Aluf Meir Dagan of Israel Interview on Iran Nuclear Plans

Nadene Goldfoot
On Sunday there is going to be a shocking interview by CBS's 60 Minutes  of Meir Dagan about Israel's possibilities of attacking Iran's nuclear labs.  It does not represent Netanyahu or Israel's  opinion completely. 

Aluf Meir Dagan, born on June 30, 1945,  is a former Mossad chief.  Before this appointment, he had been a former Israel Defense Forces officer in the Paratroopers Brigade and also with a commando unit. . He became Mossad's director under Ariel Sharon in August 2002.  He was reconfirmed to his position until the end of 2008 by Ehud Olmert in February 2007.  In June of 2008 Olmert extended his term until the end of 2009.

Then he was reappointed in 2009 by Netanyahu to serve until the end of 2010 when he was 55.  He was denied another term and was replaced by Tamir Pardo.  This did not make him very happy. 

The result was that when he left, he made several controversial public statements about a possible Israeli military attack on Iran's nuclear facilities concerning the prudence of such.  He called it a "stupid idea."

After Dagan criticised Netanyahu, he was asked to return his diplomatic passport before its expiration date. 

Dagan repeated his opinions in a March 2012 interview with Leslie Stahl of CBS New "60 Minutes," calling an Israeli attack of Iran before all options were exhausted "the stupidest idea" and saying he considered the Iranians "a very rational regime."  He continued to say that they are not exactly our rational but he thought Ahmadinejad is rational; not rational in the Western thinking sense, but he thought Iran was considering all implications of a possible attack. 

Dagan feels it should be an international issue, not an Israel/Iran issue.  He doesn't think a nuclear bomb is an existential threat and feels that officials are trying to silence his opposition. 

This is where a think tank comes in.  No doubt that Israel has weighed all consequences of not acting to acting and will come up with the proper action.  Dagan realizes the difficulties for Israel in carrying out such a feat without realizing the necessities for such an action.  It would be better if it were an international action and Israel agrees with him on this point completely but will not allow Iran to obtain atomic bombs. 

We see that Obama during the AIPAC meeting said all sorts of good things to get applause from the audience for his support, but the next day cancelled out all he said; a typical event.  The same thing happened at a previous AIPAC meeting when he was running for the office.  For that matter, the rest of the world  of 6 world powers wants more time which will most likely not bring about any changes in Iran's goals but  does give Iran more time to complete them.  They were all for diplomacy-not war- as the best way to go forward.  I wonder what it would take for them to change their minds; an A bomb dropped on Tel Aviv? 

Obama's latest words are that "tough new economic sanctions imposed by the West be given time to work."
We remember that these same 6 nations and Iran met in failure over a year ago in Istanbul, Turkey.  Then Tehran refused to talk about concessions on its nuclear program.  Nowdays Russia and China are unhappy about these tough sanctions.  Iran might now try to exploit this rift by offering something that Russia and China will applaud but be meaningless, even to the USA and Europe's 6.  The group is weaker today by not mentioning Iran being uncooperative with the investigators and instead told the investigators to talk more to resolve this 4 year standoff of Iran labs being observed by the investigators.  . 

Meir Dagan may be feeling that Israel would like to silence his opposition to this very serious decision, but being a Democratic country, did not stop him from speaking out so loudly that Leslie Stahl took advantage of some negative publicity for Israel.  Netanyahu needed this like a loch in kop (hole in the head). 

3/11/12 Update:  I heard the interview, and it was excellent.  I thought Leslie Stahl was very direct and asked most important questions.  Also, Meir Dagan gave excellent answers.  I can understand better his position now.  What he would like to see happen is that the USA does what Obama said he'd do in that he won't let Iran have an A bomb, and let the USA do any attacking, as it is not just Israel's problem.  The situation can trigger a horrible attack on Israel if they have to go it alone.  My final opinion is that Netanyahu knows more than he does about Obama and the USA position and that he knows more about Iran and their capabilities and where they're at right now.  Either way, it's still taking a chance.  What a responsibility on each man's shoulders! 

Resource:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meir_Dagan
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4200545,00.html
Oregonian Newspaper page A8: Diplomacy gets dicey in Iran nuclear standoff by George Jahn of AP

Qatar: Leader of Arab League Continues 1967 Khartoum Conference No's

Nadene Goldfoot
Israel won the Six Day June 5th-10th 1967 War of Arab States' Aggressive Attack

From August 29 to September 1, 1967, eight Arab States spoke at the 4th Arab League  Khartoum Conference in Sudan, Africa and agreed  to follow three no's.   Attending were Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Yemen.  Algeria, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia were represented by their Prime Ministers. 

