Archives: 2006 July

Day 20: Bombs Pause; UN Talks Today

July 31st, 2006 - by: danny

A PAUSE “IN THE CAUSE”
IS RUMMY LOSING IT?
THE EMAIL BARRAGE CONTINUES

I was looking for signs of political life as I drove through the heat bowl of the Hudson Valley yesterday but it seemed like anyone with any sense had taken refuge in some air-conditioned redoubt. I did see a sign that said, “Bust the Oil Trust” along Route 32 and a bigger billboard in front of a Jewish Center in Kingston saying “We Stand With Israel.” It wasn’t clear if anyone else was standing with them, or standing at all.

On Saturday, I wrote about the change of US policy that plays itself out later today at the UN where the US and Britain have decided to pursue an international force for Southern Lebanon. Of course this will not END the war and its underlying conflict, but just move it into a new stage.

(Meanwhile in Lebanon, an angry crowd trashed UN Headquarters in Beirut to protest the international organization’s failure to bring peace after the Qana bombing.)

HEADLINE IN DAILY STAR: “HOW MANY BABIES HAVE TO DIE?”

Israel had already rejected a UN call for a cease-fire, but it is unlikely to reject a US call especially after another massacre from the air. Even the Israeli Prime Minister apologized for that while once again rationalizing his war. Here’s Juan Cole on Qana:

http://www.juancole.com/2006/07/qana-massacre-part-ii-israeli-war.html

And here is a video report on what happened:

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14276.htm

This horror has done what the UN and world opinion couldn’t: lead to a suspension of bombing. CNN reported last night: “Israel agrees to suspend air operations over southern Lebanon for 48 hours to investigate strike on Qana, a U.S. State Dept. spokesman said.

My question: Is the US State Department now issuing statements for Israel? Buzzflash comments:

http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/editorial/59

Washington Post today: “Crisis Could Undercut Bush’s Long-Term Goals”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/30/AR2006073000578.html?referrer=email

ON THE GROUND

The Daily Star of Beirut reports: “Residents flee as south Lebanon spared Israeli strikes?”

“Israel spared the battered region of south Lebanon from air attacks Monday for the first time in three weeks as exhausted residents streamed north after being trapped by the bombardments.

A NEW ENEMY

With the US giving Israel a “green light” and looking the other way while Lebanon was bombed, it is no wonder that the NY Times in its “week of reckoning” round up in the weekly war review ran this headline: “A NEW ENEMY GAINS ON THE US.” Huh?

Suddenly, the secret is out: Hezbollah has been elevated to the status of our enemy, and the Times at least says the Pentagon and their IDF proxy are not prepared to handle them.

It was significant to me at least that another Times article reached this reluctant conclusion:

“ISRAEL IS POWERFUL, YES. BUT NOT SO INVINCIBLE.”

WHO IS GIVING ORDERS?

Meanwhile Tony Karon argues that it is the US, not Israel, that is orchestrating the war on Lebanon:

“Hizballah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said a curious thing Saturday: Israel has recognized reality and is ready for a cease-fire in Lebanon, Nasrallah claimed, but it is the U.S. that insists that it fight on. And if you read the analysis of Ze’ev Schiff, the dean of Israeli military correspondents and an enthusiastic advocate of the military campaign against Hizballah, there’s a remarkable confirmation of Nasrullah’s analysis. Schiff writes:

“U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is the figure leading the strategy of changing the situation in Lebanon, not Prime Minister Ehud Olmert or Defense Minister Amir Peretz. She has so far managed to withstand international pressure in favor of a cease-fire, even though this will allow Hezbollah to retain its status as a militia armed by Iran and Syria. As such, she needs military cards, and unfortunately Israel has not succeeded to date in providing her with any. Besides bringing Hezbollah and Lebanon under fire, all of Israel’s military cards at this stage are in the form of two Lebanese villages near the border that have been captured by the IDF.

