Archive 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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