Global Paradigms

The following editorial which quotes me, distributed by the Freedom View was published in several newspapers: It’s important to step back and view the situation between Israel and Lebanon with some perspective. Despite the repeated images from the 24/7 cable news channels, which understandably emphasize destruction and explosions, Israel is not engaged in a full-fledged “two-front war,” at least not yet. It is dealing with guerrilla-style incursions undertaken by nonstate-sponsored terrorist groups that have some ties with governments (more on that later) but operate with a certain amount of autonomy — and mystery. Israel in the past has fought conventional military wars and prevailed. This time, we haven’t seen troops massed on Israel’s borders or bombers taking off with payloads meant for Tel Aviv or Jerusalem. The conflict could escalate into a more conventional war and even pull in outside powers. The activity Thursday suggested the conflict is beginning to escalate into a signifi...

I've been reading newspapers, watching television (including from Israel and the Mideast), googling the news, and it's quite difficult to get a clear picture of what's happening and predict what's going to happen. My sense is that the G-8 statement was more favorable to the U.S. position (and by extension to Israel) than I would have expected. It stressed Israel's right to act in "self defence" and seems to suggest that Hizbollah and Hamas should return the kidnapped soldiers as first steps and as part of the conditions for cease-fire. There were also clear indications that the leading Arab-Sunni states, including Saudi Arabia and Egypt are hoping for Hizbollah's demise. I think that Israel could probably continue with the bombing for quite a while. I also don't think that the war would expand beyond Lebanon.

*O Jays Even some of the guys and gals I trust in terms of understanding what's up in the world seem to be confused about the recent Mideast Madness. Leading think-tanker Steven Clemons thinks that Some Questions Regarding Israel's Objectives: Is Israel Trying to Curb America's Deal-Making in Middle East? while veteran Mideast watcher Robin Wright concludes that Strikes Are Called Part of Broad Strategy U.S., Israel Aim to Weaken Hezbollah, Region's Militants , while Israeli journalist and peace activist Uri Avnery suspects Israeli-American collusion with an unidentified Lebanese "elites." In fact, my online pal Michael Sharon suggests that Ehud Olmert and George W. concluded a "secret accord" to oust Hammas during the Israeli PM's visit to Washington. (in hebrew). And also check-out my earlier posts on which historical analogies we need to apply (1967? 1973? 1982?) to understand Israel's moves (well, neither and all of them...). Since my...

Ome my favorite Israeli journalists suggests that the The real aim is to change the regime in Lebanon and to install a puppet government. That was the aim of Ariel Sharon's invasion of Lebanon in 1982. It failed. But Sharon and his pupils in the military and political leadership have never really given up on it. As in 1982, the present operation, too, was planned and is being carried out in full coordination with the US. As then, there is no doubt that it is coordinated with a part of the Lebanese elite. That's the main thing. Everything else is noise and propaganda. (read the rest) I'm skeptical about the idea that Israel wants to do a rerun of 1982 in Lebanon. Avnery seems to imply that there could be some collusion between Israel and the Lebanese "elite" with some support for Washington. Anything is possible. But it sounds far-fetched to me. I certainly agree with him that "another secondary aim is to rehabilitate the 'deterrent power' of the army...

Billmon advances it: Punching Above Its Weight Three days in, and it looks like Israel is losing the war. Not militarily, of course -- The IDF could turn Lebanon into a parking lot if it wanted to, and if it's willing to take enough casualties it can probably push Hezbollah away from the Israeli border and suppress the rocket attacks (or at least most of them.) No, Israel is losing this war the same way it "lost" the October 1973 War -- by not crushing its enemies swiftly and completely, and then rubbing their faces in their own impotence and humilation. Just the opposite: Today it was Israel that suffered the humilation of nearly losing one of its missile frigates to a warhead-carrying Hezbollah drone -- a threat the IDF apparently didn't even know existed. An explosives-laden drone, apparently launched by Hezbollah, hit an Israel Navy warship off the coast of Beirut, causing serious damage to its steering capability . . . Several hours after the vessel was hit, an I...

I was sitting down to write something about the topic (and it's starting to feel a bit undignified making once again the same point, that "I've told you so"). But then I read E. J. Dionne's Big Bang Theory In Ruins in the Washington Post who has basically written the commentary for me. So now I can go to the pool... Here is Dionne's item with some added comments by moi (in bold): The most intellectually honest case for the war in Iraq was never about Saddam Hussein's alleged stockpiling of weapons of mass destruction. It was the Big Bang Theory. [why do social scientists like to compare themselves to real scientists?) Not to be confused with theories about the origins of the universe, the Middle East Big Bang idea was simple and seductive. [simple, yes; not very seductive] Unlike other arguments for the war, it was based on some facts, though also [almost all] on some wishful thinking. The point was that the Middle East was a mess. A nest of authoritar...