If the military cards Israel is holding do not improve with the continuation of the fighting, it will result in a diplomatic solution that will leave the Hezbollah rocket arsenal in southern Lebanon in its place. The diplomatic solution will necessarily be a reflection of the military realities on the ground.

http://tonykaron.com/2006/07/29/is-israel-fighting-a-proxy-war-for-washington/

Sarah Meyer’s Research on Illegal Weapons used in Lebanon:

http://indexresearch.blogspot.com/2006/07/index-on-illegal-us-weapons-in-lebanon.html

MILITARY SET BACKS

Joe Dunphy monitors military assessments. He calls our attention the latest from Strator.com and adds:

“Israel seems to be experiencing a massive intelligence failure. As I noted in earlier references to Aviation Week and Space Technology articles, the very closeness of cooperation between Israel and the US leads one to the conclusion that this is also a massive intelligence failure for the US. I’ve been thinking about this for the past few days, and may soon have enough for a decent short, news analysis piece.

“The other detail that stands out, militarily, is that after two weeks of bombing and “preparatory fire,” (compared with 2-4 days in siege operations like Okinawa and Iwo Jima), Israeli ground forces have not advanced sufficiently to secure what might be considered one-day’s objectives on a division front. Some commander should have been relieved of command by now–quite possibly the Israeli air force commander.

“Press reports, subject to the usual cautions about credibility, indicate that there is a sharp difference of opinion between the Israeli Air Force generals and the Israeli Army side generals. All generals are trained to cope with plans going off track, as few war plans survive the first contact with the opposition, but this seems to indicate that the Israeli contingency plans are off the rail too, and this would make a good general worry about the capabilities of his war-planning staff.

“At this point, Israel’s military seems to have a really serious leadership problem. Whether it’s the top Israeli politicians overruling their generals, or the top Israeli generals overruling their staff, or the staff creating plans around poor intelligence, is not immediately apparent. But, as the late Lt. Col. David Hackworth would say, the likely suspects would be “the perfumed princes,” the political generals, who prefer the rear area and its comforts to the harder right of leading from the front. Very little reporting by the commercial media is focusing on this glaringly obvious problem.

“Worse, the commercial news shows are not exploring what this means to the US intelligence community. The spooks (spies) and geeks (analysts) have been ripped from being an independent analysis force, and spliced to the “seamless” overarching apparatus supposedly run by Negroponte, et. al, in between long afternoon sessions at steam baths.

RUMSFELD LIVES IN HIS OWN COUNTRY

Fareed Zakaria of Newsweek on ABC’s This Week

“(If I were running against conservatives,] I would make up a campaign commercial almost entirely of Donald Rumsfeld’s press conferences, because the man is looking – I mean, it’s not just that he seems like a bad Secretary of [Defense]. He seems literally in a parallel universe and slightly deranged. If you listen to what he said last week about Iraq, he’s living in a different world, not a different country.”

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/07/30/rumsfeld-deranged/

PERSPECTIVE BY UK JOURNALIST JOHN PILGER

The attendant propaganda – the abuse of language and eternal hypocrisy – has reached its nadir in recent weeks. An Israeli soldier belonging to an invasion force was captured and held, legitimately, as a prisoner of war. Reported as a “kidnapping”, this set off yet more slaughter of Palestinian civilians. The seizure of two Palestinian civilians two days before the capture of the soldier was of no interest. Neither was the incarceration of thousands of Palestinian hostages in Israeli prisons, and the torture of many of them, as documented by Amnesty. The kidnapped soldier story cancelled any serious inquiry into Israel’s plans to reinvade Gaza, from which it had staged a phoney withdrawal.

The fact and meaning of Hamas’s self-imposed 16-month ceasefire were lost in inanities about “recognizing Israel”, along with Israel’s state of terror in Gaza – the dropping of a 500lb bomb on a residential block, the firing of as many as 9,000 heavy artillery shells into one of the most densely populated places on earth and the nightly terrorizing with sonic booms.

“I want nobody to sleep at night in Gaza,” declared the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, as children went out of their minds. In their defence, the Palestinians fired a cluster of Qassam missiles and killed eight Israelis: enough to ensure Israel’s victimhood on the BBC; even Jeremy Bowen struck a shameful “balance”, referring to “two narratives”. The historical equivalent is not far from that of the Nazi bombardment and starvation of the Jewish Warsaw Ghetto. Try to imagine that described as “two narratives”.

