India-US Strategic News and Discussion

[Hari Seldon]

Wow. Nice write-up by KP Nayar. Heartening to be reminded of the institutional memory among India's babucracy which puts INdian interests first when dealing with external powers.

[CRamS]

I liked Nayar's analysis too, but I think his arguments are flawed on one count: I cannot believe Israel will do anything that is not in US interests. One phone call from DC to Tel Aviv, and Israel will hit the break on any military hardware to India that US does not approve.

[CRamS]

DipankarJi, I am replying to your post from the TSP thread.

You want to look up the meaning of the idiom "out of the ball park", you claim to be living in US for 20+ years and still botch up the use of common idiomatic expressions!

I will be the first to admit that I am not in tune with popular US sports idioms, especially the useless sports like football/baseball about which I have no clue, and so I may have screwed up. I mean to say that the statement made was outside the realm of reasonable conclusions. Oh well, its always a learning experience, next time I will be careful using idioms like this.

About Iranian nukes, anything short of invasion and occupation, can not stop Iran from eventually building nukes if they want it that bad. Bunker busters can go only so deep, all the Iranians need to do is just move the centrifuges to deeper facilities, and they did that years ago.

Iranian nukes are not even on the cards. I mean what Iranian nationalists are fighting for is their very survival. There is no way US will allow Iran to develop nukes. Israel's security is of paramount interest to US. Replacing the current mullah/nationalist govt with US-loyalist TFTA opposition will do the trick.

Also it is too early to pass any verdict on control of Libyan oil, or Northern Iraq oil. In Iraq the Baghdad (center) and Irbil (Kurds) are still fighting over the agreements of control.

Cost of looting Iraq's oil was no doubt huge, but you cannot deny that Iraq rendered an impotent eunuch poses no threat to Israel, a key objective of US. And I disagree with you on the oil part. I recall reading an shameless NYT article recently where US govt officials are livid that many oil contracts are going to China and not US & its lackeys. Course correction is on the way. Nouri al-Maliki won't last 1 hour if he wags his tail too much and not to US liking.

But it still mystifies me as to how come Bush, Rumsfeld etc are living kushy retirement lives despite the cost of Iraq war, and US public is not demanding any of them be brought to book.

Results of the "Arab spring" will take sometime to crystallize, so far the indications are the Islamists will prevail, which is in fact bad news for US.

Lets not get carried away by the Arab spring BS. Once again you are not following CRamS's seminal observation: go by US interests, not stated hot air. Do you believe for a second that US will support Islamic brotherhood gaining power in Egypt through elections. As we speak, the Egyptian army, like TSPA , is a US client, and they are ruling the roost. Israel's security assured. US supports democracy onlee.

Rest of your claims required detailed analysis for which I don't have time now. Need to prepare for a business meeting tomorrow .

[ramana]

CRS, In mid 70s Iran under the Shah was developing an Iranian identity and moving away from Islam. However he got sabatoged by his own secret service into becoming paranoid and under the rubric of religious tolerance the Islamists had a field day.

[Prem]

http://lewrockwell.com/peters-e/peters-e145.html
The 2013 Mazda CX-5 I Won’t Be Seeing

just got invited by Mazda to attend a press event for the 2013 CX-5 in CA. I used to attend such events regularly, and I’d love to attend this one- but am pretty much decided against because of the prospect of being handled by some TSA cretin (because I won’t be scanned). I feel obliged to stand on principle, but there’s also the practical reason that I know myself – and know I might mouth off or maybe even hit one of those sons-of-bitches. And I don’t want to end up in jail (or worse). I’m still trying to practice avoidance. I know someday this will probably no longer be possible. But for now, I am trying to stay out of harm’s way – even though I know harm is not looking to stay out of my way.This is the dilemma of living in America, post 911.If it can be called living.It is no longer possible to travel by air without submitting to degradations unimaginable just 10 years ago. All of us are faced with the horrid choice: Either we constrict our lives as a form of quiet protest against those who are trying to degrade us – no more travel by air, which in addition to everything else also means not being able to see friends/family who live more than a few hundred miles distant without an arduous journey by car. Or we bow our heads (and spread our legs) and become complicit in establishing the new normal – and acceptance of those who degrade us. hey’ve got us cornered – again.