  No Peace,  No Recognition,  No Negotiations with Israel

Today's Arab League's Council President is Qatar.  The Arab League, known also as the League of Arab States, started in 1945  on the 22nd of March.  Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan (became Jordan), Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Syria started the group with Yemen to then be admitted.  Today it consists of 22 Arab states with Syria temporarily dropped, so there are 21.  Qatar continues the NO's with Al Jazeera TV, basically. 

This united front is made up of 339,510,535 people living on 5,000,000 sq. miles of Africa and Asia which includes the Sahara Desert.  Their GDP runs about $4.766 trillion dollars.  Compare this with the USA which has 311,591,917 people on 3,531,905.43 sq miles.

It took the possibility of a created Israel to join them together, as these tribal people usually fight among themselves.  For instance, September 1980 was the start of the Iran-Iraq War which did not end until August 1988.  Israel did not come about until May 15, 1948.  Transjordan was in agreement with much concerning the possible Jewish state, so this group united  to prevent Jordan from being so friendly.   The Arab Spring brought about a regime change that may or may not be for the best of the rest of the world.  Syria is still fighting their own people.  Unfortunately, they all join together in degrees against Israel. 

The Arab League met in Doha, Qatar on March 30, 2009.  Mubarak of Egypt boycotted the conference because he disagreed with Qatar's stand about the Israel-Gaza 2008-2009 conflict.  Saudi Arabia didn't want to attend if Hamas and Iran were attending, but they didn't and the king showed up.  Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani of Qatar spoke, which caused Gaddafi to apologize to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, and he tried to make up with him. 

The  International Criminal Court  had a warrant out for Darfur  for war crimes of practicing genocide, but the Arab League gave a warm welcome to the Sudanese President Omar Hassan al Bashir anyway.  Darfur is remembered for the 2003 uprising of the Sudanese military, police and the Arab Janjaweed tribe of camel herding nomads  against civilians of genocide, causing mass displacement and coercive migrations with millions of civilians living in refugee camps.  This affected at least 5 million people.  This didn't settle down until 2010. 

Resource: http://middleeast.about.com/od/documents/qt/khartoum-declaration-1967.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_League_Summit#Summits
http://www.palestinefacts.org/pf_1967to1991_khartoum.php
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace+Process/Guide+to+the+Peace+Process/The+Khartoum+Resolutions.htm
http://www.sixdaywar.co.uk/6_day_war_aftermath_prof_adler_khartoum_conference_1967_5.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Arab_League_summit
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Arab_League_summit
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93Iraq_War
http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/76635/broadcast-news/?print=1 excellent
http://www.fpri.org/orbis/5403/helfont.egyptandgaza.pdf Qaradawi against Egypt's proposed steel wall in Gaza

Is Iran's Nuclear Weapon Close At Hand?

Nadene Goldfoot
AIPAC's televised conference yesterday included talks from the Republican presidential candidates reiterating their support for Israel and the dangers stemming from Iran's producing nuclear weapons.  They would all act quickly to deter Iran's capabilities and chastise Obama for not doing enough.

This morning's Oregonian ran the article by Jackie Calmes and Mark Landler of NY Times News Service, "Obama rips GOP over Iran stance."  Obama forcefully rebuked GOP on the campaign trail and in Congress.  They are stirring up war by criticizing Obama's using diplomatic solutions to Iran's nuclear program.  Obama held a TV news conference on the same day that AIPAC's conference was held. 

Obama's position is that they are speaking without responsibilities and are promoting the costs of war. (Now he's thinking about costs.)  He wants time to allow allow diplomacy and sanctions to work.  He rejected the idea that Iran was so close to a nuclear weapon.  He felt the problem didn't need to be resolved right now or even by two months from now.  He said that sanctions were beginning to harm Iran's oil industry and central bank and would get stronger in the next few months.  Iran signaled it wants to go to the negotiating table about their nuclear program now.  Premature military action now would be risky.  He says he's thinking of the consequences for Israel and the USA. He's just giving honest and unvarnished advice.  When he said that when he said that he has Israel's back, he wasn't giving any kind of go ahead to a pre-emptive strike on Iran.

