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The US drone strike at Baghdad’s international airport that killed Major General Qassem Soleimani, head of the elite Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), has opened a new, yet in a sense an ongoing, Middle Eastern drama. There is an international outcry, and, of course, even Democrats are trying to whip up hatred for President Donald Trump for the killing of Qassem Soleimani. There is no question that Soleimani was at the top of Israel’s target list. Seemingly, Israel did not want to confront Iran directly but wanted the U.S to do its dirty work.  America has also had General Soleimani in its sight for a long time, but has always refused to kill him, fearing the consequences. Now Tehran has accused the United States of state terrorism, claiming that General Soleimani was a courageous, wise, rational visionary who engaged in a life long struggle to make the world a better and safer place for everyone. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that the United States terrorist assassination of one of Iran’s top military commanders has, in fact, opened the gates to an ugly course of action which might sooner or later, come to haunt its people across the globe. However, President Trump stated that Soleimani was plotting “imminent and sinister attacks” on American diplomats and American personnel, but that we “caught the general in the act and terminated him. Soleimani led a shadowy elite military organization called the Quds Force. The U.S says that in recent months the group has backed Iraqi militia who have launched several attacks on U.S personnel, including a recent attempt to storm the American Embassy in Baghdad. The Pentagon reported last spring that between 2003 and 2019, Iranian militia, presumably led by Iran’s second in command, Suleimani, killed many  Americans, or 1 out of 6 combat related American deaths in Iraq. But leftist liberals disagree on how to characterize this killing, for example, questioning if what happened would be comparable to Iran killing a high ranking US military official or the director of our CIA with a bomb on US soil. The problem is that General Qassem was not on Iranian soil but rather on Iraqi soil when he was killed. In other words, leftist liberals are accusing America, specifically the Trump administration, of occupying a sovereign state, and thus, assuming authority to destroy its enemies in that role. Further, they question whether an actual attack on Americans was “imminent.” Continue reading →

The last couple of years we have witnessed lots of negatives news about the Philippines; it was news not only here but abroad as well. From the war on drugs, corruption, poverty, typhoons, the Marawi war with fundamental Muslims, the South China Sea dispute with China, a dengue outbreak, and now polio coming back to the Philippines after twenty years, it is quite hard to figure out what is good news especially when the country struggles with image problems. These are some of the general impressions of the world about the Philippines that, while unpleasant, are undeniable true. However, despite the many negative comments that quite often overshadow, positive things are happening, and lots of things to be proud of emerge in the Philippines. The Filipinos are renowned all over the world for remarkable qualities, often downplayed or overlooked, but which nonetheless bring pride to the country. I have observed one of the best traits and distinct assets of Filipinos is that they display a sincerely heartfelt, nurturing spirit and caring touch in the way they interact with those close to them including others outside their kin circle.

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The Kurds have an old famous proverb saying, “We have no friends but the mountains.” Now more than ever it has proven true. Trump’s withdrawal from Syria is the same as his predecessors’ treatment of using the ethnic minority as a geopolitical pawn. President Trump’s giving the green light to Turkey to cross the Syrian border and to crush the Kurds without U.S resistance did more than any single act has ever done to destroy America’s role in the Middle East and to isolate America from the rest of the world. By his decision to withdraw Americans from Syria, President Trump has done irreparable damage to America’s standing in the world. Consequently, the Kurds fear that the US withdrawal leaves them vulnerable, particularly to attack from Turkey. Turkey considers several Kurdish groups, including the People’s Protection Units, also known as the YPG, to be terrorist organizations. The YPG is the backbone of the Syrian Democratic Forces, which is the main US partner on the ground in the battle against ISIS and the ally that has controlled a large swath of northern Syria for the past several years. The Kurds are an ethnic group of about forty-million people centered at the intersection of Turkey, Syria, Iran, and Iraq. Kurds are Muslims yet are being oppressed by Muslim countries. Many Kurds naturally want their own state, but, of course, neither Turkey, Syria, Iran, nor Iraq want that happen. Continue reading →

Two weeks ago, I invited Dr. Rachele Jan Lobino-Enojada to be our resource speaker at the Minority Care International weekly study forum on the topic of “ Suicide Among the Youth.” There were around fifty students, all young college students, all eager for the exchange of thought and emotions that took place. Some of the students shared that classmates had committed suicide. After Dr. Lobino finished her talk, we conversed on topics that interested the young people with the question arising, “Why do people kill themselves?” What I observed during the conversation is that students need to see authentic life and a new way to live life.Sadly, the answers I heard were about petty and confined aspects of life. Because a guy broke up with my friend or she broke up with him, the individual commited suicide. She is fat so that is why people bully her and make her want to end her life. He felt that he is not loved so he killed himself. Even the reason that because her parents did not get her a new gadget, she contemplated commit suicide. The student is gay or lesbian and the family did not agree with this life style, so he or she was depressed and wanted to die. The new generation peaks at life through the small window of their prison cell, thinking that they understand all that is life. When I ask students, “What does life mean to you?”,  they looked at me as if there was a slide of bacon coming out of my nostrils. Most of this generation’s minds have become dull with the distractions of modern life, they feel uncomfortable reaching inward that far and bringing out that much of themselves, or they do not feel curious about life anymore. Life for this new generation has to be all about fun; if life is not fun, then it is not worth living, whatever fun means to them. If they post their picture online and do not get any “likes” or less “likes” than they anticipated, that makes them depressed. If they send ten text messages to different  friends and get less responses, they conclude that no one likes them. Such a life is very self centric and ego driven. Continue reading →