( if Indian babu/pandu corruptuions go away, India will be America of Freedom in this century)

[Prem]

Detroit's Turn to Vigilantisim, Otherwise Called Private Justice

Detroitstan

While the U.S. has been busy trying to bring order to failed states in Afghanistan and elsewhere, The Daily’s Mara Gay reports that its own failed city, Detroit, is continuing its steady descent into the state of nature. Residents, unable to rely on a dwindling police force to keep them safe, are taking matters into their own hands. Justifiable homicide in the city shot up 79 percent in 2011 from the previous year. The local rate of self-defense killings now stands 2,200 percent above the national average.

She writes:How it got this bad in Detroit has become a point of national discussion. Violent crime settled into the city’s bones decades ago, but recently, as the numbers of police officers have plummeted and police response times have remained distressingly high, citizens have taken to dealing with things themselves.

What’s more, courts are doing the decent thing and looking the other way. Gay recounts:
Signs that vigilantism was taking hold in the city came earlier, around Memorial Day 2009, when former federal agent Alvin Davis decided he’d had enough of the break-ins at his mother’s home on the east side. She called the police again and again, but the brazen robberies continued. Davis, then a 32-year-old Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer, snapped.Prosecutors said he spent days chasing and harassing the teenagers who were allegedly robbing his mother, even shoving his federally issued firearm into one of their mouths. No one was killed, but by the time he was done, Davis had racked up charges of unlawful imprisonment and assault. In August 2010, he was convicted and sentenced to four years in prison.

But many residents in his mother’s Jefferson-Chalmers neighborhood are sympathetic to Davis, whose case is on appeal.“He basically did what a lot of us wished we could do,” said Ken Gray, 58, who lives down the street from Davis’ mother.One high-ranking official in the county legal system, speaking to The Daily, said the rise in justifiable homicides mirrors a local court system that’s increasingly lenient of the practice.“It’s a lot more acceptable now to get your own retribution,” the official said. “And the justice system in the city is a lot more understanding if people do that. It‘s becoming a part of the culture.”Detroiters are arming themselves with shotguns and handguns and buying guard dogs. Anything to take care of their own. And privately, residents say neighborhood watch groups in Detroit are widely armed.And as a neighbor of Detroit's, all I can say is more power to them.

[anishns]

Senators irked by India’s Iran ties, stalled nuclear trade

I only wish that one of the babus in Delhi would show these senators the middle finger

[Anurag]

Chicago cabbie pleads guilty in terror case

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012 ... case-qaeda

February 06, 2012|By Andy Grimm | Tribune reporter

A Chicago cab driver of Pakistani descent today pleaded guilty in federal court to sending cash to a Kashmiri nationalist group that had ties to al Qaeda.

Raja Lahrasib Khan, 59, pleaded guilty to a single count of providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization. U.S. District Judge James Zagel said he intended to sentence Khan to 5 to 8 years in prison as part of his plea deal with prosecutors. Khan, who agreed to cooperate with law enforcement, had faced up to life imprisonment.

Khan, a naturalized U.S. citizen since 1988, intended only to support a separatist group in his native Kashmir region of Pakistan and was not aware of the group's connection to al Qaeda, according to his attorney, Thomas Anthony Durkin said.

"Any time you're looking at 30 years to life and you walk away with 5 to 8, that's pretty good," Durkin said.
"I think it's impossible to get a fair trial on terrorism charges... The term al Qaeda is loosely thrown around. It means a lot of things. It's not as simple when you're dealing in that part of the world." nothing surprising here! huh!

Prosecutors said Khan, 58, who lived on Chicago’s North Side, never posed an imminent domestic danger. Authorities said Khan wired about $930 to an individual in Pakistan in 2009 with instructions to direct about $200 to $250 to use to support attacks against India.

[ramana]

What org was the guy supporting?

[Rangudu]

What org was the guy supporting?

Not explicitly mentioned but HuJI is what it seems to be.

[ramana]

LINK

...
Khan was arrested in 2010 and accused of taking steps to send cash to Pakistan-based terrorist leader Ilyas Kashmiri after Kashmiri indicated he needed money to buy explosives. Khan, prosecutors said, believed Kashmiri was getting his orders from Osama bin Laden.

Khan, who became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1988, sent $950 in 2009 to an individual in Pakistan for delivery to Kashmiri; he also took $1,000 from an undercover agent and said it would be used to buy weapons and possibly other supplies, prosecutors alleged.