Why is Israel so adamant that action must be on the table now along with Republican contenders?  David Albright who is with the Institute for Science and International Security, was a former UN nuclear inspector and has a very strong opinion based on science.  "Iran already had the ability to make highly enriched uranium and a crude nuclear weapon."  Netanyahu has already explained that there is just one window of opportunity to try to destroy the underground rooms where Iran is doing all this.  If a country waits too long, the window can be closed and it will be impossible to stop them.  Timing is of the highest importance.  The outcome can become a world under Sharia law as well as finding Israel completely destroyed. 

This "crude nuclear weapon" will be able to destroy a city in a flash.  "It can be as big as a large refrigerator or a walk in closet."  It could be transported in a U-Haul truck or shipping container.  It could be set off with a timer or cell phone or garage door opener.  Even a suicide bomber could detonate it.  The possibilities are too great. 

The USA has gone to war with Iraq, helped out Libya  and now Afghanistan.  Obama wants to decrease our armed forces and arms.  Now the time has come to face Iran's Shi'a Islamic country of 76,923,300 people whose religious element wish to bring about their Messiah and take over the world. 

Romney said that the go-slow approach of the present administration is not the way to go. Hope is not a "foreign policy." Thugs and tyrants  only respect our power and our readiness to use it.  Santorum is against resuming talks with Iran and feels it is another appeasement, delay or opportunity to go forward while we talk. 

Yes, it is not fair for Iran to be ready to create arms that could wipe out the world, as they are not rational thinkers, but it is just like them to take advantage of the facts that confront them and feel they can now get away with their plot.  We're down and possibly ready to be attacked.  Can we rally before its too late? 

Iran's leaders are Holocaust deniers. The President calls it a myth and say that Jews play it up to extort sympathy for Israel from Europe.   Ahmadinejad is anti-Semitic and anti-Israel.  He constantly demonizes Israel and calls for its destruction at every opportunity.  He says it is a "fake regime" that must be wiped off the map.  To him, zionists are the most detested people in all humanity.  Iran sponsors anti-Zionism conferences and pseudo-academic lectures and exhibits in trying to deny the Holocaust. In their minds, they do want to destroy Israel.  Once, in Queen Esther's day, Hamen almost succeeded in doing just such a thing, but his plot was foiled by Queen Esther, the King Ahashuaros's secret Jewish wife. 

In 2007 the House of Representatives  had a hard time taking Ahmadinejad seriously as they have problems with translations.  Israel had heard "expressions of love" for years before this.  On December 15, 2000, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called Israel a cancerous tumor that must be uprooted.   On October 26, 2005, Ahmadinejad was calling Israel "dirty vermin" that needed to be eradicated, and Israel was taking that and other threats quite seriously.  April 14, 2006 Ahmadinejad said that the world had to be rid of this "germ", meaning Israel, and that it was possible and imminent.  Israel was heading towards annihilation.  February 20, 2008 Iran called the "Zionist regime" a black and filthy microbe.  April 17, 2008 Iran called Israel a dreaded rotten tree and Satanic enemies. 

The question is:  Is Iran going through all this trouble just to rile the West with their sincere goal of making medical isotopes?  If the answer is yes, I think Iran has found willing buyers for that bridge in Tehran that's for sale.  They're up no good.  It's interesting that Ahmadinejad has just lost some of his power in the supposed elections since April 2011.  .  He and Khamenei have been in a power struggle, and many feel Ahmadinejad may not even last out his term that is to end in 2013, but that the presidency may become null and void.  Iran will become 100% theocracy then. 

It looks like Ahmadinejad can only stall like Santorum said if he goes to any talks.  He can't change the course or Khamenei will have his head.  Radical Shi'a Islam is ruling their political course.


Resource: http://www.thejerusalemconnection.us/blog/2012/03/05/full-text-of-netanyahus-aipac-speech.html
http://www.radicalislam.org/news/march-6-2012-remember-date
Oregonian Newspaper 3/7/12, page A4; Drums of War: Obama rips GOP over Iran stance
http://www.jcpa.org/text/ahmadinejad2-words.pdf from Joshua Teitelbaum
http://www.adl.org/main_International_Affairs/ahmadinejad_words.htm
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/03/the-end-of-ahmadinejad/254055/
http://www.algemeiner.com/2012/03/06/republicans-address-aipac-on-super-tuesday/

Israel's Friend, USA's Obama

Nadene Goldfoot
June 5-10 1967 Six Day War.  Israel was attacked by surrounding Arab states of Egypt (United Arab Republic), Jordan and Syria.  Israel won and the result was to be able to have settlers live in Judea and Samaria again, our ancient stomping grounds as well as Gaza and East Jerusalem .  Israel wanted peace  within secure defensible borders.

