Gubu-World

A little bit too pro Israeli !

2012-01-27T18:08:00.004Z

I really can't stand watching Republicans trying to out do each other in being more pro Israeli than the next candidate. This was the case at the Republican debate in Florida last night. Only Ron Paul tells the truth when he says that some Americans are more pro "Israeli than the Israelis". According to Next Gingrich the Palestinians are an "invented people" and that two hours after he becomes President he will issue an executive order moving the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The reason statements like these bother me is because it is the most blatant example one can ever imaging of a politician attempting to fire up their base by making outlandish remarks which in the event that they actually become president they would never be able to stand by. American national interest in the region is not all just about Israel. There happens to be an Arab Spring, a war in Afghanistan, an unstable Iraq not to mention an Iran on the verge of obtaining nukes. Good luck President Gingrich in dealing with all that when you don't have a single Arab Ally, which would be the case after Newt the Chief declares from the Oval office that the Palestinians are not a real people. Why can't Republicans be pro Israeli, yet pragmatic.

State of the Reunion

2012-01-25T16:27:00.003Z

I have seen most of Obamas State of the Union address in clips today. I have also seen much of the criticism from prominent Republicans and conservative pundits which was all rather predictable and boring. However one element of the criticism which I fully agreed with was the repetitive nature of this event. See the clip below which demonstrates this quite remarkably.

Gingrich in Front

2012-01-23T21:43:00.004Z

I must apologise to any Newt fans out there but I just had to put this up.

The Republicans seem to me to be making a big mistake in their thinking. They don't realise that Barack Obama is not Jimmy Carter and Newt Gingrich is not Ronald Reagan. This is an altogether different showdown requiring a much different approach. If they don't get to grips with this they will lose.

Maggie

2012-01-20T15:51:00.005Z

I saw the movie The Iron lady last night. As a history and politics fan I must say that I was highly disappointed. I suppose I would recommend that people see it given the enormity of the film but be warned, Gubu World readers will find it a let down. The fact that the film intensely irritated me has nothing to do with politics or the Thatcher persona. I was simply annoyed at the style of the film. I was very excited about seeing a movie on the life of one the the 20th centuries most interesting characters. Instead, over half of the movie dealt with how Thatcher was dealing with old age. To be blunt, there is nothing unique about growing old and dealing with the passing of loved ones. We will all go through this if we're lucky. There is something very much unique about being Britain's longest, most controversial, arguably most successful and first female Prime Minister yet the movie kept flashing forward to the 2012 Maggie sitting around her London Apartment hallucinating about her dead husband. I found this utterly pointless and became very frustrated when the movie began to explore interesting events such as the Falkans or the IRA hunger strikers only to flash forward to 2012 after only a few minutes.

Anyway, that's my rant over. But I do think that the occasion is worthy of my own brief analysis of Thatcher, which is unique given that I hold fairly conservative views but am also a proud Irishman from a Northern Catholic background. I look back at Margaret Thatcher's 11 years in Downing Street and I admire her for it. It is clear that in the 1970's Britain was descending into mediocrity. By taking on the unions and confronting the Keynesian ethos that was over running the nation she reversed Britain's post war downward trajectory. I'm not going to get into a discussion about the merits of her economic philosophy except to say that her belief in free markets clearly affected her world view and is the main reason she found a partner in Ronald Reagan. She shared Reagan's view that coexistence with the USSR was not the goal. In this respect she was undoubtedly on the right side of history.

Her legacy on Northern Ireland is not as clear cut. She stood up to the IRA which should be commended. However she continually rejected outreaches from constitutional nationalists in the north and in Dublin. Even worse was her tendency to show off to hardliners and unionists by making statements that she was never going to be able to stand by like when she said that Northern Ireland was as "British as Finchly". Her general attitude in my view made the conflict more difficult to solve. She had an ally in the late Garret Fitzgerald who was fiercely anti provo but whom she instead preferred to humiliate by publicly rejecting all of his proposals. Of course this attitude was never sustainable and she had to do a complete u turn which culminated in the 1985 Anglo Irish Agreement, a settlement which caused the likes of Ian Paisley to call her a "wicket traitor". Her stubbornness was perhaps understandable given that Republicans had killed close friends of hers like Airey Naeve (an incident which the movie actually does portray quite well) and came astonishingly close to wiping out the whole cabinet at Brighton. But her hard line approach can hardly be credited with bringing the conflict to an end, and as commander of British forces she does bare responsibility for elements of collusion that occurred between British forces and loyalist paramilitaries. However sometimes we Irish can get a little caught up in our own affairs. The implosion of the USSR was a monumental event in world history and of much greater significance than Northern Ireland. Margaret Thatcher's role in it guarantees her place in history as one of the great historical figures of the 20th century.

