My Canada

Coalition Government: Five Stars

2011-03-29T22:56:00.000-06:00

Coalition is not a stinky word in today's world for it is representative of true democracy, which is the voice of the people airing their concerns and protesting in a non violent way for their rights such as housing, fair wages, access to education, medical care, a greener world, and most important of all the right to live in a world free from militarization.

Oil Plumes Coutesy of BP Gulf of Mexico

2010-05-25T19:48:00.000-06:00

Actual Explosion of Connecticut 620 Megawatt Gas Fired Power Plant

2010-02-07T17:31:00.000-07:00

Cuban Angels at Work

2010-01-21T22:42:00.000-07:00

Haiti Earthquake Cuban Doctors Provide Essential Care

2010-01-21T22:09:00.000-07:00

A working hospital in Haiti
by CNN_International

Canadian Diplomat Alleges Troops in Afghanistan Were Complicit in Torture

2009-12-14T21:54:00.001-07:00

Twas the season of approaching Christmas when not a mouse was stirring in the Canadian House of Parliament, but a single brave Canadian Diplomat stopped Canadians dead in their tracks. Allegations of Canadian Troops involved in the complicity of the torture of Afghani detainees shocked the Canadian public. Disbelief registered on their faces and in their voices as they sounded off on radio and television. How could this happen?

Richard Colvin, who was second in command at Canada's Kabul embassy in 2006 and 2007, said that Afghans swept up in security sweeps by Canadian troops during that time were routinely handed over to Afghan intelligence services.

"According to our information, the likelihood is that all Afghans we handed over were tortured," Colvin told Canada's parliament.

"For interrogators in Kandahar, it was standard procedure."

In other words we detained and handed over for severe torture, a lot of innocent people.

Needless to say, the Generals, Defense Minister Peter Mackay and his tory elves led the fray to deny the alleged charges. Whips cracked.

Colvin was intimidated and threatened and prevented from testifiying.

Canadian Values Under Attack by Conservative Government

2009-02-24T17:07:00.006-07:00

A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murder is less to fear.

- Cicero Marcus Tullius, 106-43 BC

This is how "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" describe the situation:The masses are "accustomed to listen to us only who pay it for obedience and attention. In this way, we shall create a blind mighty force which will never be in a position to move in any direction without the guidance of our agents...The people will submit to this regime because it will know that upon these leaders will depend its earnings, gratification and the receipt of all kinds of benefits." ("Protocols of Zion" 10)

As a conscientious objector, I Sandra Petrich (Fatima Zohar) object through the power of "free speech" and the "sword of the pen" the shameful antics of the Conservative Party in the House of Parliament (February 24, 09).I was sickened by these members who take it upon themselves to practice intimidation, to punish and to censor Canadian citizens who speak out against Israel. Shame on you! It reminded me of Austria in the 1930's.

My hero today is Khalad Mouammar and the Canadian Arab Federation. I thank you for your protest in support of Gaza and for your courage in speaking out against Israeli atrocities.

Israel Aggression Upon Gaza Strip: Brutal Insanity

2009-01-04T00:32:00.009-07:00

Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu gestures during a visit to the municipality of the southern city of Ashdod December 31, 2008. Israel on Wednesday rebuffed French calls for a 48-hour humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip and stepped up preparations for a possible ground offensive after Hamas's long-range rockets hit a major population centre.
REUTERS/Nikola Solic (ISRAEL)

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said, "Hamas has held the people of Gaza hostage ever since their illegal coup against the forces of President Mahmoud Abbas. Hamas seized control of Gaza from Abbas' Fatah forces in 2007 and Abbas set up a rival government in the West Bank."

Rice charged Hamas "has used Gaza as a launching pad" for firing rockets into the Jewish state and that, as a result, the Palestinians in Gaza have had "a very bad daily life." She said the U.S. supports a "durable and sustainable" cease-fire, but any end to fighting would depend on the willingness of Hamas to stop firing rockets into Israel.

