"In Stavridis' view and in fact NATO is a mechanism employed by the U.S. to conduct military operations in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, to wage war in South Asia - for over ten years and with troops from over 50 nations - and to recruit legionaries from Central and South America, Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus, the Middle East, the Asia-Pacific region and elsewhere for wars in Europe, Asia and Africa."

"When Germany was reunited in 1990, contrary to the George H.W. Bush administration's pledge to Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, NATO immediately moved not only "one inch" but over 200 miles to the east, beginning the process of absorbing all the Soviet Union's former partners in the now defunct Warsaw Pact....Germany has aided NATO's expansionist and expeditionary designs in the past thirteen years and NATO has rewarded it: Germany is now the world's third largest weapons exporter, its arms sales abroad increasing with each succeeding year."

"The Western world is watching and waiting to see when would the Arab saga will come to a close chapter so that they could move-in to take over the oil filed and other natural resources much needed for continued industrialization and its operations...The Arab leaders lacking education and moral and intellectual fore-sights are interdependent on the European-American political masters and will do, what they are dictated for their own survival. The Arab rulers have not evolved any public institutions, intellectual think-tanks or Islamic system of governance to enhance Islam as a way of life. They view Islam as their enemy. This is what is commonly shared between the Arab rulers and the Western dominated policies carried out in the Arab Middle East."

"A large and stable government coalition has strong possibilities to make historic breakthroughs. However, this particular coalition created for opportunistic rather than principled reasons (despite claims to the contrary) is highly unlikely to take courageous steps for peace."

"The demonstrators refused to draw any connection between the rapidly polarised economic situation -- the gap between Israel’s rich and poor is now as bad as in the US -- and either the right’s self-serving neoliberal policies or the occupation that has channelled endless resources to the settlers and the security establishment....This summer Israel may finally get its own Occupy movement -- one prepared to tackle the real occupation."

"In all cases, it is important to say--and hopefully such visits would highlight this reality--that Palestinians in East Jerusalem and the Palestinian holy sites in the city are subject to terrible discrimination and oppressive treatment by the Israeli occupiers, even in comparison with how this occupation treats the rest of the occupied Palestinian territories. As such, those who care about the fate of the city and its people need to redouble their efforts to end Israel's occupation and allow for the creation of the Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital. This is a precondition for the two-state solution and a peaceful settlement."

"As for the Palestinian leader, the call to visit the Jerusalem mosques was characteristic of his approach to peace and a two-state solution in recent years: launch provocative initiatives in every regional and international direction (membership in the United Nations, reconciliation with Hamas and visits to Jerusalem) and drop hints about recourse to extreme measures (intifada, dismantling the PA, resignation and detaining critical journalists and bloggers). All this, while confronting an uninterested, settlement-hungry Israeli government with hitherto unheard of pre-conditions for renewing negotiations."

"American party politicians of either side may sound irresponsible, but when vital US security interests are at stake, their talk is not reflected in action. Even at the height of an election campaign, America will not allow Israel to push it into a world-wide disaster."