Back from vacation

It’s quite a bummer to come back from a beach vacation in France and read this:

DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told the Syrian military on Monday to raise its readiness, pledging not to abandon support for Lebanese resistance against Israel.

“We are facing international circumstances and regional challenges that require caution, alert, readiness and preparedness,” Assad said.

“The barbaric war of annihilation the Israeli aggression is waging on our people in Lebanon and Palestine is increasing in ferocity,” Assad said in a written address on the occasion of the 61st anniversary of the foundation of the Syria Arab Army. Reuters

Talk amongst yourselves

Just a fair warning to “old Europe:” tomorrow you’ll have one more Sebi. Don’t panic.

The wife and I are Europe-bound and will arrive Monday morning in Cologne, Germany, where we’ll catch the next-best train home to Aachen.

Say and do

They say:

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, heading for a weekend trip to the troubled Middle East, said she would work with allies in the region to help create conditions for “stability and lasting peace.” AP

They do:

The Bush administration is rushing a delivery of precision-guided bombs to Israel, which requested the expedited shipment last week after beginning its air campaign against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, American officials said Friday.

The decision to quickly ship the weapons to Israel was made with relatively little debate within the Bush administration, the officials said. Its disclosure threatens to anger Arab governments and others because of the appearance that the United States is actively aiding the Israeli bombing campaign in a way that could be compared to Iran’s efforts to arm and resupply Hezbollah. New York Times

Leave… if you can

Israel has massed troops and tanks on the border with Lebanon and called up thousands of reserve troops, in a possible prelude to a ground offensive.Planes dropped leaflets on southern Lebanon warning any civilians to leave. (emphasis added)BBC

That reminds me: How are these people supposed to leave when the bridges they have to cross are either bombed already or still under fire? That sort of thing sounds more like “without thinking twice” than “restricted pinpoint attacks.”

Israel calls up army reservists

Israel has called up thousands of reserve troops and told civilians to quit southern Lebanon immediately, amid threats of a large-scale incursion.

(The move has widened speculation that Israel is preparing for a large ground offensive.

Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz has warned that Israel is prepared to launch a full-scale ground operation if necessary, saying “we have no intention of conquering Lebanon but… we will do it without thinking twice”. BBC (emphasis added)

In Break With Bush, Iraqi Leader Assails Israel

Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki of Iraq on Wednesday forcefully denounced the Israeli attacks on Lebanon, marking a sharp break with President Bush’s position and highlighting the growing power of a Shiite Muslim identity across the Middle East.

“The Israeli attacks and airstrikes are completely destroying Lebanon’s infrastructure,” Mr. Maliki said at an afternoon news conference inside the fortified Green Zone, which houses the American embassy and the seat of the Iraqi government. “I condemn these aggressions and call on the Arab League foreign ministers’ meeting in Cairo to take quick action to stop these aggressions. We call on the world to take quick stands to stop the Israeli aggression.” New York Times (emphasis added)

Sniff, they grow up so quick, don’t they?

Work it Out

I think my mysterious friend CasaDega (one can never have enough Michelles…) nailed it when she mailed me a link to this video with the note “I hate Dave Matthews Band, but this video is too good not to pass along.”

(One nitpick: is that supposed to be Cheney or Rove? I guess the heart attack gives it away, but looks more like Rove to me.)

Update: lyrics inside.
Read entire entry

The Summer Song

Is this the answer?

What will grow quickly, that you can’t make straight
It’s the price you gotta pay
Do yourself a favour and pack you bags
Buy a ticket and get on the train
Buy a ticket and get on the train

Cause this is fucked up, fucked up
Cause this is fucked up, fucked up

(…) And it’s fucked up, fucked up
And this is fucked up, fucked up
This your blind spot, blind spot
It should be obvious, but it’s not.
But it isn’t, but it isn’t

Thom Yorke - The Eraser

Haifa under siege

I wouldn’t want to give the impression I do not feel for the Israelis who have been living in fear for the last fifty years, give or take a few millennia. The BBC, being the journalistic demigods with far reach that they are, have this quite touching story about how the inhabitants of Haifa, Israel, are coping

But still, let’s keep some perspective here. Are we seriously to believe this was all and exclusively about those Three Israeli Soldiers™?

Reporter asks White House, ‘Why don’t you want the fighting to stop?’

Wow, some of them are awake? Did Helen spike their coffee again?

A reporter apparently asked White House Press Secretary Snow “Why don’t you want the fighting to stop?” and followed up with, “So the idea that the United States is holding back in doing any more criticizing of Israel is to give them a chance to take out as many targets as they want?”

Transcript here. (No real answers, but it’s a fun read.)

US to allow Israel to bomb Lebanon, then hand them part of Lebanon to control

The official stance of the Bush administration on Lebanon is as follows:

1. Israel will be allowed to bomb Lebanon for one more week to “soften up” Hezbollah.
   (After all, what’s a week of bombing between sworn enemies?)
2. The US will then help Israel get a “buffer zone” in Lebanon.
   (How, we don’t know. But Condi is on the job, so pipe down!)

All the details in today’s New York Times here. The Times also provides this image, along with an informative caption:

Not sure about Hezbollah, but the civilian population looks quite sufficiently “softened up” to me.

AFP: US orders nine warships to waters off Lebanon

The United States ordered nine warships to waters off the Lebanese coast amid fears of possible terrorist attacks on ships evacuating US nationals, officials said. AFP

And it’s not like that’s going to be easy:

The State Department estimates there are 25,000 Americans in Lebanon, and about 15,000 of them have registered with the US embassy. AFP

At the risk of sounding pessimistic: This could get real bad, real fast.