My question to Rice is, "Who made Israel and the United States, the co-dictators of the world? Who gives Israel and the United States the authority to judge what human being or organization can be stuck with the sticky label of "terrorist?" If one applies the protocol of counterterrorism, then by that doctrine is not Israel a terrorist organization.

Canadian Values Under Attack

2008-12-15T23:22:00.005-07:00

Silent night, holy night

All is calm, all is bright-not!

What have you done?

My night is turbulent and definitely unrighteous,

My heart is heavy, my heart is dark.

What have you done?

My Canada is invaded by an alien entity

A force evil, a force racist

A force wrapped in the "maple leaf"

A force designed to rip Canada apart.

What have you done?

Zionism has reared its ugly head, its stench is beyond belief.

and yet-our government closes its heart. mind. and soul

to this evil "serpent" within our midst.

What have you done?

Judgement Pronounced

2008-10-09T15:17:00.005-06:00

Sean Hannity regurgitates hate,
When He is stopped at the Judgement Gate, Sean Hannity is like the Post Turtle.
Sean Hannity swivels his head back and forth
Likewise his tongue.

"Ah! Yes! Yes!"
Ayers is a terrorist
Likewise by association Obama is a terrorist (evil I got you laugh)

"Ah! Yes! I am the instigator extraordinaire" (Clap! Clap!)
"Sarah Palin, do my dirty deeds under cover of your middle-aged charms

Engage the evangelical crowd, Sarah, spew our hateful rhetoric,
"Ah! Yes! Let the fear of terrorism motivate you,
"Bomb bomb Iran"

Likewise by Association, Sean Hannity is an accomplice extraordinaire.

Smile!
Got-cha!!!!!!!!!!!

Obama Supporter and loving it!!!!!!

"

For God's Sake Let Me Not Be Limited To English!

2008-03-28T02:45:00.004-06:00

"C'est un grand plasir, Merci, merci. Thank you, Wnough of my Diefenbaker French," former Premier Klein said to his audience.

Klein's cousins, Romeo & Juliet spoke French all the time and I would say, "For God's sake, speak English."

I had to laugh because my grandparents were Italian and Czechoslavakian and I would say, "For God's sake, speak English." They would laugh and tell me to learn their respective languages. How I wish I would of taken their advice."

I have discovered through my virtual travels and associations on the internet that English is like a drop in the bucket of languages read and spoken in this world.

Yes! We should honor our native language, but I felt ashamed when I met people from other lands who spoke five, six or more languages and wrote them too fluently and then asked me to teach them English.

I hang my head in disgrace when I speak to people from Europe, Africa, The Middle East, Asia, China, Japan etc. and it always comes up in the conversation. "How many languages can you speak and write Ms. Sandra? "

Ms. Sandra blushes and with great embarrassment and humility says "one." There is a moment of silence and then the offer is made for which I am so thankful. One word of English, one word of Arabic, or French or Urdu or maybe three or four languages in one sentence.

Communication is an art form and sometimes it is funny and sometimes the bloopers are very embarassing. But I smile and I learn.

Piggies at the Trough

2007-08-27T23:05:00.000-06:00

Piggies at the Trough

Today Canadians were informed that the Canadian Government has an unprecedented budget in the billions of dollars. That is reason to celebrate is it not.

However, the Canadian Government in its "shuttered castle of secrets" tucked away that "treasure chest of booty" in the "vaults" protected by its security forces and posing talking marionettes.
What is wrong with this picture?

That "treasure chest of booty" belongs to the people of Canada, because it was both the Natural Resources and the blood, sweat and tears of their labor that earned that "treasure chest of booty.
To add insult to injury the "media in whispers", state that "regulation" creates a $500 burden on taxpayers, when they purchase eggs, poultry, and dairy. You know the basic staples of life that the working class and Canadians with fixed incomes depend on for their daily rations.

To allege that Canadians are going to suffer, especially the working class and the untouchables is aggrandizement built upon lies and deception to Canadians.