Chris Hedges, ex-NY Times Middle East correspondent:

“Israel’s security wall has ripped a mortal gash in the lives of Palestinians living in its shadowÃ¢â‚¬Â¦”

http://www.truthdig.com/dig/print/20060725_israels_wall/

A SANE VOICE IN ISRAEL

Israeli commentator Uri Avnery:

“It is the old story about the losing gambler: he cannot stop. He continues to play, in order to win his losses back. He continues to lose and continues to gamble, until he has lost everything: his ranch, his wife, his shirt.

The same thing happens in the biggest gamble of all: war. The leaders that start a war and get stuck in the mud are compelled to fight their way ever deeper into the mud. That is a part of the very essence of war: it is impossible to stop after a failure. Public opinion demands the promised victory. Incompetent generals need to cover up their failure. Military commentators and other armchair strategists demand a massive offensive. Cynical politicians are riding the wave. The government is carried away by the flood that they themselves have let loose.

THOSE OTHER WARS IN THE NEWS: DAILY KOS

LA Times — President Bush’s decision to increase the number of U.S. troops in violence-racked Baghdad has forced commanders to extend the tours of 3,500 soldiers and appears to eliminate prospects for significant withdrawals of American forces this year.

Just a month ago, the top commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, Gen. George W. Casey Jr., came to Washington and presented Bush with a scenario in which the number of combat brigades in Iraq could be reduced from 14 to 12 by September, with two more brigades scheduled for removal by year’s end. A brigade typically comprises 3,500 soldiers.

The decision–for lack of a better word–came in response to escalating violence in the ongoing civil war between Shiite and Sunni factions. Meanwhile, in the other other war:

LFP KABUL — The top U.S. general shuttled between Pakistan and Afghanistan yesterday, trying to bring key allies in its war on terror together in fighting the resurgent Taliban.

Congressional Democrats echo Bush’s defense of Israel

WASHINGTON – While President Bush routinely faces criticism from congressional Democrats over the Iraq war and his domestic policies, there’s been little criticism over his stance on Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/15159997.htm

NEW POLL SAYS DEMS CAN RETAKE HOUSE

A new NPR poll looked at the fifty most competitive congressional districts and found 29% of respondents said they will “definitely or probably” vote to re-elect their congressman while 46% say they will “definitely or probably” vote for the challenger. “Forty of those seats are currently held by Republicans; 10 by Democrats.”

“In 2004, the total vote in these 50 districts went Republican by about 12 points. In our current survey, voters in these same districts say they would vote for the Democrat over the Republican by about six points.”

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2006/07/27/poll_suggests_gop_will_lose_control_of_house.html

Sen Durbin: “Bolton Filibuster Needs ONLY One More Vote

On “The Young Turks” Radio Show, Senator Dick Durbin says the Bolton bilibuster needs only one more vote to succeed.”

http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/001566.php

TED KENNEDY: WE WERE MISLED BY ALITO AND ROBERTS.

“Ã¢â‚¬Â¦ Now that the votes are in from their first term, we can see plainly the agenda that Roberts and Alito sought to conceal from the committee. Our new justices consistently voted to erode civil liberties, decrease the rights of minorities and limit environmental protections. At the same time, they voted to expand the power of the president, reduce restrictions on abusive police tactics and approve federal intrusion into issues traditionally governed by state law….”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/28/AR2006072801489_2.html

Mail & Guardian: Congo Votes

” War-weary Congolese vote in historic poll

“Millions of Congolese voted enthusiastically in their first free elections in over 40 years on Sunday, hoping to end years of war, corruption and chaos that have brought the mineral-rich African giant to its knees. United Nations officials and foreign observers said turnout was high and voting was mostly orderly and peaceful at the landmark polls.”

See the whole Post / →

Media: Pressing the Press

July 31st, 2006 - by: danny

KARL ROVE IS NOW A MEDIA CRITIC

“WASHINGTON (AP) — Presidential adviser Karl Rove said Saturday that journalists often criticize political professionals because they want to draw attention away from the “corrosive role” their own coverage plays in politics and government.

