I extend my sympathy to the people of Poland.They have experienced many setbacks in their long and turbulent history.I do however urge them to stay true to their national character and be strong. A Pole, it is said, is born with a sword in one hand, and a brick in the other. When the battle is over,the rebuilding begins. Remember the Tatars, the teutonic Knights, the Swedish deluge. Remember Vienna. Remember the Partitions and 100 + year occupation. Remember the Nazis and the Soviets.
We hear that "Putin is going to be in charge of the investigation"...hmmm. Some may not be too happy about me saying this at this point, but doesn't it sound like putting Hermann Goering in charge of investigating the Reichstag fire? I think now IS the time to question boldly.
My study of Russian, Polish and Eastern European history tells me that this is all just a little too convenient. First you have Medvedev playing good cop to Putin's bad cop, and getting Obama to back off on the missile defense system ( and on the 70th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland), leaving our friend and ally Poland exposed, then you get Russian sock puppet Yanukovich winning a questionable election in Ukraine (which happens to be the country in which Russia's Navy has had to lease their former black sea port of Sebastopol) the revolution in Kyrgyzstan, and now this? Who else thinks that one plane containing the upper echelons of the Polish national leadership including the president and top defense officials is just too convenient a target? And on a trip to commemorate the Katyn Forest Massacre?
Make no mistake about it. Russia's regime, despite the nice-guy face medvedev puts on it, is nothing more than a revanchiste dictatorship (Medvedev can't even go to the loo without Putin's permission) bent on restoring Russia's former glory. Belarus has been a puppet state since 1993, Ukraine is headed in that direction, and they have their sights set on pushing their influence right up to the German borders again.
This is what happens when western countries start electing weenie liberals who put forward an impression of weakness. This regime knows they will probably never have a better chance than they do between now and 2012 to reclaim -if not sovereignty over their former territories- at least their former sphere of influence.
Poland however, has the depth of character to resist Russia. There are no pro-Russian candidates or parties in the Sejm. Poland has suffered too much under the hands of the Russians to go down to anything but military force, and Obama's weakness notwithstanding, Poland is part of NATO, and the whole alliance is obligated to come to her defense. It was a mistake on the US and NATO's part not to bring Ukraine and Georgia in while they could.
The legacy of the resistance to the Nazis and Soviets under Cardinal Adam Sapieha, Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski, the John Paul II's leadership, and the Solidarity movement are not distant memories, and have forged the characters of three living generations in Poland. Whether this was truly an accident, or if it was indeed an attempted decapitation of the Polish government, the country will not only survive, but flourish. Rest in Peace, President Kaczynski & those others. A Pole is someone born with a sword in one hand hand, and a brick in the other. When the battle is over, he rebuilds....
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
No Longer "Your Father's Turkey"
Turkey : Israel is the main threat to Mideast peace.
Under the radar of the daily news cycle has been the rise of Islamism in Turkey. Turkey has long been one of the few countries in the Islamic world that could have been considered an ally of both Israel and the USA.
In light of the latest rebuffs of Turkish attempts to get into the EU, the country has now turned back to its Islamic roots, and may have dreams of reviving the Caliphate and becoming the dominant power in the middle east once again.
At this time, they have a government headed by an Islamist party led by a radical muslim with a western look named Tayyip Erdogan. Given that through NATO and its alliances with the US and Israel, Turkey has undoubtedly Acquired the best equipped and most skilled armed forces in the region. It is my observation that they seem to think that they no longer need the US (which since Obama and Hilary Rodham Clinton took over, is now a laughingstock) or Israel.
I do not think that the Ottoman Empire breathed its last in 1918, but just went into hibernation. Islam was always bubbling under the surface no matter how much Ataturk tried to secularize the Turkish republic. It's almost like Iran where Shah's attempts to suppress Islam were, as we have seen, a colossal failure.
It would not be too difficult for Erdogan to rally the various TURKIC peoples who inhabit most of the former Soviet Central Asian republics, namely Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrghizstan and Tadjikistan to form a confederacy (as we have also seen, even under official Soviet atheism, Islam remained a force beneath the surface in those states). Such a superstate would overwhelm the rest of the Islamic world, especially if they re-established the Caliphate in Istanbul, and laid claim to religious leadership as well.
China also has reason to watch Turkey as the Uighur minority who primarily in Xinjiang (aka Sinkiang) province are Turkic people.
Under the radar of the daily news cycle has been the rise of Islamism in Turkey. Turkey has long been one of the few countries in the Islamic world that could have been considered an ally of both Israel and the USA.
In light of the latest rebuffs of Turkish attempts to get into the EU, the country has now turned back to its Islamic roots, and may have dreams of reviving the Caliphate and becoming the dominant power in the middle east once again.
At this time, they have a government headed by an Islamist party led by a radical muslim with a western look named Tayyip Erdogan. Given that through NATO and its alliances with the US and Israel, Turkey has undoubtedly Acquired the best equipped and most skilled armed forces in the region. It is my observation that they seem to think that they no longer need the US (which since Obama and Hilary Rodham Clinton took over, is now a laughingstock) or Israel.
I do not think that the Ottoman Empire breathed its last in 1918, but just went into hibernation. Islam was always bubbling under the surface no matter how much Ataturk tried to secularize the Turkish republic. It's almost like Iran where Shah's attempts to suppress Islam were, as we have seen, a colossal failure.
It would not be too difficult for Erdogan to rally the various TURKIC peoples who inhabit most of the former Soviet Central Asian republics, namely Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrghizstan and Tadjikistan to form a confederacy (as we have also seen, even under official Soviet atheism, Islam remained a force beneath the surface in those states). Such a superstate would overwhelm the rest of the Islamic world, especially if they re-established the Caliphate in Istanbul, and laid claim to religious leadership as well.
China also has reason to watch Turkey as the Uighur minority who primarily in Xinjiang (aka Sinkiang) province are Turkic people.
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