Holy God: McCain’s Hagee Problem
The John McCain of 2000 would have likely never sought John Hagee’s endorsement, but we’re not talking about that John McCain, we’re talking about this John McCain. A John McCain that doesn’t admonish the leaders of the Religious Right as “Agents of intolerance”, but instead embraces them in a political move to shore up support among religious voters.
But what, exactly, has McCain embraced?
Sphere: Related ContentLOLPolicy
Sphere: Related ContentPresident Bush feted Israel on Thursday in honor of the 60th anniversary of its founding and predicted that its 120th birthday would find it alongside a Palestinian state and in an all-democratic neighborhood free of today’s oppression, restrictions on freedom and extremist Muslim movements.
[...]
Bush made no acknowledgment of the hardship Palestinians suffered when hundreds of thousands were displaced or otherwise left following the creation of the Jewish state in 1948, a counterpoint to Israel’s two weeks of jubilant celebrations. Though Bush has set a goal of reaching an Israeli-Palestinian deal before the end of his term in January, he did not mention the ongoing negotiations or how to resolve the thorniest disputes.
The president also offered no detail on how the broader Mideast would move from today’s realities to his vision.
“From Cairo and Riyadh to Baghdad and Beirut, people will live in free and independent societies, where a desire for peace is reinforced by ties of diplomacy, tourism and trade,” he said. “Iran and Syria will be peaceful nations, where today’s oppression is a distant memory and people are free to speak their minds and develop their talents. And al-Qaida, Hezbollah and Hamas will be defeated, as Muslims across the region recognize the emptiness of the terrorists’ vision and the injustice of their cause.”
White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said Bush made such a brief mention of the Palestinians because his purpose was to sketch “broad themes and not the specifics of the process.”
Please, Mr. President, Keep Talking
While it may be overstating things a bit to say that the Democratic party has a serious unity problem right now, it is not an overstatement to recognize that, temporary or permanent, fractures have been formed.
There are plenty of reasons for this, two great candidates, both of whom having done a fabulous job of forming emotional bonds with their supporters, not the least of which. But another, perhaps lesser, contributing factor has definitely played a part.
Sphere: Related ContentOn Peace and Cognitive Dissonance
Reading an article in today’s NY Times about the prospects for the progression of peace talks with Israelis and Palestinians, I’m struck by two things. One unmentioned, the other came at the end of the article.
Sphere: Related ContentHillary and the Iran Hypothetical
I can still pinpoint the moment when my opinion of Hillary Clinton had officially soured. It had done so with a single vote cast by her, one that had put her closer towards a foreign policy stance that I have a difficult time reconciling.
Sphere: Related ContentWhat Does it Mean to be Pro-Israel?
I’m not Jewish, and I’ve only briefly visited Israel. That was back in 2000.
Hamas, children, and crickets [Updated]
The New Yorks Times as a front page article concerning how Hamas talks about Israelis in their mosques and to their children — and it’s not very pretty.
Sphere: Related ContentThe Bush Derangement Syndrome Support Group
It’s got to be tough. I don’t envy her, but I want her to know that as a fellow victim of such a tragic and viral epidemic, I’m there for her, ready to provide a shoulder to lean upon, cry upon, whatever. I didn’t think it was possible, not among someone like that, not among someone who I thought was innoculated against such a dreaded disease, but as it turns out, there is no vaccine, and anyone is capable of falling victim to Bush Derangement Syndrome.
Sphere: Related ContentQuote of the Day: On US “Bellicosity,” Iran And Israel
The US engages Iran only when it desperately needs to; otherwise, it resorts to coercion. Washington’s unilateral sanctions last week have the immediate implication of clogging up opportunities for any meaningful US-Iran security dialogue. For example, Tehran had recently shown signs of willingness to reach an “incidence at sea” agreement with the US, to prevent accidental war in the Persian Gulf. But the new US measures against Iran make such breakthroughs impossible.Allegations of Iranian nuclear proliferation are disputed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which has certified the absence of any evidence of military diversion after extensive inspections, and by leading Israeli pundits, such as Martin van Creveld. In a June 2007 interview with Playboy magazine, he stated: “We are in no danger at all of having an Iranian nuclear weapon dropped on us. We cannot say so too openly, however, because we have a history of using any threat in order to get weapons … thanks to the Iranian threat, we are getting weapons from the US and Germany.”
Iran, which has not invaded any country since the 18th century, is demonized today as an “Islamofascist” state bent on Israel’s destruction. Rhetoric aside, in reality, Iran regards Israel as an “out of area” threat and not germane to Iran’s national security calculus except in the context of Israel’s meddling in Iran’s ethnic politics and the like. [all emph mine]
- Kaveh L. Afrasiabi, The cost of American bellicosity toward Iran
Last week’s sanctions pave the way toward war.
Related: More on the not-so-black and white diplomatic relationship between Iran and Israel from Trita Parsi; Der Speigel: US War on Iran: ‘Closer to Reality’; Juan Cole: The Iran hawks
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