...Over Gay March... And here are other reactions by Moslems and Jews to the Gay March: Arab MK: No gays in Muslim society. Rabbi Yosef: Move gay pride parade to Sodom. MK Vilan on gay parade: Remember King David. And why is the following story interesting? Four prominent members of gay community send letter to PM requesting that he retract his support for election of former Chief Rabbi Yisrael Lau as president following criticism of Gay Pride Parade, homosexual life style. I'll answer that with a question: What do Vice President Cheney and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert have in common. Apparently, Olmert's daughter Danna who is a lecturer in literature at the Tel Aviv University, is a self-identified lesbian and lives with her partner in Tel Aviv. It seems that her parents, like the Cheneys, are accepting of their daughter's sexual identity and partner. Danna is also a anti-war activist and is seen below demonstrating against Israeli policies in Gaza. Not that t...

Time magazine's cover story The end of cowboy diplomacy has been mentioned, talked about, recycled, etc. in the print and broadcast media in recent days. You can guess what the article says even without reading it... Here are the last paragrphs. But in the span of four years, the administration has been forced to rethink the doctrine by which it hoped to remake the world. Bush's response to the North Korean missile test was revealing: Under the old Bush Doctrine, defiance by a dictator like Kim Jong Il would have merited threats of punitive U.S. action. Instead, the administration has mainly been talking up multilateralism and downplaying Pyongyang's provocation. The Bush Doctrine foundered in the principal place the U.S. tried to apply it. Though no one in the White House openly questions Bush's decision to go to war in Iraq, some aides now acknowledge that it has come at a steep cost in military resources, public support and credibility abroad. The administration is ...

Aluf Benn had a very interesting piece, In Eshkol's Shoes in Haaretz over the weekend. Eshkol was the Prime Minister that led Israel during the 1967/Six-Day-War. A new book on the war, written by a well-regarded Israeli military historian and former government official (and based on newly published documents) portrays Eshkol as a weak political figure with no military background who was pressed by an activist IDF to attack Egypt. Benn seems to be concerned that PM Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz, who like Eshkol were not part of the military/security establishment are being pressured by the Israeli military to act tough in Gaza. Benn also raises some interesting parallels between the U.S. role then (LBJ stuck in Vietnam gives Israel a "yellow light" to attack Egypt) and now (GWB stuck in Iraq (and North Korea, and Iran, and... gives Israel a "yellow light" to attack Gaza?) Worth reading. It's pasted here: Here is a piece of advice for Prime Mi...

Sorry, but since no one is paying me to write a review of the new book by neocon- pisher Peter Beinart, I'm not going to read it. But I do recommend two excellent reviews of this crap, by Nicholas von Hoffman in The American Conservative and by Andrew Bachevich in The Nation . Enjoy! And, hey, and too bad I missed this 2005 Festival of Ideas. The notion that "Festival" and "Ideas" associated with the two guys below:

Harry Truman wasn't a good friend of mine, (I actually didn't like him), But you, George W. Bush are not Harry Truman.... Dr. Strauss has a very interesting post on the neocons' effort to "Trumanize" (and "Rooseveltize" and "Reaganize" and even "Lincolnize") George W. which he describes (and rightly so) as "appalling and intellectually dishonest." Neocons? Appaling and intellectuall dishonest?

On this blog on February 24, 2006 , I posted ports in raging political storm in which I highlighted the interesting "coalition" between some neo-conservatives and some libertarians over the issue of the Dubai ports and discussed the topic. A few days later I received an email ("subject: plagiarism") from a colleague who mentioned that a certain conveyer of dreck has made the same exact arguments re: libertarians/neoconservatives/Dubai on March 3 and 11. I responded that I don't think that it was really an issue of "intellectual property rights" and more important, who really cares what this intellectual Amoeba writes anyway. Well, now my friend emails me that the same small-time nudnik referring to an article I published in The American Conservative on March 27 --- in which I reiterated the points I had made in my earlier post on this blog -- is now kvetching that these comments were plagiarized from her "work." Note how so, so pathetic...

The new face of terrorism: Toddlers in Kaqhistan "were thinking" about Bombing White House A terrorist plot to bomb the White House was broken up in its "very early" planning stages, U.S. officials said yesterday, with three suspects arrested in Pissville,the capital city of the central Asian country of Kaqhistan (a member of the Coalition of the Willing that has dispatched three janitors to Baghdad last July). They included two toddlers (see above) that the FBI said were al-Quaeda "sympathizers" and their nanny who is suspected of being the "leader" of the alleged terrorist cell. FBI officials, appearing in a press conference in Washington, DC, on Thursday (see below) said that they have been aware of the cell for about a year. "The planning or the plotting for this attack had matured to the point where it appeared that the individuals were about to do something," Larry Moron, the special agent in charge of the agency's chief liaso...

In case you've missed: Please read my recent Nationalism: The Last Refuge of the Political Loser: The GOP's nationalist agenda may lead to electoral victory . Also checkout Billmon's Chameleon.

