The beginning of the end?

Gaza Strip - Something Paul Gascoigne used to wear when he played football.
- Two Cheers, BBC

Merkavas loaded with flechette rounds which are used against civilians, an organisation which convinces young men and women into blowing themselves up in sidewalk cafes and in buses full of civilians. Neighbours that have publicly declared they wanted to annihilate me, neighbours who routinely blow up suspected terrorists using Longbows, never mind if they got a few bystanders too. No white or black here, it's all shades of grey.

Midnight of 17 August 2005 marked the deadline set by the government of Ariel Sharon for Israeli settlers to voluntarily leave the Gaza Strip. Named after the main city in the area, it is home to approximately 1,300,000 Palestinians and 8,000 Israeli settlers, all snuggled up nice and warm on a piece of land 360 km². Well, it's not home to the Israelis anymore. Under a unilateral disengagement plan, all settlements in the Gaza Strip and 4 in the West Bank are to be closed down in addition to the military installations and personnel built to protect the settlements.

55,000 Israeli soldiers and police yesterday moved in on foot to remove the more hardcore of the 8,000 who had refused to leave voluntarily. Strengthened in numbers by people sympathetic to their cause, the settlers were still no match for the IDF. I had expected some violence and possibly gunplay but happily the latter did not materialize. The IDF clearly did it's homework and applied overwhelming numbers in order to encourage, cajole, order and finally physically carry out those who did not want to leave.

Of course, being called Nazis by your fellow Jews was probably something that didn't occur everyday to the soldiers and police involved in the operation. The BBC showed a clip of a group of girls wearing paper Star of Davids on their chest as they walked out of their settlement crying and wailing, a terribly low and cheap shot in my book. Playing around with the Holocaust like that just insults the memory of the event and is an all too common trump card used by too many Jews when painted into a corner (but that's another story). Other shots of men yelling at impassive soldiers were commonplace. And of course, there's that nutjob who dangled his baby boy out a window Jackson style. You'd have to be inhuman not to let it get to you and several men and women in uniform did break down. Soldiers who disobeyed orders to do their duty were promised court martials, damned if you do, damned if you don't. Still, it seems that by and large, the men and women of the IDF and police did a sterling job of getting it done. Of course, the cynic might ask where were the cameras and reporters when Palestinian homes were razed eh? It's not as if the IDF came in behind armoured bulldozers and shot first and asked questions later.

Symbolically, the withdrawal from the Strip by the Israelis is a milestone. The Israelis don't give up anything easy, especially land they grabbed way back in '67. Doing it unilaterally gives Sharon a lot of brownie points. Sacrificing the homes of 8,000 or so settlers is a small price to pay for gaining the moral upper ground, sort of, "there, now I've done my part, you (Palestinian Authority) do yours and stop all those terrorists running around your backyard". Which gives him all the more reason to blast them back past the Stone Age if the Hezbollah and company decide to start up again. Tack on to that, the money saved from maintaining all those military installations and the spare manpower that can be redeployed elsewhere, we got us a winner here.

What would be interesting would be to see what develops from here on. The West Bank is home to 230,000 Israeli settlers and that's a whole new ballgame from 8,000 baby. I can't remember the last time the Hezbollah blew up something or shot at someone, so someone somewhere must be doing something right, but what happens the next time they do? Too much blood has been spilled for things to go on as smooth as they have for this long a time. Witness the shooting to death of 3 Palestinians by a settler in the West Bank, what happens to people like him anyway?

VJ day - 60 years on

TO OUR GOOD AND LOYAL SUBJECTS:

After pondering deeply the general trends of the world and the actual conditions obtaining in Our Empire today, We have decided to effect a settlement of the present situation by resorting to an extraordinary measure.

We have ordered Our Government to communicate to the Governments of the United States, Great Britain, China and the Soviet Union that Our Empire accepts the provisions of their Joint Declaration.

