David Bromwich writes:
Thomas Friedman's column today, his first on the bombing and invasion of Gaza, enthusiastically supports Israel's actions as part of a Middle East strategy that Barak Obama ought to endorse. Friedman writes, he says, on behalf of the Palestinians. He sees their affliction as a necessary service to the ultimate stability of the region. He does not speak of the facts of the slaughter: the 100-to-1 ratio of Palestinian to Israeli dead; the bombing of institutions and private houses that were known to be entirely or almost entirely inhabited by civilians. Not one word of pity for the sufferings of Gaza, and not a hint of reproach to Israel. Friedman espouses the righteousness of these killings as a benefit to all parties, whether they realize it or not. If one were looking for evidence that Israel's special relationship to the U.S. has corroded the moral sense of both countries, one could hardly point to a more finished specimen of the corruption of heart in question. What is most striking, however, about the manner of the column is its efficiency and energy. A tone of paternal mastery that is itself an impersonal achievement--a tone that has not altered since the heyday of liberal empire between the Boer War and the British conquest of Iraq.
….
Maybe they'll learn something? No, probably not . . .
Even Pravda is taking the piss out of them…
link to english.pravda.ru
Some British thought that the Potato Famine of Ireland would be good for the Irish, it would teach them self sufficiency. Things appear not to have improved much.
Revealingly, Friedman — a master of the ahistorical sophistry which characterizes the zionist claque — is in favor of a two-state solution. He's already patronizingly decided, on behalf of his Palestinian charges, what they're going to get — Gaza, the West Bank, and east Jerusalem.
If Friedman were a real historian, as opposed to impersonating one at the New York Times, he might recognize that a Palestinian state based on two noncontiguous cantons is doomed from the start. It sure didn't work for the former East and West Pakistan, today known as Bangladesh and Pakistan respectively. It didn't even work for the American colonies and Britain, under the unified rule of Crown until 1776.
The opposing Hamas and Fatah factions which rule Gaza and the West Bank today show that a political split has already occurred, while soveriegnty remains a distant dream.
Observing how obtuse knuckleheads such as Friedman dominate the media of Israel's patron state, Palestinians could easily conclude that only one means of sending a message can get through to tone-deaf, purblind Americans — [you fill in the blank]
Post no. 2 above is from the imposter.
In ten paragraphs published today, William Lind provides a succinct analysis of the rise of 4th generation warfare. It is worth more than Thomas Friedman's entire lifetime output. One paragraph:
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When the dust settles, I expect Hamas to emerge bloodied but stronger. It will continue to control Gaza, its support on the West Bank will soar (right before elections there) and the Palestinian Authority will look more like a stooge than ever. Strategically, the most important result will be further weakening of the legitimacy of the Egyptian government, which is bad news for America’s interests in the region.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/lind/lind156.html
————
Precisely. Lind dispatches the empty-suited president-elect in two sentences: 'The Obama crowd will not face up to the problem of America’s over-extension. It is just as globalist, interventionist and imprudent as Bush’s herd of Gadarine swine.' Glad we've got that out of the way before the inauguration.
Lind cites Israeli military historian Martin van Creveld multiple times. His conclusion is no paean to Friedmanite happy-face globalism, neither: 'If you’re lucky enough to have a time machine, set it to "Back" and get aboard.'
Thanks, Bill, I'm outta here.
Admittedly, I would be interested in which respect Richard Witty would beg to differ. Or is this a to the point analysis from his point of view?
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I can't suppress a polemical note triggered by juxtaposition of text and image:
After 911 the world knows one basic fact. The Muslims/Persians have to be bombed into surrender. Each victim has to be revenged with 100?, no thousands. Antisemitism is the Wests ultimate barometer that precisely records future threats for all of us. Today the threat comes from the East. Israel sits at the center of this clash. The world should not ask so many stupid questions. There is only one solution follow Israel's lead. United the Good will bomb this Evil into surrender. With God on our side we will win.
