Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Some Good Writing in the Press on U.S. Policy in the Middle-East

While I continue find the U.S. media's pro-Israeli slant more lopsided than ever, a few good articles have started to surface. For example:

George F. Will has written something reasonable for a change in today's Washington Post. He attacks the neocon war mongering very effectively. See the article here.

Samuel Rosner wrote in Slate yesterday on the unintended consequences of the neocon obsession with imposing democracy in the Middle East (which was also touched upon in the George Will article). In addition to the horrible developments on the ground, the short-sighted demands for democratic reforms have led to the creation of one "undesirable" regime after another, revealing major flaws and hypocrisy in the neocon ideology. Read it here.

Finally, Nicholas Kristof in today's NY Times makes an excellent observation:

Plenty of experience shows that Israel can't deter private terror networks, but that it can deter states. Syria, for example, despises Israel but doesn't launch rockets or kidnap soldiers. So Israel might benefit from firmer states in Lebanon and Gaza that actually control their territories. Instead, the latest Israeli offensives foster anarchy to both the north and the south, potentially nurturing militant groups that are not subject to classical deterrence.

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