HAS PUTIN CHECKMATED OBAMA IN SYRIA OR IS HE OFFERING A FACE SAVING FOR THE U.S.?

CHARTER OF THE UNITED NATIONS: Article 2
'The Organization and its Members, in pursuit of the Purposes stated in Article 1, shall act in accordance with the following Principles.

1. The Organization is based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all its Members. 

4. All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations'.

U.S., Canada & Europe's interference in Syria runs contrary to the U.N. Charter. Nowhere in the Charter, members are permitted 'regime changes' in other countries.  President Assad's brutal regime is not the business of United States or its allies. It is a problem for the Syrian people.

President Putin's actions by default may offer a way out to the U.S. from the mess it created in Syria. Instead of protesting, it may be better to let him destroy ISIS and and anti Assad rebels, so this unholy civil war comes to an end. Ultimately, it is for the Syrian people not the United States to decide if a regime change is required.

This is not the first time U.S. has violated the U.N. charter. It invaded Iraq illegally, overthrew Qaddafi in Libya under the guise of 'no fly zone' and helped overthrow an elected Government in Egypt.  Some say U.S. did all this on Israel's behest. True or not, the outcome of these actions have been disastrous. The entire Middle East has been destabilized. Iraq is fractured probably beyond repair, Egypt has a draconian dictator who has sent thousands of protesters to the gallows, Libya is run by a bunch of terrorists and Syria is in turmoil.

Over ten years since U.S. started its actions in the Middle East, hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed in Iraq, Syria & Libya, many times more than the tyrants rulers of those countries killed over forty years. Iraq alone caused five million refugees and a third of Syrian population is refugee now.  

U.S. accomplishments to date are:
A fractured Iraq:

Picture courtesy aljazeera.com

A Libya controlled by a bunch of terrorists:

Picture courtesy morrocotomorrow.org

A Syria destroyed causing massive refugee crisis.

picture courtesy vocfm.co.za

A splintered Afghanistan after 12 year occupation & tragedies like the Kunduz Hospital bombing.
picture courtesy denverpost.com

Surely, this is not  the outcome U.S. had in mind before launching these wars. Still it begs the question, why have they learned no lessons and why do they keep making the same mistakes over and over?

IT IS TIME FOR HARPER GOVERNMENT TO STOP BEING AMERICA'S MOUTHPIECE AND STEP FORWARD AS A MEDIATOR IN UKRAINE

(Sergey Ponomarev's photo courtesy New York Times)

The knee jerk reaction of Harper Government on the Ukraine situation is  not helping to turn the temperature down, instead it could create more difficulties for the Ukrainian public from a more aggressive Russia. Instead of taking a hard right pro U.S. position, Canada should have taken a middle of the road approach whereby it could act as a mediator in resolving the crisis.

Germany's Angela Merkel has demonstrated a great deal more maturity by suggesting a peaceful resolution rather than Harper Government's empty threats of imposing sanctions on Russia and expelling it from the G8.

To start with, Mr. Harper needs to restrain his Foreign Minister, whose aggressive tactics  have done more damage to Canada's foreign relations than good. His handling of relations with UAE resulting in Canada losing a free military base in Dubai, with an estimated cost of a few hundred million dollars to Canadian tax payer is a case in point.

It is obvious that U.S. interference in Russia's back yard has brought Ukraine to this situation. A deft handling and a diplomatic solution is what is required here. Alas, Canada has lost its position as a neutral umpire, whereby it could offer to mediate between aggrieved parties, rather than take an extreme position as the Harper Government has done.

A peaceful solution to Ukraine's situation would be where the people's aspirations are met, where the minorities are not afraid of domination and persecution by the majority and where Russia does not feel, there is a hostile Government in place right next door.

This is a great opportunity for Mr. Harper to demonstrate leadership, maturity and diplomatic prowess. By actively helping to resolve the Ukraine situation, he could distinguish himself from a bunch of mediocre Western leaders. This requires him to get on that plane to Moscow and talk to President Putin, ask him for restraint and find out what it would take to diffuse the situation and bring the Ukranian and Russian leadership together for a peaceful resolution.

It may already be too late for Mr. Harper as Russian and U.S. Foreign Ministers have started a direct dialogue, though there may still be space for Canada to play a role. There may be issues that Russia and U.S. may not want to talk to each other about, but could open up to a neutral third party.

Mr. Harper, stand up and make Canada proud.

