I wonder -- is this a true voice of sanity that presages change? Or is it simply one lone voice of sense that will be drowned out by in a sea of anti-Semitic Israel-bashing?

The United Nations Human Rights Council has not managed to deal fairly with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the council's president Doru-Romulus Costea told a Spanish newspaper on Saturday, according to Israel Radio.

Doru admitted that he was dissatisfied with the fact the council had overly focused on the degree of human rights violations by Israel.

"The body which I head must examine the actions of both sides equally, and we have not done that," said Costea. "Clearly, from now on things need to change."

Israel Radio reported that earlier this week, US President George Bush criticized the UN Human Rights Council, saying that it had put too great an emphasis on Israeli actions.

I suspect that the above comment is the lone voice -- after all, let's look at what the body in question has done this week.

When President Bush told the United Nations General Assembly this week “the American people are disappointed by the failures of the Human Rights Council,” his words could not have been more timely or deserved. He pointed out “This body has been silent on repression by regimes from Havana to Caracas to Pyongyang and Tehran — while focusing its criticism excessively on Israel.” On Friday, the Council piled the dung heap higher. It wrapped up another session in Geneva by adopting two more resolutions against Israel and no resolutions critical of the human-rights record of any of the other 191 U.N. member states.

This brings the total of anti-Israel resolutions and decisions adopted by the “Human Rights” Council — in only the first 15 months of its operation — to 14. Another four very weak decisions and resolutions have been applied to Sudan. And the Council finally decided to hold a special session of the Council on Myanmar. So adding up the highly selective concerns of the U.N.’s lead human-rights agency: 74 percent of the Council’s moves against individual states have been directed at Israel, 21 percent at Sudan, 5 percent at Myanmar, and the rest of the world has been given a free pass.

But then again, it is easier to criticize liberal democracies that value human rights and human life than it is to oppose terrorists and oppressive regimes -- after all, the latter don't give a damn about anything except holding on to their power

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Next time the Left claims that they are being oppressed in this country for speaking out against the government, point to the situation in Burma (I don't recognize the name change made by the oppressive military junta).

Brutality and defiance marked the second day of an armed crackdown in Myanmar today as the military junta tried to crush a wave of nationwide protests in the face of harsh international condemnation.

The violence began before dawn with raids on Buddhist monasteries and continued through the day with tear gas, beatings and volleys of gunfire in the streets of the countryÂ’s main city, Yangon, according to witnesses and news agency reports from inside the closed nation.

Witnesses said soldiers fired automatic weapons into a crowd of protesters. State television in Myanmar reported that nine people had been killed and that 11 demonstrators and 31 soldiers were injured. The numbers could not be independently verified, and exile groups said they could be much higher.

International action is being taken.

After news of Thursday's violence reached Washington, the White House renewed its demand that the Burmese junta end the crackdown.

"The world is watching the people of Burma take to the streets to demand their freedom and the American people stand in solidarity with these brave individuals," President Bush said in a written statement. He added: "Every civilized nation has a responsibility to stand up for people suffering under a brutal military regime like the one that has ruled Burma for too long."

The U.S. Treasury Department designated 14 senior Burmese figures under new sanctions announced by Bush earlier in the week, including Than Shwe; the army commander, Vice Senior Gen. Maung Aye; and the acting prime minister, Lt. Gen. Thein Sein. Any assets they have in U.S. jurisdictions will be frozen, and Americans are now banned from doing business with them. U.S. officials hope to leverage that to influence foreign banks and institutions to follow suit.

The European Union also vowed to seek tighter sanctions. The United Nations, meanwhile, has said it will send an envoy to Burma, a move that the Burmese foreign minister said Thursday would be welcomed.

India and Red China, however, are blocking a serious response by the UN Security Council. Contact their embassies to demand that they support concerted international action to end the violence against peaceful protesters seeking regime change.

Embassy of the People's Republic of China
2300 Connecticut Ave., NW
Washington, D.C. 20008

Embassy of India
2107 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.
Washington D.C. 20008

Michelle Malkin reports that the junta has cut off internet access to Burma.

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Well, maybe – for a billion dollars and all his WMD information.

