Archive for July, 2006
July 31, 2006 at · Filed under middle east, politics
another news item brought to my attention by tom.
the french foreign minister visited lebanon to show france's solidarity with lebanon. from the sound bites quoted in the media he made remarks regarding iran's role in the region. he said that "iran is a key player in the Middle East and plays an important stabilizing role in the region" and "We think more than ever than the Iranians are an important and respected actor".
maybe he meant to use "could", "should" and "would" and just forgot. maybe it was lost in translation. maybe he is just trying to fill the vacuum left by the incompetent US foreign policy and crisis handling. maybe he believes what he says.
iran could play a stabilizing role. but it is currently doing the opposite. sending money to extremists fueling violence. encouraging provocations. i can think of more stabilizing actions.
iran should be an important and respected actor. iran has the history, size, scale and aspirations to lead the muslim world. they could send money to build schools and universities in lebanon, rather than build bunkers and terrorist training camps. it could invest in infrastructure and health care, rather than invest in rockets and missiles. it could invest in growing its own economy and culture, rather than invest in building nuclear weapons.
my guess is that the french foreign minister has read the "clash of civilizations", and is trying to apply its logic to the present situation. i think his logic is flawed, or just ahead of its time. maybe once the current radical is out of office, maybe when the ayatollahs are out of power, maybe when the muslim world will stop pitying itself and blaming the west, maybe then.
July 31, 2006 at · Filed under middle east, politics
tom sent me this link to a blog that is going into excruciating detail analyzing the abuse of the Qana tragedy (i refuse to call it a massacre) for PR purposes.
he also sent me a couple of links to blogs that are putting together a conspiracy theory, claiming the hezbollah is responsible for making the building collapse. i don't believe these conspiracy theories have any merit, but i don't doubt that the hezbollah is doing its best to gain as much as possible from this event.
like many things in this conflict this is done on both sides (abusing tragedies for PR purposes), and also like many other things the hezbollah is taking it to the extreme and is acting according to a completely different moral code. israel would publish photos of death and destruction, but would never parade bodies of children and pose to cameras trying to generate the most dramatic scene possible.
the palestinians did similar things in jenin a few years back. they actually spread bodies of animals in the debris, letting them rot, and then taking reporters on a "horror tour" with the unbearable smell as an extra spice to the drama.
these things are unbelievable, but true. it goes beyond cynicism. it is just disgusting.
July 31, 2006 at · Filed under middle east, politics
gorillasushi sent me a link to a site that tries to illustrate the difference in casualties between israel and lebanon. i assume moiz syed was trying to show the imbalance between the losts (btw, i didn't check into the accuracy of the numbers, but it looks about right - taken from the BBC).
i think it is nor surprising that there is such a discrepancy. this is not a conflict between equals. israel has much more fire power and capability to inflict damage. in that sense the israeli response is indeed using "restraint" as requested by the US (i guess restraint is a relative term..)
i think the following point should be made over and over again. it is important to make the distinction between the target of the attacks. while the hezbollah is aiming its rockets at civilian population, with the intent to cause civilian deaths, israel is directing its power at military targets and infrastructure (which israel stopped doing, and i thought was a mistake), and is trying to avoid collateral damage (as the Qana incident shows israel has nothing to gain and all to lose from civilian casualties).
i think israel will be willing to live with the PR disadvantage of less casualties, vs the alternative..
July 30, 2006 at · Filed under middle east, politics
israeli kids writing messages on artillery shells about to be launched at lebanon.
lebanse kid dressed up in hezbollah uniform looking to grow up and become a martyr.
does not look like a promising future.
July 30, 2006 at · Filed under middle east, politics
on the 19th day of the conflict an israeli air strike on the village of Qana killed 54 60 people, among them 37 children. in 1996 an israeli bombing killed 100 civilians in Qana, which caused israel to stop its "Grapes of Wrath " operation against the hezbollah.
in israel's defense:
- israel has warned Qana residents days ago to leave the village
- hezbollah is firing rockets at israel from within the village
- while it is not clear that this is true in this case, israel usually targets a specific building when there is hezbollah militants in the building
but. and there is a big but. there are 37 dead children.
this is not an easy moral debate. in a war when an enemy is using civilian population as a shield, the other army can either engage in face-2-face, door-2-door infantry battles, or can bomb from a distance, avoiding casualties but causing collateral damage. the immorality of one side (firing and hiding among civilian population) generates immoral results by the action of the other side (killing of civilians).
i believe that israel is doing a justifiable thing when it is bombing a building where there is clear hezollah activity. the hezbollah cowardliness is as much (or even more) to blame. this is on the macro, strategic level. but in a day when israel kills 37 children, every israeli should feel blame. every israeli should seriously question whether israel is doing the right thing, are the generals going to far? maybe much of this is about pride? what is the long term solution, and do the current actions bring israel any closer to this solution?
i think this a good day to stop shooting. maybe the two sides will understand they let this madness go to far.