More Racial Nonsense

2012-01-17T18:28:00.005Z

Every chance he gets Newt Gingrich refers to President Obama as the food stamp President. And on every occasion that he does so he gets accused of making a racially charged remark. For my non American readers allow me to clarify that a food stamp is a welfare document for purchasing food only. Let me make clear, I don't believe Newt Gingrich is a racist but I do believe he deliberately uses the phrase "Food Stamp President" in the hope that he gets accused of being a racist because nothing generates publicity like an accusation of racism. It also fires up his base and others who sympathise. To be accused of being racist is a horrible thing and Mr Gingrich knows that it is a controversial issue that will get many Americans on his side. It suits Gingrich and others to reinforce the perception that criticising Obama is racist. However I have no memory of either President Obama or anyone in his administration ever playing the race card. Some bloggers and left wing commentators do because once again race is ratings gold. I believe it is primarily the media who inject race into politics which some politicians then exploit to their advantage. I really hope this doesn't begin to dominate the campaign. Watch Newt below being interviewed on MSNBC. Note his comment on the "automatic reference to racism".

Sacrebleu !

2012-01-15T22:29:00.002Z

Insulting to Massachusettes

Insulting to the French

Insulting to just about everybody

Who Should I Endorse?

2012-01-13T17:28:00.005Z

A few days ago I asked my Father a very interesting question. I said "Dad, If you were an American would you vote Democrat or Republican". He answered "Democrat". The thing is, my Father is a right wing pro business conservative, so why would he vote Democrat. He went on to say that he could identify more with the Democratic party because he is an Irish Catholic and that traditionally, Irish Americans voted Democrat. Incidentally identity politics in Ireland is something we know all about as the two main parties, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael are ideologically indistinguishable. The reason I asked my father this question in the first place is because I have realised recently that sooner or later Gubu World is going to have to shake the political world to its core and endorse a candidate for President. I have never supported a Republican for President before although I have acknowledged that I was much too hard on George W Bush and think he was a better President than John Kerry would have been. But in 2012 surely the time has come for me to openly support a Republican candidate. And I must say I like Mitt Romney and do believe that a successful business man is the best type of person to address a massive debt problem. But damn it there is something about the Republicans that just irk me and I can't really explain it. Well let me try. Recently I saw an add by Cuban American Congressman Marco Rubio in which he criticises Obama for turning America into a European style welfare state. He opened the advert by saying "My parents fled a country that was pretty much like every other country in the world". Now wait a minute, my country is nothing like Cuba. This genuinely offended me. You can imagine the satisfaction I felt when I heard that Marco Rubio was coming under fire because it emerged that his parents actually fled Cuba a few years before Castro came to power so his sob story was a fib. However Rubio's rant also made me realise something else. Conservative Republicans despise Europe. I mean it really disgusts them. They see us at repulsive welfare states that won't stand up for anything. This does not make me bitter, after all it is very obvious to me that most liberal Europeans despise the United States. But I got to thinking, particularly after watching one of the Republican debates where the candidates were all trying to outdo each other in explaining how un European they are, why should I support a candidate from a party whose dislike for my country is so intense. I know this is not a particularly sophisticated point but we are not dealing with sophisticated things here. Identity politics is tribal by nature. I should be a clear Republican supporter, particularly since my main concern, the Irish economy, would benefit enormously if the US economy were to come roaring back in 2013 with a dynamic fiscal conservative at the helm. That said, I really wish the Republican candidates could just work a bit on being more likable. Some clearly think that being disliked is actually a good thing. I would like to remind them than Ronald Reagan was not only a visionary who liberated half of Europe, he was also adorable.

Hitting Back

2012-01-11T22:25:00.002Z

Newt hits back at Mitt in this latest negative add in the Republican race. Newt Gingrich spent much of the last two weeks complaining about Mitt Romney's negative adds in Iowa and New Hampshire. Well the gloves appear to be well and truly off now. The main issue from all of this as I see it is that if Romney gets the nod, which is highly likely, it is very difficult to imagine Newt or his supporters enthusiastically campaigning for him.

I am working on a detailed post about my impressions of the Republican primaries. Watch out for it tomorrow.

The Arab Spring, the West and Israel

2012-01-07T21:59:00.009Z

Gubu World is a blog that was set up in 2007 in order to discus global politics with a particular emphasis on the Middle East. I could never have predicted what a momentous year for the Arab World 2011 would be. We all watched in shock as millions thwarted the authorities whose ability to control information and assembly was drastically undermined by the social networking generation. My view throughout all of last year remains the same today which is that the unrest in the region is essentially a good thing. However, given the instability that the revolutions and regime changes have caused I want to do a very important post about what it means for the region, for democracy in the Arab World, for Israeli security and western interests.

