Robert Fisk: "The conquest of the middle east"

If you are interested in the middle east politics, it is essential to know the history of this area. Here, in a the first part of this talk (in Canada) Robert Fisk takes you back to the English invasion of Iraq and how similar it is with the recent US invasion. It is just incredible how rare this thing gets mentioned. The fact that they had so many common points gives a good guess how this is one going to end, that is, history is going to repeat itself, Fisk argues. But what R. Fisk is really angry about is that journalists have rarely done anything else other then analyzing what politicians say and saying what the politicians think. They rarely mention what is not being said, what is deliberately left out.


The second part of the talk takes on the topic of terrorism and has a very nice reading from his new book. Very nice indeed.


There is a third and fourth part, and you can actually look all the videos on you Tube, under "Robert Fisk".

Iraq the model

This was one of the "award winning" blogs on the middle east and Africa. As a matter of fact, all the award winning blogs in the middle east were pro-American and pro-Israelis. Can someone explain ? This either mean that American like to read whatever makes them feel better about themselves or the competition was not exactly as fair as the Tour de France say ..
I actually thought that this blog "Iraq the Model" carries a lot of potential to shake the American opinion, and tell them : Hey , can't you see what you're doing ! 100,000 lives are the price we paid to a free ... Civil war, I am afraid.
I think somebody needs to wake them up and tell them that we care about this blood that is being shed, even if you don't.
Anyway, so what is worst then seeing this guy defending the American policies in the middle east, criticizing the Lebanese media, and calling by terrorist whoever Israel and the US call terrorist. I am not sure what made this person say what he says and work so hard on his website, and I do not want to make theories and link it to the sizeable influence of the US on the new media in IRAQ. What I know, is that the Arab world as most of the developing nations, have known so many bad rulers and dark days that anyone who comes to replace the old ruler, becomes our friend , for some people and for a limited time, before we discover that our freedom can not be brought from outside as a gift.

From the horse's mouth... Hear this

In an earlier post, I was talking about the opportunities that present for both moderate Arabs and their self-declared supporters to leave a nicer impression for the less educated lower income Lebanese, many of which are Shi'ite. I was hoping something would be done so that those people that we all should care about, remember the US and Europe for things other than delaying the cease fire and selling missiles to Israel. I think most reasonable people would agree with the above, in particular the importance of not letting go this opportunity.
I was amazed when I heard this interview on NPR. Host Lisa Mullins spoke with Michael Hess of the US Agency for International Development in Washington, about the political and diplomatic challenges for the US in aiding the reconstruction effort in Lebanon. You should hear it to find out that clearly the US does not care about such opportunity, and will not regret doing so. So far the US have donated indirectly 15 million Dollars and have a staff of 7 on the ground to help with the reconstruction. Yes only 7. When hearing the interview please notice how this guy repeatedly escapes her question about the opportunities America sees in the rebuilding process. Yes, Bush is longing for a free, democratic and liberalized society in the middle east right ?! It is just to show you yet again that what they say and do in Washington are two different things.

Here is the link :
http://www.theworld.org/latesteditions/08/20060816.shtml

after the truce... the sad Truth

Today everybody lost the war. One indication is that both Hezbollah and Israel declared victory today. Another indication is the declaration by George W. Bush that Israel won the war, just like a referee in a box game, he had to wait till there is so much blood around, but we are familiar with his declarations. Iraq is still fresh in our mind, Iraq is still on the TV in fact. The truth is not only both Israel and Hezbollah lost, but of course Lebanon and the U.S., the U.K. and the UN. Also today Syria and Iran lost. But those strategic losses can be recovered one day, can be forgotten when a prime minister steps down or when there will be a change of regime. However the lives that are lost, are lost forever and the ones that were broken will never look the same. Those who were able to stop the blood shep are the ones to blame today and tomorrow. We should not forget all the pathetic justifications given by so many diplomats that helped postpone a cease fire, cause if there is one thing that we can do is to teach the warmongers a lesson.

Euh... .Ahmadinejad online !

