Published: January 10, 2009
Op-Ed Contributor
World ignores Israel - Russia still the bad guys!
By Ian Brockwell 
US quick to respond to Russia, but not Israel
If further proof were needed of how biased world leaders have become and whose tune they dance to, we only have to look at the recent reaction to the gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine.
Ukraine (along with Georgia) is one of the old Soviet states that the US would like to see join NATO. Unfortunately, just like Georgia (who attacked South Ossetia in the summer), they can't seem to keep out of trouble.
Following a dispute over an unpaid debt and a disagreement over prices, Russia reduced and then later stopped the flow of gas through Ukraine. Prime Minister Putin said "Russia is ready to pay a market price for gas transit via Ukraine if Kiev pays a market price for supplies of Russian gas." There have also been allegations that Ukraine has stolen "more than 86 million cubic meters of gas since the start of the year, but Kiev denied the accusations saying that Russia was trying to discredit Ukraine as a reliable gas transit partner." However, it is a fact that Ukraine has sufficient reserves of gas to last until Spring!
Around 80% of Russia's gas exports to Europe pass through Ukraine and this dispute has affected Hungary, Serbia, Macedonia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, Bosnia, Italy, Poland, France, Slovenia, Austria, the Czech Republic, Romania and Slovakia.
According to the Times online "A senior US diplomat warned that NATO might have to intervene to help alliance members such as Bulgaria and Romania if the crisis drags on."There is a commercial dispute at the heart of this, but this also has political overtones [because] we have seen Russia over time using such events to gain political leverage," Kurt Volker, the US Ambassador to NATO, said."
It is uncertain why the US are interfering with a dispute that concerns Europeans, they are more than capable of dealing with a problem like this without the help of NATO, which will only make matters worse. Perhaps the US response has "political overtones" as well?
The United States has invested a lot of time and money into Ukraine and Georgia, with the intention of getting them to side with the West (meaning the US). The "tie chewing" President of Georgia (Saakashvili) has already made of mess of one plan, with his ill advised war, and President Viktor Yushchenko of Ukraine (who likes to spend the US investment on himself and his family) is being shown the door! There is no way these "unstable" countries could possibly be admitted to NATO.
What is perhaps more interesting is the US response to a "commercial" dispute that does not involve the military and so far has cost no lives. Yet when asked to put pressure on Israel for a ceasefire, in a war that has cost (according to reports) more than 700 Palestinian lives, they do nothing. In fact, they do worse than nothing, they veto any attempts by others to put pressure on Israel, something they have done 42 times (for Israel) in the last 36 years!
Not only Palestinians are getting killed in this war, 5 Israeli's have lost their lives (4 believed to be from "friendly fire") and more recently 2 UN contractors were killed by an Israeli tank shell during an official suspension of hostilities. The 2 forklift drivers were killed when the convoy of aid was targeted. The convoy was clearly displaying UN flags and livery. The Israeli army had also been notified of the route of the convoy beforehand.
Either the IDF targeted the convoy on purpose, or they are not as accurate and careful in their aim as many claim, which makes you wonder about all the other deaths.
Despite all of this, there are still many articles written that are determined to paint the Palestinians in Gaza as some household pest that needs exterminating. We repeatedly hear about the old "Arab trick" of taking photos of people pretending to be dead, human shields and even the use of Photoshop! One minute these people are "uncivilized" suicide bombers and the next they are computer nerds? Yet the fact remains that many hundreds ARE dead, so even if by some ridiculous chance half of those numbers were faked or the result of "Photoshop", it is still a lot of people!
I also heard an interesting comment in one article that suggested that the Palestinian's who voted for Hamas should share the blame (basically saying that they should be considered terrorists as well). That's an interesting point of view. Does that mean all the people who voted for Bush are also responsible for the deaths of those in Afghanistan and Iraq? Let's not forget the invasion of Iraq was illegal and should never have taken place, thousands of US troops would still be alive today if it wasn't for the lies created by their government. And still, after all these years, there are many thousands of troops still there risking their lives every day, for a war they should not be in. They should be at home with their families and loved ones, defending the country that they signed up to serve.
The real terrorists in this world are the politicians who manipulate the governments of other countries, create the wars and then supply the weapons to enable people to kill each other. Would Israel be doing what they are now if their military strength was equal to their neighbors? Isn't it possible they might be more interested in finding a peaceful solution, if they weren't armed to the teeth and carrying 300 nuclear weapons (courtesy of the US)?
If we want to stop wars and see some peace in this world, we need to choose our leaders more carefully, so in that respect maybe we are all to blame? Unfortunately, we are unlikely to see any "change" when Obama takes the reins, he has already promised his loyalty to Israel. Business as usual!
Ian Brockwell writes straight talking, honest stories that engage readers. Contact Ian through NewsBlaze or his News Page.
* The views of Opinion writers do not necessarily reflect the views of NewsBlaze
Search News
Daily News
