Unoriginal Wednesday
I have a doctor's appointment today (no it's not with a cardiologist to see if I even have a heart or one two sizes too small like Mr. Grinch) and I don't have time to be original this morning. I pass along a few quotes from today's column from Thomas L. Friedman of the New York Times. If you don't get the paper it's behind a fee-based firewall on their site. It's just too good not to quote at length and almost as good as my own posts.
Arguing that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah will be seen as having made the biggest miscalculation for an Arab leader since Nasser and the Six-Day War Friedman writes:
"First, Nasrallah has set back the whole fledgling Arab democracy movement. That movement, by the way, was being used by Islamic parties - like Hezbollah and Hamas - to ascend to power. Hezbollah, for the first time, had two ministers in the Lebanese cabinet. Hamas, through a U.S.-sponsored election, took over the Palestinian Authority...What both Hamas and Hezbollah have done - by dragging their nations into unnecessary war with Israel - is to prove that Islamists will not be made more accountable by political power. Just the opposite; not only will they not fix the potholes, they will start wars, whenever they choose, that will lead to even bigger potholes."
Friedman continues:
"On the peace front, let's see, Israel gets out of Lebanon and Gaza, and what is the response of Hamas and Hezbollah? Build schools, roads and jobs in their recovered territories? Nope. Respect the border with Israel, but demand that Israel continue to withdraw from the West Bank? Nope. The response is to shell Israel from Gaza and abduct Israeli soldiers from Lebanon. Hamas and Nasrallah replaced the formula "land for peace" with "land for war," said the former Mideast envoy Dennis Ross."
Like I said. Good stuff. I'll be back and original tomorrow.
Arguing that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah will be seen as having made the biggest miscalculation for an Arab leader since Nasser and the Six-Day War Friedman writes:
"First, Nasrallah has set back the whole fledgling Arab democracy movement. That movement, by the way, was being used by Islamic parties - like Hezbollah and Hamas - to ascend to power. Hezbollah, for the first time, had two ministers in the Lebanese cabinet. Hamas, through a U.S.-sponsored election, took over the Palestinian Authority...What both Hamas and Hezbollah have done - by dragging their nations into unnecessary war with Israel - is to prove that Islamists will not be made more accountable by political power. Just the opposite; not only will they not fix the potholes, they will start wars, whenever they choose, that will lead to even bigger potholes."
Friedman continues:
"On the peace front, let's see, Israel gets out of Lebanon and Gaza, and what is the response of Hamas and Hezbollah? Build schools, roads and jobs in their recovered territories? Nope. Respect the border with Israel, but demand that Israel continue to withdraw from the West Bank? Nope. The response is to shell Israel from Gaza and abduct Israeli soldiers from Lebanon. Hamas and Nasrallah replaced the formula "land for peace" with "land for war," said the former Mideast envoy Dennis Ross."
Like I said. Good stuff. I'll be back and original tomorrow.
posted by Crankyboy at 10:40 AM
3 Comments:
It's not just Islamists that won't be made more accountable - as we define it - by political power. German conservatives thought Hitler would become more moderate and accountable if he were brought into the mainstream.
It never happens
An don't forget Bush talked about his "accountability moment" - meaning the 2004 election. One chance in four years and America screws the pooch again.
I can't think of anyone who has less often been held to account. He's been protected from his screwups all his life
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