Gsimon2's Blog

Afghanistan Slideshow

gsimon2 — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:54:39 +0000

Pirates of Somalia..at Patient’s End

gsimon2 — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 19:50:48 +0000

How once again, controversy swirling off of the coast of Somalia. Once again, Somali pirates hijacked a vessel in the gulf of Aden, taking the crew and captain hostage, demanding ransom for the release of the kidnapees, After some intense negotiations, the pirates agreed to leave the hostages alone and took the captain into a lifeboat, where they were eventually killed by a small group of navy seals. This is another red flag for those who travel in the waters off the coast of Somalia. Pirates have been a very big problem, as the nation of Somali has grossed more than 80 million dollars from isolated and unisolated acts of piracy.

The world needs to no longer sit idoly and allow for things like this to happen. People must be able to travel unmolested in international waters. Period.

Anger swelling in the Iraqi ranks

gsimon2 — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 16:34:30 +0000

A news report from Iraw stated that the 94,000 Iraqi soldiers who pledged allegiance to the United States in return for the promise of money and a steady job after the American forces leave Iraq. Unfortunately, almost a year after the promises was given by the United States Army, only 4,000 of the 94,000 soliders were given permanent employment opporunities as well as the salary that they were promised. The leader of the ex-saddam hussein forces stated that if the Americans do not keep up their end of the bargain, then the Iraqi forces will join the anti-American militias and kill and harass the American forces until the moment they leave Iraqi soil.

Omar Basheer..Where do we draw the line

gsimon2 — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 16:27:52 +0000

The president of Sudan, Omar Basheer, was welcomed with open arms by the Egyptian government despite the fact that the international criminal tribunal of The Hague issued a warrant for his arrest for ordering the massacre of hundreds of thousands of southern Sudanese who opposed Basheers Islamic fundamentalist government. How does the world stand by after the Basheer promised the international community that there would be dire consequences for the people of Darfur if he is convicted of the war crimes. He was accused of funding the terrorist tactics of the Janjaweed, which are Arab mercenaries who kill the people of southern Sudan

Saudi Woman Beaten and Imprisoned

gsimon2 — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 23:39:26 +0000

Recently in the Kingdom of Saud, an elderly woman was convicted of driving a car and was beaten several times and then imprisoned. Outcry across the Muslim world has been in support of the woman and accusing the Wahhabist government of Saudi Arabia of distorting Muslim holy law in order to keep their own political sway and power. Others claimed that the woman was violating the secular rules that govern the kindgom of Saudi Arabia. When asked about the incident, on of the leading sheikhs at Al Azhar, a famous Islamic Universtity that can be traced nearly a thousand years, claimed that since the official law of the Kingdom of Saud is in fact Islamic Sharia law, they are clearly misinterpreting the text saying that there was no banning of women in motor vehicles anywhere in the Quran or the Hadeeth.

Troop Pullout 2011…Good or Bad

gsimon2 — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 18:24:52 +0000

The president announced that the U.S. and coaltition forces will be removed from the sovereign nation of Iraq in a little more than a year from now. Looking at the current situation, one wonders if this is a political move to gain popular opinion, or whether the United States government actually deems Iraqis suitable to take care of their own self rule and autonomy in post Saddam Iraq. Experts suggested that the coaltition forces presence inside of Iraq is the single and solitary thing preventing full and complete sectarian civil war between various Shiite and Sunni forces. Many people feel that the job that the U.S. army claimed that it was sent to accomplish has not been accomplished, in fact, most would say that nothing was truly accomplished, except the killing of innocent people and the destruction of Baghdad and most of Iraq. Will this pullout be a good idea…only time will tell.

