Antiwar.com Blog

An interesting piece in Haaretz by Efraim Halevy, former chief of the Mossad and National Security advisor to Ariel Sharon, about the wonderful potential of American Empire in the Middle East:

“At present the United States is torn between the immediate need to ensure a safe flow of oil, while maintaining close ties with the existing government in Riyadh, and the fear that every day that passes without genuine reform in Saudi Arabia is not only bringing the fall of the House of Saud closer but is also heightening the danger that the new rulers will take an extremist approach to the “infidel” states of the West. Thousands of citizens from Western countries live in Saudi Arabia, in well-fortified compounds that protect their families. These extreme measures of protection reflect the constantly widening gulf between the local population and the foreign guests.

Few observers of the Middle East scene are actually taking a good hard look at the situation in Saudi Arabia and examining coolly the terrifying scenarios, one of which might ensue. Some believe that there is a real danger that extremist religious figures will seize power in Saudi Arabia and establish an “Al-Qaida state” in Riyadh. Others note that the national identification of large numbers of the country’s population with the Saudi entity is feeble and that their main attachment is tribal or local-regional. Thus, a revolutionary situation might cause the disintegration of the state and the creation of parallel regimes in various regions of the kingdom.

In a visit to the United States two weeks ago, I was told by several well-informed observers that should one of the more severe scenarios come to pass, the United States will have no choice but to deepen its presence in the Middle East. To that end, it will have to renew the draft, to ensure that there are enough forces to deal with developing situations in countries like Saudi Arabia.

Superpower in the `neighborhood’

From being a superpower that exerts a potent influence in the Middle East, the United States has become a player that is present in the region. Its pattern of activity in Iraq illustrates not only the determination of President Bush to act consistently to realize his policy in Baghdad. There is a good possibility that Iraq will not be the last country in the region that will require a lengthy American military presence. The U.S. campaign in Iraq was perceived as a signal of long-term American commitment to do whatever is required and to stay in the “neighborhood” for as long as needed. It was none other than Martin Indyk, the former U.S. ambassador to Israel, who not long ago raised the idea of establishing an American trusteeship regime in the areas of the Palestinian Authority, if it should turn out that the Palestinians are not ripe for self-rule. That arrangement would require an American operational military presence along Israel’s border with the Palestinian territories.

The shapers of the basic political approach of the Bush administration say that the United States plans “to be in the area” for as long as 10 years and more, if needed. Speaking in a semi-closed forum during a visit to Israel a few months ago, Bill Kristol, one of the most influential “neocons” (neoconservatives) in the United States, noted in this connection that the American presence in Europe after World War II lasted for nearly 60 years. Israelis who are trying to promote a role for NATO in the region, in one form or another, are actually promoting a generation-long American presence.”

Sounds great so far, what else?

“In the light of the accumulated weight of all the developments cited above, it is possible that the favorable surprise of the years ahead will be nothing less than the containment of Iran and the neutralization of the danger it poses to Israel – without Israel’s having to consider whether to cope alone in the face of what it justly construes as the potential of a genuine existential threat.”

Potential Existential Threats everywhere beware! The U.S. is on its way to protect Israel from you. At least until we go bankrupt.

Saturday on the Weekend Interview Show (4-6pm eastern time): In the first hour, the interview will be about something that has nothing to do with foreign policy or terrorism cases, but in the second hour, I’ll be interviewing survivor V.Z. Lawton about the real story of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah building in 1995, and no, Laurie Mylroie, It wasn’t Saddam.

Update: Show’s over, Archives.

Sibel Edmonds to lead protest over government secrecy Thursday morning

Today was to be the oral hearing on Sibel’s lawsuit fighting the State Secrets Privilege imposed over her case. The court has made the extraordinary decision to close the hearing to the public and to Sibel as well. Please come help show our outrage about the excessive secrecy imposed on her case! Sibel is organizing an impromptu protest in front of the courthouse.

Where: E. Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse, Court of Appeals Courtroom, 333 Constitution Avenue, N.W., 5th Floor, Washington D.C.

When: Thursday, April 21, 9:00 a.m.-noon

Edmonds, a former Middle Eastern language specialist hired by the FBI shortly after 9/11, was fired in 2002 after repeatedly reporting serious security breaches and misconduct. Edmonds challenged her retaliatory dismissal by filing a lawsuit in federal court, but her case was dismissed last July after Attorney General John Ashcroft invoked the so-called “state secrets privilege,” and retroactively classified briefings to Congress related to her case.

