This article is probably fairly uncontroversial for most readers. But, imho, it does correctly assess the situation in Iran. And it should serve as a reminder (if we needed any) as to why the notion of Iran with nuclear weapons is an unacceptable prospect. The situation is so obvious that even Hitchens got it right.

at least israel's 300 or so nukes are kosher!

At least Israel is not a Theocratic dictatorship which has declared other nations do not have the right to even exist.

& one of only 5 nation's left w/o a world bank...who control our news it seems ~ best they can, too:>)

"These international bankers and Rockefeller-Standard Oil interests control the majority of newspapers and the columns of these papers to club into submission or drive out of public office officials who refuse to do the bidding of the powerful corrupt cliques which compose the invisible government." - Theodore Roosevelt

The article has very little to do with Iran and much more to do with the dangers of allowing religious fanatics even the slightest measure of power.

At least Israel is not a Theocratic dictatorship which has declared other nations do not have the right to even exist.

Are you kidding me? Israel may not be run by a bearded high priest who chills out in the Temple, but religious zealotry played a key role in the founding of Israel and the six decades of land-grabbing madness that followed. As far as declaring countries not to have a right to exist... what about Palestine? Many hold the sentiment that Palestine should not exist. Other than already having succeded, how are they any different than Ahmadinejad?

Do not pretend that Israel is some saintly beacon of light in the darkness. They are guilty of the same crimes as their neighbors. As I've said many times on this issue, people want to pick the side of "right" in these conflicts but they forget that it's perfectly possible for all parties to be dead wrong.

Where's a good assasination plot when you need one?

Israel can exist, just not on the land it stole from the muslims. I think Northern Greenland would be fair since it isn't used much or Maybe the interior of Africa where no inhabitants live.

I think Israel's going to pick a fight with one nation too many. Fuck em. They deserve a good beating.

Ray for once you seem to know what you are talking about. Too bad you are ignorant on everything else.

The term "theocracy" trips readily enough off the tongue and is an accurate description of a system where mortals claim the right to dominate other mortals in the name of God.

Being exhibited right now, in this country. i.e. Health care reform, cap and trade, etc.

How did a thread about Iran's dictatorial theocracy devolve into an Israel bashing thread? Israel is barely discussed in the article in passing. I never mentioned it in the lead-in. Geez. Some of you must carry so much hatred for Israel that any thread seems like a good place to start bashing away. Pretty sick.

On topic, it is intellectually dishonest to compare Iran's theocracy with any Western government.

Israel will never disappear. They will nuke anyone that tries to take their land. Mossad is active in NY/NJ. Watch out you might get the stick

Israel will never disappear.

Israel is a country that is about one nuclear bomb wide.

They will nuke anyone that tries to take their land.

If they continue to take Palestinian land they deserve to be nuked.

They know this and that's why they are so vehement about not letting Iran get the bomb.

Be Well.

Being that Palestine was never a country, they never had any land to take. Personally I think Mossad should starty taking out Americans that they view as anti-Israeli including other Jews

Being that Palestine was never a country, they never had any land to take.

The entire country was Palestine before Israel was given half of it.

They then proceeded to start taking more and more and more of it and partitioning the rest to make it unlivable. All while fostering extremist Muslims (and discounting moderates) as an excuse to keep on building and behaving immorally.

Recently they likened their situation morally to that of the European colonists who displaced the native Americans.

As if we are not living in a different day and age.

Personally I think Mossad should starty taking out Americans that they view as anti-Israeli including other Jews.

*head-desk*

Personally, Spud is suprized you manage to cross the street successfully every day on yer own without getting run over by a bus.

Be Well.

The entire country was Palestine before Israel was given half of it.

Palestine was part of the British Empire. It was and never will be an independent country. THe Israelis should just cut off their water. Lrt Egypt babysit them

How did a thread about Iran's dictatorial theocracy devolve into an Israel bashing thread? Israel is barely discussed in the article in passing. I never mentioned it in the lead-in. Geez. Some of you must carry so much hatred for Israel that any thread seems like a good place to start bashing away. Pretty sick.

#12 | Posted by moder8 at 2010-01-04 11:05 PM | Reply | Flag:

You answered your own question. Like the functioning alcoholic who consistently is one or two beers shy of inebriation, the level of antisemitic bile in some folks leaves them seething just below their boiling point. The slightest reminder or even strained connection to Israel or anything/anyone Jewish sets them off.

