in its best scenario, will have a significantly different look than Israel of today.

Israel is not quite the democracy, nor was it ever, that people make it out to be. The laws against Muslims and Christians make the laws against Ahmedis in Pakistan look like a Charter of Human Rights. All of this was done to maintain a demogrphic balance, in favor of Jews. A Jewish person who has never heard of Israel can make one phone call and become a citizen of Isreal, from anywhere in the world. While a Christian or Muslim whose family has lived in the same house for centuries, cannot create an extension to it. In Pakistan, at least, Ahmedis are allowed to buy houses or add a room to his house.......

While it is the, ``White Jews`` (called Ashkenazim meaning German) who run the govt. and write the books, the actual Jewish population of Israel is not so White. The Eastern Jews are called Mizrahem. Mizrahem were around 15% in 48. Then due to massive migrations from Arab countries, these Jews became a majority, i.e. Arab/North Afrian Jews outnumbered all other Jews in Isreal. Then a massive migration of Russian Jews occured, in 90s and the White Jews became a majority again.

So basically Isreal is an ethnically, predominately Russian and Arab Jewish state. Not Western or Eastern European Jewish state, as many people think. And definitely not American Jewish. Interestingly, there has never been a single Mizrahem Jewish PM or President etc. in Isreal. They are the poorest, also, and they don`t intermarry much with Ashkenazims. Mizrahems have only 1/3rd the college degrees as Ashkanazims. This is probably why it is difficult to pick out Arab suicide bombers, because they probably look like Arab Jews.

Interestingly, we recruit IT employees and a lot of Russian candidates have post-graduate degrees from Russia. I have intereviewed so many. There is one thing that is consistent with all Russian candidates. So many (in fact most) of them are Jewish. The common profile of a Russian candidate is Ph.D is pure sciences from Russia. Moved to Isreal. Worked there for some years. And then moved to Canda. Again and again, similar resumes. All migrating out of Israel, for North America.

In 60 minutes, they showed that Israelis are now very eager for Green Cards and US, Canadian and European migrations. Specifically the Ashkenazims, who tend to be more educated. There is thus an outflow from the Promised land. And the inflow and relocation of Jews from other countries has exhausted. European countries like France barely have any Jews left (around 500000) and American Jews obviously do not want to leave. And all the Arab and Russian Jews are already in Isreal. Israeli govt. is even trying to get Jews from India, when they heard their were some there.

Interestingly, the population of Isreal is 6.7 million. Out of which 5.4 million are Jewish (out of which a huge chunk is Arab/Oriental/Mizrahem Jews). Isreal, interestingly, has 1.3 non-Jewish citizens, out of which over a million are Muslims. These are actual Israeli citizens. Not Muslims in occupied terriroties of Isreal. Many Muslims don`t know that Isreal has over 1 million Muslim citizens. Interestingly, the population of Muslims Isrealis is projected to double in 25 years to around 2 million. While the population of Jewish Isrealis will only grow to around 6.8 million.

So in twenty years, Muslims will outnumber Jews in Isreal and occupied terroritories, combined. And who knows, within 100? years, Muslim citizens of Isreal may outnumber Jewish citizens of Isreal itself, within actual Isreal. All of this without any right of return Muslims coming back to Israel.

In addition, and perhaps more importantly there are over 5 million Jews in America. There population matches the population of Jews in Isreal. This group is massively dispropotianetely influential in the USA, due to their high level of achievement. However, according to Allan Dershewitz`s (a very successful and very pro-Israeli Jewish American lawyer) book, ``The Vanishing American Jew,`` Jews are disappering in the USA. Their rate of birth is apparently absymally low (successful people have fewer kids). And most of all they are intermarrying with American Christians, with their next generation thus being non-Jewish.

``One Harvard study predicts that if current demographic trends continue, the American Jewish community is likely to number less than 1 million and conceivably as few as 10,000 by the time the United States celebrates its tricentennial in 2076.`` (http://www.palmdigitalmedia.com/product/book/excerpt/1986)

So, in 75 years there will (maybe) be only 10,000 to 1 million Jews in America. And the combined Muslim/Christian population of Isreal/West Bank/Gaza will greatly outnumber Jewish population in that area. And the Muslim citizenry of Israel itself will be in some competitive proportion to Jewish citizenry of Israel (which maybe a Mizrahem majority again). And the population of Jews in places like France is already next to nill (1/10th of the Muslim population in France. It will be non-existent by that time.

