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I hate junk mail; whether it’s in my mailbox or my email inbox; but I have to admit, I also read the darn stuff.  Morbid curiosity, perhaps, but I find myself perusing most of the junk that I get, at least the first two or three iterations.

For a long time, I was getting the rather racy ‘enlargement’ promotions, and I could only read the first.  It was so outrageously ridiculously impossible I couldn’t stomach reading any more.  Don’t get so many of those anymore, but I’m getting a new one now that I first resisted reading because it just didn’t strike me as having a shred of credibility.  This is the adverts offering to teach you a foreign language ‘in 10 days.’

Now, during the past four-plus decades, I’ve picked up five languages to varying degrees of fluency, so I have some idea of what it takes to ‘know’ a language.  And, I’m here to tell you folks, unless you’re HAL the mad computer from 2001, A Space Odyssey, there’s no way you’re going to learn to effectively communicate in a foreign language in a mere 10 days.  Even with total immersion, and I’ve experienced this form of language learning where you’re tossed into the language pool, English is forbidden, and you start using the target language the very first day, and you can’t develop enough fluency to communicate more than a few basic sentences in less than a month.   The U.S. Department’s Foreign Service Institute and the Defense Language Institutes, both of which I’ve studied and worked at, take about six months to bring a student to basic fluency, and that’s going at it four to six hours per day for five days a week.

I haven’t tried the 10-day miracle language learning course, so maybe it’s not fair of me to debunk it out of hand.  But, I have taught myself a language.  In order to be able to communicate, that is, make yourself understood and understand what’s being said to you, you have to know more than a few handy phrase:  “Where is the bus stop?”, “I’d like a room with two beds,” and the like.  If you’re some kind of idiot savant, maybe you can memorize enough in 10 days to do more than this, but I seriously doubt it.  Think about it; 10 days is 240 hours.  You should aim at sleeping for 80 of those hours, and one assumes you have a job that will take up another 80 hours.  That leaves 80 hours to do everything else, including learn the language.

Sorry, folks, but I just don’t think it can be done.  Oh, I believe one could learn an impressive number of words and phrases, and establish a sound base for really learning the language.  I just don’t think you would really have learned the language in such a short period of time.  I’m waiting, though, to be proved wrong.

While I remain concerned about the implementation of the upcoming referenda for southern Sudan and the Abyei region, today, I write to encourage the appointment of a high-level diplomat for Darfur.

In the last 10 days alone, Sudan’s notorious security service has conducted a wave of arrests of human rights activists, civil society leaders, student activists, and journalists. This wave of arrests, combined with reports in Darfur of aerial bombings of villages and water sources and a buildup of armed forces, are disturbing reminders that Darfurians are tremendously vulnerable to human rights violations and attack.
 
I was heartened by the appointment of a senior-level diplomat, Ambassador Princeton Lyman, to help ensure implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and I urge you make a similar designation for Darfur. I would expect that the Darfur diplomat would work to keep the spotlight on Darfur in the media and with world leaders; support ceasefire negotiations between rebel groups and the government of Sudan; drive the Darfur peace process and make sure there is genuine participation by Darfur civil society; press the United Nations Security Council to fully equip, deploy and empower peacekeepers to protect civilians; push for unimpeded access for humanitarian relief; and promote justice and accountability in Darfur.
 
I urge the Administration to ensure that Darfur remains a priority by appointing a qualified, high-level diplomat at the earliest possible moment.
 
Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Ebey Soman

Map of Sudan and the Darfur Region (Image via Wikipedia)

