In NEWSWEEK, here
What drove so many Libyans to volunteer as suicide bombers for the war in Iraq? A visit to their hometown—the dead-end city of Darnah.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Reservist Hopes Documentary Will Help Israelis Confront Disquieting Lebanon Conflict
In the WaPo, here
"....But the reality of war turned out to be far different from what he had expected. "I was really naive going into this war," said Mozer, who still looks the part of the soldier, with his muscular build and shaved scalp. "I thought that if the commanders were going to war, they must know what they're doing."
Instead, Mozer and his fellow troops received conflicting orders, inadequate protections and an inscrutable strategy. The goal was to stop the rockets, but Hezbollah's Katyushas continued to streak across the sky throughout the war's 33 days. Soldiers slept in the open in orchards that could turn at a moment's notice into fields of fire. Units were ordered into Lebanon, then hastily pulled back when they encountered the enemy.
While the war was ostensibly launched to save the lives of two Israeli soldiers who had been seized by Hezbollah, the troops that Mozer encountered expressed deep hurt at the lack of care that the military's leadership seemed to show for their lives.
"Somebody sent soldiers to die," a weary Capt. Reuven Saadon tells Mozer from the front seat of an armored Humvee as he drives back from Lebanon. "That is the clearest thing I can say."
"..The neighbor from Hamas is dispossessed, and we have property. The neighbor is hungry, and we are well-fed..."
In Haaretz, here
"...The neighbor is a murderer, but the neighbor is not delusional. He has good reasons to hate us. Exactly 60 years ago, we deprived his mothers and fathers of their land. We emptied out their villages. We destroyed their homes. We wiped their Palestine off the face of the earth. And in the great heat of May-July 1948, we sent them south, in long columns. We sent them all the way to Gaza, like the biblical Hagar, leaving in their hearts that deep pain that over the years became a deep hatred, a deep hatred that became a claim for absolute justice. An absolute justice that leaves no room for life. Certainly not for our life...."
Sadr threatens new uprising in Iraq... until Liberation
AP via HuffingtonPost, here
"So I am giving my final warning ... to the Iraqi government ... to take the path of peace and abandon violence against its people," al-Sadr said. "If the government does not refrain ... we will declare an open war until liberation."
".. I was invited to one briefing at the Pentagon...asked some awkward questions and was not invited again.."
Lang in "They did not drink the Koolaid?", here
Saturday, April 19, 2008
"Let's see... What is going on at present in Iraq"
1- The intensive pushing and shoving among the Shia politico-military factions continues with the "Iraq Security Forces" (Dawa/Badr/Hakim/ISCI) seeking to leverage American support for enough power to neuter Moqtada al-Sadr and his band of merry Mahdists (or Mahdinistas if you prefer) before the putative provincial elections in the Autumn. (maybe there won't be elections if the neutering does not go well)
2- The US continues to insist that its chosen Iraqi faction has already achieved the status of "legitimacy" in the eyes of "the Iraqi people." No. It has not, but, you never know, this might work if we stick with that idea for enough years. McCain would give us the chance to find out if that is possible.
3- The Iranians continue to play all sides against the middle waiting to see what happens. Who knows? We might even decide to talk to them on a serious basis.
4- The Sunni international jihadists (AQ in I) are trying to stage a comeback by blowing themselves up in suicide attacks against the "Sons of Iraq." This is unlikely to have much political effect since the Sunni Arabs have pretty much opted against them. (The fish in the sea... Remember that old stuff?)
Bottom line, "there will be blood," but not as much as there used to be. pl
"Our reign of terror"..., by the Israeli army
In shocking testimonies that reveal abductions, beatings and torture, Israeli soldiers confess the horror they have visited on Hebron, ...In the Independent, here
"....In a confessional interview with the Israeli Channel Two investigative programme Uvda, Gigi, who had previously been in many ways a model soldier, talked of "losing the human condition" in Hebron. Asked what he meant, he replied: "To lose the human condition is to become an animal."
Friday, April 18, 2008
Syria, US at Odds Over Hariri Probe
Zagorin in TIME, here
".....Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, a senior Republican who recently visited Syria, last week publicly suggested that the U.N. inquiry into Hariri's killing could be reduced in scope in exchange for greater security and political cooperation from Damascus in key areas of U.S. concern...."
Iran Sanctions hit sour note in Congress....
In CQ, here
"There has been no agreement between the United States and Iran nor the subcommittee chairmen and the Bush administration, and what emerged from the hearing was probably not unlike the tenor of the international negotiations themselves, with two sides talking seriously about an issue of overriding international concern but neither side budging...
... Members badgered and begged the two witnesses — Jeffrey Feltman, principal deputy assistant secretary of the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs for the State Department, and Daniel Glaser, deputy assistant secretary for terrorist financing and financial crimes at the Treasury Department — to offer the slightest evidence that administration efforts to stop Iran’s nuclear-enrichment program had showed any signs of progress. With each increasingly agitated question, the witnesses’ positions only grew more entrenched...."
... Members badgered and begged the two witnesses — Jeffrey Feltman, principal deputy assistant secretary of the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs for the State Department, and Daniel Glaser, deputy assistant secretary for terrorist financing and financial crimes at the Treasury Department — to offer the slightest evidence that administration efforts to stop Iran’s nuclear-enrichment program had showed any signs of progress. With each increasingly agitated question, the witnesses’ positions only grew more entrenched...."
Defense University Study: "Iraq is a Debacle" ...
A former Pentagon Official NDU/Study, in McClatchy's, here
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Hezbollah is recruiting Sunnis, training in Iran for a possible second war with Israel...
Blanford in CSM, here
"....A European diplomat in Beirut, who has been watching Hizbullah's preparations, likened attacking the organization to "punching a sponge" – it absorbs the blow then bounces back – and questioned whether Israel still fully appreciates what it is up against.
Hizbullah's military buildup is not confined to Shiite Lebanese. Sunnis, Christians, and Druze also are being recruited into reservist units called "Saraya," or battalions.
Building ties to Sunnis serves for Hizbullah the double purpose of expanding support while also helping improve Shiite-Sunni relations, strained due to political divisions in Lebanon. ..."
Bush & Senior Democrats ask Carter to cancel Hamas meeting ...
In CQ, here
"....Before the trip, David Welch (who is in BEIRUT today) , assistant secretary of State for Near Eastern affairs, discouraged Carter from meeting with Hamas as well. The Islamist group does not recognize Israel’s right to exist and the United States designates it a terrorist organization...."
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