It is probably these issues that are drviing Isreali policies to a great extent. And not just Arab-Israeli violence. This maybe what is behind the concepts of, ``Greater Israel.`` With Muslim/Christian Arabs in occupied terrotories growing so fast, and Jews reducing in influential international countries so quickly, it would make sense for Israel to (even inhumanely) clear out the Palestinians from as much of the area as possible, through settlements etc. and force them to migrate, ``voluntarily`` to areas outside of Greater Israel.

Otherwise, Israel will demographically implode, once again becoming a minority Jewish area........

hamidm mian -

i learned a few things about whores while working in a grocery store in a poor neighborhood for a couple of months in my undergrad years. these whores sort of mark an area as their own territory. the unwritten rule is that they don`t venture into other whore`s territory.

so might i suggest that you stick to what you know. and madrassah, israel and oil are something you don`t know. one day you lament that madrassas don`t teach economics and maths. the next day you lament that they do teach economics and maths, but not the way you like it.

calling an apartheid state as a ``beacon of light`` is laughable. i suggest that you put your money where your mouth is, something laptop bombers like yourself are inept at, and visit israel. the airport security guards in that ``beacon of light`` will search in those cavities in your body that you did not even know existed....just because your name is hamidm. then it might occur to you that the ``beacon`` is more like phallus.

stick with a ``territory`` you know. i suggest you become a standup comedian. people will laugh of you, laugh at you, laugh with you, or laugh you out.

but until the day you could be taken seriously, or the day we see a flying horse - whichever comes first, i still think the extremist and mad bomber hamidm should be bombed.

ferozek,

..... i agree with you 90%......... the only difference is that i believe that the arabs, as you suggest obliquely, cannot be trusted and israel has been forced into taking an extreme position ........the wall is an act of desperation and targeted killings are a necessary preventive measure (and nobody is denying the excesses here)...........nevertheless, israel is a real democracy where a sizeable majority despises the rabid orthodox settlers and their mullah-like rabbis ...........so, if the israelis really believed that the arabs (and as you point out, it is the arab people, not the regimes) accspted the existence of israel, the labor party would be back in power in the next election and there could be a lasting settlement ............ greater isreal is just another myth like akhand bharat, perpetuated by a paranoid ummah doped on islam and ridiculous memories of a glorious past ...............

......... in any case, bombing the madrassas is a good start to resolving this impasse ........


p.s. i really enjoy your ilogs even though they are a little too dark sometimes

re: hamidm2

Hamidm, Israel was a beacon of democracy when it was a secular state but the politics of religion has made Israel into a theocracy, which is no different from the other despotic regimes in Middle East.

Israel policies are a wild card in the region, because if the intent is to preserve the physical security of Israel itself, it makes no sense to create instability and hostility by recklessly provoking confrontation. The United States maybe doing Israel`s bidding, but realistically speaking, Tel Aviv has not been helping Washington`s cause in the region either. Even if the United States` strategic economic interests demand the monoploy over the region`s oil bearing strata, Israeli policies are actually forcing United States beyond a politically ``fail-safe`` point.

United States cannot fight Israel`s war in perpetuality and soon Israel will have to realize and so will the Arabs, that they may despise the geography of their location and may loathe each other, but they cannot alter their geo-political situation. The problem in the Middle East is that no nation wants to live within its geo-political constraints and wants to unhinge the status quo in its favor. The Arab nations will, and indeed accept, the tilt in the balance of power towards Israel due to their own domestic complusions of maintaing internal power, but their populations will see that as an appeasement of Israel due to American influence and presssure.

This in the long term is even more dangerous to the security of Israel, because it may kill the entire population of West Bank and Gaza and the occupied lands, but even Israel with all its military hardware and the will to kill the Arabs, cannot kill the entire Arab population of the Middle East. In the end, Tel Aviv has to realize that the greater threat to its security comes not from the Arab governments, but from the perceptions of the Arab population and thus, killing for the sake of killing is not going to insure the security of Israel. On the other hand, if the Israelis want to persist in the final solution of the Arab Question, then it must convince the United States to garrison the whole region in order to prevent a popular religious-political revolution in the region, which will topple the pro-United States Arab regimes.

