Billmon

More continued great coverage from Billmon, and more great quotes:

Billmon: "In other words, the Israelis are doing their level best to make it appear as if nothing has changed and they've put nothing on the table, except a fig leaf for Madame Supertanker to use to cover her diplomatic nakedness."

Another cute expression from Billmon

Billmon: "And more and more garden-variety conservatives are beginning to see it that way too."

Billmon

Billmon: "It would take an almost superhuman sense of compassion not to relish the sight of the tormenters being tormented by the likes of Hugh Hewitt, Michelle Malkin and Glenn Reynolds. And thank God, I'm only human. The sense of grim satisfaction I feel every time I hear Andrew Sullivan or Greg Djerejian whine about the viciousness of the 'Malkin right' faintly echoes the emotions that must have been felt by the original socialist and anarchist prisoners of the Soviet state every time they saw an old Bolshevik getting the business from one of Stalin's NKVD thugs. Now you know what's it like to be an enemy of the people, you swine."

Billmon

Billmon: "But it's not helping him now. What Sully has discovered -- via many nasty bites to his ankles -- is that past service to the cause of rabid extremism doesn't buy any protection from the attack squirrels of the rabid right. "

Six Questions on Lebanon for Augustus Richard Norton (Harpers.org)

A fantastic interview at Harpers, here is a tid-bit:Six Questions on Lebanon for Augustus Richard Norton (Harpers.org):

"This was a well-planned operation that took months of preparation. A similar operation failed earlier this year. Hezbollah was tactically very smart, but strategically they were taking a real gamble. The goal was to win the release of [three] Lebanese prisoners being held in Israeli prisons, and probably to bolster Hezbollah’s image and take . advantage of Israel’s preoccupation with Gaza."

Taba and Camp David: Peeling the Orange

From the Norman Finkelstein & Shlomo Ben-Ami debate on Democracy Now, comes a very lucid explanation of why the talks failed, Norman Finkelstein explains:

"My concern is let's look at the diplomatic record, the factual record. What were the offers being made on each side of the Camp David and in the Taba talks? And the standard interpretation, which comes — which is — you can call it the Dennis Ross interpretation, which, I think, unfortunately Dr. Ben-Ami echoes, is that Israel made huge concessions at Camp David and Taba; Palestinians refused to make any concessions, because of what Dr. Ben-Ami repeatedly calls Arafat's unyielding positions; and that Arafat missed a huge opportunity. Now, it is correct to say that if you frame everything in terms of what Israel wanted, it made huge concessions. However, if you frame things in terms of what Israel was legally entitled to under international law, then Israel made precisely and exactly zero concessions. All the concessions were made by the Palestinians."

Israeli Kids painting bombs

The Angry Arab News Service:

"Humanity of Israeli society. I have had those pictures (and tens of people have sent them to me) for several days now. I hesitated before posting them. I wanted to verify the source--AP. I could not believe--call me naive--that they would let Israeli children write messages on bombs. Well, yes. Israeli children are made to write messages on bombs that kill Lebanese children. And they dare to speak in the name of 'peace'?"

Israeli Kids painting bombs

The Angry Arab News Service: "Humanity of Israeli society. I have had those pictures (and tens of people have sent them to me) for several days now. I hesitated before posting them. I wanted to verify the source--AP. I could not believe--call me naive--that they would let Israeli children write messages on bombs. Well, yes. Israeli children are made to write messages on bombs that kill Lebanese children. And they dare to speak in the name of 'peace'?"

Haaretz - Israel News - Search Results

Haaretz - Israel News - Search Results: "One rainy day Yitzhak Rabin explained to me, as a prime minister and as a friend, why he had to look for every possible crack that would allow a settlement with Israel's neighbors. 'It is impossible to stretch the muscles and the nerves of a nation for so many years. Sooner or later they become lax,' he said, and added: 'The Israel Defense Forces is a good army, all in all, but even the best army's strength is limited and its staying power is liable to decline, and it must not be subjected to too many tests, certainly not unnecessary ones.'

One can always make excuses and say that it is our enemies who are testing us, but experience shows that we have sacrificed our sons on too many occasions. "

Nader advise to Bush.

Please, President Bush: Don't Continue to Be Weak on Lebanon Crisis:

"History, George, does not start two weeks or two months ago. You must read about past U.S. Presidents who, at least, sent high-level emissaries to quell similar border fighting. It worked and prisoners were often exchanged.

