That's one of the very few images still available on the net-- that is, images of impact. I prefer the more corpse-less view on this... of course accompanied by this picture on the side.

Before the Holocaust Conference, Iran organized a Holocaust Cartoon Contest. Here is an update of the "Winners"

Pay attention to the First Prize winner: Derkaoui Abdellah (Morrocco)

This cartoon ironically shows image of the railway leading to the gates of Birkenau at Auschwitz. The irony is that this "piece of art" is an evidence of the Nazi mass murder machine and now they hold a conference to deny that Holocaust ever existed.

Iran scares me to death. Here is what they do to gays.

Islamist Sharia justice

Nickolas, before you try to lump Robert Byrd in with David Duke, look up the facts. Don't lie by leaving information out. Roberty Byrd WAS a member of the Klu Klux Klan. He has described that time as his "biggest mistake" in life. Unlike David Duke who still preaches the hatred and intolerance of the KKK, Robert Byrd says that he hopes admitting his mistakes and the troubles it caused might help young people not leap into similar mistakes.

Byrd said: "I know now I was wrong. Intolerance had no place in America. I apologized a thousand times . . . and I don't mind apologizing over and over again. I can't erase what happened."

As for Iran, they are a problem state, with many things that are wrong. Their President has taken the place of Saddam Hussein as the 'most evil man' around, although I think it should be North Korea's leader we focus on instead of this man. His actions are a call, not to arms, but a call for engagement. As long as he remains isolated, he will be free to be a maverick without any bowing to the will of the international community. Tie his hands with treaties and engagement instead of isolation and the threat of military arms that we can never carry out successfully.

Nickolas, before you try to lump Robert Byrd in with David Duke, look up the facts. Don't lie by leaving information out. Roberty Byrd WAS a member of the Klu Klux Klan. He has described that time as his "biggest mistake" in life. Unlike David Duke who still preaches the hatred and intolerance of the KKK, Robert Byrd says that he hopes admitting his mistakes and the troubles it caused might help young people not leap into similar mistakes.

Sorry Dan, but the facts are the facts.....he was a member of the KKK, and the only reason he denounced his past is because he wanted a future in politics. David Duke was a member of the KKK too, but he's still just a disgusting as Robert Bird. I'm not going to give either one of them a pass because they're both born of the same sick, scummy element of hatred.

As for Iran, they are a problem state, with many things that are wrong. Their President has taken the place of Saddam Hussein as the 'most evil man' around, although I think it should be North Korea's leader we focus on instead of this man. His actions are a call, not to arms, but a call for engagement. As long as he remains isolated, he will be free to be a maverick without any bowing to the will of the international community. Tie his hands with treaties and engagement instead of isolation and the threat of military arms that we can never carry out successfully.

Actually, what we need have to happen is for the world leaders (Bush, Pelosi, Blair) to stand up and say, This man is wrong. The holocaust did happen, he wants to destroy Isreal and we have to stop him. Then they have to follow up with action. Until then, nothing is going to stop this madman. He doesn't want engagement, he wants the destruction of the state of Isreal.

Sorry Dan, but the facts are the facts.....he was a member of the KKK, and the only reason he denounced his past is because he wanted a future in politics. David Duke was a member of the KKK too, but he's still just a disgusting as Robert Bird. I'm not going to give either one of them a pass because they're both born of the same sick, scummy element of hatred.

Nick,

Unless you have lived your life thusfar, and are confident that you will live out the rest of your days, without making a mistake, you can't judge people for theirs. Maybe he did just denounce his past because he wanted a future in politics, but you also have to consider the possibility that he denounced his past because he truly regrets it. Give people the benefit of the doubt and judge them based on their current words and actions, not their past mistakes.

Nobody is perfect. We all make mistakes at times. I consider you a friend and I hope you hold me in the same regard, but I guarantee that if you'd met me five years ago you would have hated me. I was a drug addict and I'm not proud of many of the things I did back then, but I've turned my life around, admitted my mistakes and tried to be a good person today. Do I deserve to be judged for my past mistakes?

Focus your anger on those who are doing and saying things today that are truly worthy of contempt, not those who have expressed remorse for their past actions.

Rob

Sorry Dan, but the facts are the facts.....he was a member of the KKK, and the only reason he denounced his past is because he wanted a future in politics. David Duke was a member of the KKK too, but he's still just a disgusting as Robert Bird. I'm not going to give either one of them a pass because they're both born of the same sick, scummy element of hatred.