Consequently, the United States` interests are more harmed by tolerating Israeli excesses and the question is; can the United States occupy the whole region of Middle East in order to gurantee Israeli security and pre-empt threats to its own interests as a result of Israeli political actions in the region?

No one can or should suggest that the United States stop supporting Israel, but prudence demands that such a support be linked to a pragmatic calculation of the pros and cons of United States` interests in the region. United States` political and diplomatic myopia in supporting Israel has created a potential cul-de-sac for United States in the region and if the United States` interest is securing the flow of cheap and realible oil supplies, then Israeli policies are actually a liability for the United States, in the Middle East, as far as the strategic interests of United States` political economy is concerned.

Ciao

malik mian,

.......... so now that you have admitted that the OIL theory does not hold any water, we are back to the old zionist conspiracy theory, are we? ............ i am sorry, but i can`t help you much on this one ....... as i have often stated, israel is a shining beacon of light and an outpost of civilization in the dark desert of ignorance and barbarism .......... if america got rid of saddam to reduce the threat to israel, then it was the right thing to do ..............

.... in any case, we need to bomb the madrassas to make sure we don`t have to bomb towns and cities in the future ..................

malik99,

......... i resent being the target of your suicide bombings - we all know that the ummah has not been able to make anything fly since the winged horse (unless, of course, you count the pilots of 9/11) ..........

...... anyhow, i have nothing against the madrassas as long as they stick to the business of teaching the holy sacraments and the ancient grecian art of sexuality, but when they start teaching economics and science and geopolitics it does get a little crazy ..... don`t you think?....... the other day, i heard a perfectly sane man talking about islamic banking and trying to sell me an ``islamic`` mortgage that would cost me a little bit more now but would pay dividends in the hereafter ..........luckily, a fool wasn`t born that day ! ..... the same person had this theory of oil futures that, to be honest, was quite bizzare ........... and maulana fazloo is not the only one who has a bird in his turban - remember sheik bin baz, the grand sheikh of mecca whose namaz-janaza was led by the khalifa himself ? ......... that blind as a bat looney actually went to his grave preaching the flat earth theory ......... no wonder all these theories put out by the great islamic scholars and their sophomoric students don`t have a whole lot of credibility ....................

......... so untill we actually see a flying horse let`s bomb the madrassas ...............

#38 by hamidm2
Notwithstanding your ultra-condescending tone, and also notwithstanding Ataullah, who is one of my fav columnist:
1. Oil is indeed a diminishing resource and fast depleting, and there are no mass-scale substitute--yet.
2. Oil is not an ordinary commodity. Unlike coffee or soya bean, it does drastically affect the global economy. A sudden price escalation could stymie global growth and devastate weak economies.
3. Itz very easy to critisize a postulate, specially by the appellation of a conspiracy theory; but pray tell me what the hell is the US doing in Iraq? Bringing democracy?
4. And what the hell are American troops doing in the former states of Soviet Union? Catching communists? My dear sir, the US forces are there, specially in Georgia and Azerbaijan to protect the oil corridor.

#38 by hamidm2
Notwithstanding your ultra-condescending tone, and also notwithstanding Ataullah, who is one of my fav columnist:
1. Oil is indeed a diminishing resource and fast depleting, and there are no mass-scale substitute--yet.
2. Oil is not an ordinary commodity. Unlike coffee or soya bean, it does drastically affect the global economy. A sudden price escalation could stymie global growth and devastate weak economies.
3. Itz very easy to critisize a postulate, specially by the appellation of a conspiracy theory; but pray tell me what the hell is the US doing in Iraq? Bringing democracy?
4. And what the hell are American troops doing in the former states of Soviet Union? Catching communists? My dear sir, the US forces are there, specially in Georgia and Azerbaijan to protect the oil corridor.

why we should bomb hamidm..............

the whores did not exactly go back to las vegas after the oil orgy of 1980 was over.....some of these whores morphed into intellectuals and visionaries and started advocating on chowk about bombing the world into submission.........

..........oil is certainly a reason...its not THE reason for the focus of whores in the middle east............bush did not send troops into iraq because he just could not live with his guilt that he was enjoying all the freedoms, tax breaks and golf outings whereas the poor iraqis were oppressed in iraq.............