A Good Thing
The unrest is a good thing. It is a good thing for democracy and the dignity of man that the Gadaffi, Mubarak and Ben Ali regimes have been overthrown. I said many times on Gubu World last year that the era of the Arab strong man who seizes control of a nation and holds it until his death has come to an end. Of course what replaces this model will be far from a western style pluralist democracy. But what did we really expect. The alternative is likely to be a multi party system that accommodates Islamists, nationalists and democrats. It will have some successes and some failures but the Arab people deserve their shot at democracy. I for one am getting a little tired of reading posts and articles, mainly from the Pro Israeli right, about the "new Egypt" and the "new Libya" where people single out an incident of a backward Islamic practise and use it to invalidate the wider movement against the tyrants of the region.

The West
President Obama is coming under increasing criticism from some in the Republican Party for throwing the Pro Western Mubarak under the bus and jeopardising Western security in the process. Strange really when you consider that during the Bush era the general consensus was that democracy needed to be brought forcefully to the region. Now some of the same people are feeling very uneasy that the Arabs are trying to do it themselves. So what exactly are the legitimate concerns of the decision makers in Washington, London and elsewhere. Obviously the US does not want to see a new government emerge from the turmoil that is anti western and promotes terrorism. But does that give them the right to intervene in order to prevent unrest and preserve a pro western dictatorship? Let us consider the following. I have always argued that during the Cold War covert CIA action in South America to prop up right wing dictators was justifiable because the consequences of inaction potentially included nuclear war. The world survived the Cuban Missile Crisis. It might not have survived a Chilean Missile Crisis. So in my view, in extreme situations the US can and should play God. This raises the crucial question, just how vital is it for the US that Islamists are kept out of power in the Middle East. Is it vital? Yes. But is a matter of life and death for the nation? No.

Israel
Keeping the Muslim Brotherhood out of power in Egypt may not be a matter of life and death for America, but it certainly is for Israel. The lesser of two evils scenario that America faced during the Cold War is a situation that Israel finds itself in constantly. Israel seems to go through a Cuban Missile Crisis of some sort every year. But Israel alone does not have the capability to take covert preemptive action to prevent the emergence of an Islamist government. So now the question becomes, just how vital is it for American national Security that Israel be defended? Is it so important that the US should put a stop to the Arab Spring. Some clearly think it is. And after all, if you subscribe to the doctrine, as I do that if Israel falls it would embolden Islamists across the region propelling them to power in every Arab nation and that Europe would be their next target, then you must conclude that the preservation of Israel is a life or death issue for the west as well. However this conundrum must be examined from different angles. Israel is a nation of seven million people. There are 270 million Arabs living across 22 nations. A foreign policy designed to preserve dictatorship in the Arab world so that the seven million inhabitants of Israel can live in safety makes little sense. I suppose the truth is nobody really believes that the White House should have protected Mubarak, not when so much of the discourse over the past decade has been about bringing democracy to the Middle East. In truth, what I am hearing is most likely Republicans grasping at straws when it comes to criticising Obamas Foreign Policy which they will probably privately admit, has been better than expected. However if the Muslim Brotherhood do seize control in Egypt and Islamists look like coming to power in Libya this debate will develop into the most serious dilemma in US Foreign Policy in thirty years. And the question at the center of the dilemma will be, just how important is Israel to America and the west.

Four Lions, laughing when you shouldn't

2012-01-05T17:13:00.006Z

Last night I watched the British movie Four Lions, a brilliant satirical take on the madness that is Islamic fanaticism. The movie surrounds the lives of four radical but incompetent British Muslims living in Sheffield Northern England. It was the funniest movie I have seen in a long time and I would recommend it to anyone regardless of their faith or views. I have been thinking today about whether the film is offensive to either Muslims or victims of Islamic terrorism and I have concluded that it isn't or at least that it shouldn't be although one cannot deny how politically incorrect in the extreme it is to make a comedy about four British Muslims hell bent on committing a suicide terrorist attack against Britain. Personally I enjoy laughing at what we are not supposed to in this modern day world of politically correct appropriateness. However the movie does have a serious point to it although it clearly uses humor to achieve it. And that point is that delusions and stupidity lie at the center of extremism.

My favourite scene of the movie is when the four men are transporting their bomb materials from one location to another when their car breaks down. The English convert among the group curses the car and blames the breakdown on its "Jewish parts" before claiming that the Jews make all the spark plugs the world over in order to "control global traffic". The leader of the group suggests that the men abandon the car and regroup in a shed behind a nearby field before he warns them to be careful with the volatile material they are carrying. Watch what happens next.

Are you still laughing? Even funnier is the eulogy the three men offer their fallen comrade who courageously took out one Kuffar sheep whilst attacking the enemies source of food.