Our solidarity in patriotism and duty awaken to mentors of wisdom who said to us in the late 70s “think differently” live it, do it however you want to.  See the problem is not looking for support or reason why we engage ourselves in military conflicts.  It’s that we never had to, we don’t, there doesn’t need to be unorthodox method to fight enemies just because thats war or we have to ensure whatever means to protect Americans and the United States.  I’m sure you have been shuffled these cliche lines endlessly waiting for the day you never hear them echoed again.  Mr Assange has braved the elements of public scrutiny, fame, wealth, denouncement, and fabricated press releases that will hammer his whole backround life, and will tarnish him in any way shape or form to destroy the man he was.  I am sure Thomas Paine as well as Jefferson are smiling down on this man profoundly for his essentric methods cleverly wording situations, and of course the style and form he presented his words would have made Paine a happy man.  Jullian Assange risked his life forever in living in the nations of the world to give up information that globalist elitists more scary than spector from James Bond have, to rid the world of the persona countries have put on all in the name of one man who dared them to do it.  Sometimes we called it temptation or evil, I call it the devil.  Did Jullian Assange deal a blow to the one they call Lucifer who’s favorite apprentice(the United States)was beaten as well as hammered in it’s overall stride to dominate the globe for the purpose of forcing some ideal upon the 6 billion people of earth?  Is it Imperialism? Mercantilism? Corporatism? Socialism?  That is for the young men and women of the world who will never stop searching for the truth, so that the generations after them will not have to live the great lie as they once did.  Jullian Assange doesn’t endorse change, reform, progress, we can slogans, and I don’t even think revolution.  He’s stares into the abyss bravely and challenging the unknow’s who cannot be seen by the people who don’t believe as individuals like Mr. Assange.  He deals a blow in a battle the people don’t know what to make of, and when he wins in the end, there are no words that can express or describe the actions this man took upon hidden evil that seeked to dig its fangs into the innocents.      

7 billion documents are on there way towards a source or a sanctuary for that matter(the internet)that cannot be harmed, harnessed, or bought at any price to deprive those of no nobility, recongnition, or wealth the god-given right to be given the understanding of events transpiring around day by day.  He has shown us there was nothing to be afraid of in financial calamity cause you just let those irresponsible one go bankrupt, there was no terror threat due to the financial gain from war, and all that seems so bleak and impossible for us to understand becomes a light as clear as day all of a sudden.  Putin’s ignorant greedy monoplistic relationship with the grease ball PM, North Korea’s niahlistic views, Iran’s self defiance towards the world, brides, blackmail, corruption, murder, cheating, backstabbing, corkscrewing, and dirty back room dealing is what should describe government jobs these days.  Let’s end the American Empire today!!!

 The State Department gathers and analyzes intelligence in numerous ways.  The primary form of intelligence gathering is through U.S. embassies all over the world.  Ambassadors and embassy staff serve as diplomatic contacts but also as open intelligence agents, reporting their activities and those of prominent foreign leaders and agencies to the Department of State and in turn to the Intelligence Community.  Intelligence reports come in via a secure telegram system called the cable system.  Tags are included on the cable to determine who gets the information.  This allows a very large amount of consumers to be up to date on the most important details that the embassies handle.

 The Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) handles all of the intelligence analysis and research within the Department of State.  Its primary mission is to gather and analyze intelligence to serve U.S. diplomatic efforts.  It uses all sources of intelligence, provides valuable independent analysis of events for policymakers, and ensures that intelligence activities support both diplomacy and defense activities. It also is responsible for dealing with geographic and political boundary issues.  INR also produces written products that cover the full range of geographic and functional areas of expertise. It is the focus for all policy issues and activities involving the Intelligence Community and is the Secretary of State’s principal adviser on all intelligence matters.

 Founded October 1, 1945 as World War II was ending, the INR originally was the Research and Analysis Branch of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS).  President Harry Truman did not originally believe in having an organized intelligence organization in a time of peace so he broke up the OSS between the State and War Departments.  When the National Security Act of 1947 created the CIA, the INR stayed with the State Department as its own intelligence agency.

 The INR is headed by an Assistant Secretary of State and is composed of three main divisions:  Intelligence Policy and Coordination, Analysis and Production, and Research.  Research is responsible for all internal and external research as well as publications and reports of the Bureau.  Intelligence Policy and Coordination Is responsible for the intelligence resources and any operations that are in effect.  Analysis and Production has analysis divisions within its structure that are responsible for several groups: Africa; East Asia and Pacific; Near East and South Asia; Inter-American Affairs; Russia and Eurasia, Europe; Economics; Strategic, Proliferation, and Military Issues; Geographer and Global Issues; and Terrorism, Narcotics and Crime. 

 Recently the INR has been notable because it was the only Intelligence Agency to deny that Iraq had any weapons of mass destruction and it entered its dissent into the National Security Estimate of 2002.  This is commonly referred to as “Footnote 1.”  Due to this, the INR was spared a scathing review that every other agency received in the aftermath of the 2003 Iraq invasion.  It is also being looked upon as a model for reviewing the Intelligence community as a whole. 

