>From Cooper:
Shell Shock
Fabulous. That's the only word I can use to describe the American political reaction to the war in Lebanon.
Condi Rice finally gets up off her arse after two weeks, she flys into Beirut and later into Rome and tells the world how the U.S. has pledged $30 million in sheets, blankets, and plastic sheet rolls to aid civilians in Lebanon. These are the same Lebanese who are standing under (or cowering under or running from) satellite-guided bombs expedited to Israel this week by the same administration Rice represents.
Condi puts her arms around the Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and has the brass balls to tell him, as his country is being flattened by America's closest ally, "Thank you for your courage and steadfastness." Now the PM must know what Fredo Corleone felt like when little brother Michael embraced him at their mom's funeral and (gave that sinister over-the-shoulder wink of the eye to his thug Rocco).
It's all a pretty macabre charade, if that. Condi isn't even making a pretense of pressuring the Israelis to halt their military offensive even as one-fourth the Lebanese population has been displaced and as the Israelis have apparently decided to bomb a UN observer post.
Nor does Condi wish to include the Syrians in any peace talks. Why include those who she claims are the key to peace?
But wait... there's more. Let's not forget the mighty opposition party in America, those brave souls offering sound critiques and level-headed alternatives to the Republican Administration.
[...]
Harry's Place on Galloway:
Galloway glorifies again in The Socialist Worker
Wow. The Socialist Workers Party doesn't just fail to disassociate itself from George Galloway's glorification of the fascist, Jew-hating Hezbollah and Hassan Nasrallah. Nor do they ignore his comments in hopes that the brouhaha will blow over soon. They actually publish an article by Galloway that concludes:
I glorify the Hizbollah national resistance movement, and I glorify the leader of Hizbollah, Sheikh Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.
[...]
Harry's Place on charges of Israeli war crimes:
As Kofi Annan and the usual gang of commenters-- with absolutely no evidence-- accuse the Israelis of deliberately attacking a UN outpost in Lebanon, allow me to quote from an interview with the Israeli historian Michael Oren:
On June 8, 1982... I was with a group of Israeli paratroopers and Special Forces outside of Beirut. We'd just fought a pitched battle in the city and were on a ridge eating breakfast in broad daylight. Our vehicles were marked with big orange panels for aerial identification. And while we were eating breakfast a squadron of Israeli Skyhawks descended on the column and bombed it. I had a piece of a cluster bomb pass right over my head. Twenty boys were killed, blown to bits. I asked a pilot, How could that happen? He said, "First of all we don't see the orange panels, we're moving too fast. But you know, in the fog of battle you could easily mistake one column for another." It happens.
Now I suppose even Kofi Annan and our smuggest commenters would concede that when Israeli Skyhawks bombed to pieces 20 Israeli soldiers, it was unintentional. But if those Skyhawks had instead bombed UN personnel or Lebanese civilians, the same people would have been claiming "deliberate attack" before the dust cleared.
[...]
Euston on July 2006 events (posted on their homepage)
The Euston Manifesto Group (EMG) Women and Feminism Group is looking for opportunities to discuss and collaborate with other broadly feminist networks. This group will develop a relationship between the EMG and women’s campaigns both in the UK and globally. The group will also promote women's involvement within the EMG.
[...]
So, Euston is thus far officially quiet on the topic of Lebanon. However, if you visit their "Recent posts from Euston Manifesto bloggers" page you'll read headlines such as: "Kofi Annan declares war on Israel" from the Euston affiliated blog, "Infotainment Rules".
A quick tour of the Euston cadre reveals enthusiasm for the mantra which begins with "Israel has a right to defend itself".
.d.
--------- She loves penicillin...and compromise. She's going to go for it
...................... http://monroelab.net/blog/