Billions of dollars are in the "Castle of Secret's vaults", while Canadian residents get a lashing by their loving Conservative Government.

"Remember, billions, I say billions of dollars are in the "vaults", while the oh! So cute and understanding, loving government wants to deregulate the Canadian wheat board and now eggs, poultry and dairy. If "deregulation" is implemented on the excuse that it will save Canadian families $500 but screw them out of billions, I am saying in all honesty, "that ain't democracy that is fascism served on a paper plate by the piggies at the trough".

Entry for June 09, 2007

2007-06-10T00:20:00.000-06:00

Entry for June 09, 2007
Today is a new dawning and a new age in the life of the Tigress who prowls the world looking for work. The tigress is a "stripe of many words," provocative, subtle, direct, happy, sad, mysterious, spacey, angry, loving, comedic, but always newsworthy.

The Tigress can be contacted: Sandra Petrich, Box 417, Blairmore, Alberta, TOKOEO, Canada or through email at: sandra_petrich@shaw.ca

My phone number is 403 564 4334

My rate is $40.00 an hour.

Follow the mountain path of the Tigress and judge for yourself the calibre of my writing.

Roar! I hope to do business with you soon.

Sincerely,

The Tigress

Demokhracy

2007-05-07T14:21:00.000-06:00

Demokhracy

". . .government is instituted for the protection, safety, and happiness of the people, and not for profit, honor, or private interest of any man, family, or class of men. . .the origin of all power is in the people, and they have an incontestable right to check the creatures of their own creation, vested with certain powers to guard the life, liberty and property of the community. . ." Mercy Otis warren 1728-1814, poet, historian, patriot, and advocate of the Bill of Rights

Evangelical Christians, Israeli operatives and Republican political consultants share a belief in the Judean Christian Christianity. Yet God did not build walls. God created men and women of the earth to be free and to populate the earth. Nothing was mentioned in the Bible that placed one race above another. God did not order men to go out and to build weapons, security devices, blockades, to imprison their brothers and sisters. That is US/Israeli<strong> demokhracy. That is not us. God did not intend for men to profit from war or to torture and abuse detainees into submitting forced "confessions". That is US/Israeli demokhracy. That is not us.
Walls are weapons meant to create division and create hostility and fear among the Shia and Sunnis who have lived together for centuries. The question is who wants that kind of division and for what purpose? Gunning down innocent young children and turning their parents into maniacal grief stricken killers of their neighbors, is "bloodletting cleansing" for a people crazed by a pathological sickness known as "US/Israeli demokhracy" and foisted upon Iraqis against their will.
How can Evangelical Christians, Israeli operatives and Republican political consultants profess to the adherence of the Judean Christianity principles that spill blood across the globe? Is it ethical and moral to fight a war of oppression in the nation of Iraq based upon fear mongering and agitation? Would Jesus have approved of this? What about killing and maiming the enemy, and then rushing in to save his soul? Is that moral? Do you think that Muslims are going to rush into your arms and say "Bless Me Jesus For We Are Sinners?" I'm thinking that Muslims will tell you to take your US/Israeli Demokhracy and go to hell! I think that Jesus would agree with them.

2006-10-21T00:44:00.000-06:00
Let's support Canadian troops by bringing them homeBy Lethbridge Herald
Oct 21, 2006, 21:34

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Re: Blair urges Canadians to support the troops
To paraphrase Prime Minister Blair’s dire forecast of impending doom if Canadians were to pull their troops out of Afghanistan and his irksome tired rhetoric of the Taliban and Al-Qaida attacking us on homeland or, “my gosh,” even winning, gives me a case of the “Blair/Bush/Harper willies.”
I think you should pull the USA/British /Canadian special ops out of foreign lands. When you stir the pot, expect to get a bloodied nose and stop your whining.
Yes! The consequences of war are dire. Tell that to the 650,000 dead Iraqis, and unknown number of Afghani innocents. Remember, what is labelled as collateral damage is somebody’s father, brother, mother, sister, grandmother, grandfather or child.
A suggestion to Tony Blair and G.W. Bush and Stephen Harper — if you love war and killing so much, go to the desert and beat the tar out of each other. If you survive, I will give each of you a glass of warm milk and send you to bed. Mercy! That is more than you have shown your victims.
I support the troops by bringing them home.
SANDRA PETRICH
Blairmore

