The wall at the end of history
July 26th, 20080 Beginning around 100 BC, the fabled Silk Road brought goods and travelers from China and Central Asia, through the lands of Persia and Mesopotamia, and over to Palmyra in Syria. One branch of the road then turned south, crossing through Bethany, the Biblical village on the outskirts of Jerusalem, as it headed west from Jerusalem to...Rethinking Afghanistan
If elected, Senator Barack Obama has the possibility of reengaging a world which seeks an America not defined by Abu Ghraib or Guantánamo — but a familiar America that is defined by the democratic ideals to which we aspire. His election, allied with smart and humane policies, could help restore this country's global reputation — and...A new moderate voice on U.S./Israeli relations
For too long now, when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and other issues of war and peace in the Middle East, the mainstream media and too many politicians in the United States have deferred to the most extreme right-wing positions represented by organizations such as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)...Linking Obama with Islam and terror is a double offense
The cartoon cover page of the July 21st issue of The New Yorker depicts Obama the "Muslim," and his wife the "terrorist." While the Obama campaign finds the cartoon unfair, Muslims find it pejorative and profane. Muslims wonder: "Is Islam considered a plague in America?" The New Yorker has taken an aggressive editorial step...Imperialism, Islamophobia and the “war on terror”
The events of Sept. 11 have to be seen in two ways — as the predictable and inevitable consequence of our unchecked imperial policies and as the growth of Islamism as the only popular alternative to the status quo. The irony is that these aren't mutually exclusive forces; in fact, more than anything, they reinforce each other....Prospects for the Syrian-Israeli talks
Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said last week that the indirect talks which his country has been conducting with Syria in recent weeks through Turkish intermediaries would shortly make way for direct negotiations. This has been widely interpreted as a sign that progress is being made. By highlighting the talks with Syria,...Militance and defiance in the Middle East
WASHINGTON — One of the frightening lessons one learns from spending time in Washington, DC is that most of the men and women who make or influence American policy in the Middle East actually have little or no first-hand experience in the region. They know very little about its people, or its political trends at the grassroots level...Credit Card Fair Fee Act unfair to consumers
Americans hold nearly $1 trillion in credit-card debt, according to data just released by the Federal Reserve. Now Congress wants to make that burden even heavier. Some misguided lawmakers are pushing legislation that would saddle consumers with fees that retailers don't want to pay. Under the deceptively named "Credit Card Fair Fee...Vertical ID makes underage drinking harder
Five years ago, Michigan began to approach the problem of underage drinking in a different way — vertically rather than horizontally. A law went into effect on July 1, 2003, requiring the issuance of vertical (portrait) style driver's licenses or personal identification cards to individuals under the age of 21. As a result...The problem with Iran
This week David De Batto posted an article on rense.com called "An Iran Attack Scenario — A Catastrophe." With his extensive background in intelligence, military service and on the ground service in Iraq, DeBatto makes a compelling case for a colossal global mess. Some might say that he deliberately cobbled together the worst case...The alternative to an Israeli attack on Iran
Is war between Israel and Iran inevitable? To listen to Iran's radical President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, or Israel's Iranian-born transportation minister Shaul Mofaz, or even recent reports that Israel carried out a major military training mission over the Mediterranean to rehearse an attack on Iran, you might be left with that...The madness of attacking Iran
DUBAI — History, language and culture might separate Iran from the rest of the Middle East. But physically and geographically, the Arab world and Iran are very close – closer than they might like to think. When the last big temblor hit the Islamic republic, flattening the ancient city of Bam and killing 26,000 people in December...U.S. trying to “legalize” permanent occupation of Iraq
In recent weeks the Bush administration has intensified its longstanding effort to make the U.S. occupation of Iraq permanent. First choice is to coerce the U.S.-backed Iraqi government to sign an ostensibly "bilateral" agreement — what the White House would like to call a "status of forces agreement" (SOFA). The administration is...Sarkozy’s straight talk is promising
President Nicolas Sarkozy's state visit to Israel on 22-24 June was striking for the candor with which he addressed his hosts. He spoke as an intimate friend — certainly Israel's best friend in Europe — but he did not mince his words, both on his arrival at Ben Gurion airport and a day later in the Knesset. "The time to make peace...Beyond the dominant paradigm
On June 6, two different events were reported in the press that, on the surface appeared entirely unrelated. but were in fact deeply intertwined. The first was the trial of 9/11 planners and Osama bin Laden's operations chief, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four others in what the New York Times called "the centerpiece of the Bush......
The fittest survive in Lebanon
BEIRUT -- My fellow Lebanese, come pick up your Medals of Immunity, since nothing seems to shake you anymore. There was a bomb, you say? We still don't have a president? Another leader just got assassinated? There are clashes in parts of Beirut? Gunshots were heard? So then, what's the safest route to go to the bar tonight?...The American war machine heads for Iran
It is as if the invasion of Iraq either never happened or was a stunning success. The drumbeat for harsher measures against Iran is taking a strikingly familiar path to the buildup to the Iraq invasion six years ago, according to a new organization in Washington, DC. Last week, an advertisement appeared in Capitol Hill......
Israel and the Samson defense
At a gathering last May 26, Jimmy Carter said Israel possesses 150 nuclear weapons. Carter's revelation is the first credible public acknowledgment by a former U.S. president that Israel possesses a nuclear arsenal. Israel has never admitted having nuclear weapons, nor has any U.S. official ever deviated from that Israeli line. But...Obama, Israel and AIPAC
After months of a tough and bitter race, a merciless struggle, Barack Obama has defeated his formidable opponent, Hillary Clinton. He has wrought a miracle: for the first time in history a black person has become a credible candidate for the presidency of the most powerful country in the world. And what was the first thing he did...Deadly fallout from Obama’s groveling before Israel lobby
Like a Muslim undertaking the Hajj, the once in a lifetime trip to Mecca, or a Catholic chancing to see the Pope speak from his Vatican window, presidential candidates seemingly long to trudge to the annual AIPAC conference to pay fealty to Israel and its lobby. This year we were fortunate enough to witness John McCain, Barack...Away from politics: Arab women sing
On the 60th anniversary of al Nakba, it has become clear more than ever before that there are two worlds, two concepts and two future prospects for the Middle East, especially as far as the Arab-Israeli conflict is concerned. The international media was busy highlighting the 60th anniversary of the birth of Israel to the total......
Won’t get fooled again (yes we will)
I don't get the love affair a lot of people seem to have with Senator Barack Obama. People attach an aura to him as if he's sent by God to right the wrongs of Satan's son, Dubya. To a certain extent, it's understandable; the sorry state of affairs that's been this decade's status quo makes the 1990s look like "Happy Days," with...Arabs are the enemies of one another
"We are the enemies of one another, I'm sad to say. We all hate one another, we deceive one another, we gloat at the misfortune of one another, and we conspire against one another. Our intelligence agencies conspire against one another, instead of defending us against the enemy. We are the enemies of one another, and an Arab's enemy......
Six days of war, 41 years of hell
Regardless of which side one supports in the Arab-Israel conflict, the 41 years since the Six Day War has been a disastrous period of time that has gone well beyond a chalk mark in the win/loss column. Of course, there's still a propaganda war over it, although there is no reason for disagreement. Israeli Defense Minister Moshe...How the senator won the war of words in Iraq (again and again and again…)
The Iraq war was a disaster for Iraq, a disaster for the United States, a disaster for the Middle East, a disaster for the world community, but most of all, it was a disaster for the experts. They were wrong about its difficulty. (It was to be either "a cakewalk" or "a walk in the park" — take your pick). They were wrong about how......