Kim Jong Il Dead

2011-12-28T13:50:00.004Z

North Korea is the most repressive regime in the world. It's poisonous ideology of totalitarian Marxism has infected the nation to such a degree that the country and its people are in fact suffering from a national mental illness as evidenced by the creepy scenes below of the citizens of Pyongyang mourning the death of their beloved leader. These people are of course unaware that the man they worshipped was the most deluded and evil scumbag on the face of the earth, literally. Lets hope his death can result in some kind of instability that results in a peaceful liberalisation of the communist state.

By the way I am back, for real this time. You can expect daily blogging from now on (although I will be away attending a friends wedding on the 29/30) and throughout 2012. Lets hope its just as bad a year for dictators as 2011 was.

I'm back (sort of)

2011-11-21T23:25:00.006Z

Hi all. I am truly sorry for my latest and longest hiatus to date. The demise of Gubu World has been greatly exaggerated (where does that particular phrase originate from?). The simple truth is I have been exceptionally busy in recent months. My absence has nothing to do with a loss of enthusiasm for the blogosphere. If anything, it killed me to be offline during recent dramatic events such as the demise of the Mediterranean Mad Dog, the Irish Presidential election with all its eccentricities, and the current rumours that Israel's patience with the International community has run out regarding a nuclear Iran and that an air strike is imminent. These are all issue which I will blog about in the very near future.

The gruesome demise of Col Gadaffi is one of the issues I missed during by absence

My absence can be explained by a combination of what I previously had thought were my final law exams (October) ,the Dublin West by election (November) of which I was heavily involved in and my role in the family business which as of recent weeks has involved a lot of travelling around Ireland. I am actually writing this in a Guesthouse in Clonakilty Co Cork. One advantage (blogwise) of my journeys around the country, is the "photo of the day" opportunities that arise. Just today I passed through Beal Na Mblath, the village were Michael Collins was assassinated in 1922. However as all us bloggers know, time is the real enemy and my work schedule between now and Christmas will make it difficult for me to post regularly but I will try very hard to publish two posts and several photos a week. Please be patient with me, particularly when it comes to responding to comments.

70 Years Ago today 30/09/41

2011-09-30T12:19:00.004+01:00

Hamburg: The RAF launches a nighttime raid with 100 bombers.

Russia: As the Wehrmacht onslaught Eastward continues the 2nd Panzer Army under Heinz Guderian attack the Russian towns of Orel and Bryansk.

Leningrad: German forces have been stopped 7 miles from the city. General Zhukov has arrived to organise the defence of the city which ultimately results in the longest and most devastating siege situation of the war.

Kiev: On this day 70 years ago 33,771 Jews were murdered in a ravine outside the Ukrainian capital, now under Nazi occupation. A decision was made by the military governor, Major-General Kurt Eberhard, the Police Commander for Army Group South SS-Obergruppenführer Friedrich Jeckeln, and the Einsatzgruppe C Commander Otto Rasch to kill all the Jews of Kiev. In two days (29 Sep - 30) the Jews, who thought they were being resettled were taken to a ravine on the outskirts of the city at a place called Babi Yar and executed by machine gunning. It is thought that the inefficient method of annihilation at Babi Yar which was so costly in terms of manpower and ammunition was one of the reasons the Nazi leadership decided to pursue a more cost effective final solution to the Jewish problem. This of course would take the form of the gas chamber.

A monument to the Babi Yar massacre outside Kiev which occurred 70 years ago today. It was the worst single mass execution of Jewish men, women and children during the holocaust.

Photo of the Day

2011-09-26T13:27:00.003+01:00

Sorry for the lack of posts folks. Like all of us these days I am just quite busy with work and personal stuff and am finding it difficult to make time for posts. I will endeavor to be more efficient with my time. Anyhow, my latest photo sees me meeting controversial Presidential candidate David Norris just after the match in Croke Park last Sunday week. He is not my candidate, but moments after the Dublin victory I could have met Jack the Ripper and I would have given him a hug and a kiss.

Dublin V Kerry, Croke Park and Civil War

2011-09-20T14:55:00.007+01:00

Dublin Captain Bryan Cullen lifts the Sam McGuire Cup after Dublin beat Kerry by 1:12 to 1:11 to become All Ireland Champions. President Mary MacAlese and Taoiseach Enda Kenny are behind him.