Palestine was part of the British Empire.

So was America at one point.

Should the French have just shrugged off American calls fer help cos America "was and never will be an independent country"?

Be Well.

The slightest reminder or even strained connection to Israel or anything/anyone Jewish sets them off.

Back-asswards as usual.

Any criticisms of Israel can be laid at the feet of anti-semitism?

Wot about criticisms of Israel from Israelis?

Are they legitimate at all or can they all be dismissed as being the musings of "self-loathing Jews" in yer book?

Be Well.

The entire country was Palestine before Israel was given half of it.

#16 | Posted by dethspud

the "Palestinean race" was invented in 1967 by a UN document

that issue IS waaay over there, however an analysis will show that if given some land w/foreign aid $$ . . .

a) Jews will build factories, homes, & plant gardens

b) Palestineans will create slums rivaling Detroit, build bombs, & shoot rockets . . .

the rockets being a result of all the wrecked young arms from a lifetime of throwing stones at soldiers & tanks

Should the French have just shrugged off American calls fer help cos America "was and never will be an independent country"?

The French only supported the colonists because it was in their best interests as Britain and France were posturing for war. It had nothing to do with the French supporting independence. The Israelis never stole any land from the Palestinians because it was never their land to begin with.

Here is a link to a map of the Middle East from 1930, and all you see is a mandate for Palestine. The mandate was from the League of Nations. If you go to earlier maps there is no Palestine.

Palestine was a part of the British Empire. Whine all you want but it has never been and never will be a country. Palestinians have no self=control. Their brains never developed. Some anthropologists in Israel have linked them to a close cousin of Cro-Magnon

"Israel can exist, just not on the land it stole from the muslims. I think Northern Greenland would be fair since it isn't used much or Maybe the interior of Africa where no inhabitants live."

LOL. Asking Israelis to move is the same fucking thing as telling Americans to move because we "stole" the land from Indians. Most Israelies were born there. And if you keep digging back through history, you can claim that Muslims stole the land from Jews in the first place.

Better to live with reality: Israel exists and any of its incompetent enemies that try to change this are more likely to be pushed out of existence themselves than they are to destroy Israel.

"Personally I think Mossad should starty taking out Americans that they view as anti-Israeli including other Jews"

You say such idiotic things all the time... who cares what you think.

"And if you keep digging back through history, you can claim that Muslims stole the land from Jews in the first place."

actually they stole the land from the byzantine and roman empires which stole the land from the jews.

"If you go to earlier maps there is no Palestine."

thats because it was all part of one country.. the ottoman empire.

palestine was a region in that country.

these frakkin borders you guys are relying on for historical reference didn't exist in that area until the after ww1.

palestinians are the local indeginous people of the isreali land who are muslim, jewish and christian.

The palestinians that want their own country happen to be the muslim palestinians.

They want their own country because Israel would not give them equal rights in their government knowing that the jewish majority would ceaase to exist.

As long as there is one citizen, in any country, that does not subscribe to the government's religious doctrine all theocratic forms of governing are bad.

They want their own country because Israel would not give them equal rights in their government knowing that the jewish majority would ceaase to exist.

#29 | Posted by klifferd

They want their own country because Jordan kicked them out and didn't want anything to do with them either. They fail to assimilate and that is the problem with islam...is does not lend towards assimilation with other forms of government or ideologies outside of its own.

"They fail to assimilate and that is the problem with islam."

really
explain my family

explain all the families i know that are muslim

you are talking out your ass.

why should jordon allow an influx of 2 million plus people when they should be citizens of israel?

you are saying it like if america kicked out the japanese americans in ww2 and then sent them to mexico

and mexico rejected them.

they would be sitting limbo somwhere in north mexico/texas.

thats what the palestinians are.

don't bash jordon when israel kicked them out.

On topic, it is intellectually dishonest to compare Iran's theocracy with any Western government.

Much like it is intellectually dishonest to compare Israel's "democracy" to any current western democracy. You have to go back to the 19th century before you get a good comparison. It's "manifest destiny" all over again.

"actually they stole the land from the byzantine and roman empires which stole the land from the jews."

Point is that Israel is a reality and it is much better to live in reality than it is to talk about how things "should be".

"you are saying it like if america kicked out the japanese americans in ww2 and then sent them to mexico

and mexico rejected them.

they would be sitting limbo somwhere in north mexico/texas.

thats what the palestinians are."

