There are always multiple causes for an event so complex as a war and what's going on now between Israel and Hezbollah fighters based in Lebanon has gone well beyond the skirmish phase. However, the current conflict is to a considerable degree an example of...
Fury Grips Syria Over Lebanon Attacks
DAMASCUS The daily Israeli bombardment of Lebanon and the floods of refugees pouring in have set off a wave of anger through Syria. "How can people watch this destruction in Lebanon and do nothing," Hassan Majed Ali, president of the Union of Engineers in...
Invasion of Lebanon Plays Into Hezbollah’s Hands
JERUSALEM After pounding Lebanon from the skies for nine days, the Israeli army has begun, without any official announcement, the ground phase of its military operation, with thousands of elite troops having crossed the border into south Lebanon to hunt down...
Backing for Israel Stymies Larger US Aims in Region
Washington's strong backing hedged by occasional calls for restraint for Israel's 10-day-old military campaign in Lebanon has won it very few friends in the Arab world, despite recent criticism of Hezbollah by pro-U.S. governments in the region,...
Israel’s Disproportionate Violence No Surprise
The general surprise that Lebanese civilians are taking the brunt of Israel's onslaught and the unwillingness in some quarters of the media to report the fact reflects a poor understanding of Israel's historical use of violence. Since its birth six...
Karzai’s Cabinet Proposes Return of Religious Police
An Afghan government proposal to reestablish the notorious Department for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has raised concerns among U.S. human rights advocates. Under the Taliban, the virtue and vice department enforced restrictions on women and men...
Stop That Shit, Indeed
A woman, an immigrant from Russia, throws herself on the ground in total despair in front of her home that has been hit by a missile, crying in broken Hebrew: "My son! My son!" believing him dead. In fact he was only wounded and sent to the hospital. Lebanese...
Democracy, Iraq-Style
I love the president. President Vladimir Putin. At the G-8 summit in St. Petersburg, "our" president, George W. Bush, observed, apparently without irony: "I talked about my desire to promote institutional change in parts of the world like Iraq where there's a free...
Mideast Conflict Boosts Chances of Iran-US Showdown
The week-old Israeli-Hezbollah conflict is likely to boost the chances of U.S. military action against Iran, according to a number of regional experts who see a broad consensus among the U.S. political elite that the ongoing hostilities are part of a broader offensive...
Normal Life Impossible in Iraq
Living in Iraq is becoming absolutely impossible. The numbers tell part of the story. The United Nations announced Tuesday that, on average, 100 Iraqi civilians died every day in May and June. According to the report, about 2,700 civilians were killed in May and 3,100...