On Sunday I was in Croke Park to to watch the final of the most sought after competition in Irish sport, the All Ireland Gaelic Football Final. It was a privilege to be there to witness such a great Irish sporting occasion. The atmosphere was electric, the enviroment friendly and the match was possibly the best I was ever at. I have been a fanatic supporter of the Dublin football team since I was ten and Sundays result was one of my most joyous moments in sport. This is not a sporting blog. But Gubu World readers will know that while I love many sports, I particularly enjoy analysing when sport interacts with politics. We see this in many sports such as Rugby where for many years the South African team were the subject of anti Apartheid boycotts. In fact South Africa's national Rugby team remains controversial post Apartheid because of the ANC's very unwise policy of requiring a quota of black players. Irish Rugby too has its issues as our national team is a 32 county United Ireland team making it a rare entity that appears to bring Irish nationalists and Ulster Protestants together. The Olympics and International soccer have likewise seen many political controversies. There was the American boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics, which was followed by a Soviet refusal to attend the 1984 games in Los Angelas. The soccer controversies are endless but perhaps the most notable was the "Soccer War" in 1969 when Honduras and El Salvador engaged in a four day war after a particularly bruising World Cup qualifying match which was followed by violent riots. And my favourite sport Gaelic Football has controversies of its own. The Gaelic Athletic Association has its roots in Irish Nationalism and during the War of Independence its headquarters at Croke Park was the scene of a massacre in 1920 when British forces killed 14 civilians during a match. For many years the GAA forbid the playing of foreign games (soccer and rugby) at Croke Park for nationalist reasons. When the ban was overturned in 2007 and the British Rugby team were set to play in the stadium, many objected to the pre match playing of the British National anthem at the same scene of the 1920 killings. However, political controversy involving the GAA is not confined to our relations with Britain.

The Civil War
The Irish Civil War (1922-23) is a conflict which I have developed something of an obsession with in recent times. It is a conflict that has been under explored by most historians. But given Sundays final between Dublin and kerry which Dublin won in such glorious fashion, I thought I would post something on the ugly events which occurred in Co Kerry in March/April 1923, just as the war was coming to a close. When the war broke out in June 1922 between the Pro and Anti Treaty factions of the IRA, it did not take the new National "Free State" Army long to dislodge the IRA from the major towns and cities of the country. When this happened much of the IRA dispersed but a minority remained on to conduct a guerrilla war against the new government and its army. Perhaps the most effective fighting unit in the Free State Army was the Dublin Guards, a battalion whose officer corps was made up of former men from Michael Collins' ruthless "squad" and other pro treaty IRA men from the Dublin Brigade. In the Spring of 1923 the Dublin Guards found themselves occupying Co Kerry after landing late the previous year on the southern coast. Many of the officers in the Dubin Guards had been ruthless assassins during the war against the British. And after the civil war commenced, they continued to be ruthless against their former comrades, particularly after the death of their beloved leader Michael Collins. On occasions when the anti treaty IRA succeeded in inflicting heavy casualties on the Free State Army in Kerry, the Dublin Guards would retaliate. The most notorious incident occurred in a little known place called Ballyseedy, just outside Tralee.

The Ballyseedy Massacare
On March 6th 1923 a detailed and complicated plot by the anti treaty IRA in Kerry came to fruition when five Free State Soldiers were killed by a booby trap bomb in the townland of Knocknagoshel. The intended target of the bomb was a Kerryman, and Free State Officer who had joined the Dublin Guards because of a personal grudge he had against the IRA who had mistreated his family. This officer's knowledge of the area and the local IRA proved vital for the National Army, so much so that the IRA hatched a quite extraordinary plot to kill him which culminated in the knocknagoshel landmine. However, another man killed that day included an officer from Dublin who had been a prominent member of the pre truce IRA and a squad member. His comrades were outraged by his death. The following day nine IRA prisoners were taken from a barracks in Tralee and brought out to Ballyseedy crossroads by men from the Dublin Guards. At gunpoint they were tied to a landmine and it was detonated. The Free State soldiers claimed that they were making the prisoners dismantle an IRA barricade which was booby trapped when it exploded. This was a lie. Amazingly, one man survived the massacre. His name was Stephen Fuller. He was blown free of the barricade and landed in a nearby stream. Although badly wounded he managed to escape in the darkness. So grim was the scene, that the Free State soldiers placed the body parts of the 8 victims into 9 coffins, not realising that one man had escaped. Stephen Fuller lived to tell the tale. In later life he became a Fianna Fail TD (member of parliament). He died in 1984. Whether the Ballyseedy massacre was orchestrated by the Army High Command, the Government or simply by members of the Dublin Guards acting on their own has never been firmly established. It was however not the only atrocity committed by the Free State Army in Kerry before the wars end in May 1923.