Sudan…Where is Omar Basheer

gsimon2 — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 17:55:53 +0000

In recent days, the international court of The Hague issued a formal warrent for the arrest of Oman Basheer, the president of the Arab Republic of Sudan, for his involvement in supposed war crimes and isolated acts of genocide that have been taking place in the southern regions of Sudan, with the most violent activity being centered in the southern rebel capital of Darfur. This conflict has been raging for nearly twenty years, with pro-government forces clashing with southern rebel groups who have been trying to gain independence from the Sudanese government for over two decades. Omar Basheer, the president of Sudan, is facing charges of genocide, because Arab sources claim that president Basheer supplied money and arms to Arab mercenaries known as the Janjaweed, loosely translated as devils on horseback, to attack, murder and kill southern Sudanese rebels and eliminating entire villiages of “dissidents” to the stability of Sudan.

Pakistan…Cowards or Victims?

gsimon2 — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 17:44:01 +0000

Earlier this week the interim Pakistani government conceded in the face of extreme public pressure and signed a peace accord with the Taliban forces in the Sawat region of central Pakistan. This treaty allows the Taliban to move freely inside Pakistan without molestation and furthermore gives them freedom to rule themselves under strict sharia3 law. This accord undermines the last five years of American intervention in the region and spurred President Obama to send 17,000 more ground troops to Afghanistan. The world media portrayed the Paskistani government as a coward, as a traitor. But one tends to remiss the fact that in that part of the world, titles mean little. Guns and public suport mean everything.

Birthright…I Can’t Believe This

gsimon2 — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 19:21:05 +0000

I was reading yesterday that there is a Jewish group called “Birthright” and this is an Israeli organization that pays for Jews to visit Israel for free in the hopes of increasing the numbers of Jewish settlers in the future. I could not believe my eyes when I read this passage. About a month ago I was visiting family in Palestine, and the injustice that I witnessed there was so great that I felt compelled to tell anyone who would listen was Israel really is. I met my family in the Tel Aviv airport, and before I was allowed to see them, I was interogated for more than 4 hours about my whereabouts, plans, and trivial information. See that’s what Israeli soldiers do…they make your life miserable just because they can..its like a game. Then I drove with my family to Ram Allah, a village in the Palestinian Terrority and before we got there, we had to pass through no fewer than 4 checkpoints…or should I say points of harrassment. One thing that I witnessed that I will never forget…I was in the car and about two cars ahead of us, there was a family, a young mother, her husband, their infant child, and the young women’s parents. I witnessed two Israeli soldiers, both men take her out of the car, forced her to place her child on the ground, and then felt her very inappropriately, nothing short of sexual assault. The elderly woman in the car screamed and cried..but like all of the Arabs, she was powerless. This instance however vile, is a symptom of a greater disease of Israeli racism. They stole the land from the Arabs and anyone who argue that point is blind to the past. But the Israeli settlers were not content with stealing the Arabs land, but they began a calculated killing of Arabs that continues today…the latest mission was the total destruction of Gaza, with absolutely no regard for innocent life…the United Nations are accusing the Israeli’s of war crimes, launching of nerve gases, executing of innocents…and yet people still call the Arabs the terrorists.

When will the world wake up and see that we are witnessing terrorism of the greatest kind…the humiliation and the robbing of human dignity.

Islam is Peace not Violence…Wake Up World

gsimon2 — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 18:51:22 +0000

In these strange times that we live, I have noticed that it has become popular to bash the religion of Islam, and I have personally seen and witnessed invidual comments that were so vile and sacriligious that decorum prevents me from writing them at this time. I saw on CNN that yet another preacher claimed that the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was nothing more than a terrorist and a pedofile. If Muslims are truly such vile people, why is it that we have never heard of a Muslim cleric or Sheikh bad mouthing Jesus (saw)…oh that’s right, its because Muslims revere and respect Jesus as a messenger of God just as we revere and respect Muhammad as a messenger of God. There are over a billion Muslims in the world today, and the numbers are growing by leaps and bounds, especially in the western world. Islam is not going anywhere, and it would behoove the non-Muslim world to start making attempts to bridge gaps or bad things will surely come as witnessed by history, and the things that happen when two seeming diametrically opposed groups share the same land.