That's not true. Most people on this site are completely ignorant to Israel's origins but I doubt you are one of them. So you probably know that as soon as Great Britain relinquished control of the area, the Palestinians started a war and lost their land in that war. When Great Britain left the area there was an Israel and a Palestine of equal size. The Palestinians and their allies, seeing their huge advantage, started a war to wipe out Israel. Somehow, they managed to lose that war and most of their land in the process. About half of "Israel" was "Palestine" as designated by the Brits.

The West Bank was part of Jordan - later lost due to Jordan's aggressiveness. Gaza was lost by Egypt as a result of the same aggressive acts. Neither of these countries want this land back because they don't want to be responsible for the people who live on it because they are the most poorly led and self destructive people on the planet. Their inexplicable refusal to make any kind of deal with Israel is the source of their deepening misery. But I guess they still have their "pride".

I'm not saying the Israelis are honest about their intentions for the lands currently inhabited by Palestinians. But to pretend that the Palestinians are victims of their own aggressiveness, stupidity and incompetence just isn't true.

right back on topic.

:)

fuck governments that place precedence of one religion over others.

its a sign of a failing past.

just like russian czars being forced to adopt a constitution and share power to industrialize because they were way behind western europe, the same with theocracies.

they are physically incapable of keeping up with secular democracies.

"But to pretend that the Palestinians are victims of their own aggressiveness, stupidity and incompetence just isn't true."

There's a NOT missing from that sentence somewhere....

They want their own country because Israel would not give them equal rights in their government knowing that the jewish majority would ceaase to exist.

That's the root of the Israeli apartheid. Israel wants to remain Jewish, even if this requires the expulsion of Palestinians to make way for more Jews. Of course the Palestinians are by no means innocent bystanders, but that does not legitimize Israeli policies. Israel is motivated by a tribal mentality that is concealed behind an unconvincing facade of "democracy".

"the Palestinians started a war and lost their land in that war"

unfortunately you are correct about this.

but they were duped by the arabs who are fucking assholes as you will hear me repeat many times.

but the palestinians live today in Gaza and West Bank.

Israeli territory.

And by the standards we set after ww2, Israel is reposible for the conditions of its occupied territories.

One can indirectly state that the current modern palestinian is only a reaction to israel's action/inaction.

Isreal is partially responsible for its own problems with extremism. They helped create a situation in their occupied territories.

It is not that simple ZH, as many Jews also want a Palestinian homeland. The problem with Israel's Jews is the same with the Middle East's Muslims: a small nationalist narrow-minded group is creating such chaos that the entire group is being blamed.

It is not Israelis that is the problem. It is not Jews; it is Zionists.

unfortunately you are correct about this.

but they were duped by the arabs who are fucking assholes as you will hear me repeat many times.

but the palestinians live today in Gaza and West Bank.

Israeli territory.

And by the standards we set after ww2, Israel is reposible for the conditions of its occupied territories.

True. They are in land occupied by Israel and therefore are subject to Israeli law. This also makes those opposing Israeli law outlaws by definition.

"This also makes those opposing Israeli law outlaws by definition."

or freedom fighters depending on the level of oppression outlined in those laws.

however like i've stated
the truth is what you just stated.

both sides have a group of radical elements that are making hardship for the general populous.

Zionists NEED me to feel anti-Semites. They NEED me to believe that Israel is the only safe place for me. In other words, they need to foster the very hate they condemn to justify their own existence. I am very aware of this fact which is why I say "America is my promised land" and "If G-d wanted me in Israel, He would have arranged for me to be born there."

many Jews also want a Palestinian homeland

You're right, but there aren't enough of them living in Israel. I read a poll showing that the number of Israelis who think that a peace process is either desirable or possible is extremely low. I almost posted it yesterday, but it was altogether too depressing.

The problem with Israel's Jews is the same with the Middle East's Muslims: a small nationalist narrow-minded group is creating such chaos that the entire group is being blamed.

It's not quite nationalism, though... it's more tribalism. Israelis are nationalistic, but there is a very deliberate effort among the radicals in Israel to cultivate the same tribal mentality that you see elsewhere.

It is not Israelis that is the problem. It is not Jews; it is Zionists.

I guess I should have made that distinction.

ZH,
I am a Jew who HATES Zionists more than any anti-Semitic group out there because the Zionists prove them right and justify their hate of me. If Jews would go attack the Zionists and Muslims the Terrorists, you would see world peace within a year, but no one wants to admit their side is part of the problem.

no one wants to admit their side is part of the problem

Ain't that the truth!