“Some decry the professional role of politics, they would like to see it disappear,” Rove told graduating students at the George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management. “Some argue political professionals are ruining American politics _ trapping candidates in daily competition for the news cycle instead of long-term strategic thinking in the best interest of the country.”

But Rove turned that criticism on journalists.
“It’s odd to me that most of these critics are journalists and columnists,” he said. “Perhaps they don’t like sharing the field of play. Perhaps they want to draw attention away from the corrosive role their coverage has played focusing attention on process and not substance.”

IRAQ STORY DOWNPLAYED IN ARAB WORLD

“CAIRO, Egypt – For Arab news media, the war between Israel and Hezbollah is a fresh chapter in a tale with strong emotional pull and well-defined enemies, and has pushed Iraq to the back of newscasts and off front pages.

“Iraqi news was not been ignored by the Arab satellite channels’ newscast, it still exists, but has decreased sharply in the last two weeks,” said Sameeha Dahroug, the former head of Egypt’s Nile satellite channel…

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14095043/

See the whole Post / →

Dissector Daily Forum: Wow

July 31st, 2006 - by: danny

My special Saturday blog on the bombing of Lebanon led to the bombing of my blog in the form of so many thoughtful letters. I was inundated, thank you, but here is no way I can get to all of them today:

Richard Lee Dechert writes from the Twin Cities’

“Be careful! You may incite extreme soul-searching among the Christian crazies who fervently believe that Armageddon is just around a Lebanese corner. That assumes, of course, that any of them is remotely in touch with reality.

‘Nevertheless, kudos for your wide-ranging dissection.

Chris writes but what is he saying. Who be Judah?:

The internet is so cool. We can now sit at our computer and get news from around the world based more on fact than regional politically controlled media outlets. As an American who totally disapproves of my governments actions and had nothing to do with their stealing elections and coming to power to force an agenda planned for decades now, the worldwide anti-american sentiment amazes me. It is so interesting hearing the views of regular people in other countries. There seems to be a true common sense among the masses as we allow our leaders to bling us into oblivionÃ¢â‚¬Â¦”

ON ZBIG’S LATEST

Zbig Brzezinski: Israel’s Actions in Lebanon Essentially Amount to “the Killing of Hostages.” George Pumphrey wriets:

“Without explicitly stating it, Zbigniew Brzezinski compared Israeli actions in Lebanon and Palestine to the common practice of terror used
by the Nazis against civilian populations: killing hostages.This breaks an effective taboo imposed by the usurpation of the juxtaposiition of the terms Jews – an ethnic group – with the term Zionist/m – an ideology
- with the term Israel – a state…”

http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/Brzezinksi%20speech%207-20web.htm

“Cyberdad” writes:

“like your arguments and support your thinking. Let’s just hope and pray, that we are not too optimistic in our views of what’s to come. I shudder to think that there are far too many heads of state – such as those of Canada and Germany for instance – who are showing total support for the USRAEL powers. Thanks for well researched and writtenmaterial.

CYNICAL

Mark Arnold writes although ssn’t it interesting that when much of the analysis I cited came from Israelis, I stand accused of “cynical, pro-Palestinian diatribal coverage.” Diatribal – that’s a new one to me. The reference to human shields and the like seems to be the message point of the week,

“The best comment I can offer on your cynical, pro-Palestinian diatribal coverage of the current conflagration in the Middle East is from Charles Krauthammer, as follows: “When the United States was attacked at Pearl Harbor, it did not respond with a parallel “proportionate” attack on a Japanese naval base. It launched a four-year campaign that killed millions of Japanese, reduced Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki to a cinder, and turned the Japanese home islands to rubble and ruin….When one is wantonly attacked by an aggressor, one has every right – legal and moral – to carry the fight until the aggressor is disarmed and so disabled that it cannot threaten one’s security again. That’s what it took with Japan.

Britain was never invaded by Germany in World War II. Did it respond to the blitz and V-1 and V-2 rockets with “proportionate” aerial bombardment of Germany? Of course not. Churchill orchestrated the greatest land invasion in history that flattened and utterly destroyed Germany, killing untold innocent German women and children in the process.