Less than a month before the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Saddam Hussein signaled that he was willing to go into exile as long as he could take with him $1 billion and information on weapons of mass destruction, according to a report of a Feb. 22, 2003, meeting between President Bush and his Spanish counterpart published by a Spanish newspaper yesterday.

The meeting at Bush's Texas ranch was a planning session for a final diplomatic push at the United Nations. The White House was preparing to introduce a tough new Security Council resolution to pressure Hussein, but most council members saw it as a ploy to gain their authorization for war.

Yeah, that’s the ticket – let the bad guy go with a wad of cash and the knowledge to either obtain WMD or sell the info to the highest bidder. That sure would have made the world a safer place!

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This kid offers the most inane reason for opting-out of military service in Israel.

To many she is a traitor, a coward and a parasite. But 17-year-old Israeli "draft dodger" Saar Vardi says if more people thought like her, the Middle East would be a more peaceful place.

Vardi is part of a growing group of young Israelis who are refusing to sign up for mandatory military service, often in protest over the Jewish state's occupation of Palestinian territory or because of last year's unpopular war in Lebanon.

* * *

"People refer to me as a traitor and say that my country has given me so much and I'm not willing to give anything back, like a parasite," Vardi, a student, told Reuters.

"But I know what I believe ... If truly everyone saw things the way I see them then we wouldn't need an army."

Actually, Saar Vardi has it wrong – if everyone saw things like she does, then there would not be an Israel. Maybe the lack of a major fight for the survival of Israel since 1973 has resulted in a weakening in the resolve of that nation’s young people to ensure their homeland’s survival. Maybe distance from the Holocaust has made the notion that Jews must fight for survival an alien thought. But regardless, I fear for the future of Israel in a sea of hostile neighbors.

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The day before coming to America to speak to the UN and (based upon his request) desecrate Ground Zero.

A day before flying to New York to speak directly to the American people, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad struck a confrontational tone Saturday with a parade of fighter jets and missiles and tough warnings for the United States to stay out of the Mideast.

Three new domestically manufactured warplanes streaked over the capital during the parade marking the 27th anniversary of the Iraqi invasion of Iran, which sparked a 1980-88 war that killed hundreds of thousands of people. The parade also featured the Ghadr missile, which has a range of 1,120 miles, capable of reaching Israel.

Some of the missile trucks were painted with the slogans "Down with the U.S." and "Down with Israel." The parade also featured unmanned aerial surveillance drones, torpedoes, and tanks.

Tensions are high between Washington and Tehran over U.S. accusations that Iran is secretly trying to develop nuclear weapons and helping Shiite militias in Iraq that target U.S. troops. Iran denies the claims.

Washington has said it is addressing the Iran situation diplomatically, rather than militarily, but U.S. officials also say that all options are open.

Our government needs to revoke Mahmoud the Mad's permission to enter America -- screw the UN and the Host Country Agreement. After all, what enforcement power do the terrorist supporters at the UN actually have?

On the other hand, assuming that this Iranian pig is allowed to enter the US, American citizens ought and should fully exercises their rights under the US Constitution to make him unwelcome at every turn. And if Mahmoud the Mad does attempt the desecration of Ground Zero, he must be physically prevented by doing so by American citizens. What's more, those citizens must resist any attempt by law enforcement officials to open a path for him to approach the site of the worst terror attack upon American soil, where his fellow hate-filled Muslim extremists murdered over 2700 Americans.

This week marks the Bush Administration's Elian Gonzalez moment -- will President Bush fail the test in the same way Bill Clinton failed his, accommodating evil anti-Americanism in the face of American freedom.

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Castro looks healthy.

Fidel Castro looked alert and healthier in a video taped Friday, the first images released of the ailing 81-year-old leader in more than three months. In the images aired unexpectedly on state television Friday evening, Castro wore a red, blue and white jumpsuit with "F. Castro" in small block letters. The Cuban leader spoke slowly and softly and didn't always look the interviewer in the eye, but appeared to be thinking clearly.

Officials broke into regularly scheduled programming only minutes earlier to announce that an hour-long "conversation" with Castro would be shown.