July 30, 2006 at · Filed under religion
big surprise mel gibson is antisemic.
the born-again christian, self declared saint, talking directly with god (together with george bush) was caught driving under the influence. not a big surprise. it is kind of mandatory in hollywood.
this is better than the usual DUI case because mel gibson is so careful about his image as a new-born saint, doing god's work on earth, etc. so it is always fun to see these hypocrites fall and issue apologies to their shocked fans.
but this is one is even better. when i saw the news preview tonight it showed mel apologizing for "despicable" "out of control" statements "that I do not believe to be true". i immediately went online to try and find out the details. such a preemptive PR means he really messed up.
not surprising i came upon the above linked article. it seems that the alcohol let loose his antisemitic true self came out for a short performance. according to the arresting policeman gibson "blurted out a barrage of anti-Semitic remarks about 'Fucking Jews.' Yelled out 'The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world.' Then asked, 'Are you a Jew.'
i thought it was pretty clear he is anti-semite when i saw the passion of the christ. but it seems now there is no need to read into the nuances. you can't get much more clearer than that.
gibson said in his PR "…I have battled with the disease of alcoholism for all of my adult life and profoundly regret my horrific relapse. I apologize for any behavior unbecoming of me in my inebriated state and have already taken necessary steps to ensure my return to health.”
blaming the "disease of alcoholism" is really pathetic (but this is a topic for another post). there is a saying in the Talmud that a person is known according to his behavior in three situations: kiso (his pocket, how a person acts when his own money is concerned), koso (his glass, his behavior under the influence of alcohol) and ka'aso (his anger, how the person behaves when he is angry).". I believe there is a lot of truth to this statement, and i keep finding out how much it is true time and time again (with regard to myself and others).
so i believe the real mel gibson has showed his face. he is a closet (now out) anti-semite and an hypocrite. i for one do not accept his apologies.
P.S
i think that with the beard he looks a lot like Saddam Hussein in his new look..
July 29, 2006 at · Filed under middle east, politics
in the past couple of weeks i have been getting several chain-emails with israeli propaganda.
below are the two most common pictures being sent around. plus there is a video of an arab american lady being interviewed in al jazeera (watch on youtube).
beside the fact that i think israelis should be able to produce a propaganda in better quality, i think that is an indication of the mood in israel. it seems like the big parts of the israeli public went back to the rhetoric of 20 years ago (before the first intifada), when israel lost its moral compass (or maybe it never had one), and everything was painted in black and white, good vs. evil. arabs are ruthless savages and israel is just an innocent small country trying to defend its meager land.
i hope that the current conflict and public despair will not erase all that was learned in recent years in terms of empathy to the other side, the realization that israel is not a saint, that the arabs are not monsters, and that diplomacy, peace negotiations and reconciliation is the only way to bring an end to the conflict.
July 27, 2006 at · Filed under middle east, politics
i think israel should make a strategic decision with regard to the future of the current conflict.
in my opinion there are two options:
- Cease Fire together with International involvement
- Significantly escalating the military operation
the current status of air campaign together with a small ground force going from village to village is not effective.
i personally think that the path should be a Cease Fire. the Lebanese government and Hezbollah did not expect this type of reaction from Israel. they now understand that there is a heavy price to pay for these types of provocations. the International community should step in with peace keeping forces working together with the Lebanese army in southern Lebanon, and with the clear goal of disarming Hezbollah. at the same time the G8 should drive pressure on Syria and Iran to stop their support of Hezbollah.
there is a good chance this will diplomatic effort will not work. and Israel will have to enter into a military conflict sooner or later (in the meantime it will have to make it clear that efforts to arm the Hezbollah by Syria and Iran will not be tolerated). but i believe it is worth giving it a chance.
the other option of escalating the military operation means recruiting the reserves, a long battle, casualties, the inevitable loss of civilian life, economic impact, etc. and the ever true reality that it is much easier to start a war than to end it, with many surprises in the middle.
so if there is a chance to avoid all the mess why not give it a try?
one of the answers may be that people like wars. men mostly. it is an adrenaline rush. it is exciting. a sense of purpose. soldiers in their eagerness for action seem to spend more time dreaming of glory and comradeship than thinking about the chances of getting killed or wounded. with so many armed conflicts these days and throughout history you just can't avoid the conclusion that people actually like going to war.
July 26, 2006 at · Filed under middle east, politics, religion
it has now been 15 days since the start of the Hezbollah - Israel conflict.
at this stage i am bit confused regarding israel's goals and strategy. there is a question of what is the goals israel is realistically trying to achieve. is the goal to completely destroy hezbollah? just drive hezbollah from the border? create a new status quo? return the kidnapped soldiers? cause a civil war?
what ever the goal may be. it seems to be it is about time for israel to stop bombing civilian targets (e.g. power plants, airports, bridges), and focus just on hezbollah targets. by now i am sure the lebanese government and people got the message that israel holds them accountable for a militia working out of their supposedly sovereign country. continue this almost indiscriminate attack and that message may be forgotten.
i think israel should try to let parts of lebanon to return to a relatively normal life, while continuing the campaign against hezbollah in the south. to think that bombing beirut on a daily basis will cause people to start fighting hezbollah is a flawed logic.
i also don't understand why israel should send ground troops into lebanon fighting from bunker to bunker, village to village (WWI style). the type of fighting that is bound to generate casualties and gain little if any long term strategic advantage.
July 25, 2006 at · Filed under general
last night just as we were getting ready to go sleep we heard gully barking really loud, and started smelling a really foul smell. as i stepped out to the deck the smell was overwhelming. gully was barking/trying to catch a skunk, and the skunk sprayed him with his awful smelling stuff stored in his anal scent glands..
the skunk was young and small, but the stink it generated was amazingly strong. this is a great defensive mechanism. if i was a predator i will put the skunk at the last place on my menu. it is not worth it.
we took gully to be groomed and try and take out the smell. the groomer said it may take 2 MONTHS to remove the smell completely.
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