The Law of Moral and Mental Gain

2006-09-07T01:01:00.000-06:00
It is the end of summer(where did it go) and the popular trees are dressed in skirts of yellow. It gets dark at half past eight but the odd thing is that there should be a crisp chill in the air and there is not one. Au contraire! My windows are wide open, the moon is blood red, a sign of smoke from a raging forest fire that crossed the United States border into British Columbia. It is three years since the Crowsnest Pass had a very fierce encounter with a forest fire which was named "Lost Creek" but we nicknamed it "Dragon" because of the huge wall of flames and the fight that fire had within it. The "Dragon" has left an air of unease, a feeling of something hidden, something evil.
In the Artic, the "Dragon" rears his ugly head in another form but just as catrastophic as was the fire to the minds and memories of the Crowsnest Pass citizens.
The Artic ice is melting at a very rapid rate. The "oilmen" and "bankers" are clucking their tongues in glee as thoughts of the Canadian "Northwest Passage" about to thaw and allow access to oil riches and commodity shipping. Even in times like this when life as we know it on EArth is hanging on a thread, and future generations will curse us for the "heaps of hell fire we are bestowing on their innocent heads, politicians, robber barons and corporations can not see or hear anything but the cash registers ringing, their stocks rising and oil wells teetering on the melting ice but hell that matters not to them.

To Criticize Israel or Not!

2006-08-29T03:16:00.000-06:00
The question is as a Canadian am I free to express my opinion and if that opinion is negative does that make me an anti-semite? I take issue with Prime Miister Harper and his support for Israel. Canadians are not beholden to supporting Israel. It is not written in our foreign policy. The maple leaf flies over the Canadian Parliament not the Stripes and Stars.
As a Canadian I stand proud for an independent voice and an independent mind.
In my mind after very careful research, I take the point of view that Hezbollah is a genuine RESISTANCE MOVEMENT that fights against imperialist invasion and occupation. 97% of Palestinians support Hezbollah,including 95% of the Christian Arabs in Palestine Authority.
To say that HEZBOLLAH wants to destroy Israel is a false statement. The truth is that ZIONISTS OF ISRAEL want to take over the Middle East and are the PROXY of the United States.
To the right wing Christians of Canada and to the Conservative government I say "Phooie" to your intimidating and whining tactics.
As a Canadian citizen who is unshackled, I will not be told to stay away from Palestinian Support Groups and if they wave yellow flags, someone get me one and I will wave it proudly.
Prime Minister Harper are you a freedom fighter for Canadians or are you a proxy of the Bush Regime? If you are a freedom fighter for Canadians call off the military before they turn our children into killing machines for imperialism.
Friendly fire is but a symptom of rogue army that knows nothing but how to kill and that is not good for Canada.