It would be stretching things a bit much to suggest that such incidents have created any lasting hostility between Dublin and kerry people. After all the Irish Civil War was not geographical. There were plenty of Kerrymen in the Free State Army and Dublin men in the anti treaty IRA. But it is true to state that many of the older generation in Kerry would have had memories of not so pleasant Dublin men in uniforms with distinct accents that probably seemed almost as foreign as the British. And believe it of not, the 1923 All Ireland Final was also between Dublin and Kerry. The GAA made a huge effort after the Civil War to heal the wounds of the Civil War. In fact, for the 1923 final (which Dublin won, again) the Kerry GAA board insisted that the team consist of men who had been both pro and ant treaty. However, the tension must have been palpable in Croke Park that September day, considering there were many Kerrymen still in prison, including some players and that the Dublin team had some individuals who had been members of the Dublin Guards and had seen action in Kerry. Of course I would bet that %95 of the people who were in Croke Park on Sunday last would be unaware of the Ballyseedy massacare. But perhaps not in the 1970's when the great Dublin and Kerry teams met in 6 All Ireland finals. Back then there were a lot more people around who had fresh memories of this dark and largely forgotten episode in our history. Hostility between Dublin and Kerry in those days was likely more genuine. But let us not dwell too much on this. Part of the marvellous aspect of Sundays match was the sportsman like nature of the Kerry team and their fans, several of whom congratulated me as I was leaving the stadium. Furthermore one can't help be heartened at the stories of lasting friendship between the players that met so often during the 70's many of whom had sons playing on Sunday. It was simply a wonderful day that I will never forget. A touching moment also occurred at half time when members of the New York Fire Department received a standing ovation from the 82,500 people attending the match. Of course, nothing could match the cheer that was heard when Dublin goalkeeper Stephen Cluxton came up to take the last minute long range free kick which gave the capital their first All Ireland victory in 16 years. Lets have a look shall we !

If Obama hates Israel

2011-09-16T15:09:00.003+01:00

In the wake of recent worrying events in Cairo where it looked like Israel and Egypt's 32 year peace treaty might be coming to an end, the Daily Dish asks a very important question, If Barack Obama hated Israel, why would he do this ?. Below is a clip of a speech by
former Director of the Mossad Efraim Halevy who articulately explains how the anti semetic President, the Commander in Jew hating Chief himself Barack HUSSEIN Obama came to the rescue of several Israeli diplomats who were under siege at the Israeli embassy in Cairo last week.

Obama's hatred of Israel is of course a work of fiction. But since last weeks congressional election in which the seat vacated by disgraced Congressman Anthony Weiner in the staunchly Democratic New York's 9th District was taken by a Republican, many commentators have been writing about how Jewish American have finally woken up to Obama's hostility to Israel. The 9th Congressional District has a large Jewish population, much of it Orthodox, leading many to speculate that Obama is losing the Jewish vote because of his Israel policies. Obama may be losing the Jewish vote due to Israel, but if he is, it is because of image and perception, not reality. In addition to the above instance in Cairo, the Obama administration has also approved more military aid to Israel than any other President. So I ask again, if Obama hates Israel, why would he do this?

70 Years Ago Today 14/09/41

2011-09-14T14:03:00.004+01:00

Occupied Europe: Hitler's order that all Jews in German occupied Europe wear a yellow Star of David comes into effect.

Tehran: Following a joint Soviet British invasion of Iran, Reza Khan Pahlevi, the pro German Shah (king) has been forced to abdicate. He is replaced on this day by his 22 year old son Mohammad Reza who will rule Iran (almost uninterrupted) until the Islamic revolution of 1979.

Northern Russia: After the British Carrier Argus arrived at Archangel on September 10th with two squadrons of Hurricanes the RAF have begun operation on Russian soil for the first time since they were sent to Russia in 1919 in an attempt to strangle Communism in its cradle. Now however, the communists and the British are fighting on the same side against the Nazis. The British pilots will mostly be training the Red Air Force in use of the British planes. The Red Army is desperate for superior air power as the Nazis continue their ferocious onslaught into the Soviet Union.

British and Soviet pilots sit and chat next to a Hurricane, whilst awaiting the inevitable order to scramble. Not the Red Army guard.

Photo of the Day

2011-09-14T13:38:00.002+01:00

I spotted this replica of Rodney and Del Boys famous van behind a petrol station in Co Cavan. Great for parties I should think.