 Arabs held a Summit Conference in Khartoum, Sudan in August 1967 and ended with 4 principals: 1. No peace with Israel; 2. No negotiations with Israel; 3. No recognition of Israel; 4. Insistence on rights of the "Palestinian people in their own country'.  Since then, Arab efforts have been towards withdrawal of Israel to pre-1967 lines by every means other than negotiations with Israel.  Who recently said that this is the way to go?  Didn't Obama bring this up? 

At Camp David, September 17, 1978,  a 5 year period was time allotted to Palestinian self-government in Judea and Samaria (the territories).  Israel's Prime Minister Menachem Begin  agreed to a 3 month freeze of settlement building only, which was understood by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.  Sadat said, "We agreed to put a freeze on the establishment of settlements for the coming 3 months, the time necessary in our estimation for signing the peace treaty."     Sadat went to Jerusalem on November 19, 1977 for a 3 day visit where he was cheered and loved for being so brave.  By January 1980 Egypt and Israel had normal relations.  Egyptians assassinated him on October 6, 1981. 

It was then in September 1980 that my husband and I made aliyah to Israel as teachers to teach English because they needed real American teachers for English. 

Netanyahu announced November 25, 2009 that he would have a 10 month settlement freeze on Judea and Samaria to "restart peace talks."  They  would freeze the building of new homes and apartments, not synagogues or schools.  It would not include Jerusalem. 

Again in November 2010, Obama tried to get Israel to renew another 3 month moratorium but it was too vague for Netanyahu as to what would happen at the end of the period.  Always the pressure was on settlement building.   Israel stopped building but it didn't bring about any peace from the Arabs, only shelling. 

Election time is drawing near.  Obama ran on being Israel's friend.  After these 4 years, we shall look to see if he kept his word.  The one thing he has been harping on is that Israel must freeze "settlements" in Judea and Samaria, as if this is the problem that keeps the Arabs from signing any peace pact.  Up till 1967, there were no "settlements" and still they wouldn't sign and have had the opportunity since 1948.  I don't know why he thinks this is now the cause.  The cause could be that making peace with Israel is not their goal.  Destroying Israel, this only Jewish state in the midst of all the Muslim ones is not to their liking.  They haven't learned to accept.  They will never learn if everyone lets them have their way.

Israel is always the one to be shamed and scolded and told to stop doing something.  Not once has a voice been raised to tell the Arabs to knock it off and get real.  I feel that Obama has tried a very different tacit to get the Arabs to consider him a friend and go along with goals of the USA, but it isn't necessarily working.  What they respect is strength, not umbrage. 

We tell each other to chill out if we are getting too worked up.  The talks between Obama and Netanyahu have been quite chilly, but at least Obama has seen to providing Israel with military aid.  Israel was receiving $2.6 billion in 2009 from USA and it has been increased to $3 billion in 2012.  USA is helping with many other facets of military aid as well.  According to the speeches I heard today, having a friend in the Middle East is to the financial advantage of the USA as it is.  They had to rent the airport to land in other countries.  Money spent on Israel is a cheaper bargain besides being the moral thing to do.  . 

The following video is an eye opener, or rather a reminder of events of the past 4 years of the treatment towards Israel. 

* Resource: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wbH5KVPrPo&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Here’s a video from The Committee for Israel above. :
http://www.oregonlive.com/today/index.ssf/2011/05/update_netanyahu_fires_back_at_obama_calls_1967_borders_indefensible.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_David_Accords
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anwar_Sadat
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhu-YgCyPz4 Assassination of Sadat
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/12/09/why_the_us_israel_settlement_deal_fell_apart
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Peace/sadat_speech.html Sadat's speech to the knesset
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-201203051037usnewsusnwr201203020302israelmar05,0,6654726.story
Myths and Facts by Mitchell G. Bard and Joel Himelfarb
Facts about Israel Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Jerusalem
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six-Day_War

Netanyahu Speaking at AIPAC Conference Yesterday

Nadene Goldfoot
I was able to watch the AIPAC conference from Washington yesterday on CSPAN2 with Netanyahu's speech to the members.  I suggest you go to the website below to read the highlights of what was said.  He was a marvelous speaker and will not allow Israel to be wiped off the map by Iran's A missiles.  The conference continued this morning and was aired Pacific time 5:30am on CSPAN3. 

