Today a terrible gas attack struck a neighborhood in the Syrian city of Aleppo, leaving innocent victims dead and seriously injured. This is an unconscionable crime against humanity. Seventy civilians, many of them children, have been stricken. Entire families are dying, and the tragedy harkens back to the horrific 2013 attack.
The Management Team of Face Activities extends our deepest sympathies and concern for the victims of today’s criminal attack. And we ask, are we sure we know who is responsible for this outrage? The international news media is very quick to blame Bashar al-Asad. But what is the source of this information?
It’s important to get this right, by thoroughly researching and investigating every logical possibility. It’s too easy to make a snap judgement, and snap judgments in war can be costly, in the worst ways. Has ISIS, the most horrendous of terrorist threats, been ruled out? They could have had access to chemical weapons by virtue of all the territory they captured during the war.
The Management Team of Face Activities calls upon the international news media to present the results of their investigations into this chemical attack, and explain their sources to the public. Has ISIS been ruled out, or is there more investigative work needed before this can be done?
Our latest volunteer, Jenny, is a lover of the arts, especially music, a hopeless liberal, existentialist, wife and Mom. Here’s her take on rebuilding the Middle East, in the spirit of the post WWII era.
Will there be a Marshall Plan for the Middle East? The Second World War destroyed much of Europe leaving its historic cities in ruin. Thanks to the vision of General George C. Marshall and Democratic President Harry S. Thruman the United States infused 12 Billion Dollars in the European Recovery Program to rebuild the architectural wonders of cathedrals and other historical structures reproducing cities that were left in annihilation. In addition, modern transportation systems were constructed and financial aid was used to help struggling economies work their way back into healthy thriving democracies.
Today those same democratic nations are threatened by an unparalleled influx of desperate refugees fleeing from man’s latest devastation. The Iraq War waged on a false premise by Republican Neo-Cons has led to the utter destruction of many ancient mid-eastern cities and the surrounding countryside, loss of thousands of innocent lives of men, women and children and the end of an ancient cultural world. A larger US military budget and an increase in the threat of warfare which is now being proposed will never be the final solution.
Who then will suggest a Marshall Plan to restore the countries and peoples of the Middle East? Certainly not the President Trump Presidency with its strident slogan of “America First”! The demonizing of government service and government programs over the last three decades by American conservatives offers no real hope of opportunity for the poor and middle class of our land, but even less hope for relieving the misery of Iraq, Afghanistan, Lybia, Syria, Sudan and Yeman. With what ease modern nations can use technology to destroy one another, but what nation will rise up to support a new Marshall Plan to restore the nations of the Middle East and stop the need for mass migrations of war-weary peoples?
Large protests have erupted in multiple cities across the United States, in opposition to the Trump Administration’s executive order banning visitors, visa-holders, and refugees from seven muslim-majority nations from entering the United States, for up to three months. A federal court has temporarily blocked deportations based on the new order, but detentions are still possible.
The executive order, widely derided by liberals, and a few prominent republican leaders, including Senator John McCaine, and Charlie Baker, the Republican Governor of Massachusetts, affects travelers from the following muslim-majority nations: Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lybia, Sudan, Yemen, and Somalia. According to the Trump Administration, the purpose of the order is to allow time for “extreme vetting” of people entering the U.S. from nation’s with a higher risk of terrorism, in order to ensure the safety of the American People.
Ironically, though, no terrorist attacks on American soil are attributed to people who came from those nations, while countries with more direct ties to terrorism and recent histories of attacks on U.S. citizens, like Egypt, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia (where the majority of the highly destructive 9/11 hijackers came from) were not included in the ban. Fueling the outrage is the apparent correlation between the ban and President Trump’s business dealings: muslim-majority nations where Trump’s company does business weren’t included.
Originally the executive order was intended to include Green Card holders, which outraged the international community, but the administration has backpedaled on that interpretation. Green Cards holders are permanent legal residents of the U.S., and getting a Green Card is an important precursor to citizenship. Many Green Card holders have lived in the United States for decades, and have jobs and families in the U.S., though they may still travel abroad on business, and for important family events, like weddings and funerals.
A ban that includes Green Card Holders would cause great hardships for many law-abiding families, and American businesses. Also hard hit are foreign students with visas, and visa-holders working in American companies, all across the country. Many industries, particularly Silicon Valley companies, and biotech firms, employ foreign nationals holding H1B visas, for highly skilled, well-educated workers doing important work, so a ban on these individuals could really hurt American companies, and by extension, the country at large. H1B Visa holders have been referred to by Physicist Michio Kaku as Ameriac’s “Secret Weapon,” because their contribution to our society, and economy, is so important.
Video: Youtube, the72tube – Michio Kaku on importance of H1B Visa
In short, President Trump’s executive order is misguided, wrong-headed, damaging to the United States, and a huge mistake. It will stir up anger, resentment, and rivalry both at home and abroad, with absolutely no major upside benefit to speak of, since terrorists incidents in the U.S., though tragic and disturbing when they happen, are still relatively rare (and unrelated to the banned nations in question, as noted above, making the ban pointless.)
The management of Face Activities calls on President Donald Trump to repeal this pointless, mean-spirited executive order. Many individuals will be negatively impacted, and some individuals, if deported, may find their very lives in jeopardy. American Universities and companies that benefit from talented foreign students and workers will also be negatively impacted, to the detriment of our society at large.
Watch President Obama field questions from reporters on issues of the day, including the war in Syria, the Russian e-mail Hacking scandal investigation (which dominated the press conference) and Hillary Clinton’s e-mails, during his last press conference of his final term in office. President Obama is an excellent speaker and a quick thinker on his feet, so dealing with the press in his confident, no nonsense manner has always been his strong suit.
President Obama had stern words for Putin’s Russia. Though he didn’t directly name Vladimir Putin in the cyber attacks, he strongly implied that the Russian leader had a hand in the hacking leading to the November 18th election upset, saying that the highest levels of Russian government were involved. He also said that he confronted Putin at the Group 20 Summit in China, and told him to “knock it off.”