New York Times pipes up on Israel’s over-reaction against Gaza and Lebanon

In a city with a large and vocal Jewish population and the UN headquarters down the road, The New York Times has been pretty tame on Israel for the unrelenting and un-proportional “retaliations” that ensued when three (3!) Israeli soldiers were taken.

Then today’s paper has this on the subject:

The asymmetry in the reported death tolls is marked and growing: some 230 Lebanese dead, most of them civilians, to 25 Israeli dead, 13 of them civilians. In Gaza, one Israel soldier has died from his own army’s fire, and 103 Palestinians have been killed, 70 percent of them militants.

The cold figures, combined with Israeli air attacks on civilian infrastructure like power plants, electricity transformers, airports, bridges, highways and government buildings, have led to accusations by France and the European Union, echoed by some nongovernmental organizations, that Israel is guilty of “disproportionate use of force” in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon and of “collective punishment” of the civilian populations.
New York Times

It’s so glaringly obvious even the NY Times can’t ignore it!

Blair accuses Iran of arms supply to Hezbollah

British PM Tony Blair joins Israel, Bush in blaming Iran:

Tony Blair has accused Iran of supplying weapons to attack UK troops in Iraq, and of giving arms to Hezbollah so it could target Israel.

In a statement, he told MPs it was important to implement a 2004 UN resolution calling for Hezbollah to be disbanded and support for it to end.

(…) Iran has also denied arming insurgents in Iraq but it has stepped up rhetoric against Israel and the US in recent days, warning any attack on Syria would “definitely make the Zionist regime face unimaginable losses”. BBC

The other shoe drops: Iran

How could the “crisis” in Israel/Lebanon/Gaza get any worse? President Bush accused Iran of orchestrating Hezbollah through its contacts in Syria, thereby being the Big Bad behind it all:

“Syria is trying to get back into Lebanon, it looks like to me. We passed the United Nations Resolution 1559 and finally this young democracy became whole by getting Syria out. And there are suspicions that the instability created by the Hezbollah attacks will cause some in Lebanon to invite Syria back in and that would be against the United Nations policy and it is against the U.S. policy,” (President Bush) said.

(…) Earlier, White House Spokesman Tony Snow said the next steps are up to them. “Hezbollah started this and Iran and Syria, its backers, ought to be using their influence to get Hezbollah to stop firing rockets and return the soldiers,” he said. Voice of America

This sure is a convenient way to “soften the ground” for possible military actions against Iran.

Israel claims Iran link to crisis

You knew it was coming….

Hezbollah’s capture of two Israeli soldiers last week was timed to divert attention from Tehran’s nuclear programme, the Israeli PM has claimed. BBC

‘Expert’s view’ on bad G8 photos

The BBC is having some fun with photos from the G8 summit. These photos are all wire photos, but the “expert opinion” below is exclusive to the BBC.

Expert’s view: Bush is showing willing - head back and turned, which is an awkward posture, to laugh with Chirac and Koizumi. BBC

Expert’s view: In this picture with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, he looks masterful. His hand is firmly on top of hers and he looks straight ahead while she looks at him.

Bush is a lot more media-savvy than people give him credit for. BBC

Irish steal Welsh trawler to sail home, get picked up by RAF - no joke

Simply classic:

It probably seemed like a good idea at the time, but two young Irish men were being questioned by police today after stealing a fishing trawler to sail home after missing the last ferry from north Wales.

The pair, aged 18 and 20, took the 30ft inshore trawler, Le-Bon Heur, from the port at Holyhead, Anglesey, on Saturday night after missing the last boat to Dublin.

According to one report, after several hours at sea the men realised they were lost and called what they believed was the Irish coastguard for help.

In fact, they had been mainly sailing in circles and were just 12 miles north of where they started, meaning they were rescued by Holyhead’s lifeboat service, with an RAF helicopter also scrambled. (…) Guardian

How the shuttle returns to Earth

Somewhere above us, some humans are plummeting toward Earth. Good luck guys!

US and Russia differ on Mid-East

The presidents of the US and Russia have differed in emphasis in voicing concern about the Mid-East crisis at the G8 summit in St Petersburg.

George W Bush urged Lebanon’s Hezbollah to disarm while Vladimir Putin called for a “balanced” use of force.

Israel has been accused of using disproportionate force to secure the release of troops seized by militants. BBC

You can can me among those making that accusation.

In other news: Bush also told Putin that he believes Russia’s government should be more open and democratic. (I can’t even type that with a straight face, but that’s what he did.)

The Decider… well, most of the time

The Decider decides that this decision is not his to decide:

President Bush rejected Lebanon’s calls for a cease-fire in escalating Mideast violence on Friday, saying only that Israel should try to limit civilian casualties as it steps up attacks on its neighbor.

“The president is not going to make military decisions for Israel,” White House spokesman Tony Snow said. AP

Tell me Elmo, why did Daddy lose an arm in Iraq?

Because nobody else can explain why the hell we are in Iraq:

US children’s TV show Sesame Street is to be used to help American military families explain why a parent has to leave to serve overseas.
BBC

Hezbollah leader vows ‘open war’

And for a moment there I thought we had a problem…

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has promised “open war” against Israel, in an address broadcast shortly after his Beirut offices were bombed by Israel.
The militant group said its leader was unhurt in the attack. It was not clear when his remarks were recorded.

The raid came as Israel stepped up its offensive to free two Israeli soldiers seized by Hezbollah. More than 60 Lebanese have been killed so far.

Israel’s chief of staff, Dan Halutz, said the soldiers were still alive.

A third soldier, captured by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip where Israel is conducting a separate operation, is also still alive, he said.BBC

… but now that I know the three guys are safe, I am very relieved. Not.

Bush’s newest conquest

This is the front page of one of Germany’s finest newspapers. The hedline next to the photo says “Bush’s newest conquest.” Click for larger photo. (Thanks Carsten!)