It seems U.S. Diplomats, at the U.N., are still suffering from a rare occurrence of Common Sense.  Let’s hope it’s chronic…

From: NewsMax

Despite intense pressure from a group of Arab dignitaries at United Nations headquarters, the Bush administration refused to climb on board a growing movement to cease or at least suspend its support of Israel’s invasion of Gaza.

U.S. ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad met for almost two hours with a group of Arab foreign ministers who had traveled to NYC to get some movement from the United Nations on the Gaza crisis.

The group, led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, had been lobbying various UN bodies since early morning.

While expressing “sympathy” for the Arab position, diplomats say Khalilzad held firm on the White House demand that any halt to the Israeli invasion not simply amount to a breather for Hamas to re-arm.

Exiting his meeting with the Arab ministers, Khalilzad expressed concern that any action the Security Council takes does not repeat the mistakes made in the Lebanon in 2006.

Intelligence sources claim that Hezbollah used its truce with Israel to more than double its stockpile of mortars and missiles.

“We saw in Lebanon that the ceasefire was violated and used to re-arm. We don’t want to see it happen again.” [...]  (emphasis added)

Enough said…

Yes, you read that correctly.  AntiWar protest.

If Israel agrees to a ceasefire will Hamas, before removing them from power and killing significant numbers of their fighters, then Israel will suffer the same fate as the 2006 Lebanon fiasco.  The U.N. and the global community will allow Hamas to regroup, rearm, and expand their power.

From: Gateway Pundit

They want the war to stop in Gaza.
But, that doesn’t mean they necessarily want peace.

People in Lebanon stage a rally in front of the US embassy and a sit-in outside the UN building in Beirut to decry Zionists’ slaughtering of innocent people in Gaza Strip. (Fars News)

People in Lebanon stage a rally in front of the US embassy and a sit-in outside the UN building in Beirut to decry Zionists’ slaughtering of innocent people in Gaza Strip. (Fars News)

They also hauled out the grenade launchers. (Fars News)

Rice, having failed in N. Korea, Russia, Lebanon, Iran, and Gaza, now wants to get her hands dirty in the current Israeli offensive.

From: JPost

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice accused Hamas of holding the people of Gaza hostage Friday and said the United States continues to seek a “durable and sustainable” cease-fire in the Middle East.

Speaking to reporters in the White House driveway after a meeting with US President George W. Bush, Rice also said that the United States remains “very concerned about the situation there and is working very hard with our partners around the world.”

One can only hope that Israel remembers Rice’s roll in pushing a ceasefire in Lebanon in 2006.

Rice said she wanted a “robust” international military force to try to oust Hezbollah forces from southern Lebanon […}

What actually happened was “peace keepers” swooped in to shield Hezbollah while they rearmed and cemented their positions, becoming the defacto rulers of Lebanon.  The U.N., and Rice, enabled the terrorists, and Israel’s military gains evaporated.

Israel needs Rice’s help like they need a nuclear armed Iran.  Condi should focus on packing up her office, and allow Israel to reassert itself as the powerhouse that it once was, and eliminating the daily threat of rocket attacks on it’s citizens.  That won’t happen with a ceasefire.

If ever there was a need for a giant sink hole, in Manhattan, this is it.  The United Nations was given a rare dose of common sense from the United States.  Hopefully our resolve will last.

From: Tundra Tabloids

Israel’s UN Ambassador Gabriela Shalev: “Israel cannot, and will not, allow its citizens to be sitting ducks for terrorist attacks,”

Any or all attempts by either the EU or the Arab League to draft a UNSC ceasefire resolution, should be rejected without a moment’s time wasted on reading it. Until Hamas’ rocket capabilities are completely destroyed, Operation Cast Lead should be continued. One can only imagine how these same governments would react if they themselves were being barraged by Qassam and Grad rockets. They would rightly dismiss any attempts by the international community to limit success in destroying their enemy’s capabilities to inflict harm on their societies.

J’lem Post: The Security Council held an emergency meeting on New Year’s Eve on an Arab request for a legally binding and enforceable UN resolution that would condemn Israel and halt its military attacks on Gaza.

But the draft resolution circulated by Libya on behalf of the 22-member Arab League Wednesday night was immediately rejected by the United States as “unbalanced” and “one-sided” because it makes no mention of halting the Hamas rocketing of southern Israel which led to the Israeli offensive.

US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said the United States was working very hard to achieve an immediate cease-fire implemented by both sides, but he said Washington had not seen “any evidence” yet that Hamas was willing to end its rocket attacks.

The best way to move forward, he said, would be to get an agreement among the parties for a cease-fire and humanitarian access to Gaza through diplomacy, “and for that agreement to be enshrined in a Security Council resolution if necessary.”

What would be even better is for the US to say it rejects even considering any future resolution, no matter where it originates from, until the Israelis confirm that their operation is coming to an end. Here is an example of the type of people Israel is fighting.

Not only do they hide behind civilians, they store weapons and ammunition inside their mosques, which stands to reason since the mosque is used for much much more than just praying, it’s used as a military headquarters as did the founder of Islam, Mohamed himself.

From: JPost

The UN Coordinator on Humanitarian Access to Gaza on Wednesday called for the immediate opening of the Karni crossing, in order to transfer

humanitarian

supplies to Palestinians.

“Without the violence stopping, it is extremely difficult to get food to people who need it, we cannot assess where the most urgent needs are, and it is too dangerous for civilians to leave their homes to seek urgent medical treatment, buy supplies and assist people in distress,” Maxwell Gaylard said in a statement.