A 35-page complaint affidavit filed after Khan's arrest also accused him of discussing the possibility of planting bags of bombs around an unspecified stadium, saying in one wiretap, "Put one bag here, one there, one there ... you know, boom, boom, boom, boom."

Khan, though, was never charged with such an attempted attack as prosecutors focused instead on allegations the he sent money intended as aid for Osama bin Laden's terrorist network, al-Qaida

"I believe everyone came to a conclusion that he was not an imminent danger," Durkin said.

....

and

02-06) 16:04 PST Chicago (AP) --

A Pakistani-born Chicago taxi driver has pleaded guilty to attempting to provide material support to al-Qaida as part of a plea deal hammered out recently with prosecutors.

Dressed in an orange jumpsuit and his ankles shackled, Raja Lahrasib Khan told a judge Monday that he was pleading guilty to one count of two counts of attempting to provide material support.

As part of the plea deal, prosecutors dropped the other count against the 58-year-old.

Khan was accused in 2010 of taking steps to send cash to Pakistan-based terrorist leader Ilyas Kashmiri.

A conviction on just one count of providing material support carries a maximum 15-year sentence. The plea deal recommends a sentence of between five and eight years.

The U.S. attorney's office says the sentencing date is May 30.



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... z1lp1dyULr

[Anurag]

Yup, it was HuJi, until Ilyas Kashmiri was sent to his 72 hoori's in the drone strike!

[RamaY]

I noticed a weird thing today. A US state govt issued me a 1099 for the tax returns I got for last year. In other words, last years tax returns became this years earnings. Did anyone else get this?

Is it even logical?

Added Later: I got it now. State tax is a deductible in federal taxes. So if I got tax refund from the state it is taxable for Federal taxes.

[shiv]

I noticed a weird thing today. A US state govt issued me a 1099 for the tax returns I got for last year. In other words, last years tax returns became this years earnings. Did anyone else get this?

Is it even logical?

Added Later: I got it now. State tax is a deductible in federal taxes. So if I got tax refund from the state it is taxable for Federal taxes.

Donate money for the election campaign of a US Senator who supports Pakistan. That may be tax deductible. Pakistan is an ally of the US and is helping to fight Islamic militancy. Infiltration into India dropped after the US got involved. The souperpower is playing a benevolent beneficial role in stabilizing the Indian subcontinent making the world a happier place for everyone.

[ramana]

Shiv, Take it easy. RamaY has said many times he donates money to a small temple in Andhra which is not tax deductible.

[kit]

Debka reports that British and Quatari special forces are working as 'advisers' for the rebel resistance and that India is paying Gold for the purchase of iranian oil.Kinda weird in the sense that the US wants India to follow its tune but loath to give India its energy security via the stalled nuclear deal.

[kit]

Also the MRCA bid result in favor of the Gripen is more like cocking a snook at the anglosaxon powers. Lot has been promised by the Americans as per the nuclear deal but they did renege a lot on that front esp on EPR tech.Why are the Americans so self serving and arrogant ? Isnt there growing evidence that David Headley as the CIA double agent was the real master mind behind the mumbai carnage ?

[ramana]

Kit, The MRCA result was Rafale not the Gripen.
The US offers were rejeced on technical parameters.


You are right about David Headley, a US citizen was the real mastermind of the 26/11 massacre.

[Prem]

After releasing the news of India modernizing military against PRC now,
Pak's support for terror in India could lead to N-exchange: US
http://www.rediff.com/news/report/paks- ... 120209.htm

