RSSArchive for July, 2006
Is Israel Fighting a Proxy War for Washington?
Hizballah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said a curious thing Saturday: Israel has recognized reality and is ready for a cease-fire in Lebanon, Nasrallah claimed, but it is the U.S. that insists that it fight on. And if you read the analysis of Ze’ev Schiff, the dean of Israeli military correspondents and an enthusiastic [...]
Eating Sandals in Red Hook
Other people’s pupusas
Okay, I’ll tell you, because I trust and respect you. And actually, because the Gothamist alreayd told you about it two years ago.
The best-kept food secret in Brooklyn is a sandal. A huarache to be exact. Or at least that’s the vernacular in which you have to order the oblong corn-flour [...]
The Dems Don’t Get Iraq, #324
The Congressional Democrats are in a huff over the fact that Iraq’s prime minister Nuri al-Maliki has attacked “Israeli aggression” and refused to condemn Hizballah over the current conflagration in Lebanon. How can the U.S. be listening to such a man, they demand. He doesn’t support the U.S. position or goals in the Middle [...]
Six Fallacies of the U.S. Hizballah Campaign
Is Iran Driving the Conflict?
People outraged by the hundreds of Lebanese killed in Israeli bombing raids over the past week may be tempted to see in the U.S. rush to ship Israel extra supplies of bombs and missiles to rain down on Lebanon, and in its diplomatic effort to prolong rather than end the conflict [...]
Putin’s Restraint
While I agree entirely with the call for Israel to respond with restraint and proportionality to the Hizballah attacks across its northern border, I’m not so sure that President Vladimir Putin has much credibility in making the point. Putin told the G8 summit Israel’s violence was “out of all proportion” to the Hizballah provocation, and [...]
Back to Reality: Does the World Cup Still Matter?
Golden Boot? 2006 Was About the Golden Shin Guard
It was tough defenders with an ability to raid
the flanks like Zambrotta, rather than forwards
like Totti or Luca Toni, that shone for Italy
As a football spectacle, Germany 2006 was pretty grim: It was all about cast-iron defensive organization and packed midfields strengthened by double columns [...]
Condi, You’re Killing Me!
Anyone who has any Hamas numbers in their rolodex should call them and tell them to, uh, do the right thing so that we can get President Bush’s vision back on track and stuff…
Thus Condi Rice on the current mayhem in Gaza: “We are also calling on the international community to help Prime Minister — [...]
Berserk in Gaza: Olmert Blows It
World Cup blogging continues here — but there’s more to life than football, Barry, so read this too!
Even before the Palestinians committed the cardinal sin of electing Hamas to govern them, Israel had no intention of negotiating with Mahmoud Abbas. Instead, Ariel Sharon was pursuing his strategy of unilaterally redrawing Israel’s boundaries, on the grounds [...]
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If I Was a Blogger...
... on Lebanon/Iran democracy claims
Elliot Abrams isn't telling you the whole truth about Lebanese democracyGuest Columns
The Pathologies of Israel's Guilty Conscience
Guest Column: Eitan Bronstein The proposal to legally bar the commemoration of the Nakba on Israel's Independence Day reflects growing trepidation in Israel about the inevitable encounter with the Palestinian Nakba and the understanding that the Nakba is a foundational part of Israeli identity....Glancing Headers
The Shebab, the Shahids and the Champion's League Final
The Shebab gunman on the left appears to be a Gunner, i.e. an Arsenal fan... In honor of today's Champion's League final, I republish my op ed that ran in the National a year ago. What was most fascinating about the photograph of the Somali gunman who was part of the crowd dragging the body...Annals of Globalization
The Shebab, the Shahids and the Champion's League Final
The Shebab gunman on the left appears to be a Gunner, i.e. an Arsenal fan... In honor of today's Champion's League final, I republish my op ed that ran in the National a year ago. What was most fascinating about the photograph of the Somali gunman who was part of the crowd dragging the body...99c Blogging
Is Israel Planning to Provoke Iran?
My, oh my, where would we be without a free press in Israel? Haaretz's Aluf Benn today not only outlines how Netanyahu is continuing to build momentum -- and public expectation -- for war with Iran, but he also offers some insights into just how the Israelis might go about positioning themselv...Featured Analysis
Why Obama Must Shackle Bibi
Without any sense of irony, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told fellow paranoiac Jeffrey Goldberg that Iran is ruled by "an apocalyptic messianic cult." Yet, as Goldberg makes clear, perhaps inadvertently, Netanyahu himself is guilty of the same: His view of Iran as simply the latest ...Unholy War
Israel's Apartheid Anxiety
Israel fears being targeted by a grassroots boycott movement of the type that was so effective in pressuring South Africa to end apartheid In a remarkable interview last November, the Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert cautioned that unless it could achieve a two-state solution quickly, Israel...The Whole World's Africa
Congo's Not Africa's WWI, It's Worse Than That
If there is a European analogy to be applied in the Congo, it would be the brutal Thirty Year War in Germany that ended in 1648Shameless Cronyism
Embedded with the Jihadis
My crazy friend Nir Rosen goes on embed with the Taliban, and finds out just why the U.S. can't win in AfghanistanRebellion Into Money
Why Joe Strummer Was a Socialist
Hint: It had nothing to do with bailing out banksA Skeptical Read
All the Hysteria That's Fit to Print, Take II
Now the New York Times wants you to take seriously the idea that the prime issue for the American voter is the danger of al-Qaeda acquiring nuclear weapons. Oh, grow up!Could Die Laughing
Whatever Became of that Nice Mr. Blair...
The problem with a global conversation between Muslims and Christians refereed by Tony Blair? Two words: Tony Blair.Hear! Hear!
Bush's 'Peace' Effort Imperils Peace
Daniel Levy explains why the farcical negotiations between Olmert and Abbas actually undermine the prospects for Mideast peaceA Wondering Jew
Israel is 60, Zionism is Dead, What Now?
Israel at 60 is an intractable historical fact. It has one of the world's strongest armies, without peer in the Middle East, and its 200 or so nuclear warheads give it the last word in any military showdown with any of its neighbors. Palestinian militants may be able to make life in certain parts...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 BalkansCuisine
Yummy yummy Umami
Why a leftover lamb bone turned a bean stew into an ecstatic eventHousekeeping
'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 themNew York Moments
The Debka Made ‘Em Do ItFrom Tony's Archive
A Playground Lesson for Bush
How a spontaneous alliance of jocks, do-gooders and lesser bullies against the biggest bully at the school changed the balance of power at Milnerton Primary