 

Nick,

 

Unless you have lived your life thusfar, and are confident that you will live out the rest of your days, without making a mistake, you can't judge people for theirs. Maybe he did just denounce his past because he wanted a future in politics, but you also have to consider the possibility that he denounced his past because he truly regrets it. Give people the benefit of the doubt and judge them based on their current words and actions, not their past mistakes.

 

Nobody is perfect. We all make mistakes at times. I consider you a friend and I hope you hold me in the same regard, but I guarantee that if you'd met me five years ago you would have hated me. I was a drug addict and I'm not proud of many of the things I did back then, but I've turned my life around, admitted my mistakes and tried to be a good person today. Do I deserve to be judged for my past mistakes?

 

Focus your anger on those who are doing and saying things today that are truly worthy of contempt, not those who have expressed remorse for their past actions.

 

Rob

Of course I dont judge you, Rob. I consider you a friend and always will....your lifestyle was victimless....we may never know how many people Robert Byrd murdered when he was in the KKK. But what we do know is that he was (and still is) part of a group that hates people on the basis of who they were born. Their personality and the person inside means nothing to them. They have a murderous hatred toward all non white people, and I don't believe that someone can carry that kind of hatred in their souls and then one day, they can magically say it's not there anymore. I just can't forgive him for that.

One other thing I'll say is, joining the KK isn't a mistake. A mistake is an action that we take that carries unintended consequences. He knew what he was doing when he put that white hood over his head. There was no mistake involved. I've made plenty of mistakes, but I don't hate anyone and I would never join a group that breeds hatres and turns it into violence against innocent men and women.

Of course I dont judge you, Rob. I consider you a friend and always will....your lifestyle was victimless....we may never know how many people Robert Byrd murdered when he was in the KKK.

You don't know. It could have been dozens, it could have been none at all. The fact is, he has never been convicted of or charged with any murder and, to my knowledge, has never been directly linked to any such crime. He was a member of a racist organisation and did, at one time, express racist views. I don't like him, so please don't make me defend him, but from what I've read of him he has certainly expressed opinions that are far from racist over the past ten years.

But what we do know is that he was (and still is) part of a group that hates people on the basis of who they were born. Their personality and the person inside means nothing to them. They have a murderous hatred toward all non white people, and I don't believe that someone can carry that kind of hatred in their souls and then one day, they can magically say it's not there anymore. I just can't forgive him for that.

I don't believe hatred like that can disappear overnight either, but it's hardly been a rapid process. He was a member of the KKK between 1942 and 1943 - it has been over sixty years since he left the organisation. I think that's more than enough time for a person to change. Or do you believe that all people are incapable of change?

One other thing I'll say is, joining the KK isn't a mistake. A mistake is an action that we take that carries unintended consequences. He knew what he was doing when he put that white hood over his head. There was no mistake involved. I've made plenty of mistakes, but I don't hate anyone and I would never join a group that breeds hatres and turns it into violence against innocent men and women.

Yes, a mistake is an action that has unintended consequences, but it is also an error in judgement. His father was a member of the KKK, he was raised surrounded by racial prejudice, believing that black people are inferior. Personally, I can understand why he joined when he was raised in such an environment and I would applaud him for being able to move past those views. No, he's probably not the most tolerant of people and yes I think some of what he has said and done is disgusting, but I believe it is wrong to condemn a man for something he did more than sixty years ago and for which he has since expressed remorse.

Rob

Hey Nick

I understand your anger. As an old man who saw a lot, allow me to remember a few facts:

I'm Jewish, and more than 10 members of my family disappeared in the Holocaust. A few of them could escape from Germany to Switzerland thanks Jewish crypto-organizations and several Swiss friends. No other organization helped !

The US President and the British Prime Minister were informed all ready in 1943 about the Death camps. The secretary of a Jewish world organization in Geneva, a former friend of my father, wrote them and told ALL the details of the Wannsee-organisation. See if you want to know more :Wannsee.They did NOTHING to prevent the Holocaust. Don

As for Iran, they are a problem state, with many things that are wrong. Their President has taken the place of Saddam Hussein as the 'most evil man' around, although I think it should be North Korea's leader we focus on instead of this man. His actions are a call, not to arms, but a call for engagement. As long as he remains isolated, he will be free to be a maverick without any bowing to the will of the international community. Tie his hands with treaties and engagement instead of isolation and the threat of military arms that we can never carry out successfully.

There is a huge problem with a "call to engagement": It simply cannot work, and worse, it is misleading as it seems to offer the hope that it might.

There are many reasons why it cannot work with Iran: The largest is that it ignores the internal political dynamic (The Guardian Council's desire to retain its shaky hold on power) that is the prime motivator for Iran's behavior. In other words, the dynamic is internal, not external, and it is one that we cannot affect via "engagement".