The government has argued that every aspect of Edmonds’ case involves state secrets — including where she was born and what languages she speaks — and therefore cannot go forward. Edmonds is appealing to the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to reinstate her case. Several 9/11 family member advocacy groups filed a friend-of-the-court brief in her support. Ann Beeson, Associate Legal Director of the ACLU National Office, will argue on behalf of Edmonds. Oral arguments will be heard on April 21.

Beth Daley
Director of Communication
Project On Government Oversight
666 11th Street, NW, #500, Washington, DC 20010
Phone 202-347-1122 Fax 202-347-1116

Sibel Edmonds’ Website

Don’t tell Campus Watch, Victor Davis Hanson, or other self-proclaimed defenders of Western civilization, but the classical Athenian historian Thucydides obviously hated all that is right and good. On the consequences of the Peloponnesian Wars:

Practically the whole of the Hellenic world was convulsed, with rival parties in every state – democratic leaders trying to bring in the Athenians, and oligarchs trying to bring in the Spartans…. To fit in with the change of events, words, too, had to change their usual meanings. What used to be described as a thoughtless act of aggression was now regarded as the courage one would expect to find in a party member; to think of the future and wait was merely another way of saying one was a coward; any idea of moderation was just an attempt to disguise one’s unmanly character; ability to understand a question from all sides meant that one was totally unfitted for action. Fanatical enthusiasm was the mark of a real man, and to plot against an enemy behind his back was perfectly legitimate self-defense. Anyone who held violent opinions could always be trusted, and anyone who objected to them became a suspect…. As a result…there was a general deterioration of character throughout the Greek world. The plain way of looking at things, which is so much the mark of a noble nature, was regarded as a ridiculous quality and soon ceased to exist. Society became divided into camps in which no man trusted his fellow.

Jeez, what a weak-kneed Spartafascist fag. Sounds like he wasn’t antiwar, just on the other side.

This morning, as I sat down to the computer, I did what I do every morning: went straight to David Horowitz’s Frontpage website. I need a good laugh first thing. This particular morning, however, I noticed something rather odd. Something seemed to be missing. At first, I couldn’t quite figure out what it was, but as the fog of sleep slowly dissipated with an infusion of live-saving caffeine, I realized what it was: the newly-installed “blog,” called “Moonbat Central” (out of a general lack of any sense of irony) by Horowitz and his employees, was … GONE!

My heart sank. Omigod, I thought: am I to be spared nothing?!

After all, when I think of all the … good times we had: the stupid smears, the juvenile name-calling, the kooky rants posted by the inimitable Steven Plaut, crackpot ultra-Likudnik and defender of the terrorist followers of Meir Kahane… well, I was in shock. Who will soon forget the time he made up a phony “quote” purportedly from Middle East scholar Juan Cole, and then refused to acknowledge that he did it out of sheer malice — or even that he did it at all? Then there was the well-meaning but essentially clueless Richard Poe, Jacob “Smarty Pants” Laksin, and that cute little stud-muffin Myles Kantor (oh, those Cubanos!) — where oh where are they now?, I wondered. What’s become of them and their testy little tirades? When I think of all the fun I had with “Moonbat Central” the tears gather at the corners of my eyes and shyly trickle down — you know, it’s the little things in life that give us the most pleasure, and this example of the neocon-ized “conservative” movement’s utter nuttiness gave me many hours of hedonistic abandon. And to think that it’s all gone — GONE! — without even an acknowledgement from The Horowitz.

Oh, the sheer awfulness of it all!

The smears, the conjuration of senseless fears, the demagoguery, the intricate weaving of nonexistent conspiracies — all of it wiped out, with not a trace left behind.

Go ahead: go there and look. There’s a friggin’ real estate ad where my heart’s desire used to be. Go there — and weep!

P.S. Thanks to Google, we can still go visit classic posts of the past, and the old links still work: but the erasure of “Moonbat Central” from the front page of Frontpage — what can it mean? Is it temporary, or are we permanently consigned to this Moonbat-less Hell?

UPDATE: There is a God! The erasure of “Moonbat Central” was due, I guess, to a technical error, or maybe an overly strenuous pillow fight over in Horowitz-land. In any case, the Moonbats are back in the bellfry — and all’s right with the world!

How often does a former foreign minister and current parliamentarian of a country join an international commission proposing to carve up its territory?
Goran Svilanovic, formerly the Foreign Minister of Yugoslavia (Serbia-Montenegro) under the DOS regime and currently a MP for the Democratic Party (though he’s somehow “not a member,” the party says) of Serbian President Boris Tadic, is also a member of the “International Commission on the Balkans.” The Commission, an ad-hoc body composed of former and current European and Balkans politicians, has just issued a report advocating the independence of KLA-occupied Kosovo.
If this be not treason, what is?