Given how busy I have been these past few days, juggling a number of different projects and obligations, I have not had the chance to blog as much as I would have liked, particularly on the situation in the Middle East.
That said, one of the great, good things about the blogosphere is that it provides a forum for a variety of different views on the topics of the day. And others have said many of the things I would like to have said. It seems that every time I have (what I believe to be) an original thought on the situation in the Middle East, another blogger (or pundit) has already expressed it.
In the past week, I have found that the best source for news on — and serious insights into — the situation in the Middle East has been a media outlet of which we are a proud member — Pajamas. So, to follow what’s going on in the Middle East, just bookmark their web-site and check it regularly.
One of the things which has struck me about the coverage of this crisis — compared to Israel’s last serious military offensive in Lebanon (in the 1980s) is that whereas back then, conservatives were not united behind Israel, today, nearly all serious conservatives support the Jewish State in its campaign against terrorism.
I don’t think it’s just 9/11 which reminded us that we are on the same side as Israel in the war against global Islamist terrorism. The conservative shift towards Israel intensified in the Reagan years.
As conservatives have become increasingly pro-Israel, this time, Arab nations have not united behind Israel’s adversary as they had in the past. A number of Arab nations, including Saudi Arabia “chastised Hezbollah for ‘unexpected, inappropriate and irresponsible acts’.” Except for France, even the Europeans seem to understand that Hezbollah and its Iranian patrons are responsible for the current crisis.
When I was growing up, the chief opposition to Israel in America came from the Right. Today, it is coming from the Let.
Not only do we see a new dynamic in American politics, but we are also seeing a new dynamic in the world, with Arab nations joining the free world in opposition to a terrorist organization. If this continues, victory in the War on Terror may not be as elusive as some fear.
-Dan (AKA GayPatriotWest): GayPatriotWest@aol.com
The Palestinian Party People may have just jumped the shark once too often. When Israel pulled out of Gaza (just as the ‘world community’ had been pressuring Israel to do), and the PPP repaid them by turning it into a base for rocket and terror attacks, the scales fell from a lot of people’s eyes. Even the lefties shifted from pro-Palestinian to “a pox on both their houses.” Leaving the PPP with just the die-hard anti-semitic fringe (CAIR, Int’l ANSWER, Pay Buchanan, France) for support. Israel, which maintained its base of support (i.e. people who are pro-democracy, and pro-America’s allies), wins the PR war by default.
Excuse me, but “Arab nations are” NOT “joining the free world in opposition to a terrorist organization.” If you think the Saudi monarchy and the Kuwaiti monarchy are “Arab nations”. . . you have no idea what you’re talking about.
The Saudi kings and princes = less than 1% of the population of Saudi Arabia. The remaining population (except for the torturers and police state apparatus) are NOT joining the western powers. Worldwide, the government most hated by the governed is the government of Saudi Arabia. While S.A. sits on trillions of dollars worth of oil, it only goes to the royal family, and the Saudi secret police and military, whose duty it is to keep the royal family in power and brutally put down all political opposition to the family.
So just because the Saudi government makes a pronouncement denouncing Hizbollah, don’t imagine that such a pronouncement in any way reflects the sentiments of the people of Saudi Arabia.
Dan
In fact, the purchasing power of the average Saudi has gone down an incredible 80% since the mid-1980’s. Yes, most Saudis are quite poor.
And important part of the Rights shift toward Israel has been the growing dominance of Christian Evangelicals in the GOP. (I’m not assigning a value judgment to that for the moment, but its just a fact.)
And the ideological forebears of those evangelicals were once the greatest source of anti-Semitism in America.
The important dynamic is not the “Arab street”, nor the semi- and demi-royals of questioable lineage…it’s that no Arab army will come to the aid of Hezbullah nor Hamas in this crisis. The extremists in both Movements have managed the impossible and managed to piss everybody-off. As long as the casualty-rates and destruction in both Israel and Lebanon remain equivalent to a major Cat-3 or Cat-4 hurricane rampaging over the Florida peninisla it’s a managable PR/damage-control/spin for the major powers. I suspect that the chancelleries in many Western and Arab capitals are secretly hoping that Israeli commandos actual catch some Iranian Revolutionary Guards in Lebanon red-handed while “on-vacation” manning the missile batteries.