There is No Honour in Killing

The long prison sentences awarded to Shafia family of Afghan origin should serve as an example to all those who have a warped view of killing for the sake of honour. There is no such thing as honour killing, it is murder.

The Kingston, Ontario jury found Mohammad Shafia, his wife Tooba Yahya and their son Hamed Shafia, all guilty of first degree murder of three girls and their mother on four counts each and sentenced them to life. They will not have a chance to apply for parole for for 25 years.

On surface, prosecution's case was rather weak and circumstantial, but contradictions in testimony of the accused led the jury to this decision. Appeals are being filed, but reversal of guilty verdicts seem unlikely.

The warped sense of honour having been damaged by Shafia girls and their mother, modernized in Canadian society is no cause to commit murder. Honour killing is wrong anywhere is the world as it is plain and simple murder.

Families like Shafia want to hold on to their cultural values and when these are tested in a different setting, they feel damaged. The question is, why do they bring their families to Canada or to the West, if they do not wish to adopt to their new environment? They should stay back in their countries of origin, so they can feel secure in their archaic mindsets. However, it does not mean that they can practice honour killings in their societies. Killing is killing and there is no excuse for it whatsoever.

Will the U.S. economic downdrift bring Canadian economy down?

United States is politically deadlocked. No matter what President Obama proposes to the joint session of Congress on Thursday, most Republicans are not likely to back him.

The Tea Party segment of Republicans in the House (a significant number) is working on one item agenda only - get rid of Obama. The have made their disdain known openly for an African American President, calling him Hitler, anti American, the Other Guy and several such unfortunate names. They are hell bent on this, even if it destroys the U.S. economy, which was quite obvious during the recent debt negotiations.

This gridlock is damaging U.S. economic recovery. A large number of jobs that should have been created after the 2008/9 recession ended, have not been created. The unemployment picture is depressing as 14 million employable workers are not employed. Unemployment amongst teenagers runs at 25.4%, African Americans 16.7%, Hispanics 11.3% and whites at 8%. Many economists agree that current unemployment rate of 9.1% will come down to around 8.9% by end of year and to a low 8% in 2012, but that still leaves many million unemployed.

U.S. is Canada's largest trading partner and any serious impact on U.S.economy or buying power of its citizens will eventually filter through to the Canadian economy. While Canada's economy is still going through a slow recovery, it has been spared from a substantial impact, primarily because Canada's financial system proved to be the best in the world at a time a major financial crisis. But, if the U.S. economy continues a down drift, Canadian economy could stagnate.

It is important to insulate Canadian economy from such an eventuality. Alternative markets have to be found for its products in order to diversify exports and reduce dependence on U.S. Fortunately, Canada is a resource rich country and developing economies are in need of resources. Rising exports to China have helped offset some of the impact of declining U.S. orders.

The Canadian softwood lumber industry, which has been in a running battle with the U.S. Government and some of their intransigent politicians for years, has taken a leap forward by going to China, building houses and showing Chinese construction companies how they can build houses faster and cheaper by using lumber instead of concrete. This has resulted in creating demand for Canadian lumber in China, so much so that Canada is now exporting almost as much (if not more)lumber to China than the U.S. Other Canadian industries need to learn from this experience and explore markets around the world. The oil industry also needs to diversify its exports. An oil pipeline from Alberta to an off shore oil terminal on the Pacific Coast would make it considerably easier to export oil to China and other countries.

One good thing that has happened in this financial crisis is that Harper Government has grown up. From a reluctant, lukewarm attitude towards China in earlier years, now a more confident majority Harper Government has made progress. After a highly visible and successful visit by John Baird, Canadian Foreign Minister, Prime Minister will soon be off to China to increase trade opportunities. His recent visit to Brazil and other South American countries will also have positive impact on Canadian companies wanting to venture into those markets.

One market that Canada has not made major inroads into is India. This enormous market is very different than any other. India is not yet ready for large quantities of softwood lumber, not probably for another 10 years. Its infrastructure is abysmal and Canada could help plan and build roads on a fast track basis all over India. India is also in need of building small houses to replace slums and shanties. Canadian companies specializing in pre-fab construction could possibly set up factories in India to produce these in large quantities, so the Government and private sector, start replacing shanties on an emergency footing. There are probably countless other opportunities, for which the Indian market needs to be studied thoroughly and patiently, rewards will follow.

