Boggled

I make a concerted effort at keeping apprised of world events. I read blog entries, commentary, newspaper and web articles and analytical content regarding any number of subjects in the news arena each and every day. My focal point, of late, has naturally been the situation in the Middle East being that I live there and all.

Despite my efforts, I am having a difficult time understanding Israeli claims of an Israeli loss in the recent/current Hezbollah crisis. Militarily? Why? Because Hezbollah wasn't completely disbanded and dismantled? How does an organized army - or disorganized, for that matter - go about completely disrupting a rebel force hiding out underground in suburban and urban civilian centers? The U.S. has been in Afghanistan for how long? And where is Bin Laden these days? What would have constituted a victory and at what cost?

And let's not forget, when throwing up comparisons to the 1973 Yom Kippur War, that this is a different era. There were tremendous losses then but now the world is in a different state. The quagmire that is Lebanon has repeatedly proven itself as a regional effort in futility and a death trap for Israel's forces.

So although UN Resolutions have failed in the past and Lebanon's south has proven a fertile breeding ground for extremist factions, what is the alternative? Hit them harder? How and for how long and using what strategy?

I simply don't view this as a loss. Politically it was a tremendous gain. The world got a glimpse of fighters hiding behind children and using hospitals as bases, of a people willing to use dead toddlers for public relations gains, of so-called journalists altering war images to garner an edge. And the voices of moderate Lebanese, disgusted with the effects of extremism, reverberated loudly.

I'm not looking to turn this blog site into a free-for-all volley of hatred and insult. So please, don't leave comments about "the Zionists" and refrain from comparing Israelis to Nazis or anything similar. Also, nastiness or hurled insults in my general direction are not welcome. I am posing these questions based upon observation and genuine vexation.

Insights...?

NonConciliatory

Commentators on NPR's All Things Considered this afternoon remarked that Bush's tone on the day of a proposed Hezbollah-Israel ceasefire seems rather non-conciliatory.

They are right. I'd take that a step further. As Nasrallah's people handed out what amounted to: Welcome home; We won flyers to returning Lebanese exiles and Nasrallah himself declared strategic victory, Bush named Hezbollah responsible for the entire shebang - the death, the conflict, the displaced.

THEN, in the same sentence, Bush placed the reaching-towards-nukes Iran into the evil axis alongside Iraq and Afghanistan - zig-zagging, as it were. Naming Iran but not really naming them. Pointing the long arm but with elbow only. This is the same Iran responsible for arming/building up the Hezbollah. The same axis (Iran excepting, for the moment) the U.S. is currently engaged with in war.

Rhetoric? I hope so. But doubtful. Think about it: We're on day 1 of a U.S./France/UN brokered ceasefire and G.W. is sounding very un-delighted. Whipping up the winds, as it were.

Unless caught off mike by accident/on purpose, U.S. front people are generally careful & calculated regarding public talk.

Stay tuned...

The Slippery Slope

Holding breath, crossing fingers and hoping upon hope that the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire and UN Resolution implementation adhere and are sustainable. However, much is left in the wake of 1701 to be resolved and addressed. Timelines, conditions, expectations, shuttle diplomacy, negotiations, security measures, fall-throughs, economic aid, breakthroughs.

As leading Israeli columnist Nahum Barnea comments, One would have to be an eternal optimist to believe the agreement will be enforced as written. Barnea terms the agreement a significant political achievement for both Israel and the U.S. in theory and on paper. He's right. Let's see what happens next. There will undoubtedly be further skirmishing.

In separate commentary, Barnea writes that the latest conflict was characterized by three fronts: The diplomatic front, the Lebanese front and the home front. Israel lost two of three. Surprisingly, the diplomatic front was the gaining sector.

I'm not going anywhere with this other than to piece together some commentary and insight while sitting back watching and waiting. What else to do at this point?

Slime on the Rise

If war or turbulent airport milieus aren't presenting enough excitement, then turn to an eco-story for further hair-raising news.

The LA Times is running a five-part series on the crisis facing the world's seas. The first installment, A Primeval Tide of Toxins, starts out by describing the effects of "fireweed", a sea species that:

...when fishermen touched it, their skin broke out in searing welts. Their lips blistered and peeled. Their eyes burned and swelled shut. Water that splashed from their nets spread the inflammation to their legs and torsos ...

Frightening, alarming, incredible. Another passage:

In many places — the atolls of the Pacific, the shrimp beds of the Eastern Seaboard, the fiords of Norway — some of the most advanced forms of ocean life are struggling to survive while the most primitive are thriving and spreading. Fish, corals and marine mammals are dying while algae, bacteria and jellyfish are growing unchecked. Where this pattern is most pronounced, scientists evoke a scenario of evolution running in reverse, returning to the primeval seas of hundreds of millions of years ago.

Jeremy B.C. Jackson, a marine ecologist and paleontologist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, says we are witnessing "the rise of slime."
For many years, it was assumed that the oceans were too vast for humanity to damage in any lasting way. "Man marks the Earth with ruin," wrote the 19th century poet Lord Byron. "His control stops with the shore."

Read, read, read mein kinder. It's too important to miss.

Please, Pretty Please, With Sugar on Top?

I can't recall ever whatsoever (never) watching a UN Security Council session and walking away pleased. There has always been a crap sensation in the stomach spurred by a sense of being cheated and maligned.

But tonight's Security Council session/unanimous vote was a feel-good. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Kofi Annan, Condoleezza Rice, Greek Foreign Minister Theodora Bakoyannis and the UK's Margaret Beckett. Chinese Ambassador Liu Zhanmin's speech was predictable in its exclusion of Israel's concerns or recognizing Israel as anything but the aggressor (Did I see Condoleezza Rice not sporting a translation headset during his speech?) but Vitaly Churkin's (Russia) address was surprising in its slightly forthcoming acknowledgement of Israel's security needs and civilian losses. Japan's Ambassador Oshima was eloquent and smooth.

In general an overall shift in tenor seems to have taken place. Weeks ago when G. W. was caught on mike suggesting Kofi Annan do something to force Syria's hand in the crisis, it was a semi-faux pas. Tonight, Syria and Iran's roles in the current situation were openly acknowledged and addressed. And France mentioned not once but twice Israel's legitimate right to sustained security. And nearly all speakers talked about a necessary comprehensive solution in the Mid-East that will encompass addressing the dire Palestinian situation.

Oh pleez, pleez, pleez adopt this, vote favorably, all parties play nice, stop fighting, return prisoners, negotiate and stop the war. It feels like the opening of a door to an outer courtyard where things could be very, very positive. Amen. Hallelujah.

Mothers

Mother #1: Call me a pig but when my son grows up I hope he'll move away. Go to university abroad or be a refusenik and sit in jail. I don't care. I don't want him in the army. He's all I've got.

Mother #2: I'm with you. Since my 7-year-old has been verbal I've been drilling into him that he's not to go into the army. Or if he does, he can sell candy to the other soldiers or play the piano as an entertainer. I don't care as long as it's not combat.

Conversation between two Israeli mothers

Oil per Gallon Costs

Crude oil is at about $76.5 per barrel what with the Mid-East situation, Nigeria unrest and news of BP shutting down production on the United States' top oil field a few days ago. You wouldn't know that, however, from this picture.

Nope, it's not the used car lot at Sam's SUV Stop & Shop. It's the car park at the swimming pool where my son is currently taking lessons..

Our Toyota 4-door Sedan (not pictured) was one of 2 among 22 parked vehicles not in the SUV, mini-van or van category.
Mull that one over while watching the evening news...