Month: July 2006

Conservatives, especially neoconservatives, and even some pro-Israeli moderates and liberals admire Israel’s use of muscular tactics to safeguard its security. Many conservatives also admire Robert E. Lee’s aggressive, offense-oriented tactical victories in the U.S. Civil War. But like Lee, who ultimately lost the war, the Israelis are exhibiting enormous strategic ineptitude. Lee, using the Napoleonic … Continue reading “Israel Is Winning the Battle, but Not the War”

“War wins nothing, cures nothing, ends nothing … in war there are no winners, but all are losers.” So said Neville Chamberlain on the eve of the war he had sought desperately to avoid, but which his own blunders would bring about. Chamberlain was mistaken. War ended Nazi Germany, though the cost was high: the … Continue reading “Syria Emerges Front and Center”

As Lebanon continues to be pounded by Israeli bombs and munitions, the justification for Israel’s invasion is treading on very thin ice. It has become general knowledge that it was Hezbollah guerillas that first kidnapped two IDF soldiers inside Israel on July 12, prompting an immediate and violent response from the Israeli government, which insists … Continue reading “Kidnapped in Israel or Captured in Lebanon?”

One of the preoccupations of the authors of the American constitution was defining the danger posed to the new body politic by political, social, and economic factions. “By faction,” James Madison, the Constitution’s father, wrote in the justly famous Federalist No. 10, “I understand a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or a … Continue reading “Madison’s Warning and
the Israel Lobby”

On July 13, John Bolton – our unconfirmed ambassador to the United Nations – vetoed a proposed Security Council resolution that would have demanded Israel halt its military offensive into the Gaza Strip. The resolution, "Condemning military assault being carried out by Israel, the occupying power, in the Gaza Strip, which has caused the killing … Continue reading “Bolton Lied”

As Lebanon’s civilian infrastructure is being destroyed by the Israeli air force and artillery, the Arab leaders are fighting their own petty "sectarian war." The first salvo of that war was fired by King Abdullah of Jordan in December 2004 when he described the emerging alliance as a "Shia crescent." He was describing the "coalition" … Continue reading “The Real Challenge From the ‘Shia Crescent’”

The Israelis are conducting not only a shooting war but also a propaganda war: if there is a way to "spin" the deaths of Lebanese civilians, the smashing of the infrastructure, and even the bombing of an anti-Hezbollah Christian-owned television station, then surely Israel’s skillful propagandists – here and in Israel proper – are bound … Continue reading “Danger! Legacy Ahead!”

Last week, Attorney General Alberto J. Gonzales testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee that the president had personally shut down a Justice Department investigation into the domestic eavesdropping program being run by the National Security Agency. According to Neil Lewis of the New York Times, “Mr. Gonzales made the assertion in response to questioning from … Continue reading “How the Supreme Court
Struck Back”

BEIRUT – Much of Beirut is a devastated city: infrastructure in many areas lies in a shambles after the Israeli bombing. But the Lebanese are also feeling devastated. "Does our country not have the right to move forward like other democracies?" asks Nidal Mothman, a 35-year-old taxi driver in downtown Beirut. "We hate the American … Continue reading “Lebanese Devastated as Bombing Continues”

NEW DELHI – After securing sympathy and support for fighting terrorism from the G-8 grouping of the world’s wealthiest countries in St. Petersburg, the Indian government is coming under pressure to harden its response to the recent Mumbai serial bombings, which killed 200 people. On Monday, the G-8 summit, to which India was invited as … Continue reading “India Mulls Tough Responses to Mumbai Bombings”