Support to terrorist activities inside India [ Images ] by elements in Pakistan's military and its spy agency could lead to confrontation between the two neighbours which has the potential to rapidly escalate into a nuclear exchange, a top American commander on Thursday warned. Admiral Samuel Locklear told a Senate Committee that little progress has been made with regard to recent confidence building measures between the two nuclear-armed neighbours."Support by elements of Pakistan's military and intelligence services for violent extremist organisations targeting India strains the relationship; this support has the potential to result in military confrontation which could rapidly escalate to a nuclear exchange," Locklear told lawmakers during his confirmation hearing to head the US Pacific Command."Current efforts at dialogue have yielded few concrete results on the core security issues, especially regarding the resolution of territorial disputes," he said in a written response to questions asked by the top Senate panel.However, he said efforts have provided each side greater insight into the other's positions."While progress is slow, the trajectory is positive and offers the promise of increased confidence-building measures," he said. The Admiral said the US can continues to work with Pakistan to take effective action against groups-based in Pakistan that advocate and actively participate in attacks against India. Responding to a question on India-US relationship, the Admiral said a close, continuing, and expanding security relationship with India will be important for security and stability in Asia and for effectively managing Indian Ocean security in the twenty-first century.Admiral Locklear said the once nascent relationship between unfamiliar nations "has evolved into a strategic partnership between two of the preeminent security powers in Asia."He said efforts over the past ten years have focused on relationship-building and establishing the foundation "for a long-term partnership". He said the strong ties between the two militaries reflect this.
Locklear, however, said India maintains its strategic autonomy.
"India is essential to achieving long-term US goals for regional economic development, security and stability, and wide-ranging cooperation to counter extremism and radicalisation," he said.The Admiral underlined that the priorities for the bilateral ties "should focus on increasing maritime security cooperation, expanding the military-to-military relationship, and deepening cooperation on defense trade and production".When asked by lawmakers about India-China relationship, Locklear said the current relationship between the region's two fastest growing powers, is complicated by a trust deficit stemming from China's longstanding relationship with Pakistan, India's defeat in the 1962 Sino-Indian war, and increasing competition for resources."The ongoing border dispute, trade imbalances and competition for influence across South and Southeast Asia complicate efforts to reduce the mistrust," he said, adding

[svinayak]

How the Asian land disputes and border disputes are taken as an invite by the US establishment for enter the region and help in 'peace and stability'.

Indian sub continent region from 1947 till 1990s was a region of peace mostly with small wars in between.
Now the region is being given an image of " the potential to result in military confrontation which could rapidly escalate to a nuclear exchange,". "Current efforts at dialogue have yielded few concrete results on the core security issues, especially regarding the resolution of territorial disputes,"

How the image is managed with a defiant Pakistan and a trust deficit PRC. It is as if they are playing a role so that US can come in as role for guaranteeing of stability in the region.

[Lilo]

x-post rafale dagha - p1241104

USA, because of its foreign policy goal of preserving its status as a sole supa powa is naturally hamstrung when its comes to ToT of critical techs.
Even if the congressmen are lobbied hard and made amenable, its strategic experts and spooks are inextricably steeped in "balance of power" calculations over and above the actual transaction value and inevitably come up with high totals as strategic overheads associated with any critical ToT transfers. This is a main draw back of strategic thinking (of a dominant power) - because the events linking up the chain leading to its goal of a "dynamic status quo" (balance of power) are so unpredictable that any accompanying economic analysis is littered with extensive provisioning for risks* but little in terms of benefits* accruing from its help in assisting a rising power (the "help" being ToT of a critical technology ).
It is not surprising then that US spearheads almost all multilateral initiatives for "protection" of IP with other western nations - especially the continental europeans and Japanese who are often coaxed into giving up their "degree of freedom" of able to sell technology on a "case by case basis" for a price to an emerging regional power.

A good example is the Indo-US nuclear deal when US negotiators put their foot down when ever there was a question with respect to transfer of critical reprocessing technologies. Here US aim was to preempt future bilateral transfers of technology which were liable to have "naturally" occured at a greater scale (and more importantly out of its oversight) either with Russia/France or even Germany/Japan and outside the extant (US created) technology denial frameworks governing nuclear trade and commerce and wanted to bind India to a framework to retard this process.

France on the other hand doesnt have such a chip on its shoulder - to preserve or expand its "theater of dominance" - because presently it has little and is actually being prevented by US (acting through the poodle and sometimes through germany) from returning to its natural state of exerting considerable influence in western europe and north and western africa.
In effect the French want a Multipolar world to diffuse US influence in Europe and middle east and this fact fits in well with their amenability for technology transfers to emerging powers.

[svinayak]

x
France on the other hand doesnt have such a chip on its shoulder - to preserve or expand its "theater of dominance" - because presently it has little and is actually being prevented by US (acting through the poodle and sometimes through germany) from returning to its natural state of exerting considerable influence in western europe and north and western africa.
In effect the French want a Multipolar world to diffuse US influence in Europe and middle east and this fact fits in well with their amenability for technology transfers to emerging powers.

It could be a concensus among the west that France should inject the next gen technology to Asian countries and others will stay behind to keep the lead over the asian countries in the long run.
P4 wants a balanced order in Asia which would make them keep the lead for the next 50-100 years if possible

[ramana]

Nah! You dont know the French!!!