My Vision of Canada is Like a Shortbread Cookie

2006-07-02T19:25:00.002-06:00

Blackhawk helicopters, known as 'night hawks' for their ability to penetrate the darkness and attack at night, flew over the Alberta border carrying a payload of cannons loaded with laser guided hellfire anti-armour missiles, while from inside their cabiins peaked 7.62 mm or 50 calibre machine guns. Their purpose was to rip Albertan bodies to shreds in the name of security and God and on the darkened streets security forces pounded on the doors of Albertan residences, breaking doors down, lobbying grenades and wielding batons on the backs of hapless males aged fourteen and older. Neighbors were bribed to spy on neighbors, reminiscent of the "brown shirts" in Germany during WW11. Warehouse prisons fill up with an overflow of the subdued population.
"Sandra that is all so Orwellian," Catherine mutters and shakes her head as her hand reaches out for the last piece of shortbread in the cookie jar.
"It is not Orwellian," I frown, and wrap a lock of red hair around my finger, twisting it, while giving the empty cookie jar an evil look.
"Oooh! Did you want a shortbread cookie," Catherine simpered.
"I mean to say," and I bang the cupboard door to emphasize my point, all is quiet as I refill the cookie jar and pour some more coffee.
"It is Reality TV," my hand reaches out for a shortbread cookie. "Take this piece of shortbread, one minute it is reality in front of your eyes, you can grasp it, you can see it, you can taste it, you can savour it," and then I took the meat cleaver and flattened the golden shortbread cookie into a pile of crumbs.
"Wha! What did you do that for?" Catherines's blue eyes were big as saucers and her hand trembled.
I was still holding the meat cleaver over the vanquished shortbread cookie victim. In a voice rough as sandpaper, I said to her "it is gone," and tears rolled from my somber dark green eyes. I stared morosely at the pile of cookie crumbs before me.
"It is just a pile of flipping cookie crumbs. Have you lost your ever loving mind?" Catherine kocked over her coffee cup and Tim Horton remanants oozed into the crumbs.
"Don't you get it? This is what is happening to Canada and don't you dare say that it can't happen. Look what happened to Iraq."
"Yes! but Saddam."
"Saddam, my ass! Don't you see," and the tears continued to pour out of my eyes. I love Canada with all my heart, my mind and my soul, but we are on the verge of losing her to a rogue government, an imperialistic world empire."
Catherine got up and poured another round of coffee and came over and stood behind me., placing her hand on my shoulder. The grandfather clock strikes. "Bong! Bong! The Blackhawk helicopter approaches, a missile fires, and the house explodes.
"Do you think that i am dreaming and that his is a nightmare? It is a nightmare, yours, mine, our children, and our grandchildren. If it can happen in Iraq, it can happen in Canada."
News Bulletin. Predator planes and Blackhawk Helicopters will soon be flying over our borders. Date: Monday, February 13, 2006.

HELLFIRE MISSILE - The best bloopers are a click away

Letter to President Abdelaziz Bouteflika

2006-06-13T01:58:00.000-06:00

August 21, 2005

Abdelaziz Bouteflika
President of the Republic
El-Mouradia, Alger, Algeria

Re: Congratulations

Dear Mr. President:
I am a Canadian freelance writer, who is very passionate about politics and international relations. My grandfather was a Communist (Austrian) and so was my father (Canadian) so I learned at a very early age about the struggles for equality, observed my grandfather and father fight for decent working conditions, good wages, and of course felt and witnessed the “upheavals and brutality” of the many strikes and attempts to unionize. I also fought for worker’s rights in the largest strip mine of Western Canada. It was through these experiences that I became a writer. My interest is in developing a utopian society. I believe that if people are given a chance to work, good working conditions, food and housing that a utopian society could prevail and I really believe it now. Please let me explain.

I have spent the last eight months of my life soaking up Algerian politics starting with the Algerian Revolution. I must tell you that it has been one of the most difficult and challenging experiences in my life. In the process, I learned about Islam and became a Muslim.

My heart goes out to the Algerian people who have lost so much, but they have gained in you, President Bouteflika, a very wise, compassionate man and a human being who is not afraid, or does not show it, even though you have your hands full cleaning up the corruption that president Boudiaf attempted to do before he was assassinated. I worry, because I know that the pot always simmers, and sometimes it boils over. Trying to keep up good relations with France, the United States and the Army is a full time job and requires excellent negotiation skills as well you know.
I endorse your unconditional support of the civil reconciliation policy and the pardoning of all militants. I think that this proposal is a brilliant one. There is a time for mourning and a time for healing.
It was a hot summer day and people waited in long lines to buy food, and there was very little, and what was available was extremely expensive. Groups of young men hung around the street corner frustrated that they could not get work. It was a daily ritual looking for food in garbage cans in a land rich in oil. Why was it that Algerians were starving? The reason was that oil prices hit rock bottom and a civil war was in the making. To make matters worse, Algeria almost declared bankruptcy and the only way out was through the IMF. By the early 1990’s Algeria was forced to expend most of its oil and gas income - roughly eight billion dollars to nine billion dollars just to finance her mushrooming twenty six billion dollar external debt. Algeria could not afford to feed her people.

