Global Paradigms

Investigative journalist Seymour Hersh in a new piece in the New Yorker , A Strike in the Dark: What did Israel bomb in Syria? covers two issues that I've been writing about: U.S-Israe-Syria relationship and U.S.-Israel-Iran relationship. He speculates that last year's mysterious Israeli attack on a Syria installation was an Israeli rehearsal for a strike against Israel which, he implies, will probably receive a "yellow light" from the Bush Administration: There is evidence that the preëmptive raid on Syria was also meant as a warning about—and a model for—a preëmptive attack on Iran. When I visited Israel this winter, Iran was the overriding concern among political and defense officials I spoke to—not Syria. There was palpable anger toward Washington, in the wake of a National Intelligence Estimate that concluded, on behalf of the American intelligence community, that Iran is not now constructing a nuclear weapon. Many in Israel view Iran’s nuclear ambitions as...

I'm not sure whether anyone paid attention to this part of a New York Times story on the tensions between John McCain and the Republican conservatives: Meanwhile, conservatives are growing increasingly “resigned” to the idea of a McCain nomination, said David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union, adding that among Washington activists, many of whom, like him, double as lobbyists, self-interest may also be a factor. “There are people who don’t like the idea of a being off a campaign or being on the bad list if the guy gets into the White House,” Mr. Keene said. “This is a town in which 90 percent of the people balance their access and income on the one hand versus their principles on the other.” It's actually refreshing to hear a prominent "activist" admit that he and his colleagues "double as lobbyists" and that they make their decisions on whether to support this or that candidate reflect quite frequently their "self-interest" which...

See here.