Other speakers addressed the audience.  Senator Johnny Isakson was most impressive as a speaker.  Senator Santorum was also a major speaker there and very strong for Israel as well.  Governor Romney was on the circuit for Super Tuesday, but spoke via an interactive hookup where an AIPAC panel asked him questions that he answered.  He was also most supportive of Israel.  Defense Secretary Leon Panetta,  spoke and has Israel's back.  I'm glad he is on our side. 

"There is an unbreakable bond between our two countries." quote right now from Obama on  NBC TV. 

Resource: http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/tygrrrr-express/2012/mar/6/bibi-netanyahu-lights-aipac/
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/03/defense-secretary-leon-panetta-at-aipac-u-s-determined-to-keep-iran-nuke-free/

PLO/Fatah Created by Arab League Emirs, Not Arab People

Nadene Goldfoot
Some Americans and Europeans have thought that the Palestinian"s Palestine Liberation Organization or PLO was the arm of Palestinians fighting against unfairness and that they were the underdog.  It wasn't even founded by the few Arabs that had lived in "Palestine."  It wasn't chosen to be the respresentative in a democratic election.  It was the baby of the Arab League, a unification of 22 Arab states. Yasser Arafat became Chairman of the PLO in 1969, having been active since 1964's PLO origin.  This development follows the 1967 war when the Arab onslaught failed to destroy Israel. 

They had set up terrorist groups in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq and were supported from these non Democratic countries.  They included groups like George Habash's Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Nayef Hawatmeh's Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.  These had sparked after the Six- DayWar (1967).  Each organization had its own plan which was usually  made of Marxist or Maoist dogmas.  Then they threw in some "national liberation" theme. 

The groups could not unify because of power feuds, so the PLO became the umbrella  for the Palestinians.    Tunis-based PLO were not so eager to fight to the death for the last "West Banker."  Tunisia, a North African country of over 10 million Sunni Muslims, just weren't that excited about mixing in.  The Arabs had the Madrid Peace Conference in October 1991 where Palestinians from Gaza, Judea and Samaria showed more willingness to negotiate a West Bank/Gaza autonomy agreement.  This was just before  Hamas's power emerged. Thus, the PLO became Fatah which Arafat had founded in 1959. 

Fatah, created by Yassser Arafat and friends in Algeria, originally opposed the founding of the PLO which was backed by Syria.  By 1965 Arafat was at the helm and terrorist raids were carried out from Jordan, Lebanon and Egyptian- ruled Gaza against civilian targets in Israel.  By 1968 he took control completely of Fatah.  Fatah means "Conquest by means of Jihad".  Jihad is an Islamic Holy War! 

Hamas, meaning Islamic Resistance Movement, was an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood in 1987.  It was founded to liberate Palestine from Israel "occupation."  They want to take all the land belonging to Israel, Gaza, Judea and Samaria and turn it into an Islamic state of their own.  No Jew will be allowed to live in this expanse, and at this rate, none would want to.  I note that before Israel was created, the land was a good-for-nothing wasteland of swamps, desert and mosquitoes.  They want it now that the Jews of Israel have turned it into a "Garden of Eden."   In their hands it would go right back to the original state. 

The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) was chosen by UN employees at refugee camps in Gaza to represent them in 1990.  Elections were held in 1991 by the Hebron Chamber of Commerce and many Hamas candidates won over the PLO rivals.  As a rule, fundamentalist Islamic groups were not represented in the PLO.  This might be why they had their rift and why they still have problems in agreeing to a charter. 

The Arab community grew immensely since the end of fighting in 1949.  At that time about 140,000 were left in Israeli territory.  This came about by births safeguarded by better hospitals and staff.  The Arab custom allows 4 wives per man, so they have had plenty of children.   Thousands were re-admitted who had fled when the Arab states had attacked Israel.  Arab citizens of Israel are exempt from military service.  The Druze and Circassian communities are the exception by their own demand and have been great citizens as well as great fighters for their country.   They know that they are far better off than their brothers and sisters living outside of Israel. 