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Power, Power, Power and Israel at the center:
The Mideast’s Ground Zero
That is, Gaza is a mini-version of three great struggles that have been playing out since 1948:
Islamists who are intolerant of other faiths and want to choke off modernity or modernists who want to embrace the future, with an Arab-Muslim face? Let’s look at each.
Back in the 1960's, the New York Times radio station WQXR personality Mortimer Kroll was actually on the payroll of the Jewish Agency, an Israeli quasi governmental unit that also owned the Jewish Telegraphic Agency:
http://irmep.org/ILA/AZCDOJ/p6100019-p6100025/private/default2.asp
He bleated out the same propaganda. AIPAC's Isaiah Kenen worked day and night to embed friendly reporters in the Gray Lady. Friedman represents the crowning achievement of that effort.
Which explains the flight to quality (the Internet and MondoWeiss)
Sorry that was a bit hasty again.
Add the missing articles and apostrophe's to your heart's delight.
And always on the run to my duties:
I meant Arabs/Persians of course.
Rockets = unstoppable existential strategic threat to the existence of the State of Israel.
Why aren't the Palestinian militants happier? This is the beginning of their endgame, "Itbakh al-Yahud!"
Either we find a way to live together despite Nakba and Farhoud, or we bequeath our children a moonscape to die in.
"Some British thought that the Potato Famine of Ireland would be good for the Irish, it would teach them self sufficiency. Things appear not to have improved much."
On the contrary! The mainstream of Irish historiography now argues that the Famine saved Ireland in a variety of ways–paving the way to internationalization (through emigration), population control, nationalist movements, etc.
RE:
"Post no. 2 above is from the imposter.
Posted by: Jim Haygood | January 07, 2009 at 10:16 AM"
Jim's correct, and the same old ID thief: Bill Pearlman, aka SOG.
RE:
"On the contrary! The mainstream of Irish historiography now argues that the Famine saved Ireland in a variety of ways–paving the way to internationalization (through emigration), population control, nationalist movements, etc.
Posted by: Jim Haygood | January 07, 2009 at 11:44 AM"
This post is also from the imposter, Bill Pearlman, aka SOG.
Who is Bill Pearlman? Bill, could you please tell us all do what you do when you're not impersonating others (ie lying about who you are)?
(I assume you're not proud of the racist vitriol you blurt out as SOG.)
I'm confused–the fake Jim Haygood post at 11:44 is actually a pretty good satirical imitation of how imperialists think. It could almost be Niall Ferguson blathering on about the glories of the British Empire and how even its famines did its subjects a world of good. It seems like much smarter material than SOG/Bill posts under his own name.
Yeah, I am starting to have doubts that Slim Paygood is really the Fangster hisself. Someone get us the official Hasbara 2009 roster so we can verify.
Friedman is one of the most over-rated journalists in the country. Not just on this issue, but on everything.
He writes about globalization decades after it started and acts like he invented it.
Most of the time Thomas Friedman is really just writing about Thomas Friedman.
..
The mainstream of Jewish historiography now argues that anti-semitism has saved the Jews in a variety of ways–paving the way to internationalization (through emigration), population solidarity, "nationalist" and internationalist movements favoring Jews, etc.
Where would Jewish continuity be sans a common enemy all Jews would unite against? Snake venom is a cure for unbearably hi blood pressure. In proper doses it makes vessels more supple, less thin and hard…
All hail the potato.
The phrase "Judeo-Christian" first popped up among American Jews
when they sought to enlist Americans against Hitler as something more than just Japan's ally, and something more than just a somewhat vague enemy of Christianity. Similarly, it popped up again all over the place when Bushco & neocon scribblers needed something more than defending Israel as a
base reason to preemptively attack our former buddy, Sadsack of Iraq.
citizen, that's an excellent point. While playing the Holocaust card, European anti-semitism had to be placed on the back burner. Judeo-Christian helped to project anti-semitism on to Arabs, as if the Holocaust hadn't happened in Europe, but was about to happen in the Middle East. And the Gentiles love Jews now, we've come over to their side in the clash of civilizations.