News & views …

Billmon:

Freedom Fries No More

Billmon:

[M]aybe things would have to get infinitely worse before Arab soldiers would turn their guns on their officers, or Mukhabarat attack dogs would sink their teeth in the throats of their masters. Maybe the pain and humiliation of watching Lebanon destroyed by American bombs dropped from Israeli planes isn’t enough. But the puppets themselves are showing signs of a growing unease. They know how much depends on the loyalty of the hired help — or at least its continued willingness to obey orders.

A Mukhabarat Moment

Billmon:

Hirohito Watch and Mysterious Failure

Bernhard:

Five thoughts on Lebanon:

There were cultural(1) and economic(2) reasons for Israel to attack Lebanon. But there are several hints that the current attack is a premature ejaculation(3).  Disarming Hizbullah is only possible by rearranging the inner Lebanese political system(4). An effective UN force in Lebanon will need a tough air-defense and marine component. A new Lebanese political system has to evolve to secure that nation(5).

Cont. reading: Premature Ejaculation +

Billmon:

Peter Principle

Billmon:

In other words, if it’s an Article 7 cease fire, Israel would be obliged under a UN Security Council resolution to respect fully the territorial sovereignty and integrity of Hizbullahland — and a fully locked and loaded Hizbullahland to boot.

Now ain’t that a kick in the pants?

Of course, the Jewish State could always count on the USA to veto any attempt to enforce the damned thing, but it’s still hard to imagine a more potent symbol of Israeli’s failure in this war, and the implications of that defeat for the "new" Middle East.

II. Important If True

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I. War is Peace

As commentator jj pointed out, the Cheney administration is now implementing the military justice enabling act. This law will finally make ALL terrorist supporters likely defendants at military commissions. This without those over-boarding rights they think they deserve.

The issue in itself is not really that important, the Washington Post puts it on A4, but for the fun of it, lets us take a look at their outragious liberal interpretation:

Cont. reading: Military Enabling Act of 2006

Billmon:

II. Day Dream Believer

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I. Dude, Here’s Your Civil War

Today’s Los Angeles Times editorial is exemplary for the current U.S. diplomacy thinking.

Fiddling While Iran Arms

– Russia and China delay meaningful U.N. pressure on Tehran –

THE U.N. SECURITY COUNCIL issued another ultimatum to Iran on Monday: Give up on your nuclear weapons program by Aug. 31 — or we’ll hold yet another meeting to discuss your fate.

Of course the U.N. security council issued nothing like this.

Cont. reading: LAT Editors Diplomacy

Billmon:

The Israelis, of course, could always threaten to withdraw from their hard-won buffer zone if the French Foreign Legion (or somebody) won’t step in and take over, but that’s not exactly a credible threat, since it would bring Hizbullah and its rockets right back to the border again — much to the delight of the Arab world and to the Jewish state’s great embarrassment.

II. Surrender Monkeys on Strike

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I. Boss Man

Billmon:

Anyone who has even a smidgeon of knowledge about, or experience in, the Middle East, and who says he is absolutely, 100% certain he has the right answers, is either a liar, a fanatic, or Tom Friedman — which is to say, a world-class educated fool.

Blair, unfortunately, is all three.

The Stranger

Billmon:

War Crimes Galore

Billmon:

So here’s my confession: At this point I really don’t give a flying fuck whether the Democrats take the House or the Senate back. No, wait, that’s not true. The truth is I hope they don’t. It wouldn’t save us from what’s coming down the road, in the Middle East and elsewhere. It wouldn’t force President Psychopath to change course or seek therapy. But it would make sure that the "left" (ha ha ha) gets more than its fair share of blame for the approaching debacle.

That may well be the natural role of the Democratic Party in our one-and-a-half party system, but I don’t want any part of it any more.

A "Bad" Sign

Billmon:

My guess is that in the end, if Uncle Sam really wants some "peacekeepers" to help Uncle Ehud out of his jam, he’s going to have to provide them himself, which essentially would mean making Israel’s war our war — literally. First Afghanistan, then Iraq, now Lebanon? Someone needs to explain to Shrub the concept of the tar baby.

We’ll see how it goes, I guess — how much time, how much blood, how much insanity, how many lies. I said a few days ago I thought the Israelis would probably be happy just to return to the status quo ante (meaning before Hizbullah’s cross-border raid.) It appears I was wrong. Instead they want to go back to the status quo pre ante — that is, all the way back to their bloody, 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon, only this time against an even more experienced, more determined and better armed guerrilla resistance force.

The Meat Grinder

Open thread …

Billmon:

For the Sake of the Children

Billmon:

IV. Beau Geste

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III. Uncle Ho Has a Bad Trip

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II. Not Ready to Make Nice

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I. Rush Takes the Islamofascist Line