The perversity of today’s international outcry lies in the fact that there is indeed a disproportion in this war, a radical moral asymmetry between Hezbollah and Israel: Hezbollah is deliberately trying to create civilian casualties on both sides while Israel is deliberately trying to minimize civilian casualties, also on both sides.

In perhaps the most blatant terror campaign from the air since the London blitz, Hezbollah is raining rockets on Israeli cities and villages. These rockets are packed with ball bearings that can penetrate automobiles and shred human flesh. They are meant to kill and maim. And they do.

But it is a dual campaign. Israeli innocents must die in order for Israel to be terrorized. But Lebanese innocents must also die in order for Israel to be demonized, which is why Hezbollah hides its fighters, its rockets, its launchers, its entire infrastructure among civilians. Creating human shields is a war crime. It is also a Hezbollah specialty.”

Nikolas writes from Cyprus:

“Please someone answer to me this question: Since the Americans can have everything they need/want legally why they insist in having/taking it illegally?”

“Rabbit” writes:

” Thanks for the analysis. Having read most of the articles you refer, Rabbit too had come to most of the same conclusions. I am inclined to believe the Israelis were on the Lebanese side of the border, mainly due to the number of reports saying this and still doing so.

I too read the Nasrallah interview and got the same impression that he seemed to be implying that Hezbollah did cross. I suspect this may have been something in translation.

Adam McConnel from Istanbul:

“Well it seems that the vast majority of news sources outside of the U.S. reported that the Israeli soldiers were captured inside of Lebanon. But isn’t this really just an academic debate? Israel routinely invades and destroys the West Bank and Gaza, as well as abducts whomever it pleases; Israel spent how many years in Lebanon?; Israel bombed Iraq’s nuclear plant way back when; Israel buzzed Bashar Asad’s *house* in Syria. These are just a few of the myriad of international violations of sovereignty that Israel has committed over the years.

“So if Hezbollah crossed the Israeli border with ill intentions, even if “unprovoked” (which is arguable at any rate given what Israel had been doing to the Palestinians in the previous weeks), there is unfortunately plenty of precedent, set by the Israeli government itself, for doing so. . .

Patrick Garry comments:

“Reasonable voices are kept far away from seats of power on all sides, so there is no impetus toward sincere and meaningful discourse. Elites play chess with the earth and her citizens, and until a majority of us take notice and stop buying into the illusion that things are otherwise this mass global dysfunction will persist.

Michael Tremblay writes:

“This war is far from over. It started in 1917 with the Balfour Declaration and realy escalated when Israel was formed. The lands belongs to the arabs and the UK had no right to give it away as it had no right in splitting it up in small countries to achieve control over the natives.

Jim P: “Equating the “left” as anti-semitic seems to be more a right-wing republican campaign device than reality. Name one national democratic leader who has not knelt in fealty to Israel? Feinstein, Mrs Clinton, or Lieberman or anti-Israel?”

Bill writes: “So long as one subscribes to the idea that “might is right”, you will never arrive at a balanced view, particularly when media becomes the tool for the progandist on both sides of the conflict.”

SUMMING UP

Mike James: “Silver spoon spoiled brat 60 yr old elitist fratboy recovering drug and alcohol addict aoler big free wheeling spender stem cell research rejecter murderinging killer puppet Bush is the main problem for the world. Its not the jews or arabs. They as blood brothers of sibling rivalry from 4k yrs ago will always fight but this Bush idiot retard has made it all worse and this is why 911 occured.

Robert McAllister writes:

“Is the whole wide Beautiful world going nuts, who is to blame, The Jews, The Muslims, Protestant America and The United Kingdom, why is The Vatican silent, sort it out before we world war 3 starts or is this the new phoney war, how long before Pakistan, Iran, Syria become the new Germany, Italy and Japan, theres something going on.

CH writes: “Thanks Danny for this great well written article.”

Veronica Raymond writes:

“Dear Danny, Please keep reporting coverage on this situation. We get mostly stupid stuff on the TV. I am so sorry one person tried to link you with Hitler. Impeach Bush before he starts World War 111!! I think that it may be too late.”