September 11th 2001, My Memories

2011-09-12T16:53:00.006+01:00

The anniversary of September 11th 2001 brought back a lot of memories for everybody. Like most people, over the last week I watched several documentaries that brought me right back to the paralysing shock I felt ten years ago at seeing people jump 1000 feet to their deaths. On that day, I was a second year International Relations student in the American College Dublin. I was also the President of the Student Union. I was sitting on my own in the Student Union office when my father phoned me on my mobile to remind me that I had to come home early to babysit my brothers kids, as my other brother was graduating from university that day and most of the family were attending the ceremony. He then asked me if I was aware of what was happening in New York. Despite the fact that it was about 2pm (nearly two hours since the attacks began), I had heard nothing. He told me that two planes had been flown into the World Trade Center. I asked him if it was Islamic terrorism. He said he didn't know. I left the office immediately and walked the short distance to the common room in the residency where most of the American students lived. In the common room I found scores of students crowded around the TV watching reruns of the towers collapsing. Some sat in silence, some were crying and others were frantically trying to contact relatives. I chatted with friends as we speculated on what we thought was going down. Could it be a global attack on Americans? Should we be concerned? Shortly after I walked the five hundred meters from Mount Street to the Oscar Wilde House on the Corner of Merrion Square where the main buildings of the American College are located. I went into the deans office to discuss the situation. The dean, a New Yorker himself, and I discussed the situation and it was suggested that it may be wise to cancels all lectures for the remainder of the day. It was decided that it would be unnecessary to do this so at this point I simply went of to my first class of the new semester which was interestingly, US Post War Foreign Policy. Not surprisingly, all we talked about was what we had seen and heard on the news.

After class, I took a taxi back to Castleknock to fulfill my babysitting duties. On route, the female taxi driver and I talked about what was going on. I remember she told me her brother lived and worked in New Jersy. She hadn't phoned to enquire if everything was alright as she thought this would be excessively pannicky. When I reached home I found a note from my mother asking me to expect a call from a close family friend of ours whose daughter and husband lived in New York. My mother had been enquiring about them both but there was particular concern for the husband as he was an NYPD officer. We found out that night that he was fine as he was not working that day but naturally he was to have some harrowing stories from working at Ground Zero. At home that evening I spent many hours glued to the TV, just as many millions were doing all over the globe. I think I know what some of my readers are thinking at this stage. I am about to go into how 9/11 changed me, how I began to understand the evil of Islamic extremism and how this was the first step in me becoming a more conservative supporter of US Foreign Policy. Not so, in fact that night, in conversations with friends I remember talking about Hiroshima, Vietnam, the Gulf War and Iraqi sanctions as I lazily engaged in the left wing anti American version of history. At one stage, I think I even brought America's treatment of its native Indian population into the equation. For me, my conversion did not come for another three years, following a detailed study into Iranian suppression of political youth movements. But on that day itself, I think I was more consumed by the drama of it all, rather than the tragedy. Over the coming days however, the tragic and sombre reality began to replace any juvenile excitement I had as the numbers of dead became clear. In addition there were the several Irish killed on 9/11. The story of the Clifford family from Cork being perhaps the most tragic of any killed that day. I think the most dominant impression I had that day and in the following weeks was that sometimes in life, fact is stranger than fiction. I realised that almost anything can happen. To hope or assume that something will never happen does not make it so. For example, if Israel and the western world were to back down in the face of Islamic anger, (something which many argue would lead to world peace) it would be wrong to just hope or assume that Israel would not be wiped off the map, and that Europe would not be the next target. That is how 9/11 most affects my political thinking to this day. Below is a clip from last Friday's Late Late Show as Cork man Ron Clifford describes his experience on the moring of 9/11. Note: the Italian woman he describes helping does not survive her injuries.

9/11 Exhibition in Dublin

2011-09-11T22:14:00.006+01:00

Notices left at Ground Zero by relatives of victims of 9/11.

Apologies for the abscence folks. I have been busy with work and personal stuff recently, plus my lap top broke down so I have been offline for the last ten days. But I assure you there will be a feast feast of blogging on Gubu World over the next week. Earlier today I visited the National Museum of Ireland in Collins Barracks. The museum was hosting a photographic exhibition of the 9/11 atrocity. The exhibition was organised by Paul McCormick, a Donegal native and former NYPD officer who saw first hand the horrors of that day. McCormick, who is now living in Dublin, should be commended big time for bringing this experience to Dublin. The exhibition will be running for another two weeks. I would ecommend it to anyone.

Messages written in the dust in the vicinity og Ground Zero.

Officer McCormick, several days after the atrocity.

A very powerful message from President Kennedy

"Havin a Holocaust"

2011-08-31T12:08:00.002+01:00

Poor ol Tony Cascarino made a bit of a blunder last weekend whilst commentating during the Arsenal V Manchester United match for Sky Sports. He said that Arsenal defender Armand Traore was "having a holocaust" of a match. Not surprisingly, this hasn't gone down too well and the PC brigade are after his head, especially given that Sky Sports have recently sacked other high profile presenters for making sexist remarks. In defence of Cascarino, a childhood hero of mine, I can confirm from experience in my younger years that to say someone is "having an apocalypse" or "having a holocaust" is fairly common football slang that one might hear in the dressing room to describe a particularly bad performance by a player. Obviously, it was very clumsy of Cascarino to say it on live television. I hope Cascarino does not get picked on too much for this. I certainly hope he doesn't get sacked. Like most footballers, I doubt he is particularly savvy when it comes to historical sensitivities. I personally could never be too angry with him, not after that goal he scored against England in Landsdowne Road during the Euro 92 qualification tournament. Having said that, I would be interested to hear from some Jewish readers of Gubu World about the controversy. Just how offensive were his remarks ? Below is the clip.

