That the Republican water carrier and New York Times columnist David Brooks would blast Barack Obama's Berlin speech was utterly predictable. (Kevin Drum even predicted the title of the piece, "Playing Innocent Abroad.") To be sure, by slandering Obama's call to "remake the world" with epithets including "saccharine," "treacle," and "Disney," Brooks did not disappoint. Of course, even less surprising is that back in 2005, David Brooks had only glowing praise for President Bush's democratization agenda and its audacious vision to "imagine new worlds."
As you all probably know, Al Gore challenged the United States two days ago to end our dependence on foreign oil within a decade. Whether or not we reach Gore's target, the Middle East's days as the energy breadbasket of the planet are numbered-in two or three decades, the US will probably be getting the majority of its energy from domestic renewable sources such as solar and wind. How this will happen, and its impact on US and western society, has been discussed ad nauseum both here and on other internet forums. What recieves much less attention is the impact this will have on the Middle East itself.
**Disclamer** I'm a second-year college student. Though I'm specializing in Middle Eastern history and hope to eventually be an expert in the subject, I'm not now. The material for this diary comes from what I've gathered through news sources and outside reading.**
This past Wednesday, in a rare public appearance, Hezbollah's leader Sayyed Hassan Nassrallah greeted the five Lebanese freed from captivity in Israel after his organization returned the bodies of two captured Israeli soldiers.
"The period of defeat is over and the time of victory has arrived," said a beaming Nassrallah to a jubilant mass waving Hezbollah and Lebanese flags in Beirut.
Some might remember The Daily Pulse, a regular column I used to write, rounding up editorial content from around the country and around the world. Now I resurrect it once in a while, when it seems like a good time to look around a bit. This is one of those times.
Yesterday Isreal and Lebanon had an exchange. Israel received the bodies of two of its soldiers, and Lebanon received bodies and prisoners, including Samir Qintar. Israel received the bodies with great mourning. Lebanon, and particulary Hizbullah, received Qintar and others with great celebration. Who is Samir Kuntar, and what does each nation's reaction tell us about the ongoing dispute in the Middle East?
Today's Daily Pulse will be a bit different, as it will include front page content as well as editorials. I am limited to English-language papers, so probably miss a lot. Sorry, it's the best I can do.
By way of the LA Times' Babylon & Beyond blog, I see that one of my all time favorite artists, Patti Smith, brought her revolutionary soul to Beirut to "sing for the "regeneration" of the city of Beirut and to voice her rejection to war."
The celebrated 1970s rock icon turned political activist performed near the old Phoenician port at the opening of the Byblos music festival, one of numerous music events taking place this summer in Lebanon after violence has subsided in the country and tourists have started to flood in again.
I can't think of a Mediterranean country, apart from Spain's renown tapas, that can send out a vertiginous array of fabulous dishes to your table in a matter of minutes.
My love affair with Lebanese food started, well, in Beirut in the late sixties, I was 17 and on my way to Istanbul when my uncle suggested a brief stopover as he had some business to do there. That night we were ensconced in a rather low-lit, seedy restaurant whose main dining room was covered in Persian carpets, walls, ceiling, the lot. A large tray of about 30 dishes suddenly materialized, accompanied by several baskets of hot, thyme-scented flat breads. Well, I proceeded to devour most of what was on offer. I was in heaven. A belly dancer later sashayed to our table and I couldn't have cared less: the food was the attraction, as far as I was concerned.
I've been thinking about this for some time. Today I came across a fox news article that alleges that government officials from Iraq have confirmed annonymously that Hezbollah has been actively training the so called Shiite special groups loyal to Al-Sadr in Iraq. If this is indeed true, then we are engaged in a proxy war not just against Iran, but against militant Shiite ideology in the Middle East. We are also at war with militant Sunni ideology but have some Sunni allies. I don't think the same can be said of the Shiites. So essentially what we are seeing and have all but set the stage for with our disastrous invasion of Iraq is a 3 way war between the U.S. and our Sunni government allies vs the Sunni insurgency vs Iran and the Shiite Insurgency. We have a huge mess on our hands and there is no end in sight. Sorry to say.
BAGHDAD — Hezbollah instructors trained Shiite militiamen at remote camps in southern Iraq until three months ago when they slipped across the border to Iran — presumably to continue instruction on Iranian soil, according to two Shiite lawmakers and a top army officer.