Jumana writes:

“I have been reading your pieces religiously, and not simply because you are preaching to the choir. i share your writing widely, hoping that americans, who rely on well-orchestrated and easily digestible soundbites from CNN, will find reason to pause, think, and eventually develop a taste for more substantive literature on the what’s really going on in the world (and at home). i also share your thinking with family and friends abroad, to give them hope, to confirm for them what they already know: that if americans knew what is really going on, many of them would be outraged.

David Friedlander writes:

“Thanks for your truly excellent coverage of the Lebanon war.

I’m not sure that most American Jews (hello, Jeanette Friedman!) really understand the stakes for them in this disaster.

As you know, some believe that the very well-organized Israeli lobby is controlling US policy in the Middle East. While it may appear this way, a simple look at the disparity in size and power between the two countries makes it clear who is really using whom. The tail does not wag the dog. Ever.

This does not mean,however, that there is no element of “freelancing” in the situation. Israeli militarists have learned over the years that they can have a fairly free hand in their lunatic schemes for regional domination,
and the US is very slow to reign them in.

But while their aggressiveness may make them “useful idiots” for the US, nobody should imagine for a moment that the US would continue to keep the Israelis as allies if they turned into a real liability. Israeli extremism and adventurism can put America’s policy-makers into a difficult fix, as seems to be happening now. It’s not hard to imagine a situation where ruling circles in our country decide that it’s time to stop supporting — or at least moderate their support — for Israeli aggessiveness. After all, the US has other friends and interests in the region.”

TIMOTHY MICHEL ON OLIVER STONE

“Danny, I was wondering if you had a chance to preview “World Trade Center” by Oliver Stone? I have a sneaking suspicion that it is a whitewash of the efforts to disclose the events that brought the world trade center down; which has been under investigation by private orginizations since 9/11/01. If it is, isn’t the timing curious in that the U.S. needs a boost in it’s support for the on-going war on terror and it’s tacit support for Israel in the destruction of Lebanon. It is also curious that the movie targets the 25 and under audience. I know that you are focusing on media bias, but I thought that this movie really represents another form of media commentary.

“Not having a chance yet to see a screening of the movie, I find it necessary to guess at the content in order to prepare for how to deal with yet another mega-dollar disinformaton campaign. I don’t in any way inply absolutely that this movie misleads the viewing public, I only suspect based on the reviews I have read that it may be a misleading representation of the events of 9/11. I may change my opinion when I actually see the movie, but I just want to be thinking about what to do in the event that this movie meets my worst expectations.

IN MEMORIAM: MURRAY BOOKCHIN, 1921-2006

A brilliant anarchist scholar/guru and activist has died. Janet writes:

“My sorrowful duty is to tell you that Murray drew his last breath at about1:20 this morning (Sunday). His passage through his last stage was
fortunately brief, and he was peaceful in his last hours. He died surrounded by loving friends and family members. His body will be cremated early this week, perhaps Tuesday. It is my hope that the tribute planned for August 13 in Burlington will become his memorial service.”

If you don’t know his work, check it out.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADIBA (NELSON MANDELA)

As someone with more than passing familiarity with Nelson Mandela’s contribution, let me associate myself with this commentary by South African born journalist Tony Karon:

http://tonykaron.com/2006/07/19/happy-birthday-comrade-president/

Thanks to all the readers who trekked through the 90 degree global warming weather to attend the more than respectable screening of In Debt We Trust yesterday in Rosendale NY. Audience interest suggest that there is a “market” and opportunity for the film. Now to take advantage of it….

Lets hope this week and next month turns out better than the ones before it. Keep your letters coming. I will run more tomorrow. Check out the new “back pages” feature on buried news on Mediachannel.org

Comments to Dissector@mediachannel.org

The News Dissector

Day 20: Bombs Pause; UN Talks Today

July 31st, 2006 - by: danny

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Media: Pressing the Press

July 31st, 2006 - by: danny

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Dissector Daily Forum: Wow

July 31st, 2006 - by: danny

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