I read in the July 11th edition of the Al-Hayat newspaper about the Algerian Marshall Plan that is designed to direct fifty five billion dollars over five years for the purpose of reviving Algeria’s economy. I salute you, President Bouteflika for your visionary thinking, but be careful. We had a moment when coal was king, then the plug got pulled and coal was king no more. Your endeavors have given my utopian dream new life. I congratulate you and the Algerians on this venture.

I am impressed with the quality of your health care system. Good work! Now you can shine with Cuba and Canada.

My dream of a utopia reality is much brighter for now I see a solution to the scarcity of water in Algeria. Potable water is a vital commodity in Algeria. G.E. announces plans for the largest desalination plant in North Africa. Fifty three million U.S. gallons of potable water a day is a lot of water. Canadians are so casual about water and wasteful too. With global warming on the increase we must make water conservation a priority.

Regarding “terrorism”, I quote…” that you would hit them hard”, but instead of following G.W. Bush in his rush to Americanize the world, continue with what you are doing now. Canada built her reputation upon Socialism and Peacekeeping; allow Algeria to be a utopian gateway, an example to Africa and Europe. I know that you have to keep the lid on, but promote conferences in “social justice”, show the world what Algerians are capable of. Use the blackness of the civil war to highlight the possibilities of faith and social democratization. Dr. Omar Chaalal, Algerian citizen, and world renowned scientist and inventor said, “Use dialogue, not guns or bombs.”

I would like to extend a word of caution over the Byrd Amendment of the United States. This is a warning from Trade Minister Shoichi Nagagwa of Japan. Japan has decided to impose its first-ever retaliatory sanctions against the United States on 15 goods, including steel, in response to a controversial US anti-dumping law. Japan will slap 15% retaliatory levies on US Steel. Trade Ministry official Sato said, “the tariffs will amount to 5.7 billion yen ($51 million US). The percentage is in lines with moves by Canada and the European Union. *

I will watch the progress of Algeria, under your great leadership, President Bouteflika, and have great faith that you will be remembered as the founding father of Algeria, the Utopian Gateway of Africa and Europe.
VIVE L'ALGERIE

Freedom of speech can go to far

2006-06-13T00:46:00.000-06:00
Dear Editor:

Freedom of speech is a right, but what is not a right is to defame one’s God, beliefs and a nation’s choices of how they govern.
Words and cartoons are powerful and must be used with respect, knowledge, and a thorough understanding of the culture to whom they speak.
Under the leadership of President Bush, Condi Rice, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, Islamaphobia has reached a boiling point. Nationalism is the right to protect one’s country and one’s people from harm.
Every nation will attest to that. Kurtis Cooper, spokesperson for the State Department states that religious and ethnic hatred is not acceptable. However, out of the mouths of the US Administration come words like, “the enemy”, “fight them in their land”, “it’s us against them”, “bring in the Kurds, then the Shiites and then the Sunnis will fall in”.
And one wonders why there is such political unrest and unease in the world.
It is the right of every human according to God/Allah to have shelter, food, a nation and security. What is deplorable is for a superpower dictating to the world that it is all right for the USA and Israel to bear arms, to maintain paramilitary units, to design and build nuclear warheads, sell armaments, and at the same time deny other nations the same rights. What hypocrisy and blatant misuse of foreign policy.
Why does President Bush dress his democracy in the skirts of right wing theology and then say if you differ in your ideology such as being an Islamist or a Communist, we will bomb the hell out of you?
What gives you the right to use “carrots and sticks” such as bribery, torture, and the Press in the name of the Stars and Stripes and Jesus?
Now that I have your full attention, why do you infer that Muslims do not know how to govern, look after their children, understand the judicial system, or banking? I must tell you that Muslims are very well educated, have strong work ethics, excellent health standards, strong family ties and discipline that the Western world would do well to emulate.
My wish is that we would all realize that we are brothers and sisters under God and as such live in Peace!

