dagblog - Comments for "Juan Cole: W-Leaks: Israel Plans Total War on Lebanon, Gaza"

My timidity was not knowing

we are stardust — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 00:15:00 +0000

In reply to ? Why the timidity re:"(If it

My timidity was not knowing Aftenposted; I've read mainly the Guardian on Wikileaks, and it's so easy for readers to cry "oh, another attack by Israel; yawn."

I thank you for the links; I'll try to read them tonight, and also thanks for sharing some of what you know by paying closer attention. So many places to look these days, it's easy to pick six or seven and concentrate on them. There aren't enough posts on the ME; I don't write about it because of my ignorance. I trust a few writers, and Juan is one.

? Why the timidity re:"(If it

lally — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 00:03:09 +0000

In reply to Juan Cole: W-Leaks: Israel Plans Total War on Lebanon, Gaza

? Why the timidity re:

"(If it weren't from someone as solid as Juan Cole, I wouldn't have posted it.)"

Aftenposten articles concerning their release of wikileaks cables are quoted by many sources. I have a big problem with their refusal to link to the original documents but that unfortunate trend is more common than not among those who consider themselves to be our journalistic gatekeepers. (One of the exceptions happens to be the "leftist" Lebanese Arabic publication Al_Ahkbar that is determined to bust open the embargo on critical stories imposed by regime-affiliated news sources.)

Things have changed since the discussions between Ashkenazi and our congresscritters; the assesments of Israeli security types vis a vis the real threat situation to Israel's civilian population have grown more dire in the interim due to the numbers of rockets/missiles in HA's (and Syria's) arsenals and more importantly, their ability to fire them in a tactically strategic manner.

One would hope that "deterrence" has truly become a two-way street when it comes to more Israeli war adventures. Counterintuitive to some, voices expressing cautionary warnings often come from the highest ranks of Israelis who have served in Israel's military/security sectors.

Aluf Benn's recent article about the soon-to-retire Ashkenazi finally going public about an attack on Iran and the real prospect of forging a peace deal w/Syria illustrates some of the thinking along these lines by those who understand the situation first hand:

http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/week-s-end/ashkenazi-s-ladder-to-the-top-...

Note that it's Israel's political "leadership" that posses the most dangerous threat to regional stability. In that context, this Haaretz' report detailing Defense Minister Ehud Barak's tight control of the access of "foreign officials" to Israel's "top Army Brass" and his refusal of Dennis Ross' requests to meet with them one-on-one compounds the impressions of an Israeli governing coalition that is hellbent on blowing things up regardless of the consequences:

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/barak-blocks-army-brass-from-m...

God, Lulu; after reading it I

we are stardust — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 19:04:00 +0000

In reply to Stardust, I had already read

God, Lulu; after reading it I read Stephen Walt's piece at FP Mag, "Where do bad ideas go?", and one of his explanations, of course was Special Interest Groups and how they can dominate politics. One of his examples was how it's become taboo for anyone in federal office to bring to light any serious debate or criticism of Israel, , which then breeds the outcome of Bad Ideas and the history of same never being changed.

Add in our and our uber-alliance, and financial support, to the tune of billions a year, and there aren't many public checks. I was reading at Salon about the group of conservatives who met with the MEK before Christmas and urged them to overthrow the government of Iran, MEK having been designated a terrorist organization...it's all so crazy, the shadow foreign policy movements operating outside of our government and within in it. God knows what they can stir up that the world then pays for.

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2011/01/03/fran_townsend_terrorism/index.html

Stardust, I had already read

A Guy Called LULU — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 18:26:00 +0000

In reply to Juan Cole: W-Leaks: Israel Plans Total War on Lebanon, Gaza

Stardust, I had already read that article but I am glad you posted it as encouragement for others to notice it too. I wonder if this particular bit of information will be picked up and given any significant coverage by the MSN.
As you probably know, I take seriously the possibility/probability that the warmongers are serious and that they might be successful in getting their wars. In a related article about war today, Tom Engelhardt deals with the U.S. war machine and in part the mongers that managed that machine and got us into Iraq and Iran.

The 23 men and two women who signed the initial PNAC statement urging the United States to go for the military option in the twenty-first century would, however, prove something more than your typical crew of think-tank types. After all, not so many years later, after a disputed presidential election settled by the Supreme Court, Dick Cheney would be vice president; I. Lewis (“Scooter”) Libby would be his right-hand man; Donald Rumsfeld would be Secretary of Defense, Paul Wolfowitz, Deputy Secretary of Defense; Zalmay Khalilzad, head of the Bush-Cheney transition team at the Department of Defense and then the first post- invasion U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, as well as ambassador to Iraq and UN ambassador; Elliot Abrams, special assistant to the president with a post on the National Security Council; Paula Dobriansky, Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs; Aaron Friedberg, Deputy Assistant for National Security Affairs and Director of Policy Planning in the office of the vice president; and Jeb Bush, governor of Florida. (Others like John Bolton, who signed on to PNAC later, would be no less well employed.)
http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175336/tomgram:_engelhardt,_war_is_a_drug/