War-Withdrawal Syndrome (WWS)

Democracy, Iraq, Neoconservatism, War

Neoconservatives are suffering from War-Withdrawal Syndrome (I just made that up; it’s not yet in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). We haven’t launched one in quite a while and they’re growing restless watching Israel steal their thunder. “Where is our cowboy president,” they’ve been groaning lately.

The main complaint assorted Beltway types make is that the President hasn’t been sticking his nose as much into affairs not his or ours. Come to think of it, that’s not entirely true. The other day I was watching news while on the awful elliptical at the gym (were it not necessary to cross train to keep strong for outdoor running, you’d never catch me in the place), when I almost fell off laughing.

With Putin at his side, Bush launched into a lecture—albeit a watered-down one—about democracy. Then he stepped into the doggie doo-doo of Democracies: Iraq. To illustrate his “point,” he mentioned the wonders of that “democracy” (minus the 150 people plus dead daily). Putin shot back as quick as a whip: “I would not wish for a democracy such as Iraq’s.”

In any case, WWS is easily cured. For neocons expressing a yen for war and framing any lack of aggression as appeasement, I recommend special camps. Ship—em over to Iraq, for a couple of months (as needed) in the war zone.

'Israel Risks Squandering Moral High Ground'

Israel, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

“Israel’s pulverizing of Lebanon—blowing the place to kingdom come, killing hundreds of civilians, and displacing thousands—threatens to sunder its moral superiority.

True, the blame for civilian casualties lies indirectly with Hezbollah … which targets civilians and hides among them. Although necessary, this fact, however, is not sufficient to exempt Israel from responsibility for its direct actions. For those, Israel can’t shirk accountability. It can’t claim it didn’t intend to take out civilians when Israeli generals can both see and foresee the devastating results of their bombardments.”

That’s one conclusion I reach in my WorldNetDaily column, “Israel Risks Squandering Moral High Ground.” But things aren’t that simple, so read on…

‘Israel Risks Squandering Moral High Ground’

Israel, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

“Israel’s pulverizing of Lebanon—blowing the place to kingdom come, killing hundreds of civilians, and displacing thousands—threatens to sunder its moral superiority.

That’s one conclusion I reach in my WorldNetDaily column, “Israel Risks Squandering Moral High Ground.” But things aren’t that simple, so read on…

"Yo, Blair, How Are Ya Doin'?"

America, Britain, Bush, Middle East

By now everybody has seen the footage of a masticating Bush, at the G8 summit in St Petersburg, who, mouth agape, barked at Blair:

“You see, the thing is what they [Russia] need to do is to get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this shit and it’s over.” And, “I felt like telling Kofi to get on the phone to Assad and make something happen.”

Magnus Linklater of Times Online “rather warmed to Mr Bush’s gangsta rap summary of the crisis in Lebanon.” I must echo Linklater, this time, even though I’ve consistently opposed Bush over the years, describing him as “a bulldog with more bite than brains.” He can amuse, though. And to be fair, Dubya has a point this time.

Linklater’s is, however, a qualified amusement, with which I too concur:

“…the picture that emerges of the Bush-Blair relationship, revealed by that brief snatch of overheard conversation, is a depressing one. Even allowing for the verbal shorthand in which they talk, there is something shallow and simplistic about their world view. Neither gives any indication that they are pursuing a dynamic or creative approach to solving the current crisis, and policy seems to consist of a few half-formed ideas spun out at random. An approach to the hellish bombardment of Beirut that reduces negotiations to a quick image-building trip to the Middle East, and refers laughingly to a key player in Syria, does nothing to suggest a firm grasp of the situation.”

I would venture, furthermore, that the base (and basic) Bush-Blair banter does a lot to dispel conspiracy theories about what Our Leaders get up to when they think the microphones are off. Tinfoil-hat types often bang on about hidden agendas (and wars for Israel and oil). But, as is rather obvious, what you see is what you get.