Castro mentioned the price of oil and the value of the Euro against the dollar, evidence that the video was recorded Friday, as Cuban officials said. At times, it was hard to follow his train of thought as he spoke about a wandering essay he published in state media Wednesday.

Which means, of course, continued oppression for the people of Cuba.

Couldn't the CIA arrange for him to receive a Semtex suppository?

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Yesterday I noted a possible bargain between Musharraf and Bhutto to get the general out of the Army and the political leader out of exile. Will it happen now?

Pakistan's Election Commission yesterday changed the country's voting rules to open the way for President Pervez Musharraf to seek a new five-year term without giving up his powerful position of army chief.

Opposition parties decried the move as a violation of the constitution and accused the U.S.-allied leader of trying to bulldoze legal obstacles to his hold on power amid increasing demands for an end to military rule. They predicted a surge in democracy protests, which have already shaken the president's hold on power.

The ruling was likely to end up before the Supreme Court, which has proved an impediment to Gen. Musharraf this year.

Captain Ed sounds optimistic at this point, based upon the arguments made before Pakistan's Supreme Court.

Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf will give up his post of army chief if he is re-elected president and will be sworn in for a new term as a civilian, his lawyer told the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

I'm less hopeful, given his flouting of the decision of the Pakistani Supreme Court just last week by sending Nawaz Sharif into exile after that body had ruled he could return to Pakistan.

Time will tell -- and Washington needs to apply pressure.

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Looks like Musharraf is out as head of the army.

Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf plans to stand down as army chief by 15 November, an official from the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML) says.

Gen Musharraf will resign from the powerful post after the presidential elections, said Mushahid Hussain Sayed, the PML's secretary general.

He is seeking re-election by parliament before its term expires in mid-October.

Pakistan's Supreme Court meanwhile is debating his right to remain army chief if he stands for president again.

There has been no confirmation from Gen Musharraf himself about his intentions.

It is unclear if this is part of a power-sharing deal with Benazir Bhutto. And unfortunately, this situation does nothing about the arrest and exile of former PM Nawaz Sharif in defiance of the Pakistani Supreme Court.

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Courtesy of North Korea?

A State Department official said Friday that the United States had concerns about SyriaÂ’s involvement in illicit nuclear activities and suggested that North Korea might be aiding the Syrians in their efforts.

Andrew Semmel, a top official on countering the spread of nuclear weapons, said that Syria may have a number of “secret suppliers” for a covert nuclear program, and that North Korean technicians were currently operating inside Syria.

His comments, in an interview with The Associated Press in Rome, came in response to questions about an Israeli airstrike inside Syria last week. Neither Israel nor the United States has confirmed what targets the Israeli jets hit, and the government in Jerusalem has imposed a blanket restriction on the Israeli news media from reporting details about the raid.

If this report is accurate, what does this mean for the recent agreement between the US and North Korea regarding the latter's nuclear program? And what does that mean for US policy in the Middle East? Will we be drawn into conflict with the Syrians as well as the Iranians? And what of Israel -- will it be responding with similar force to Iranian nuclear schemes?

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When will the US quit backing this thug? He's no real help in the Crusade Against Jihadism, and now he defies the courts does this.

Nawaz Sharif, a Pakistani opposition leader and former prime minister, was arrested here today, after he had flown to the Pakistani capital intent on leading an effort to oust the current president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf.

Mr. Sharif was dragged out of a lounge in the Islamabad airport by several police officers. He was being taken to prison, according to Irfan Ilahi, a district coordination officer for the Pakistan police.

But Dawn News, a local television channel, reported that Mr. Sharif was being deported to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

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I think that Mahmoud the Mad has been listening to too much AC/DC.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday lashed out at his Western foes which demand Iran halt its sensitive nuclear activities, saying they were "racing to hell".

"The Iranian people have climbed over difficult mountain passes on their path of progress. The enemies need to step aside from our path and give up their satanic ideas," he said, according to the semi-official Mehr news agency.

"One or two countries are refusing to accept that Iran is now mastering nuclear technology ... Some countries are racing towards hell. But this makes us sad and, for the good of their people, we will resist."

The genocidal anti-Semite has denied plans to make nukes, but has promised to destroy Israel in the past.

Hopefully they will get him before he gets them.

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