.........oil is a short term goal, until the supplies run out or the alternative fuel arrangements are made..............but there is another long term menace...its called israel....wish it was short term too...but its not.....``redraw the map of middle east`` is a phrase often heard in white house.....why redraw it? is it because Bush feels like using his MBA skills to good use?.......no, it is to be redrawn because israel cannot realistically sustain itself in a sea of hostility in middle east..........saddam`s threat of burning ``half of israel`` in 1990 was his cardinal sin.....his other sin was of supporting palestinians........iran and syria are guilty of the same thing.....at israel`s insistance text books in egypt and saudi arabia are being changed to alter the young minds into thinking that israel is a legitimate entity.......

...........and then the unintended friends of hamidm, known as Southern baptist chrisians want Jesus to come back to earth....they want Jesus now.....and the only way Jesus can be lured back to earth is if all the jews gather in Israel.....and so the work of whores is cut out for them......

..............besides, any power needs room to manuever....and america is doing just that......it needs resources.........and markets...........and whores to work as the propagandists..........

.......such extremist whores should be chased out of this world.........only the moderate whores are welcome........if these extremist ``bomber`` whores want acceptance then they need to moderate their extremist views.......i suggest enrolling in a madrassah under Maulana Fazlur Rehman.......that should pull these whores a bit to the middle from their far right positions.....

.............bomb hamidm!

The soft underbelly of iran is its own disenchanted segment of the population and the stranglehold that the ayatollahs have over all spheres. There would undoubtedly be a circling of the wagon if Iran were to be attacked (a not too distant possibility in Shrub`s second term) but the internal fissures also would lead to a civil-war like situation. It`s essential for iran`s long term viability as an independent nation for there to be internal reforms first.
It all looked so easy 18 months ago when iran was flanked by us military that the march towards tehran would begin once things settled down in iraq. But iran seems to have, at least temporarily, outwitted the US strategic planners and the US is bogged down in iraq.
Iran`s nuclear weapons would uncertainly have a destabilizing effect in the middle east. A nuclearized iran would be emboldened to increase its support for the hezbollah and hamas and keep israel on the defensive. The situation could easily get out of hand.

why we should bomb the madrassas.............

``‘OIL’ is a mesmeric word for Muslims. Along with ‘our’ bomb, it is subconsciously assumed to be the answer, in some mysteriously woolly fashion, to the many woes of the Ummah `` ......... munir ataullah is one muslim who is not blinded by faith and ignorance ............http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_15-9-2004_pg3_2

............... munir is right - just north of calgary a canuck can walk out into his backyard, scoop up a spoonfull of sand, put it in the blender, turn it into oil and still make a profit at $30 a barrel ........... and they have a lot of sand .............. also, if everyone started buying hybrid cars the us could reduce oil imports by 50% and the bedouins would be left pounding sand and drinking oil to chase down their dates ..........of course, it is in the short-term interest of the civilized world to ensure an uninterrupted supply of cheap islamic oil, but in the long-term it doesn`t matter diddly squat ..............contrary to popular iman, oil is just another commodity and is governed by the simple rules of supply and demand .........

........ in the early-mid eighties, when i was in the oil business (what a party!), oil was over $35 a barrel and the north american rig count was over 4400............every cowboy in his ostrich skin boots and hart schnaffer suit was drilling in his neighbour`s backyard, freshly minted harvard mba`s from shady outfits like mckinsey and booze were helping their clients on the road to bankruptcy with their $100 a barrel projections, the annual show in houston was the biggest party on earth with arab sheiks and las vegas prostitutes whopping it up, and midland texas was heaven on earth ............. then what happened? .......... oil dropped to $10, the whores went back to vegas as their customers went back to the holy land, pigeons started to roost in the skyscapers in downtown midland, the banks in houston ended up with more houses than imelda had shoes, the boys from mckinsey moved on to rape and pillage other industries, and the cowboys went into politics ..............just out of curiosity i checked the rig count - it is around 1800, up 26% from last year ............. the party might be starting all over again in texas!

............ so, dear madrassites, oil is like corn and sand, just another commodity governed by the market - the vagararies of texas shysters and saudi mullahs who try to manipulate it has little effect in the long run ....... but as munir says, ``Unfortunately, the great thinkers of the Ummah do not concern themselves with such niceties. With no tradition of independent and critical analysis to help us reappraise altered circumstances, it is our fate to cling to outmoded theories well past their sell-by date.`` .............. and that is why we need to bomb the madrassas - to liberate the ummah from ignorance .......

........... bomb the madrassas!