 Overall the Department of State, and specifically the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, play a very valuable role in the Intelligence Community.  Diplomatic Intelligence can sometimes be even more important that military intelligence.  In a world where military force is increasingly being frowned upon, this is a source that is crucial for the continuation of American security. 

Take for instance a report from United Press International that states 46% of all arms sales in the world are from U.S. companies. That’s a significant figure. The report also suggests that due to the flooding of the developing countries with weapons, the U.S. is also fueling the violence instead of providing an option for defense. It concludes by delicately mentioning the reason why an over-saturated market continues to be fed is simple: corporate greed.

One curious note in the report also pointed to Russia being the next most competitive arms market, with 15% of sales in the developing countries market. I wouldn’t think much of this, except there was another story pointing to who Russia’s client list included: "The principal purchasers of Russian arms were: Iran [$1.7 billion], Syria [$800 million],Yemen [$500 million], Libya, and Israel [$300 million each]."

The story as reported on the worldtribune.com site, made mention of a congressional report called the “ Conventional Arms Transfers to Developing Nations, 1998-2005 ”, so I searched for it online. There was a unique difference between the Russian and the American arms numbers; they differentiated between arms sales deliveries (US) and arms sales agreements (Russia). This accounts for the difference between the reported figures in the worldtribune.com article and the congressional report. It’s one thing to make an agreement to sell a weapon, and it’s another thing to actually ship the product. Russia seems to have trouble finalizing the deals, and I suspect that may be a cash flow problem on the part of the customer.

These two still wouldn’t be much of a story on their own, except how they connect to the bigger picture. In the case of Russia, it sold arms to Iran, who in turn funneled them to Hezbollah during the Israeli-Lebanese war. To prove their case further, Israel sent pictures to Moscow, showing the weapons in question. "Some of the missiles were still in their original packaging, which identified them as having been manufactured in Russia," a military source said.

Many screamed “foul!” over this, and to some degree they are correct, but it’s a hypocritical platform. Israel, as most know, also have Russian weapons; they purchased $300 million worth of hardware. As far as I can tell, Israel did not use Russian weapons in Lebanon, however, they did use a substantial amount of American made hardware, which is no secret. In one case, that hardware landed them in hot water with the US State Department . It has been reported there was a type of “gentleman’s agreement” between the US and Israel in the use of specific hardware that could and could not be used in civilian areas. Israel originally denied using American made cluster bombs , however, the results of an Israeli investigation confirms they did in fact employ American made cluster munitions, which could be against the law . Now Israel has confirmed the use of American made weapons in Lebanon, it remains to be seen if the State Department will do anything besides turn a blind eye.

Of course the biggest cache of weapons the United States has in the Middle East is inside Iraq. A recent audit has concluded one out of every 25 weapons is unaccounted for; there are other weapons that are not functional and it doesn’t specify if this is included in the one out of twenty-five, or is a separate figure not disclosed. The official number of missing weapons totals to 14,030, which is considered to be only four percent . If you do a little math, there should be approximately 1,403,000 assorted weapons brought into Iraq by the United States.

I could be wrong, but the United States seems to be supplying the bulk of the weapons in a very volatile region, and the CIA loves to arm and fund any guerrilla group that comes along (we won’t talk about Afghanistan). It’s somewhat hypocritical and disingenuous to point the finger at the Middle East when we train them to kill, give them the weapons to do so, let loose the Proactive Preemptive Operations Group to bring terrorists out in the open by our own terrorist methods , and then say, “if you guys would just come into the twenty-first century, you wouldn’t be fighting all the time.”

Could the Middle East be right when they point to the United States and call us “the great Satan”? From a purely Christian point of view, we export massive amounts of weaponry for greed, pornography, try to install democracy (when we’re being denied it at home through voting irregularities and rights stripping by the congress), and don’t respect their value and culture systems (alcohol, sex, drugs, dating, divorce, dietary restrictions, fraud, bribery). Even from God’s point of view, we export everything He abhors.

So who’s selling the violence? I’m reminded of the old saying, “we have seen the enemy, and he is us.”

quazen.com articles by this writer can be found here

socyberty.com articles can be located here

relijournal.com articles are here

picable.com photographic images are here