Where’s Michael Totten? I thought the whole point of PJM was to have real time reporting from abroad. (Hey, did you know that it’s not illegal to for US Government to pay for propaganda if it’s on foreign soil.) We haven’t heard from him since Roger Simon told Totten’s friend, who was wining about being made a refugee in his own country, to “grow up.” Who is this “Callimachus” that seems to have replaced him? Is he posting from abroad?
My first thought about your “today, nearly all serious conservatives support the Jewish State in its campaign against terrorism” was along the lines of #4. Are the neo-cons being driven/pushed by the evangelicals who seem to be anticipating the end of the world? Has Robert Novak suddenly become an unqualified supporter of Israel? Do the Nixonians who are still around support Israel when Israel isn’t bombing Hezbollah?
It is to be hoped the conservative support is real and not driven by the need for votes from their evangelical base this November.
Finally, let us all hope this Israeli strategy works.
Are the neo-cons being driven/pushed by the evangelicals who seem to be anticipating the end of the world?
Yes, folks, it’s “Proclaim Your Ignorant Stereotypes” Night on GP.
Well, V the K, what Gene and Gryph need to do is to draw attention away from the fact that the people who run their party, like Kos and Cindy Sheehan, not only blame the Jews for the world’s problems, but are actively trying to expel Jews who don’t hate Israel from the Democratic Party (i.e. Joe Lieberman).
Thus, they use this shady “apocalypse” theory to hide the real anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism that controls their party ideology.
You are probably right, ND30. Just the statement that neo-cons take their orders from evangelicals who support Israel because of End Times philosophy just betrays a gulf of ignorance about neo-conservatives and evangelicals. But it’s spouted here as unquestioned fact, the same way Democratic Underground treats ‘the controlled demolition of the WTC’ as unquestioned fact. As if its impossible for conservatives to support Israel simply because Israel is a free, democratic, US ally.
It also occurs to me that those of us who were skeptical when Israel withdrew from Gaza, and said it would only give the PPP a base to launch terror attacks on Israel, were derided by lefties and self-described moderates as racists and hatemongers. Since it turns out we were right and they were wrong, do you think there’s any chance they will admit we were right and they were wrong? When pigs fly, I guess.
9/11 reminded us that our support for israel and presense in the middle east is immoral and we face great danger if we continue either. nothing else.
Where is Michael Totten? Was his wife living with him in Lebanon? Are they okay?
anon- michael totten, my all time least favorite journalist, actually had to close down the comments part of his blog because he dared insult his zionist benafactors by lamenting the destruction of his former beirut neighborhood by israeli missiles. He’ probably at Gitmo by now
VdaK, of course NDXXX is right about the real motives behind the radicalLeft trying to spin anything away from their party’s failure to embrace the Middle East’s only functional democracy. How many PLO flags does one see at a union rally in the states, an immigrant rally, a go-green rally and –the bottom of the barrel– an anti-war rally? There are usually right next to the GayPride flags.
The ReliRight isn’t responsible for turning conservatives nor the GOP toward a pro-Israeli position… to think otherwise is utter bunk. I can’t believe how the failed GayLeft continues to elevate the role of the ReliRight in all things –as if to smear anything they can by projecting an alliance with something religious. Bunk from the bigots.
Conservatives like Buckley, Russell Kirk, Jeanne Kirkpatrick, Rumsfeld, Cheney and others have supported Israel out of an understanding that a strong democracy in the region is to our advantage. Last time I checked, our country’s tab in aid to Israel topped $6.7b.
It’s only when the Democrats come into office that America begins to put pressure on Israel to moderate its standing and “improve” relations with arabs (meaning give away strategic land)… and then invites murderous thugs like Arafat to dinner at the WH. Gheesh.
none of those people you named are conservatives. they are trotsky worshipping neo cons, hence their anti conservative beliefs in big government and wars of choice.
[Your assumption that neo cons worship Trotsky proves how little you know about this political philosophy. –Dan]
dan- google “neo con trotsky “
lester, were you talking to ME?
As someone smarter than me put it, the difference between Israelis and Hisbullah is that when Israelis kill civilian, it’s because they missed their target. When Hisbullah kills civilians, it’s because they hit their target.
lester’s ideological blood-brother: Spanish PM Zapatero
v to the k- I’m not a socialist. I just got through pounding on the neo cons for being communist. which they absolutely are to the hilt.
