AC writes:
New [Al-Jazeera English] video
just in from Gaz — Afghanistan. Afghan villagers are shown in anguish
over the killings of relatives by U.S. forces. One government
employee who lost five of his family members in the strike is shown
[at 1:00] calling for Americans to be kicked out or else he will "put bombs on my body and blow myself up."
Tell me, in these times, when America is rallying support for the
"good war," where is the American Gideon Levy? The censorial,
contrarian, morally-conscious, antiwar columnist in one of the major
mainstream newspapers, the thorn in the country's side? Where is he?
Yes, one can find an article or two written with a wary pen,
warning of difficulties to come in the Afghan campaign, recommending
caution and pragmatism, or even (albeit rarely) criticizing the war's
strategic value. But the war is viewed largely through local lenses,
such as, "Obama's Afghan Challenge" or "Eye Back on the Ball: Obama
Fights The Right War " or what have you. Such is the parochial
framework of the discourse. To question why American men and women must
be sent to die halfway around the world in a foreign country to –
ostensibly – force democracy on a native population, to question why
Afghan men and women have to be killed in the thousands in this
endeavor, to question the morality of this great campaign, is to speak
out of bounds, to betray weakness, to sacrifice "seriousness."
On a different note, in an interview remarkable for its novelty alone, Stephen Hawking speaks with great clarity with Riz Khan of AJE. Hawking likens the situation to apartheid and says, "A people under occupation will continue to resist in any way it can."
And finally, Robert Baer, former CIA officer, is interviewed by IPS. Select excerpts:
Robert Baer: …In American politics, you can't do anything in the
Middle East without the approval of Tel Aviv, at least on some level.
It's impossible. I mean, I cannot think of a country that is so
beholden to a small country like this, even a superpower, in all of
history. I can't even think of it.
IPS: And why is that?
RB: Look at New York City. Look at the major newspapers.
They have a Zionist agenda. They do. I'm not Jewish. I'm not anything.
I don't care about the Israelis. And I'm not anti-Semitic. It's just a
fact. I suggested to my publisher writing a book on Israel, and he said
forget it. You can't talk about the reality of Israel. The only place
you can talk about the reality of Israel is in Israel. They tell you
things you will never hear in the United States.
IPS: Like what?
RB: For instance, why are people on Gaza so unhappy? Well, if you had
to live in a prison, wouldn't you be unhappy? You would never get that
in the New York Times. Look at the New York Times; it's almost an
extension of Israel.