To strive for the common prosperity and happiness of all nations as well as the security and well-being of Our subjects is the solemn obligation which has been handed down by Our Imperial Ancestors and which lies close to Our heart.

Indeed, We declared war on America and Britain out of Our sincere desire to ensure Japan's self-preservation and the stabilization of East Asia, it being far from Our thought either to infringe upon the sovereignty of other nations or to embark upon territorial aggrandizement.

But now the war has lasted for nearly four years. Despite the best that has been done by everyone - the gallant fighting of the military and naval forces, the diligence and assiduity of Our servants of the State, and the devoted service of Our one hundred million people - the war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan's advantage, while the general trends of the world have all turned against her interest.

Moreover, the enemy has begun to employ a new and most cruel bomb, the power of which to do damage is, indeed, incalculable, taking the toll of many innocent lives. Should We continue to fight, not only would it result in an ultimate collapse and obliteration of the Japanese nation, but also it would lead to the total extinction of human civilization.

Such being the case, how are We to save the millions of Our subjects, or to atone Ourselves before the hallowed spirits of Our Imperial Ancestors? This is the reason why We have ordered the acceptance of the provisions of the Joint Declaration of the Powers.

We cannot but express the deepest sense of regret to Our Allied nations of East Asia, who have consistently cooperated with the Empire towards the emancipation of East Asia.

The thought of those officers and men as well as others who have fallen in the fields of battle, those who died at their posts of duty, or those who met with untimely death and all their bereaved families, pains Our heart night and day.

The welfare of the wounded and the war-sufferers, and of those who have lost their homes and livelihood, are the objects of Our profound solicitude.

The hardships and sufferings to which Our nation is to be subjected hereafter will be certainly great. We are keenly aware of the inmost feelings of all of you, Our subjects. However, it is according to the dictates of time and fate that We have resolved to pave the way for a grand peace for all the generations to come by enduring the unendurable and suffering what is unsufferable.

Having been able to safeguard and maintain the structure of the Imperial State, We are always with you, Our good and loyal subjects, relying upon your sincerity and integrity.

Beware most strictly of any outbursts of emotion which may engender needless complications, or any fraternal contention and strike which may create confusion, lead you astray and cause you to lose the confidence of the world.

Let the entire nation continue as one family from generation to generation, ever firm in its faith in the imperishability of its sacred land, and mindful of its heavy burden of responsibility, and of the long road before it.

Unite your total strength, to be devoted to construction for the future. Cultivate the ways of rectitude, foster nobility of spirit, and work with resolution - so that you may enhance the innate glory of the Imperial State and keep pace with the progress of the world.

- Gyokuon-hōsō (玉音放送)

A light in the sky

It's been 60 years since anyone alive today saw the flash of an atomic weapon detonated in anger and lived to tell the tale. The second of only two atomic bombs used on live targets detonated over Nagasaki at the precise time of this post.

But really, does anyone care?

EJ is exactly 14 weeks old. She's come a long way since that day in May when she was forcibly removed from her temporary lodging and brought out into this world of harsh lights and sounds. She's been able to recognize and respond to her primary caregivers for a while now and has recently been taken out for short jaunts into town, giving her a chance to charm strangers who smiled at her or commented on her cuteness by giving them a smile of her own. She's grown a fair bit and is able to hold her head up more or less unassisted. She can communicate through the use of different sorts of short cries and her repertoire of sounds has grown by leaps and bound. She has also recently started to use her face to show her displeasure, a step up from when she first started smiling at people.

Then again, like anyone gives a shit.

And today's the day Singapore celebrates 40 years of independence. That's all that matters doesn't it? Wave the flag, thump the chest,see the fireworks. Oooh, ahhh, it's all good.

And time stood still

60 years and approximately 3 hours ago Japanese time, a device exploded over the city of Hiroshima at exactly 0817hrs JST with a ferocity the likes of which the world had never seen before.

Lest We Forget.