[svinayak]

This could be game changer and French would have created history into the future.
As one american friend says that Indians would have been speaking French by now but for the English.

[abhishek_sharma]

India, Praising U.S. Ties, Defends Buying Iran’s Oil

[Raja Bose]

India, Praising U.S. Ties, Defends Buying Iran’s Oil

Great to see India indulging in Unkil speak . Thats the only way to conduct foreign policy - our interests will always come first.

[shyam]

Some one needs to tell these US reporters that India is more concerned about Paki nukes than Iranian nukes. Let uncle show its commitment by taking out Paki nukes before asking India to be concerned about Iranian ones.

[Pranav]

American Jewish Committee Dismayed by India's Expanding Ties to Iran - http://www.sacbee.com/2012/02/11/425633 ... nding.html

[Manny]

For the folks who think they know American culture

http://www.cesl.arizona.edu/custom.html

It may surprise you.

[member_20617]

Some one needs to tell these US reporters that India is more concerned about Paki nukes than Iranian nukes. Let uncle show its commitment by taking out Paki nukes before asking India to be concerned about Iranian ones.

well said!

[CRamS]

Some one needs to tell these US reporters that India is more concerned about Paki nukes than Iranian nukes. Let uncle show its commitment by taking out Paki nukes before asking India to be concerned about Iranian ones.

I agree, but the problem is that US reporters operate from a plane of reference that is so US centric, in synch with what their foreign policy arm tells them, that it would be impossible for them to see maters any other way. To this day my blood boils when I recall NPR (supposedly "liberal" in US parlance) reporting Mush rat's attack on the Indian parliament in Dec 2001. They trivializing of the attack and downplaying TSP role was so egregious that it was obvious the reporters were taking cues from the "experts". The headline was that both India & TSP are US allies, and instead of getting distracted squabbling with each other, both should work with US in defeating the menace of "global terrorism" which is what Colin Powell and Don Rumsfeld will emphasize in their parleys with India and TSP.

[ShyamSP]

Some one needs to tell these US reporters that India is more concerned about Paki nukes than Iranian nukes. Let uncle show its commitment by taking out Paki nukes before asking India to be concerned about Iranian ones.

I agree, but the problem is that US reporters operate from a plane of reference that is so US centric, in synch with what their foreign policy arm tells them, that it would be impossible for them to see maters any other way. To this day my blood boils when I recall NPR (supposedly "liberal" in US parlance) reporting Mush rat's attack on the Indian parliament in Dec 2001. They trivializing of the attack and downplaying TSP role was so egregious that it was obvious the reporters were taking cues from the "experts". The headline was that both India & TSP are US allies, and instead of getting distracted squabbling with each other, both should work with US in defeating the menace of "global terrorism" which is what Colin Powell and Don Rumsfeld will emphasize in their parleys with India and TSP.

This is very true for most of reporters. There seems to be some unwritten instruction manual for journalists to striaght-jacket any reporting to US view. US Indians face hard-time with reporters to put any point across that doesn't conform to the manual.

[svinayak]

This is very true for most of reporters. There seems to be some unwritten instruction manual for journalists to striaght-jacket any reporting to US view. US Indians face hard-time with reporters to put any point across that doesn't conform to the manual.

Most of the elite and middle class Indians are blindsided by decades of reading western reports and western world view of events that they have neglected to see the Indian interest world view. Now they feel frustrated or angry or become even ant India. Brillant psy ops over many decades.

[Philip]

Truly a (Mad) Man for all seasons! Controversial Lankan minister,Mervyn Silva,better known for his pugilistic tendencies outside the ring,now has a go at the US.A shame UPA-2 has no similar entertainer uin its stables,who could tell it to to the US in the lingo they understand best.

http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2012/02/1 ... ke-is-mad/

Mervyn says Blake is “mad”

Government Minister Mervyns Silva today slammed US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert Blake saying he is “mad” and has no right to interfere in Sri Lankan affairs.

Speaking to reporters at a press briefing in Colombo today, Silva said that if he was present at the talks between Blake and the government then the outcome would have been different.

Blake and US Under-Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights Maria Otero, ended a two day visit to Sri Lanka yesterday where they had talks with President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and other government and opposition members and officials.

Silva said that the US was attempting to President Rajapaksa on the electric chair by raising various allegations against the government and military.