Here is a blogger who will draw more visitors than me: Ahmadinejad ! yes he's blogging. Starting today I guess. It seems you can also get to post your comments.
It is safe to assume that they will be moderated. I am not aware if other presidents leaders have went online.
Internet keeps on surprising me. Check out the poll he's throwing. And analyze that !

http://www.ahmadinejad.ir/

You best allies against terrorism

are, undeniably, the moderate Arabs and Muslims. Today the "new world order" resembles more than anything else a clash of religions while in reality it is not so much. After all, Christian and Jews are still living in the Arab world with no major problems as it has always been the case. The danger in the present situation lies in the fact that people are being more and more convinced of religious roots of the problem, which is evidently making the problem even worse.
There is so much talking about "war on terrorism" these days and "war on extremism" on fudamentalism that people forget that there are other means to go about it. In fact, this problem in particular would most likely not be resolved (if not worsened) by those waged wars. Neither will we make ourselves safer by innovating new ways to protect ourselves from people who are ready to die and blow us up. It is not very difficult to see that stopping terror is not going to be possible by banning "Crest" from commercial airplanes.
Again talking about wars made people forget that there has been a complete disregard of smarter means for durable peace.

I would like to cite an example, but I would leave the details for future posts. The cedar revolution could have been spurred long time by the US but it was not for obvious political situations involving a weird relationship between Syria and the US. Furthermore, even after the Cedar Revolution, did the US and Europe helped spur a friendly sentiment to the "west". When you talk about the middle east you are often talking about missed opportunities. And if one tenth of these billions of armament aids that are going to Israel would go to building modern schools in the South and North of Lebanon ?
I think millions of people in the Arab world are waiting for you to surprise them by supporting their democratic endeavors and struggle for a modernized middle east.

Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land, a documentary

The middle east experts in this video will explain to you, why you have been reluctant to speak up. They will show you how the US media made you weary of defending the rights of palestinians by fear of associating yourself with terrorists.
Besides many people ignore the nature of the situation there, so this movie gives a bit of background. Note that implicitly this documentary takes UN resolutions very seriously, therefore the opinions expressed here are most likely to be shared by the most moderates of Arabs rather than Hamas and other extremist groups. Yet these point of views and facts are offensive to some of the most moderate republicans and democrats in this country.

Part 1 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCL6WdnuNp4
Part 2 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mo2HW4T7wK4

"It is all defensive" attitude and the UN resolution

Why would the Lebanese government be so demanding while they are the one who have the least power and for whom the war is proved to be most costly so far ? Some people ask.


A BBC interview with Israel's ambassador to the UN and some other Israeli talking points are legitimizing the suspicions of the Lebanese government. She (the interviewer from BBC) asked him, whether the bombing of the South, of Beirut, the incursion and all the other Israeli military operations in Lebanon, whether all these were seen as "offensive" or "defensive" , and he answered DEFENSIVE . Only offensive operations are forbidden in the UN resolution draft. Although what I heard from other ambassadors to the UN would suggest that when they mean offensive they do mean offensive and therefore include the Israeli activity in Lebanon (and for whom therefore stopped offensives mean ceasefire on both sides), when Israel would have its own interpretations and keep the violence who will come to our rescue ? The Lebanese Government can't be blamed for having learned its lesson.



source for BBC interview : Newshour 2000 GMT (1 hr)
Broadcast on World Service - Wed 09 Aug - 13:00

I was afraid to mention something...

that came on my mind the other day. I tried to forget it, and surely not write it because it is quite disturbing, a dark thought that hurts although it is not undeniably false ... Well I did not want to mention it, if I did not end up seeing it today on a Blog called "Israelly Cool". The title : "Let The Animals Live"! , that follows another one called "Kitty Karma" where this Israelly fellow was saying :
"As a result of the barbaric Hezbollah rocket and missile attacks on Israeli citizens in the north of the country, many residents have left for Southern Israel.
However, not all residents have managed to escape the legacy of Lebanon's failure to enforce United Nations Security Council Resolution 1559 - especially the furry ones."
So this guy followed up his post by another one that actually tells people where to donate and give help to Non-profit animal organizations. I did not know that in Israel they did actually have the time, the will and the dedication for animals if miles away people, HUMANS, are left deliberately for hunger, starvation, despair..

Our Israeli friend did not fail to show his humour, a sense of humour I am sure well shared by the fascist an racists and all the dirt of this world, by saying :
"And when they refer to Letting Animals Live, I think they don't mean Hassan Nasrallah ".