A country that attempts to govern itself from a holy book will immediately find itself in decline: the talents of its females repressed and squandered, its children stultified by rote learning in madrassas, and its qualified and educated people in exile or in prison.

~Christopher Hitchens.

Nice piece of work from Mr Hitchens here, btw.

The last stolen election basically makes the current Iranian theocratic government illegitimate.

The latest crop of Iranians who have grown up under the repression of the Mullahs are yearning to breathe free.

But the Mullahs will not surrender power easily.

Spud wishes them luck.

The west should do all it can to try and support the cries fer change that are coming from Iran while it uses the carrot and stick of soft power to ensure that a nuclear armed pack of Mullahs aren't in anyone's forseeable future.

Be Well.

Don't wanna abuse the Fair Use thingy but THIS...

But when the crops fail and the cities rot and the children's teeth decay and nothing works except the ever-enthusiastic and illiterate young lads of the morality police, who will the clerics blame? They are not allowed to blame themselves, except for being insufficiently zealous. Obviously it must be because the Jews, the Crusaders, the Freemasons have been at their customary insidious work. Thus, holy war must be waged on happier and more prosperous lands.

...Shows that Hitchens has still got it.

Be Well.

I love how we point at other countries and decry theocracy as a horrible oppressive thing.

Yet in this country (US) we let the religious nuts dictate to the rest of us (gay marriage anyone?)

It's the same concept of someone feeling the right to control someone else in the name of god.

The last stolen election basically makes the current Iranian theocratic government illegitimate.

30 years of divinely-inspired oppression make the theocracy illegitimate.

The last stolen election just shows that the ruling hard-liners are incapable of compromise and will do anything to keep power. The "green movement" began with a progressive coalition that has the blessings of several Ayatollahs. It is turning into something different because of the election and ensuing crackdown.

Yet in this country (US) we let the religious nuts dictate to the rest of us (gay marriage anyone?)

Things are slowly changing. In the US, we're actually arguing about whether to allow gays to marry. As Mr. Ahmadinejad so bluntly said, Iran does not have that problem.

"really"

Yes.

"explain my family"

Why don't you explain how your family applies to what I said about the palestinians in gaza. Is you family in gaza? Are they palenstinians?

"explain all the families i know that are muslim"

Explain WHAT about them?

"you are talking out your ass."

So be it.

"why should jordon allow an influx of 2 million plus people when they should be citizens of israel?"

They shouldn't. Jordan did kick out most of those who make up the pali territory. So did Syria. No body wanted them.

Israel hates Hamas and Hamas hates the Zionists'.

Do away with the hatred and perhaps they can co-exist. Do away with the religious dictates and perhaps they can co-exist. Instill a constitution that protects the rights of all, and demands equality for all and perhaps they might get along.

Educate the ignorant masses on both sides of the equation (the idiots with the side locks and the idiots who pray five times a day) and maybe there will be peace.

When the two groups put some fucking distance between their brains and their respective religions maybe there may be peace.

When the two groups put the futures of the children before their devotion to their fucking gods and imams and rabbis perhaps there will be some peace.

Perhaps when people start thinking for themselves, without a religious filter clouding their perspective, perhaps there will be peace.

I love how we point at other countries and decry theocracy as a horrible oppressive thing.

Yet in this country (US) we let the religious nuts dictate to the rest of us (gay marriage anyone?)

It's the same concept of someone feeling the right to control someone else in the name of god.

#49 | Posted by unklegwar

If religious nuts DICTATED, as you say, homosexuals would be imprisoned, ABORTION would be illegal, and abercrombie & fitch and victoria's secret would be considered evil and banned.

Nice try.

Read your national and state constitutions.

Then compare this constitutional government to the theocracies in question.

Across the world, a dangerous rumor has spread that could have catastrophic implications. According to legend, Iran's President has threatened to destroy Israel, or, to quote the misquote, "Israel must be wiped off the map". Contrary to popular belief, this statement was never made. So what did Ahmadinejad actually say?

"The Imam said this regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time".

