Talking About Israel: NICHOLAS KRISTOF THE COMPLETE ARTICLE THE NEW YOR TIMES OP-ED COLUMNISTTalking About Israel By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOFPublished: March 18, 2007 The lack of serious political debate about our policy toward Israelis and Palestinians harms America, Middle East peace prospects and Israel itself. Democrats are railing at just about everything President Bush does, with one prominent exception: Mr. Bushs crushing embrace of Israel.
There is no serious political debate among either Democrats or Republicans about our policy toward Israelis and Palestinians. And that silence harms America, Middle East peace prospects and Israel itself. Within Israel, you hear vitriolic debates in politics and the news media about the use of force and the occupation of Palestinian territories. Yet no major American candidate is willing today to be half as critical of hard-line Israeli government policies as, say, Haaretz, the Israeli newspaper. Three years ago, Israels minister of justice spoke publicly of photos of an elderly Palestinian woman beside the ruins of her home, after it had been destroyed by the Israeli army. He said that they reminded him of his own grandmother, who had been dispossessed by the Nazis. Can you imagine an American cabinet secretary ever saying such a thing? --MORE-- http://mparent7777.blogspot.com/2007/03/talking-about-israel-nicholas-kristof.html With commentary http://www.wakeupfromyourslumber.com/node/954 The Ides of March 2003: FRANK RICH - The March to War THE COMPLETE ARTICLE WITH ALL HYPERLINKS THE NEW YORK TIMES OP-ED COLUMNISTThe Ides of March 2003 By FRANK RICHPublished: March 18, 2007 A chronology of some of the high and low points in the days leading up to the national train wreck whose anniversary we mourn this week. TOMORROW night is the fourth anniversary of President Bushs prime-time address declaring the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In the broad sweep of history, four years is a nanosecond, but in America, where memories are congenitally short, its an eternity. Thats why a revisionist history of the White Houses rush to war, much of it written by its initial cheerleaders, has already taken hold. In this exonerating fictionalization of the story, nearly every politician and pundit in Washington was duped by the same bad intelligence before the war, and few imagined that the administration would so botch the invasions aftermath or that the occupation would go on so long. If only I had known then what I know now ... has been the persistent refrain of the war supporters who subsequently disowned the fiasco. But the embarrassing reality is that much of the damning truth about the administrations case for war and its hubristic expectations for a cakewalk were publicly available before the war, hiding in plain sight, to be seen by anyone who wanted to look. By the time the ides of March arrived in March 2003, these warning signs were visible on a nearly daily basis. So were the signs that Americans were completely ill prepared for the costs ahead. Iraq was largely anticipated as a distant, mildly disruptive geopolitical video game that would be over in a flash. Now many of the same leaders who sold the war argue that escalation should be given a chance. This time theyre peddling the new doomsday scenario that any withdrawal timetable will lead to the next 9/11. The question we must ask is: Has history taught us anything in four years? --MORE-- http://mparent7777.blogspot.com/2007/03/ides-of-march-2003-frank-rich-march-to.html And More http://mparent7777.blogspot.com/ http://mparent7777-2.blogspot.com/ http://www.wakeupfromyourslumber.com/blog/38 --------------------------------- Share your photos with the people who matter at Yahoo! Canada Photos