Stop the Killing

2006-06-13T00:11:00.000-06:00
Stop the Killing!

It is said that good governance is God’s work. Peace is defined as harmonious relations free from disputes. If this is so, why are millions of Muslims being killed and injured across the world? The perpetrator of this terrorist related activity is Strauss philosophy followed by the neocons of the Bush Administration. The cold war is over, and the next victims chosen by the Straussians were the Muslims. What you have to understand is that Straussians are far more subversive than any KGB. Leo Strauss stated, “no bloody or unbloody change of society can eradicate the evil in man, as long as there will be men, there will be malice, envy, and hatred, and so society must employ coercive restraint.” The hope for permanent progress in human affairs believed by Woodrow Wilson is a delusion, Strauss wrote, “the idea of a universal state is a delusion. Each nation should conduct its own foreign policy and should not turn its foreign policy over to international organizations.” Strauss is a unilateralist, not a multilateralist. According to Strauss, the purpose of foreign policy is survival and independence or self-preservation. Nothing else. Strauss states that according to Socrates, foreign policy of a nation is never devoted to the good of other nations except in the case of self-interest. Socrates endorses imperialism, seizure of property and killing all men who oppose this expansion. He advocates lying to the citizens telling them a noble lie, such as telling Iraqis that destroying their homeland, killing citizens by the thousands and raping their resources is the way of winning hearts and minds. Hiding Iraqi government behind concrete walls is also rumored to be “democracy”.

Aristotle says that it is not lawful for one city to rule and exercise mastery over other cities. His belief is that “common sense” like there is justice or injustice among nations. Leo Strauss takes Plato’s point of view.

Thucydides argued that the question of survival, conquest and war overwhelm the concerns of domestic politics. As for "the good order within the city," Thucydides states “leave it to the moderate citizens."

In 2006, the Strauss model portrays ruthless subordination, of the good of other nations to one's own good. Take for example Israel over the Palestinian people. Hamas, Palestine’s democratically elected government is thwarted in its attempt to govern because it will not buckle under to Israel and the USA. In retaliation, Israel sent 6000 shells in the last two months into the Gaza strip and in the latest incident killing seven people including three children. What do you say to the child who is swimming and is the lone survivor? What price do you put on lost innocence? What do you say to an Algerian citizen who has flashbacks of French bombs falling in Algeria, brought on by witnessing this incident on television? What do you say to him when he says…”how can one dream when one can not sleep?” Since 1954 over one and a half million Algerian Muslims have lost their lives due to French colonialism.
What do you say to Iraqis, who are victims of an illegal war and have lost family, jobs, homes, their way of life and their country? Their country is polluted, filled with depleted uranium shells and ordinance.

If victory in Iraq is defined as democracy in Iraq, American forces will have to remain there for a long time. During their prime, Rome and Britain were pretty good at governing other nations. With few exceptions, Americans have never had the heart for it.

According to America's Declaration of Independence, every nation is entitled to a "separate and equal station" among "the powers of the earth." That is because of "the laws of nature and of nature's God," which tell us that "all men are created equal" and that we are obliged to respect men's equal rights to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." One way that the right to liberty is exercised is through each nation's collective right to consent to its own government, in a "separate and equal station" independent of the government of other nations. There is therefore no right of one nation to conquer or interfere in the affairs of any other nation, except to the extent required for self-preservation. Locke's strictures against conquest in the Second Treatise are based on exactly this understanding of the law of nature.

I dream of a day when Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Kristol, Perle, Wolfowitz, Feith, Libby, et al, are paraded before TV cameras in orange jumpsuits, shackled and humiliated, and soon to suffer the fate Hermann Goering, Joachim von Ribbentrop, and Rudolf Hess at the Nuremberg Trials.