The inflammatory "wiped off the map" quote was first disseminated not by Iran's enemies, but by Iran itself. The Islamic Republic News Agency, Iran's official propaganda arm, used this phrasing in the English version of some of their news releases covering the World Without Zionism conference. International media including the BBC, Al Jazeera, Time magazine and countless others picked up the IRNA quote and made headlines out of it without verifying its accuracy, and rarely referring to the source. Iran's Foreign Minister soon attempted to clarify the statement, but the quote had a life of its own. Though the IRNA wording was inaccurate and misleading, the media assumed it was true, and besides, it made great copy.

Amid heated wrangling over Iran's nuclear program, and months of continuous, unfounded accusations against Iran in an attempt to rally support for preemptive strikes against the country, the imperialists had just been handed the perfect raison d'tre to invade. To the war hawks, it was a gift from the skies.

Death to mistranslations!

It is not Israelis that is the problem. It is not Jews; it is Zionists.

#40 | Posted by kanrei

nice to see you really own that truth here!

"These international bankers and Rockefeller-Standard Oil interests control the majority of newspapers and the columns of these papers to club into submission or drive out of public office officials who refuse to do the bidding of the powerful corrupt cliques which compose the invisible government." - Theodore Roosevelt

When I read all this mindless hatred aimed at Israel, it makes me want to stand up and proclaim, "I am a Zionist!". Because it seems "zionism" is now code for justifying the venomous bashing of Israeli Jews. Though I am not Jewish, I very much support their efforts to live securely. The utter hypocrisy of the Arab/Islamic World in relation to Israel, and the stupidity/gullibility of the anti-Israeli Western world sickens me. So, even though I'm not sure I am in complete agreement with the agenda, let me nonethelss state, I AM A ZIONIST!

I see Moderate has a new PUGHY spammer trollin us again...anyone we know? I'm guessing Rexy of course.

As for your choosing now to be a Zionist ~ well, go for it!

Zionism has an outrageous history of showing a pecular kind of love to one's fellow man!

"We Jews regard our race as superior to all humanity, and look forward, not to its ultimate union with other races, but to its triumph over them." (Goldwin Smith, Jewish Professor of Modern History at Oxford University, October, 1981)

Goldwin Smith held the regius professorship of Modern History at Oxford from 1858 to 1866.

The Jew alone regards his race as superior to humanity, and looks forward not to its ultimate union with other races, but to its triumph over them all and to its final ascendancy under the leadership of a tribal Messiah.' Goldwin Smith, Professor of Modern History, Oxford University, in Nineteenth Century, October 1881"

misprint?

"They fail to assimilate and that is the problem with islam."

really
explain my family

explain all the families i know that are muslim

you are talking out your ass.

why should jordon allow an influx of 2 million plus people when they should be citizens of israel?

Palestinians don't belong in Israel. They should leave or face the reality of a short life. I know Palestinians in Brooklyn and they are all the same. They bitch and moan and leach off of the gov't

Back to the article-one can hope that the theocracy disappears and the government that replaces it is at least a little more pro-western. And ayatollah-run Iran should point to where America would be if the talibaptists had their way.

I won't even mention the great Republicans that back the ayatollahs like Reagan and Cheny...

"We Jews regard our race as superior to all humanity, and look forward, not to its ultimate union with other races, but to its triumph over them."

If you couldn't figure that out from the Old Testament of the Bible, you weren't paying attention.

Education is the solution to theocracies, but unfortunately we have a system of education, including state-sponsored lack of education in some countries, that is tied to various religions and theocracies.

Education is the Ultimate Enlightenment.

Question Everything!

We have ways to go but that is what we should be progressing towards.

"I won't even mention the great Republicans that back the ayatollahs like Reagan and Cheny..."

How about the embargo imposed by Carter in 1979? Maybe had Carter understood the taking of the Embassy was an act of war and took care of business, who knows what the ME would look like today.

On topic, it is intellectually dishonest to compare Iran's theocracy with any Western government.
#12 | POSTED BY MODER8

Oh please. They're both theocracies. The sound of war drums coming out of Israel are getting louder. Moder8 is playing one of those drums.

Ray, if you believe the USA governmental system is a theocracy, you are an idiot.

Israel is a religion, too?

"Maybe had Carter understood the taking of the Embassy was an act of war and took care of business, who knows what the ME would look like today. "

yeah, former Cia head Bush's little October surprise really did him in

Palestinians don't belong in Israel. They should leave or face the reality of a short life. I know Palestinians in Brooklyn and they are all the same. They bitch and moan and leach off of the gov't

#62 | Posted by timbci

"amen" said Sharon

Maybe had Carter understood the taking of the Embassy was an act of war and took care of business, who knows what the ME would look like today.