… in backwards-land where “communist” means “capitalist democrat”.
P.S. It’s true that some neo-cons are EX-60s liberals and (certainly in the case of David Horowitz and others) EX-communists.
Operative word EX. (Except in backwards-land where “ex” actually means “current”.)
I must have missed the meeting where Paul Wolfowitz declared the need to collectivize agriculture and denounce parasites to the local kommissarr.
v to the k- more like perpetual revolution and international hegemony via the super state. less “ex” than calorato might think.
Irving Kristol, the father of not only the comedian Billy Kristol, but also of neo-conservatism, was definitely a Trotskyite. No question about that.
What’s amusing is that Rupert Murdoch, the Australian media mogul, is sponsoring their publication activities in the US, while at the same time sponsoring the Fox TV channel and the FX cable channel, both of which would be anathema to the Faux news crowd, a couple of tittie publications in the UK and so forth. Murdoch used to sponsor Sky TV, which was also sent into Germany over cable, but that seems to have gone by the waywide.
What’s amusing is that the Faux News sycophants seem to swear by their evening line-up. I just wonder, though, just what is their demographic. They get a lot of talking-about, but who are they pitching to? You can usually tell by the nature of the commercials that they carry–Nexium, the purple pill? I don’t watch Faux News, so I don’t know who they expect their audience to be.
I don’t watch Faux News, so I don’t know who they expect their audience to be.
Yeah, but utter and complete ignorance of a topic has never stopped you from expressing an opinion about it in the past.
Murdoch still owns Sky News, which is the Fox News equivalent in the UK. Which is another reason why BBC viewership is diminishing by leaps and bounds, the last time I checked.
Regards,
Peter H.
Gene Healy gets at what I find is the main distinction between neoconservatives and real conservatives or classical liberals:
“The current squawking also strikes me as a useful reminder of how very, very important war is in the neoconservative vision. It is as central to that vision as peace is to the classical liberal vision … Who we’re fighting is secondary. That we’re fighting is the main thing. To be a neoconservative is to thrill to the sound of gunfire. (From a nice, safe distance, generally.),”
http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2006/07/19/war-without-end/
I don’t know if PJM founder Roger Simon was a red diaper baby, but Bruce Kovner sure was. See “George Soros’s Right-Wing Twin – The Most Powerful New Yorker You’ve Never Heard Of,” by Philip Weiss (New York Magazine, August 8, 2005)
http://www.newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/news/people/features/12353/index.html
And picking up on the theme of gunfire from a safe distance, we’ve got Max Kampelman. His conscientious objector status during the war against Hitler was obtained for him by Evron Kirkpatrick, husband of Jeane.
Dan, were you a red diaper baby?
Lester: Russell Kirk was most definately not a neo-conservative. They hate him! He believes in small government and local control.
lester, in number 12, proves he’s become our resident imam.
Out of respect for those who died in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania on 9/11, in Madrid on 3/11 and in Loncon on 7/7 Bruce and Dan ought to delete imam lester’s Islamic crap.
#28 Peter Hughes — July 20, 2006 @ 5:17 pm – July 20, 2006
Murdoch still owns Sky News, which is the Fox News equivalent in the UK.
Unless it changed since they last carried Sky News on Munich cable, Sky News is hardly similar to Faux News in the US.
When we’re in Munich, I don’t pay attention to cable TV, except for Euronews (euronews.net) and n-tv. Sky News was dropped a number of years ago. They do carry CNN, but out of their studios in the UK.
trace- I’m trying to prevent another 9/11. We are a republic not and empire. Rome fell when it crossed the rubicon. That’s what 9/11 was. I almost lost two members of my family in that thing. I’ll say what I want.
Islam is an empire. You can’t go into Somalia or Darfur anymore than you could have gone into red square in Stalins time and handed out “aid”. I know what islam is and I know it isn’t compatiable with America. that’s why I say we get out of there lock stock and barrel. and with a couple of our tax dollars. war IS big government.
well israel is missing a whole lot of targets arent they now that they managed to kill more than 300 civillians.
they are quite a lousy army i feel and quite a waste of us investment in hardware when they can be taken down by a ragtag army of guerrillas. but then so has the us.
and as far as the saudi government they are even worth the shit off the ground