RSSArchive for June, 2006
The Miami ‘Terror’ Bust: Where’s Flava?
First thing I thought when I started reading (and writing about) the “plot” to blow up the Sears tower in Chicago, was: Where’s Flavor Flav with his giant pocket watch?
Rather than trained terrorists for whom stealth and secrecy is the golden rule, these guys seem to have strutted around a poor African-American neighborhood in Miami [...]
Is This Zionism or Anti-Semitism?
What would you call a politician who said that the “national homeland” of French or American or Argentinian Jews was not France or the U.S. or Argentina, implying that they were properly part of another nation with its own homeland (and therefore not really part of the French, U.S. or Argentinian nation)? I don’t know [...]
Bush to Iraq: Try Socialism!
Now here’s a turnup for the books to confound the Naomi Klein crowd who think Bush invaded Iraq to impose free-market globalization on its economy: As part of his new plan for what some in the media call a “post-Zarqawi Iraq” (ding-dong, the witch is dead…) President Bush has suggested to Iraq’s new prime minister [...]
Suicide as PR
So, it turns out that one of the three detainees who committed suicide at Guantanamo over the weekend was due to be released but had not been told. But if that seems a poignant comment on the whole system of holding prisoners entirely beyond the reach of the law, one can’t help but notice [...]
Zarqawi Death Suggests the U.S. Has Brought the Baathists in From the Cold
Late last year, after Musab al-Zarqawi’s group bombed hotels in Jordan, I wrote that the move would widen the rift between Zarqawi and the nationalist-Baathist leadership of the Iraq insurgency. It was already clear back then that the U.S. was negotiating with the latter element, and that these guys would have happily killed Zarqawi [...]
The Latest
A Skeptical Read
Rosner, Haaretz's Itchy Beard
The right-wing nationalist blogger always seemed a little out of step with his paper's editorial line. Now, Carter's visit has provoked him to growl menacingly at the editorsA Wondering Jew
Healing Israel's Birth Scar
With the 60th anniversary of Israel's birth -- and of the Palestinian Nakbah (catastrophe) -- which are, of course the same event, almost upon us, I was reminded this week that April 9 was also the 60th anniversary of an event that has long epitomized the connection between the creation of an et...99c Blogging
All Hat, No Cattle #7682
President Bush loves playing the Bad Cop, but anyone vaguely familiar with the routine knows not to take the Bad Cop seriously.The 51st State
A Teachable Moment in Basra
It should come as no surprise that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's disastrous offensive against the Mahdi Army of Moqtada Sadr in Basra has had the exact opposite effect of that intended -- strengthening rather than weakening Sadr, and making clear that he, and the Iranians, have far greater in...Futures Market
Will Russia Partition Kosovo?
Why my tea-leaf reading suggests that Moscow has a nasty surprise in store for Washington in the BalkansGuest Columns
Iraq and U.S. Faith in Violence
Guest Column: Alastair Crooke warns of a dangerous fantasy that persists in Western capitals in which the West faces an "onslaught" from "radical Islam." The problem is that this intersects all too tragically with a the persistent belief in Washington and elsewhere that by applying its overwhel...Cuisine
Yummy yummy Umami
Why a leftover lamb bone turned a bean stew into an ecstatic eventGlancing Headers
Spare Us More 'Globalization & Football'
The claim that Egypt's Cup of Nations win "proves" that stronger domestic leagues make stronger international sides is not born out by football's bigger picture. In fact, the teams that do best internationally are those with weaker domestic leaguesShameless Cronyism
Is Israel-Iran Enmity Irreversible?
No, it isn't. Two of my favorite commentators, Daniel Levy and Trita Parsi, explain whyHousekeeping
'Lost' Entries on Rootless Cosmopolitan
Previous entries that now register as "not available" are ones that got left behind in a server migration. We're working on retrieving themUnholy War
U.S. Pours Gasoline on Gaza Fires
Once upon a time, Israelis and Palestinians looked to the U.S. to intervene at moments of heightened confrontation to mediate between the two sides and contain the damage. The Bush Administration, however, has proved entirely incapable of playing this role, because its own interventions are hidebou...The Whole World's Africa
South Africa's Racist Present
Guest Column: Sean Jacobs. What to make of the racist torture incident at a South African campusFeatured Analysis
Obama and the 'Jewish Vote'
The problem with Obama, for the Zionist establishment, is that they can't be sure he hates the Palestinians enough. The deeper problem for the Zionist establishment, of course, is that Jewish Americans are flocking to Obama despite their coded warningsAnnals of Globalization
Honey, I Shrank the Superpower
In a snide reference to Bill Clinton's 1992 promise to "build a bridge into the 21st century," Barack Obama recently quipped that what Hillary Clinton really offers is a bridge back into the 20th century. Yet, a bridge back into the last century may be what all the major candidates are offering when...Could Die Laughing
Mearsheimer, Walt and the Erudite Hysteria of David RemnickNew York Moments
The Debka Made ‘Em Do ItFrom Tony's Archive
A Playground Lesson for BushRebellion Into Money
The Rebel Grace of Patti Smith