And maybe if Eisenhower had understood installing a puppet dictator would some day backfire...

It is perhaps the biggest problem with the American hegemony. Roosevelt made us a "superpower" but few Presidents since him have kept a firm enough hand on the tiller.

Ray, if you believe the USA governmental system is a theocracy, you are an idiot.
#68 | POSTED BY MODER8

Don't play games. You know I'm referring to Israel.

yeah, former Cia head Bush's little October surprise really did him in

#70 | Posted by Bani at 2010-01-05 09:03 PM

Maybe Carter should have listened to his advisors.

the ones in cahoots with those involved with the raising of interest rates to 20%?

"the ones in cahoots with those involved with the raising of interest rates to 20%?"

Not sure. Did they advise Carter to declare war on Iran?

Am I imagining it or do I sense a liberal/leftist antisemitism on this thread?

Probably a little of both.

People on the political right have a nasty habit of generalizing all criticism of Israeli policies as "anti-semitism". It's one of the great, long-standing lies permeating our political arena.

Am I imagining it or do I sense a liberal/leftist antisemitism on this thread?

Go to google,type in Nixon Jews.

Seems no party is immune

Probably a little of both.

#78 | Posted by ZombieHunter

Must be an argumentum ad hominen then used by both sides in different issues and arenas.

Must be an argumentum ad hominen then used by both sides in different issues and arenas.

Accusations of anti-semitism? Yeah, and as far as ad hominems go, it's a rather effective one.

Things are slowly changing. In the US, we're actually arguing about whether to allow gays to marry. As Mr. Ahmadinejad so bluntly said, Iran does not have that problem.

#51 | Posted by ZombieHunter

Yes, and that's one of the reasons why Imadinnerjacket and his fellow jihadists want to obliterate the infidels---because of their moral turpitude (oxymoron?)----you may become the hunted Zombie--be careful.

Imadinnerjacket and his fellow jihadists want to obliterate the infidels

They talk nasty, but when it comes to many foreign policy issues the hardliners are more bark than bite. The worst they will do is send a few shitty WWII-era rockets to Hezbollah and let Ahmadinejad talk smack on TV.

Make no mistake, the leadership of Iran is very calculating in its approach to the west. The hardliners spew the same tired anti-western lines, and they do their damndest to bait western powers (and Israel) into living up to the negative label. It is sometimes advantageous to be thought a madman. It can win concessions from leaders inclined toward appeasement, and it can provoke a side to action in a situation where whoever acts first is at a disadvantage.

That's the nature of the Israeli-Iranian dynamic. Whichever side makes the first overtly aggressive move will find their support from other nations evaporating in an instant. Standing alone, they will not be able to survive retaliation from an enemy that still has international support. In a way it's geopolitical zugzwang, to borrow a chess term, but there is a key difference: no one is obliged to make the next move.

you may become the hunted Zombie--be careful

If I were marching on the streets of Tehran, I would be worried, but I'm happy to be living in the land of the free. Wearing green is a far safer endeavour here... people honk their horns in support and there are no club-wielding paramilitaries in sight.

Actually, one must take what Ahmadinejad says with a grain of salt, since he's actually playing to the masses within Iran - his politically conservative base - and not outside it.

Iran is the only nation-state in the middle east that pre-dates the Sykes-Picot Agreement and has 2000 years of history - and a blending of Persian Pride and Shia Sensibilities.

"Iran is the only nation-state in the middle east that pre-dates the Sykes-Picot Agreement and has 2000 years of history - and a blending of Persian Pride and Shia Sensibilities."

yeah, meanwhile US is winning the hearts & minds of those we have already invaded...

Afghan govt. demands arrest of US "death squad" who handcuffed, executed 8 children. US refuses
By: Carl_Herman

Kai Eide, UN Representative to Afghanistan confirmed the Afghan government's investigative conclusions that US troops handcuffed and then executed eight students enrolled in grades 6 through 10 in a night raid on December 27, 2009. The US military and NATO responded the troops involved were non-official. The most likely source of para-military "non-official" troops in Afghanistan is Blackwater/Xe.

President Hamid Karzai demanded arrest of the US troops engaged in the break-in and mafia-style execution of their children. The US responded to the Afghan demand of January 1 by rejecting the findings of the Afghan government and UN with a vague promise of their own self-investigation at some later date.