Israel has attacked Gaza Flotilla (dead and wounded)

[Helen Reyes]

Also, note the Orwellian inversion - delivered with a grave straight face no doubt:

Israeli army spokesman, Col. Avi Beneyahu, called the incident "an act of terror on the high seas."

You simply could not make this stuff up could you?

This could get dangerous quickly - and so of course it damned well should for Zionist Israel.

That's the line that grabbed my attention, too, Peter. It's an act of war, not piracy. The Israeli inner circle is probably thinking of it as "pre-emptive" to prevent as early as possible possibly damaging events taking place. "Pre-emption" points to another problem, i.e., there is nothing to distinguish a "pre-emptively defensive" act from an act of aggression.

This brings up Nuremberg and the UN Charter. The Nuremberg trials named "crimes against peace" meaning acts of aggression and belligerance the highest crimes, carrying higher punishment than "war crimes" or "crimes against humanity."

This is the foundation of the UN Charter. The UN Charter also makes it obligatory for signatories to act to stop crimes against humanity. It's not a green-light to interfere in another's sovereign affairs, it's an obligation.

Tony Blair twisted this around to justify invading Yugoslavia and Iraq. What it's really about is the moral responsibility to save people from genocide, to rescue individuals from situations such as the quarantined no-man's land in Gaza.

What I'm saying is that this act, even if the peaceniks had shot white phosphorus at the IDF after they boarded, is a breaker for both NATO and the UN. Both organizations founder right here. NATO has been living a ghost existence for several years attacking civilians in Asia and pretending they're terrorists or combatants or every dictatorship's favorite word for the armed opposition, "bandits," while restoring the opium trade. The UN actually foundered when Kaffi Anan meekly admitted the Iraq war was illegal. He told the reporter "Well, you can put it that way if you wish." Now comes the moment of truth for both. Neither is up to the challenge.

I'm predicting neither NATO nor the UN will do anything. It will be left to an EU special commission to channel the rage in Sweden and across Europe into some political formula ostensibly aimed against Israeli aggression and human rights violations while doing nothing in practice. It's Hillary saying "Nothing's off the table" then turning around and saying "No, Tehran is trying to hide under Turkey's apron, no deal." It's Obama-Soetoro saying "We should talk to Iran" then saying "There's no reason to talk with Iran until they come clean."

In other words, the response will be to wait for public furor to blow over and continue business as usual. Meanwhile, the illegal act by Israel will mean a universal letter of marque to raid all Israeli shipping anywhere in the world, and will probably spill over into synagogue-burnings and random or semi-organized fire bombings. The lack of a political response and the resultant underground action against perceived Israeli objects will both play into the inner sanctum's plan to wait for it to blow over while painting negative expressions as extremist and anti-Semitic.

My two shekels.