Jim Henley, responding to my earlier post ,highlights the dilemma that we (classical) liberals/libertarians face on election day in this two-party system (yes, yes, I know that there is a libertarian party) when he points out that he dislikes (well, despises) Jim Webb's economic nationalist agenda while approving of his position on Iraq. This is when many of us fantasize about a multi-party system in this country (and yes, yes, I know why our sytem is more effective in preventing the rise of dangerous demagogues, is more stable, etc.). So here is my proposal for a new multi-party system (and note that I've chosen "fresh" faces to lead them, e.g., Sailer, and not Buchanan to lead the Nationalist Party). The Liberal Party led by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Supports free markets/free trade. Liberal on social-cultural issues (drugs, gays, abortion, etc.). Pro-immigration and anti-interventionist (although I can imagine a scenario when a few neocons influence the party's fo...

One of the leading Israeli architects of the late "Oslo Process," Yossi Beilin has an interesting item in Ha'aretz about the American "non-role" in the recent round Israeli-Palestinian violence: One of the most striking phenomena of recent weeks, given the stepped-up launching of Qassam rockets on Sderot, the painful incident at Kerem Shalom, and the abduction of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, is the absence of the American factor. True, there have been telephone conversations with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the U.S. ambassador in Israel receives updates, and the U.S. ambassador at the United Nations objects to resolutions calling on Israel to end its military operation in the Gaza Strip. But in terms of direct influence on the ground, there has been absolute American silence. He concludes that The United States was not even mentioned as an option. The White House spokesman on duty did take the time to inform the world that it was Israel's right to de...

A US combat commander suggested the United States could lose the war in Iraq if public support for it at home is sapped by negative media coverage. "My personal opinion is that the only way we will lose this war is if we pull out prematurely," said Colonel Jeffrey Snow, a brigade commander in Baghdad. "I would hope we get the time and support we need to finish this mission," he said in a video conference from Iraq. like we didn't know Yep, Take a look at the morning paper nowadays and it's clear that America has a lot of enemies. Two or three different brands of insurgency are operating in Iraq. North Korea has nuclear weapons and Pakistan is selling them. Our former best friend in Baghdad turns out to be an American spy. Al Qaeda, of course, is still out there. All this notwithstanding, some commentators on the right seem to have decided that the real enemies aren't the ones they read about it the papers, but the people who write them. read "The re...

"Democraticialis, it's for my man whenever he wants it" We tried almost everything. Reading together the Weekly Standard and holding hands while watching Bill O'Reilly. We even signed up for one of those Restoration Weekends in Florida that David Horowitz organizes and were hoping that Jim Woolsey's address would arouse my husband to take up this white woman's burden. Rush even recommended Viagra. That Weapon of Mass Destruction would show up, he promised. But his imperial drive remained dormant until a friend, "Scooter" told us about Democraticialis ("Judy loves it," he said). And it was shock and Awe from then on... A Regime Change for My Man whenever and wherever he wants it... Democraticialis, experience the neocon difference. *** *** Side effects could include anti-Americanism, terrorism, bloodshed, chaos, violations of civil rights, and rising budget deficits. If you experience an insurgency that lasts for more than four years, please...

I'm Shocked! Shocked! Shocked! According to this Washington Post report today, a recent opinion poll offered some hopeful signs for Bush and the Republicans as they prepare for the midterm elections. The big advantage that Democrats held on virtually every major issue has narrowed or reversed. On the question of which party is best able to handle the situation in Iraq, the Democrats' 14-point advantage in last month's Post-ABC poll has been cut in half; they now have a 47 percent lead over Republicans' 41 percent. A month ago, Democrats held a five-point lead over Republicans on dealing with international terrorism. Republicans now hold a seven-point advantage. On the economy, the Democratic advantage has narrowed from 18 points to 13 points since May. And the poll also found that the the public gives both Bush and the Democrats low marks on having a plan for success in Iraq. Almost two in three (64 percent) said Bush does not have a clear plan, while almost three in f...

An old journalist buddy of mine, Larry Cohler-Esses who is now an editor with the New York Jewish Week and who unlike this lazy "political analyst," does some leg work (well, he makes phone calls) has a GREAT piece in the new issue of Nation Magazine about disinformation agent Amir Taheri, the "journalist" who as you may recall reported on Iran's plans to force its Jews to wear yellow insignia. Titled Bunkum From Benador. It's a MUST read! Among other things it reveals: It was in 1989 that Taheri was first exposed as a journalistic felon. The book he published the year before, Nest of Spies, examined the rule and fall of the Shah of Iran. Taheri received many respectful reviews, but in The New Republic Shaul Bakhash, a reigning doyen of Persian studies, checked Taheri's footnotes. Suddenly a book review became an investigative exposé. Bakhash, a history professor at George Mason University and a former fellow at Princeton's Institute for Advanced ...