However Mervyn Silva said he will not allow such a thing to take place. He also accused the US government of being behind the situation in Maldives.

Meanwhile Silva also urged the government not to be shaken by protests in the country and reverse any decision it takes.

He was referring to the many protests staged yesterday over the fuel price hike.

[Philip]

Which planet have these US diplomutts arrived from....planet Buffoonistan?

They want India to dump Iran while they refuse to punish Pak for its open and blatant murder of thousands of US servicemen in Afghanistan through its ISI proxy,the Taliban and other jihadi groups! How does Pak get punished...with another $2.5 B for the crore commanders. Frankly, turbans off to our Paki brethren of the sub-continent,they are screwing the perverted Yanquis like gigolos and getting paid whopping sums for the privilege too.

Seriously,we must take a leaf from the Paki-Nama.We must screw the US in every which way possible so that they come back like beaten curs, licking our feet .The Pakis have done just that in Af-Pak.The US is retreating like a whimpering beaten cur,occasionally brave enough to nip here,nip there with its drone attacks,but unable to truly "bite".In a short time,it will leave the region with its tail firmly tucked between its legs and then where will that leave India,with a victorious Pak/ISI to deal with? Secondly,Good Dr.Singh is no longer a White House favourite flunkey.He indeed "loved" Dubya Bush ,who tickled his chin and scratched his back ,throwing the odd titbit in India's direction too.However,despite our massive purchase of US weaponry ,and where new comprehensive studies have found the US to be possibly second in line as India's most vital and dependable partner,after Russia,the incumbent of the White House,and his Foreign Sec. femme fatale, "Hilly the Silly",treat India abominably,as if we were back in history in the deep south of the US where slavery was legal,that too coming from a black man in a white house!

Our relations with Iran are exceptionally vital.The global geography is not going to change for millenia and Iran gives us the opportunity to wield influence on both sides of the Gulf,Sunni and Shia,plus a route to Afghanistan by-passing Pak and by both rail and road into the Central Asian states.We haven't even begun talking about our critical oil supplies from Iran.

The US can simply go and p*ss off.It wants us to beggar ourselves so that we become even more beholden to its failing global influence.The fact that nations are willing to accept/use the Chinese currency in trading with Iran shows that the economic balance has also undergone a seismic shift in the 21st century.Who knows,perhaps an Indo-Sino understanding on global eco issues will bring about a thaw in the security arena too.One is sure that if China is more accommodating to India on the border Q,India will reciprocate as well.

[ramana]

Philip In every local speech BO says he wants to bringg back jobs from India and China in that order!

[Philip]

Ramanna,absolutely! When you treat Indians so disrespectfully,that too openly by a US pres. no less,"no skilled jobs for Indians" (as if we should be employed only as menials?),why on earth should we listen to him on Iran or buy their expensive weapon systems,transports,etc.? If MMS had any spine at all,he would put on hold further purchases of US military eqpt. until the US shuts its gob and ceases to lecture India on its own vital interests.

To add salt to the wound,it has just announced a further $2.5B gift to the crore commanders of the TSP.

[Nandu]

Recent BBC documentary on poverty in America.

[aniket]

But Philip sir and Ramana sir won't maintaining relations with Iran harm relations with Israel ? (No offense I'm actually curious )

[CRamS]

Lot of hot air is being released about suspected iranian involvement in targetting israelis, but not a fraction of that energy has been spent when israelies targetted iranian scientists or kidnapped their diplomats overseas.

And the hottest of all, literally speaking, are the Fox-news Bimbo mouthpieces competing with each other in characterizing how evil eyeraaaan is and how victimized oh sooooo poor Israel is and how "weak and dangerous" Obama is in protecting US and Israeli. I wonder how much these hot chics and their maacho "angry white male" co-hosts are a paid for this junk, and US is supposed to be in a recession with scarcity of jobs .

People talk a lot about "Jewish power" etc, that might be true, but at its crudest such characterization has a tinge of anti-semitism. To me though, while not discounting Jewish lobby, Jewish fanaticism, by far the biggest advantage Israel has is that it is a "European" or western country. If Israel were populated by Ethiopian Jews alone, nobody in the west would give a rat's arse. So, like on every other issue, its the west Vs the rest. One of my bosses, a Jewish guy, while friendly towards India in general (he is the main architect of setting up a subsidiary in India), talks condescendingly about how "embarrassed" he feels as a white guy walking the streets of Mumbai.