These puppet string pullers of 22 Arab states who include a special status to "Palestine" with Mahmoud Abbas as leader are:
Algeria, Bahrain, Comoras, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.  Out of these 22, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are absolute monarchies where the Emir or leader is the only one with power.  Qatar is home to Qaradawi, the religious leader of the Muslim Brotherhood's followers and enjoys protection from the Emir. Their religious principles are that they have a fatwa to kill all Jews and destroy Israel. 

Arafat received the Nobel Peace prize in 1994.  He had actually accepted article 242 verbally, at least.  He then died on November 11, 2004.  It was 2001 on  that attacks from Gaza were so violent that Israel had to go in with Operation Cast Lead" on December 27, 2008.

The Arab community always relied on their leaders who were the ones granting favors of life to them, but have now disregarded their own good by using them as pawns in their power struggles.  When the leaders told them to get out of Jerusalem, they did, only to find that their Arab armies had lost the fight and they were stuck, told to live in Palestinian refugee camps.  They elected Hamas over Fatah, probably at the threat of death or just by ignorance.   The pity is having been allowed to be led by the nose instead of by good reasoning skills.  Going along with some dictator's wishes has led to many deaths and a less than favorable life. 

Resource: Near East Reports: Myths and Facts: A concise record of the Arab-Israeli conflict by Mitchell Bard and Joel Himelfarb
Facts about Israel: from Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Jerusalem
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charter_of_the_Arab_League
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Terrorism/Fatah.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamas
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasser_Arafat
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1994/arafat-bio.html
  

. 

THE DICTATOR : with Sacha Noam Baron-Cohen

Nadene Goldfoot
Sacha Noam Baron-Cohen, 40 year old English graduate of Cambridge U. and  comic actor, is the most vulgar of the vulgarist newcomers in movies today, but, I've come to love him anyway, even though he cracks me up when I see his movies.  He takes more liberties in putting across a point  than any comedian I knew when I was a youth. Mores have changed along with the people. 

 His mother, Daniella, was born in Israel and his father, Gerald, was from Wales.  His maternal grandmother still lives in Haifa and is a retired professional ballet dancer, so I think the interest in the theater comes possibly from her.  But where he gets his unique sense of humor must come from his intellect and awareness in life around him in England and the USA. 

He created such well known characters as Ali G, Borat and Bruno which made fun of people and their foibles. His latest act was during the academy awards, when he managed to walk the red carpet after being told not to in his newest role from his movie, "THE DICTATOR" as a Dictator, His Excellency Admiral General Shabazz Aladeen.  The Academy did back down and allow him to walk the red carpet walk and strut his stuff.  This satire should wake up the viewers if they haven't figured out how horrible such people as Mammar Qadhafi or Saddam Hussein were, which he is imitating. 

He uses satire and farce to force their audiences to confront ugly realities of power, politics and war.  In this comedy, Sacha hopes to create a perspective to these grim contemporary facts.  One line that is right on target is" after complaining that his Sunday calendar is now as empty as" a North Korean grocery store".  One really must be aware of the situation between North and South Korea to really appreciate the humor. 

Thus, if you're one who doesn't read the papers or news on the internet or turns off news on TV, you just won't appreciate this movie.  If you're a news junky like I am and a history buff as well,  you're going to get it. 

I agree with the Academy that trying to come in costume to advertize one's movie is not hoi paloi, but being the dictator that he was playing, made it perfectly all right in my eyes to pull a dictator's belief in his rights  and arrive-not just arrive in his regal attire but with his two sexy bodyguards just like Gadhafi would do and greet Ryan Seacrest, interviewer, with "Death to the West!" 

I hoped to see him througout the period from 5:30pm to 11:00pm while watching the awards on TV, but never saw all this.  Every actor and actress was asked who he was wearing, meaning, who was the designer.  G-d forbid if it was Sears and Robucks!  Sacha answered as the dictator with  John Galliano.  Only a few might know that this fashion designer ranted while drunk, the anti-Semitic "I love Hitler!" a year ago.  This was caught on TV.

Jewish people have lived a life full of woes.  Sometimes the only way to deal with it has been through humor.  That's why there have been many Jewish comedians.  I think Sacha is one of the best of this period. 

Resource: http://frontpagemag.com/2012/03/02/a-dictator-mocks-america%e2%80%99s-enemies/print/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacha_Baron_Cohen