Gadaffi's False Victimhood

2011-08-29T23:41:00.005+01:00

Mary Fitzgerald of The Irish Times broke this story last Friday. I am amazed that it has not made a bigger impact in the international media. Perhaps it still will. Fitzgerald claims to have found evidence that Col Gadaffi's step daughter Hana, who the world believed was killed as an infant when President Reagan ordered the bombing of Gadaffi's Tripoli compound in 1986, is in fact alive and well. Gadaffi has gotten a lot of mileage over the years from this episode, famously preserving the part of his compound that was damaged in the Air Strike, and using it to stage defiant anti American demonstrations. A powerful symbol it was, until the sight last week of anti Gadaffi rebels climbing all over it. Gadaffi frequently made reference to the death of his step daughter, even as recently as a few months ago when he said, "what would President Obama do if a Libyan agent assassinated his daughter". Col Gadaffi was an exceptionally competent dictator. His record (1969-2011) speaks for itself. I believe that if you want to be a successful dictator you need three things, ruthlessness, charisma and the ability to make things difficult for those in the international community that want to oppose you. Gadaffi was brilliant at the latter. I firmly believe that Gadaffi said and did things on a regular basis, that had one specific objective, to provoke a reaction from the left in Europe and America in an effort to make it harder for western nations to confront his tyranny. To this end I believe he was very much in tune with domestic events in Britain and America and understood the nature of the left right debate in the west. He knew the figures involved and knew what to say or do in order to get them on his side. Of all the post war dictators, he was simply the best at manipulating western public opinion to his advantage. Therefor the death of his step daughter was propaganda gold.

When a dictator falls his dark and dirty little secrets inevitably come out. It now appears that the tragic death of his step daughter was a fabrication designed to garner international sympathy for him as a victim of western military aggression. Documents found in his compound have included Hana's school records, college degree as well as details of her assets. The mad dog of the Mediterranean played this sinister lie while ruthlessly suppressing his own people as he sponsored terrorists all over the world including in Ireland, Europe and most unforgivably of all in my view, in Uganda where he financed the blood lust of the LRA, the worlds most gruesome murder gang. Gadaffi is gone, but there will always be shame shame shame on all those "Irish Republicans", Marxist activists and other anti western liberals who bought into the Gadaffi persona and secretly or otherwise worshipped him.

Below is a clip of Reagan addressing the American people shortly after ordering the bombing of Tripoli in 1986.

Bush Interview

2011-08-26T00:06:00.002+01:00

I am looking forward to this. George Bush has given a rare post presidential interview for the National Geographic for the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. It is his first ever extensive interview about the events of that day. It will be televised on the National Geographic station next week. Below is a sample.

Lets have some fun with Mr Gadafi shall we !

2011-08-23T18:36:00.010+01:00

None of these lads are smiling now !

Check out this punter with the best souvenir from the war. Gadaffi's hat !

Muamar Gadaffi joins the ranks of histories greatest monsters. From left to right, bottom Row: Hitler, Franco, Mussolini, Paul Pot, Mao. Second Row: Idi Amin, Fidel Castro, Ceausescu, I'm not sure who this guy is, Milosevich, Stalin. Third Row: Sadam Hussein, Ayatollah Khomeini, Radovan Karadzic and Osama Bin Laden.
Can anyone tell me who the lad in the center is, between Ceausescu and Milosevich?

I thought I would post this amusing interview with Jeremy Bowen from several months ago when Gadaffi claimed that his people loved him.

The guy really belongs in a Bond movie, Gadaffi seen here with his notorious female bodyguards.

Tripoli Falls !

2011-08-22T00:12:00.002+01:00

As I write this, just after midnight on the 22nd of August 2011, I am watching images on TV of rebels machine gunning murals of Col Gadaffi in downtown Tripoli. The mad dog of the Mediterranean who seized control of Libya in September 1969 is on the run, his fate not yet known. Four Arab dictators have now been overthrown by their people this year. While nobody can be certain what will happen in these countries over the coming months and years, one thing I believe is certain. The era of the Arab dictator, who seizes power violently, and keeps it until his death has come to an end. That is a good thing for the Arab people, Mid East peace and global security. It is also good for human justice and the dignity of man. I find few things more sickening than when a mass murdering butcher dies a free man and of natural causes as the likes of Pol Pot and Idi Amin managed. It is also very satisfying to know that a man who thought for so many years that he got away with it will now face justice, whether that be in front of an international court, or by being ripped limb from limb by his tormented former subjects.