On Wednesday, embattled Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and lame duck American President George W. Bush will meet in Washington in a gathering of the walking wounded. Bush's fading hopes to secure a Middle East peace agreement before leaving office have dimmed further as scandal enveloped his Israeli counterpart. Worse still, by moving ahead with peace talks with Syria and the expansion of West Bank settlements over just the past two weks, Olmert has already dealt President Bush a double-blow.
It’s not just the U.S. military, and it's not just Iraq. The U.K. has also used depleted uranium in both Iraq and Afghanistan; NATO forces have used it in Kosovo, and Israel allegedly used it in Lebanon and on the Palestinians.
Two important stories have emerged this week from the Middle East, and for a change, both had to do with peace.
On Wednesday Israel and Syria, in what appeared to be coordinated announcements, said that they had begun indirect talks in Turkey, the first confirmation in eight years of negotiations between the long-time enemies. Also on Wednesday, the tiny Gulf state of Qatar scored a diplomatic coup by pulling off a deal to end Lebanon's protracted crisis, successfully shepherding the negotiations between feuding Lebanese factions to end months of political turmoil and violence.
The only Arab democracy in the world could not last even three years.
When the Iranian-trained terrorist group Hezbollah invaded Lebanon and used it as a staging ground to attack Israel, the world solemnly promised Israel and Lebanon that Hezbollah would be stopped. The United Nations Security Council voted to disarm Hezbollah and sent in tens of thousands of troops to Lebanon in order to convince Israel to give up its right of self defense under international law.
Israel accepted the word of the world. Boy was that a mistake. Israel knows better than to trust the United Nations or the world. But the Bush Administration forced it to do so.
The real victims: the Lebanese. This week, in a stunning coup d'etat, Hezbollah killed just enough Lebanese to take over the Government and ensure the end of democracy in Lebanon forever. And those tens of thousands of UN troops stood by blankly. I guess they were too busy playing in their bunks than fulfilling their UN mandate.
Two nights ago BBC news started out by saying rarely do we get good news out of the middle east much less three stories on the same night. If anybody wanted evidence of the failure of Bush/McCain foreign policy and the effectiveness of the progressive vision look no further.
We know what's been going on among Israel, Iran, and the United States: Mostly, the US has been playing the stooge for Israeli interests who have a bug up their butts about Iran.
With his, "make it about WMD and Americans will get behind a war" line of reasoning, Wolfie taught us to look around and behind the propaganda to discover what the real agenda is. Israel and the US claim Iran must be forced into bankruptcy because it has or wants or secretly tried to get nuclear weapons.
This diary attempts to show that Israel wants oil pipelines and Persian Gulf gambling wealth; is willing to hold a nation of 70 million under threat of terror and economic destabilization in order to acquire those goals, and is not concerned that US interests may be jeopardized in the process of achieving their goals.
The NY Times reports that Israel, in the hopes of "reaching a comprehensive accord", is in discussions with state sponsor of terrorism Syria. They also separately write that the Lebanese government is negotiatingwith known terrorist group Hezzbollah.
Meanwhile, [they did not report that] the Bush administration continues to keep its head in the sand.
Which certainly makes George Packer's point that we're witnessing,
"the spasms of nerve endings in an organism that’s brain-dead. Among Republicans, there is no energy, no fresh thinking, no ability to capture the concerns and feelings of millions of people ... the 2006 and 2008 elections are the hinge on which America is entering a new political era."
The reference in the title shouldn't require much clarification, but let me just give you a brief reminder that a week can be a very long time in international politics.
Less than a week ago, George W. Bush gave a speech to Knesset during his tour of the Middle-East (the main purpose of the tour was to beg for more Saudi oil production, a request that was rebuffed). Bush made controversial remarks that caused quite an uproar.
The warring parties in Lebanon agreed to a deal brokered by Arab diplomats, and incoming flights to Beirut's International airport have resumed ending a week of bloody, political crisis.
Today’s New York Times features a column by David Brooks wherein Brooks claims that Obama’s statements about the current violence in Lebanon, "has the whiff of what President Bush described yesterday as appeasement." The statement which Brooks feels has that whiff is:
It’s time to engage in diplomatic efforts to help build a new Lebanese consensus that focuses on electoral reform, an end to the current corrupt patronage system, and the development of the economy that provides for a fair distribution of services, opportunities and employment.
Leaving aside the question as to whether or not that would actually appease Hezbollah in some way (I would contend that Hezbollah is plenty enthusiastic about corrupt patronage systems and unfair distribution of goods and services, merely wishing that they be in charge of the corruption and unfair distribution), let’s focus for a moment on what is actually happening in Lebanon, and what Obama is saying should be done about it by the United States.