Canadian economy need not go down with the U.S. economy as long as it finds alternative markets and Canadian Corporations open their horizons to exploring new markets. The structure of Canadian Corporate Board also needs to be diversified to leverage enormous international talent available within Canada. The U.S. economy will ultimately recover and that could only give the Canadian economy a further boost.

PASS THE HEALTHCARE BILL ALREADY

President Obama and the Democratic leadership have allowed the Healthcare bill to linger far too long, it should have passed months ago. Republicans and Tea Party activists have been given far too much time to bash the bill in an effort to derail it.

It has been quite obvious all along that Republicans are NOT going to support it in any shape or form, then why waste time in trying to win them over. Their vested interests do not allow them to support anything that goes against the insurance company interests. Rumor has it, their re-election campaign coffers are filling up nicely through campaign contributions by vested interests. Apparently Republicans are not the only beneficiaries either, some Democrats opposed to the bill also seem to be receiving this bounty.

The Healthcare bill should now be passed immediately through a reconciliation process, which requires only 51 votes in the Senate. And yes, the Public Option should be kept in the bill as it is the responsibility of the Government to provide a good healthcare system. If insurance companies won't cover or are expensive, then the Government should step in to provide coverage to its citizens. Lessons should be learned from the Canadian public healthcare system.

Canada has most probably the best healthcare system in the world. The disinformation campaign against it in the US by vested interests and Senator McCain (him probably out of ignorance than malice) is utterly dishonest. Canadian public healthcare system covers every man, woman and child (very eloquently elaborated by William Shatner in the closing ceremonies last night). Healthcare is funded through taxes and no insurance premiums are required. All procedures recommended by doctors (except of course elective cosmetic surgery)are 100% covered and no co-payment is required. There may be a wait time for a minor surgeries, but major surgeries are attended to immediately. And NO, the Government does not have a say in who gets operated on, the Doctors do as they are completely independent in their decision making.

US Economy faces far more serious challenges than to allow Healthcare debate to occupy center stage for this long. It should have been off the table several months ago. President and his team need to focus on job creation, trade and budget deficits. He had an excellent campaign team that brought him to the White House, but many of these who became his advisers are green and not experienced in the way Washington works. He needs to bring in some experienced hands who can tackle the Senators and Congressmen, some of whom have been in DC for 30 years and know all the tricks to derail an Administration.

It is time to pass the Healthcare bill NOW.

Guantanamo Disgrace

The shocking video of 16 year old Omar Khadr under interrogation by Canadian intelligence agents in violation of his child status and in complete violation of UN's convention on child soldiers is a shame for humanity. Some of Khadr's wounds were still raw and seeping even though he was captured several months prior to this interrogation. The unconscionable comment by a Canadian interrogator that "you are receiving pretty good medical treatment" has shocked most Canadians. In fact the entire world is shocked as can be gauged from the linked article:

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3489205,00.html

The Canadian interrogation was chilling enough but it was probably a great deal more civilized than what American interrogators would have subjected Khadr and others inmates to. Thank God for Canadians courts giving us an insight to this hell hole called Guantanamo. Stephen Harper needs to step up to his responsibility and have Khadr brought back to Canadian judicial system.

Guantanamo is George Bush's shame and this is his legacy. It is time to shut it down. The military tribunals are a farce. If the inmates are guilty of terrorist acts, try them under criminal law and if innocent, let them go.

Barack Obama likely to Win Texas

Things may not be as bad for Obama as they seemed Tuesday night. In the Texas primary Hillary Clinton leads in primary delegates by 65 to 61. But Obama is leading by a whopping 12% in the Caucus count. So far only 40% caucus results have come in and he is greadually increasing his lead. Even if the ultimate caucus result remains the same i.e. Obama's 56% to Clinton's 44%, Obama will win Texas overall (not counting the Super delegates). This is how the math works out:

Delegate Allocation:
Primary (99% results in) Clinton 65 Obama 61
Caucus (40% results in so far
Obama 56% Clinton 44%
assuming total 67 delegates
allocated on this basis) Clinton 29 Obama 38

Total Delegates Clinton 94 Obama99


Once all the caucus results are in, Obama should claim victory in Texas.

Also he needs to fire his advisor Goolsbee who damaged him tremendously in the Ohio primary by telling a Canadian Consulate employee in Chicago that Obama does not mean what he says about NAFTA. Obama should also address this issue in his next speech and take it head on to put this controversy to rest.