The Guardian council are not fools: they have not been inept and confrontational for no reason. Their reason is to generate external crises to shore up domestic support.

Also, "engagement" and above all "trade" are so often cited as an alternative to rivalry and conflict. The problem there is that they do not work, or, more precisely, they create what they seek to avoid. Europe, for example, is very "engaged" with Iran, both economically and politically. It isn't working. All it has succeeded in doing is making the West look weak and spineless. Let us also look to history as we judge the efficacy of engagement and trade. What was Japan's largest trading partner in Dec 6th, 1941? The US. What were Germany's #1 and #2 trading partners on Aug 30th, 1939? France and the UK. What was Germany's largest trading partner and military partner on June 21st, 1941 (the day before Germany launched operation Barbarossa? The USSR.

If we want to get serious about Iran (the same Iran that has topped the Terror-supporting states list for four consecutive US administrations) the first thing to address is their nuclear program, as everything else is secondary. Given the Guardian council's preposterous claims that they seek nuclear power for energy, combined with the vast amount of internal dissent in Iran, the most obvious strategic opening is to exploit those circumstances. The regime has set it self up for a massive backlash, if it can be shown to be misleading the people, to their detriment. The key here is Gasoline. Iran does not have exploitable reserves of Uranium, so they can never have (as they have claimed as their goal) a nuclear energy program not reliant on foreign sources. This fact has been ignored by the West. Further, so has the Iranian Gasoline situation: for all their claims of needing nuclear power to reduce their energy vulnerability, Iran, which has some of the world's greatest oil reserves, has never bothered to build the refining capability to produce gasoline sufficient for their needs. As a result, Iran is one of the world's largest importers of Gasoline. Were that supply (much of it currently from Venezuela, one of the few countries with sufficient surplus refining capacity) cut, Iran would face a fuel crisis, and the Guardian Council would be made to look like fools for pursuing nuclear power while ignoring Iran's fossil-fuel refining capability. Thus, their internal dissent problem might be exploited.

The only answer to the Iranian situation is greater pressure, either what I outline above or other means. Engagement isn't the answer, because it ignores the causal factors.

We also don't have much time: The further along their nuclear program progresses, the less effect an air strike, even if successful, will have upon it. We have no need to invade Iran, and we certainly do have the military ability to conduct air strikes, but the window of opportunity is closing fast.

I'm Jewish, and more than 10 members of my family disappeared in the Holocaust. A few of them could escape from Germany to Switzerland thanks Jewish crypto-organizations and several Swiss friends. No other organization helped !

The US President and the British Prime Minister were informed all ready in 1943 about the Death camps. The secretary of a Jewish world organization in Geneva, a former friend of my father, wrote them and told ALL the details of the Wannsee-organisation. See if you want to know more :Wannsee.They did NOTHING to prevent the Holocaust. Don

Given that the US was at war with Germany at the time, a war to the death, what could it have done that it did not do?

Hey C James

Its a long story "what could it have done ?" For instance: open the US borders and let the refugees entry.

But just to answer how FDR and Churchil could have help the jews : The jewish organisations, at least the people who knew, asked two things :

- 1. to broadcast a formal and public warning to Hitler to stop the Holocaust

- 2. the bombing of the gas chambers and the furnaces

The answers were :

to 1 : "It wasn't political correct"

to 2 : " It wasnt a military target"

After the war, everybody said that it was impossible to imagine the Holocaust, and that's why FDR and Churchil didnt believe the reports of the jewish organisation in 1943. Also after the war, photos taken by RAF observation planes showing aerial views of the camps, whit queues of people waiting at the entries of the gas chambers were published, wiith the comment . " The observer tried to explain what he saw, but nobody understood what it was and nothing was done".

BTW, there was another institution which the jews expected to say a formal and public word to save the jews and who did "almost" nothing, at least nothing public : the Pope !

Old bob

Well Nick- somebody decided to do something. Let's hope it doesn't back fire.

French Jets strike targets in Dafur Region

France admits air raids on Darfur neighbours

By Alex Duval Smith

Published: 15 December 2006

France yesterday defended recent fighter jet raids on towns bordering Sudan's Darfur region by claiming the aggressive action was aimed at preventing regional chaos.

In the past two weeks, with minimal publicity, Mirage F1 jets have attacked and scattered a rebellion in north-eastern Central African Republic (CAR). But reports from the ground say the operation has had a devastating impact on civilians.

A French Defence Ministry spokesman said the action - which included regular Mirage sorties in neighbouring Chad where tens of thousands of refugees from Darfur are living - was in line with international calls to stabilise the region.