Anyway that was not my point, or my dark thought as I introduced it. To say it briefly and not dwell on it anymore : I am sure that in the world today, there are some people that are more saddened and deeply disturbed by the death of distant animals then the one of certain distant humans...That is we might get more support of some nations if we actually show the horror that are happening to the animals also. What do you think ? Aren't these people a shame on Humanity ?

675 or at least 880 ? The CNN has done it yet again

I noticed that the deaths figures announced by Senioura (The Lebanese prime minister) have always exceeded the CNN numbers. Today Friday august 5, while lebanese websites and the AFP (Agence France Presse) said that the lebanese government have estimated the death toll to be well above 900, with a minimum of 880. So how come the CNN is quoting the same government for 675 deaths so far ?
Or is there an exchange rate ?

No comment

Yesha Rabbinical Council: During time of war, enemy has no innocents.
The Yesha Rabbinical Council announced in response to an IDF attack in Kfar canny that "according to Jewish law, during a time of battle and war, there is no such term as 'innocents' of the enemy."
"All of the discussions on Christian morality are weakening the spirit of the army and the nation and are costing us in the blood of our soldiers and civilians," the statement said. (Efrat Weiss)

In the news today (Qana and the American opinion)

I was standing near a news post today while waiting for the pedestrian green light. I did a mistake and took a quick look at the headlines. These days I have been fiercely trying to decrease my (crazy) nicotine intake and decided to pay less attention to the media, and just hoping that things will end soon. But the LA times indicated that there are some important developments, as the big title reads " ISRAEL TO HALT BOMBING FOR 48 Hours", seemed like some good news. Just like many people I did not read the smaller title and my attention moved to another local newspaper called Daily News. On this journal the title reads "ISRAEL HALTS ATTACKS" while the smaller title says "after the collapse of a building causing the death of ...". By that time I was unaware yet of QANA, and I mean by that the massacre in Qana. Nor from reading the news like millions of american do was I able to realize that something different happened today, something to be even more sad about. Actually a "Halt of attacks" seemed like a nice gesture from Israel, which I am sure was the end of the story for millions of americans today. Home and the internet was 5 minutes away and in a matter of minutes I was sadly informed about the facts of QANA and the subsequent decision of Raids suspension which was broken anyway. QANA is a tragedy, a massacre and a "war crime", and the european media where I usually follow the news did not fail to mention the gravity of this situation. By that time, I could not understand nor believe what I saw on the Daily News newspaper. As a matter of fact the american media have exposed less the actual bombing of the building and more the ceasefire at least in the headlines. Later on during the day Israeli analysts will go on CNN to explain how Hezbollah indirectly killed those people by hiding nearby those buildings. I think Israel can safely drop a nuclear bomb on Lebanon and blame Hezbollah for it in the same logic, as the media is, in this war, going all the way. To be honest I prefer to take my news from Haarez and Jerusalem post ONLINE as there is less hypocrisy and "trying to be objective" attitude, and where the replies and discussion are worth reading. I do not want to dwell on this topic for hours, here are the Headlines from around the world :


USA TODAY:
U.S. to press for cease-fire
Israel suspends bombings after civilian deaths

NEW WORK TIMES :
Israel Suspending Lebanon Air Raids After Dozens Die

LA TIMES
ISRAEL TO HALT BOMBING FOR 48 Hours
South Lebanon Civilians to be evacuated after Airstrike kills Up to 56

WSJ
Israel Suspends Raids On Lebanon



While in Canada many of the main stream newspapers have very different words and pictures as well as space allocated on the first page:

TORONTO STAR: A horrible sad bloody Sunday
Le Soleil (Quebec) : Horror at Qana (translated)
Vancouver Sun : Israel Halts Air Strike as "Massacre" Sparks Outrage.

In England the reaction was even stronger, which would explain at least why Blair (someone who as we know by now, is not more concerned than Bush about human casualties) had to react and maybe go the white house for that reason.
Financial Times : Outrage over civilian deaths
The Guardian : They found them huddled together (with a Huge picture of one guy holding a dead child)
Scotsman : Israel suspends air strikes after 37 children die
Theindependentt : (huge title and picture) HOW CAN WE STAND BY AND ALLOW THIS TO GO ON ?

The reaction in the French and otherEuropeann newspapers is even more explicit about the "massacre" nature of the event. Liberation : CANA le carnage de trop.

It is sad that the life of million of people depends so much on the 15 minutes of News unintentionally absorbed by Mr. Joe Average while on his Coffee break.