You are doing and saying nothing about what the rest of the world believes is a hugely disproportionate attack against innocent adults and children in violation of the Geneva Conventions, the UN Charter and other treaties and federal statutes. You've sworn to uphold these laws. Do so. Because of the Israeli government's overwhelming military power, the imbalance of terror against civilians and their property has always been to its advantage. As has its occupation of Palestine and confiscation of land and water sources."

Operation Peace for the IDF - Haaretz - Israel News

Operation Peace for the IDF - Haaretz - Israel News:

"
The war we declared on Lebanon has already exacted from us, and of course from Lebanon, too, a heavy price. Did anyone give any thought to the question whether it should be paid?

Everyone knows how this war begins, but does anyone know how it ends? Heavy casualties in the Israeli rear? A war with Syria? A general war? Is it all worth it? Look what a new rookie government can do in such a short time.

Behind the operations in Lebanon and Gaza is the same foolish idea about pressure on the population leading to political changes that Israel wants. In the history of the Israeli-Arab conflict, that concept has only led us from one disaster to the next. We 'cleansed' southern Lebanon of Palestinians in 1982, and what did we get? Hezbollahstan instead of Fatahland. Hamas won't fall because Gaza is in the dark, and not even because we bombed the Palestinian Foreign Ministry building at the weekend - another nonsensical move; Hezbollah won't be smashed because the international airport in Beirut has been put out of commission.

Israel once again is not distinguishing between a justified war against Hezbollah and an unjust and unwise war against the Lebanese nation. The camouflage concealing the war's real goals was ripped off by this defense minister, who says what he means: 'Nasrallah is going to get it so bad that he will never forget the name Amir Peretz,' he bragged, like a typical bully. Now at least we know that Israel went to war so that the name Amir Peretz is never forgotten. It's the war for the perpetuation of the name Peretz and the blurring of Dan Halutz's failures. And to hell with the cost."

We Fight Why? (Harpers.org)

We Fight Why? (Harpers.org):

"“Bush has basically mortgaged your house,” Baer said regarding the administration's general Middle East policy, “and now he's gone to the roulette table.”

Another jewel from FafBlog

6/10 Changed Everything: "And that's just the tip of the iceberg! Even as we speak the forces of Islamanazism are infiltrating our network of classified CIA prison camps, rendering themselves to third world dictatorships, and launching unprovoked assaults on innocent American bullets! "

Noam Chomsky in Beirut

Noam Chomsky in Beirut:

"Noam and Carol Chomsky arrived in Beirut on May 8, 2006, for an eight-day visit, their first ever to Lebanon. Many of Noam's friends had wanted this visit to happen for a long time. The Palestinians, the south of Lebanon, and the wider Middle East and its peoples have all been central among Noam's many concerns. He has written about them and defended them, publicly and tirelessly, for nearly four decades, and will continue 'as long as I'm ambulatory.'[1] Beirut would give Noam Chomsky a hero's welcome, and it did with relish."

Exploring Venezuela

Go to Venezuela, You Idiot!:

"I don't usually take the advice of rightwingers. But I did this time. After receiving inflamed email messages from dozens of angry rightists that I should get the hell out of the USA and go to Venezuela, I accepted their challenge and flew to Caracas."

More Immigrant-Bashing On the Way

Molly Ivins:

"Fixing Mexico certainly does not involve interfering in Mexican elections. I had to laugh at the number of American pundits who solemnly lectured the Mexicans on how their tied election was such a delicate situation for their democracy. Like it never happened to us?

Helping to fix Mexico involves, in my opinion, redoing NAFTA, so that labor and environmental standards can be included. I’ve always liked Lou Dobbs, who at least cares about middle- and working-class Americans. But to some extent, he’s got the immigrant issue by the wrong end. If you don’t want Mexicans walking into this country, make sure no one is offering them jobs. You could even pass a law about it. You could even enforce the law. Don’t blame them."

checkers, intelectually demanding

Billmon:

"This is all Game Theory 101, and my guess is that the neocons understand the dynamic perfectly well -- and in fact are now counting on it. But I'm not entirely sure even the saner members of the regime, like Secretary Supertanker, recognize the bind they are now in. I'm reasonably sure the vast majority of the American people don't. And the corporate media? Well, given that most of them find the game of checkers intellectually overdemanding, it's a bit much to expect them to grasp the finer points of the real life version of Risk."

Funny comment

Found on a comment site: "The conservative oil indepencence plan? I think it has something to do with hoping Jesus will show up and turn water into oil. There's a lot more water these days now that they've got the polar ice caps cooking good and hot."