Anthony H. Cordesman, Centre for Strategic and International Studies, January 9: What is the strategic purpose behind the present fighting? After two weeks of combat Olmert, Livni, and Barak have still not said a word that indicates that Israel will gain strategic or grand strategic benefits, or tactical benefits much larger than the gains it…
Showing all posts tagged Hizbollah
Let the man be heard!
Joe Wurzelbacher, aka Joe the Plumber, is soon to head to the Middle East “to interview ordinary citizens about life in the crosshairs of jihad“. Conservative columnist Michelle Malkin writes that the American liberal media elite loath an average, non-Ivy League man daring to explain the truth about the Middle East. Sure thing. Joe has…
The cards are shifting (and Israel missed the press release)
Zvi Bar’el, Haaretz, January 4: Hamas, as it turns out, has a single definition for victory. Like Hezbollah, Hamas knows that a few hundred rockets will not crush Israel, but rather serve as critically-needed leverage to establish its presence as a prominent and active decision-making force in the inter-Palestinian arena. This goes beyond Hamas’ standing…
Who is the butcher?
Is history repeating in Gaza? A legendary interview from CNN in 2006 relating to Israel’s war against Hizbollah: KURTZ: And joining us now here Washington Anne Compton who covers the White House for ABC News, and Thomas Ricks, Pentagon reporter for “The Washington Post” and author of the new book “Fiasco: The American Military Adventure…
The policy on Israel
My following article is published in Dawn, Pakistan’s leading English-language newspaper: During this year’s US presidential campaign, both Republican nominee John McCain and Democratic contender Barack Obama expressed unwavering support for Israel. It was the only country in the world that required constant loyalty tests. Obama told the leading Zionist lobby, AIPAC, that he would…
Shifting sands of Israel/Palestine
My following talk was presented today to a full room at Harvard University: Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government/Centre for Middle Eastern Studies ME Forum, 24 November 2008 The Shifting Sands of the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: An Australian Perspective Antony Loewenstein Australian Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, speaking in March this year at a United Israel…
Good riddance to bad rubbish
Israeli peace group Gush Shalom explains why just resigned Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is a disgrace to his country (and to Jews everywhere): Nobody will shed a tear as the political career of Ehud Olmert grounds to its end. In the two years he had at the helm of the Israeli ship of state,…
Zionists (mainly) to blame
US Jewish blogger Phil Weiss hears leading Palestinian speaker Rami Khouri talk about the (welcome) shifts in the Middle East since 9/11: I wondered how long it would take him to get to the Arab-Israeli issue. It was about 30 minutes. From then on it was all that anyone could talk about. He did not…
The next chapter of Salam Pax
Years after Salam Pax, aka The Baghdad Blogger, became world famous for writing about life under Saddam and the American invasion, he’s now living in London, studying journalism and helping to launch new online initiative, Mind the Globe. Here’s his post from late May: You want to know why Muqtada is so popular? Look at…