[...]

You never have to wait long for the United Nations to exhibit it’s profound ignorance and bias against Israel.

Why doesn’t Egypt provide the aid, or open it’s border.  They are not under rocket attack.

And why don’t the diplomats come and help?  Not the security forces, but the diplomats that spew their nonsense from a safe distance?  Put some skin in the game.  Or just stay out of it.  Africa still needs some help, if the U.N. doesn’t have anything better to do.

GENEVA — The United Nations asked Wednesday for $7 billion (5.5 billion euros) to fund its humanitarian work around the world in 2009 _ almost double last year’s appeal as a result of soaring food prices and crises in Africa, among other factors.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged donor nations and private groups to support urgent aid for 30 million people in 31 countries who need drinking water, emergency shelter, medicines and other basic necessities of life.

“Our aim is to help these most vulnerable people survive the coming year,” said Ban, who left Geneva on Wednesday morning after visiting the European headquarters of the United Nations.

Aid agencies have to spend more money to buy food, and more people need food aid because they cannot afford it anymore, said Robert Smith, an official with the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
(hat tip: NEWSMAX)

This Plea comes the same week the UN unveiled a 23 million dollar ceiling painting, reportedly paid for with….. Foreign Aid money.

How long will America continue to flush money down this toilet of corruption?  At least four more years.

What a surprise.  All of Gaza is a PR advantage, used against Israel and the West, from the beginning of the Refugee fiasco.

It seems the recent electricity “crisis” in Gaza was manufactured by Hamas for maximum PR advantage.

Read the whole article at Gates of Vienna.

From JPost:

The Sudanese government and rebel groups in Darfur have flagrantly violated a UN arms embargo and chosen a military solution to the conflict over peace talks, a UN panel said in a report released Tuesday.

In the 93-page report to the UN Security Council, the panel painted a grim picture of combatants stepping up the violence in
Darfur while expanding their attacks elsewhere in Sudan and across the border into Chad.

Offensive military overflights, which are supposed to be banned, are also continuing with impunity, it said.

The panel said the new UN-African Union force, which took over peacekeeping in January from a beleaguered AU force, “has proven so far to be incapable of defending itself or the civilian population of
Darfur or fulfilling its obligations to monitor the arms embargo.”

The Reality of The United Nations

The UN also took the time today to once again denounce Israel for Gazans’ inability to care for themselves, and to unveil a magnificent, 23 million dollar mural in it’s Human Rights Council.  Unfortunately it seems to have been funded with Foreign Aid Money.  It must be wonderful to answer to no one.  And our new President will be as cozy with the UN as the Clinton Administration.  Fantastic.

If we let the U.N. anywhere near our economy or banking system, I’m driving my car into a tree.

The United Nations, that has a one true, modern purpose:  To rein in the United States and it’s allies, and become the defacto, governing body for the Planet.  They try other stuff, but have a 100% failure rate.  Money well Spent.

From the JPost:

UN secretary-general calls for global financial reform

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called Monday for major reforms so the global financial system can meet the challenges of the 21st century, especially for the world’s poor.

Ban expressed concern at the impact of the global financial crisis on the developing world and said the United Nations needs to consider urgent international action to ensure that the UN’s anti-poverty agenda is carried out.

“The initiatives by the World Bank and the IMF to provide new emergency liquidity provisioning to poor countries could help them counteract some of the consequences of the crisis. But more needs to be done,” Ban said in a statement.

After a round of weekend meetings, the 185-nation International Monetary Fund and World Bank sent a message that global finance officials will do what it takes to resolve the crisis. And the Group of Seven major industrial countries issued a five-point action plan including measures to prevent major banks from failing and to unfreeze credit markets.

Can anyone tell me why a nation that has made a fool out of administration after administration, be taken of the the list of state sponsors, days after it restarts its nuclear program, and one day after they threaten a test launch of 10 missiles of their coast?

Answer: This administration is impotent, and cannot afford another black eye.  Condi will give away the store.

Insight:  You can insert Obama and Iran into this story, and you will have a news story from the future.

From The Jawa Report:

North Korea: Terror No More?

It is being reported that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice might announce as early as today that the United States will remove North Korea from its list of state sponsors of terrorism.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration looks poised to provisionally remove North Korea from the State Department’s terrorism blacklist, perhaps as soon as Friday, The Washington Post reported on Thursday.The move would be an effort to keep a nuclear disarmament pact with North Korea from falling apart, the newspaper said in an article posted on its website, quoting sources close to the administration.

The newspaper quoted some sources as saying the delisting could happen as soon as Friday. But State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told the Post in an e-mail, ” I can assure you that a decision has not been made.”

I don’t know about you, but I think this is enough to convince me that they should stay on the list:

North Korea deployed more than 10 missiles on its west coast apparently for an imminent test launch, a South Korean newspaper said on Thursday, and Pyongyang halted U.N. monitoring of its nuclear complex.The potentially destabilizing actions followed reports the United States had offered to remove North Korea from its terrorism blacklist this month.

And this….

The International Atomic Energy Agency has said in recent days North Korea appeared to have been powering up its nuclear program and testing missiles. American satellite images confirmed reports of short-range missile testing recently, but the U.S. said those moves would not mean the death of international efforts to persuade North Korea to recommit to an agreement that offers it diplomatic and economic concessions in exchange for nuclear disarmament.

Would removing them from the terror list actually help men relations between North Korea and the U.S. or would we merely be giving them a pass? I personally think it would be a mistake. What say you?