After the undiplomatic bile spewed from the putrid mouth of Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, why should we be surprised by this garbage emanating from one of his toadies?

Venezuela's foreign minister said he was illegally detained for 90 minutes by officials at a New York airport and accused them of treating him abusively by trying to frisk and handcuff him.

U.S. officials called Saturday's incident regrettable and said they had apologized to Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro. Maduro called that insufficient and said Venezuela would seek a legal challenge through the U.N. to what he called a "flagrant violation of international law" and his diplomatic immunity.

"We were detained for an hour and a half, threatened by police with being beaten," Maduro told reporters at Venezuela's mission to the U.N. "We hold the U.S. government responsible."

A U.N. diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly, said Maduro's trip was delayed because he had showed up late without a ticket, prompting extra screening.

Maduro and Chavez want the UN to investigate and punish the US for this event.

The solution is simple – place Chavez, Maduro, and all other Venezuelan government officials on the “persona non grata” list and prohibit their return to the US. If the corrupt officials of the UN object, suggest that they relocate to another country – and inform the morally-backrupt organization that the US will cut its dues payments in half once the organization ceases to pollute our shores.

Posted by: Greg at 10:48 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I was challenged yesterday when I asserted that the coup in Thailand was a threat to liberty, not just democracy.

Well, the authoritarian nature of the military has asserted itself already.

Thailand's new ruling junta on Thursday announced a ban on meetings of political parties and barred the establishment of new parties.

The announcement, made on all Thai television stations, said the action was taken to maintain peace and order.

The bans are the latest moves by the junta to maintain control, even though no open opposition have surfaced to its Tuesday night takeover. Other moves include limitations on public meetings and restrictions on the media.

Freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, the right to petition the government, the right to associate for political purposes -- all gone by government decree. I stand by my assertion.

And i wish the Bush Administration would do and say more on behalf of the democratic institutions of Thailand.

Posted by: Greg at 10:33 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Military coups are a good thing only under the most rare of circumstances. The events of the last 24 hours in Thailand don't meet that standard by even the most generous assessment.

Thai army leaders deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a longtime ally of President Bush, using tanks and soldiers to seize the capital Tuesday night without firing a shot. The coup was the first in 15 years in a country where many people believed that military seizures of power were a thing of the past.

Thaksin was in New York, attending the opening of the U.N. General Assembly, when soldiers surrounded Government House, his office, at about 10:30 p.m. He declared a state of emergency by telephone, but his announcement, carried on television, was cut off midway and had no discernible effect as army units seized key facilities in a light rain.

Thaksin cancelled a scheduled address to the UN, a move which I am sorry to see. It would have been instructive for him to speak to the body in order to call upon the nations of the world to reject this assault on democratic institution and to refuse recognition to the illegitimate regime which now holds power in Bangkok.

Why the coup?

Thaksin, a former senior police official who built a fortune in the telecommunications industry, has faced street protests for much of the year over allegations of corruption, abuse of power and a bungling response to a Muslim insurgency. Many military officers contended that he was trying to interfere with promotions and postings in the armed forces.

When it comes right down to it, I believe the last reason was probably the most pressing. Someone's son-in-law or protege probably didn't get the promotion or posting that they were expecting, and that may well have touched matters off. After all, civilian control of the military is a must in a free society, but it seems like the Thai army prefers military control of the civilians.

It also appears taht Thailand's king may be backing the coup -- a sign that the Thai monarchy may need to be abolished or restricted. If he was involved, it would be appropriate for King Bhumibol Adulyadej to face the same punishment -- whether prison or execution -- as the leaders of the coup.

Does any of this mean that I think Thaksin was or is a great leader? hardly, for liberty in Thailand has not been strongly supported. However, elections were coming before this coup -- now there will be none, with a military dictatorship taking the place of an admittedly flawed democratic system. The Houston Chonicle put it well today (in an editorial shocking in its timeliness).

Prime Minister Thaksin makes a poor example of elected government. He has endured charges of corruption and abuse of power. He does not recognize freedom of speech or of the press and refuses to resign.

However, the people elected Thaksin and soon will have a chance to replace him, if the army allows. Thailand would be better off with a deeply flawed leader ultimately accountable to the electorate than what it has now: a military dictator who has revoked the constitution.

Indeed, liberty is even more deeply endangered by this coup than by the short-comings of the Thaksin government.

Posted by: Greg at 10:15 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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Iran defiantly ignores a UN deadline. Russia indicates sanctions of any sort are off the table. Following the Lebanon debacle, it seems clear that the UN is fully impotent.

Russia on Friday cast new doubt on the prospects for the Bush administrationÂ’s efforts to punish Iran for refusing to suspend its nuclear program, even as European leaders expressed wariness at moving quickly to impose sanctions.

In Moscow, officials expressed regret that an Aug. 31 deadline had passed without an agreement by Iran to halt its efforts to enrich uranium that could be used for building nuclear weapons, as American and European officials believe Iran intends to do.

At the same time, Russian officials made it clear that they do not support retaliatory sanctions or other steps to isolate IranÂ’s leadership. That was a view that seemed to be widely shared across Europe, despite public consternation over IranÂ’s defiance of a United Nations Security Council resolution.

Despite weeks of diplomacy and compromise among the Security Council’s permanent members — the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia — the resolute deadline set by the Security Council for Iran to halt its nuclear work seemed fairly irresolute once it passed.

Russia’s defense minister, Sergei B. Ivanov, said that the issue of sanctions was “not acute,” and added that diplomats from the five permanent members and Germany would meet to discuss further steps. France’s Foreign Ministry said the meeting was scheduled for next Thursday in Berlin.

RussiaÂ’s foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, said that Russia favored continued negotiations and not punitive measures, calling into question their effectiveness.

Even though Russia previously joined the other permanent members of the Security Council in setting the deadline for Iran to comply — with the implicit threat of sanctions — Mr. Lavrov left in doubt whether Russia would ever agree to any penalties. His view echoed one heard increasingly here: that sanctions could be a first step toward a new American-led military conflict in the Middle East.

In light of this, I have to ask why the US and other countries believe that the UN has any role at all in settling world problems. This sort of crap is what we see in the worst parents and worst teachers -- threats made but an unwillingness to carry out. As a result, the wrong-doers are able to continue to act at will, knowing there are no consequences to a failure to comply.

But then again, maybe we should look at history. In 1939, the Russians cut a deal with Hitler. Want to bet that they have a deal with Ahmadinejad?

Posted by: Greg at 03:15 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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But just because that component of a nuclear weapons has been found in that Islamo-Fascist state does not mean the world community will act.

The global nuclear monitoring agency deepened suspicions on Thursday about IranÂ’s nuclear program, reporting that inspectors had discovered new traces of highly enriched uranium at an Iranian facility.

Inspectors have found such uranium, which at extreme enrichment levels can fuel bombs, twice in the past. The International Atomic Energy Agency concluded that at least some of those samples came from contaminated equipment that Iran had obtained from Pakistan.

But in this case, the nuclear fingerprint of the particles did not match the other samples, an official familiar with the inspections said, raising questions about their origin.

In a six-page report to the United Nations Security Council on Thursday, the agency withheld judgment about where the material came from and whether it could be linked to a secret nuclear program.

Is it time yet for a little bit of Persian Carpet-bombing?

Iran lied about its peaceful intentions?
How can that be -- Islam is a religion of peace!

Posted by: Greg at 02:26 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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