Archive for August 15, 2006

The Nation Magazine and Human Rights Watch are both pleased that the Israeli war is over. They just didn’t want to take a stand.

Posted on August 15, 2006 by As'ad

“U.S. officials believe that Nasrallah may have resisted Iranian pressure to continue the fight when he agreed to Siniora’s package.”

Posted on August 15, 2006 by As'ad

A lot of people have been asking me. Madawi Rashid is a Saudi academic (dissident) who teaches in London. I recommend her book on the history of Saudi Arabia (published by Cambridge University Press). She is from the House of Rashid (rivals of the House of Saud).

Posted on August 15, 2006 by As'ad

“The new UNIFIL will have a robust mandate, better equipment and as many as 15,000 soldiers — a sevenfold increase from its current strength. Together with this new international force, the Lebanese Armed Forces will deploy to the south of the country to protect the Lebanese people and prevent armed groups such as Hezbollah from [...]

Posted on August 15, 2006 by As'ad

“”You don’t have perfects,” Peres said after a meeting with Rice in Washington. “But if . . . the Lebanese army will deploy itself along the border with Israel in the southern part of Lebanon, and there will be as many soldiers as promised, with new authorities to handle weapons, it can be a great [...]

Posted on August 15, 2006 by As'ad

“The United States already is slated to spend $10.6 million to aid the Lebanese armed forces and provide vehicle and helicopter parts, body armor and small-arms ammunition, according to the Pentagon. The focus of the training, Pentagon officials said, would be to deter Hezbollah attacks and infiltration of the military, as well as to provide [...]

Posted on August 15, 2006 by As'ad

For those who study Lebanon, I so strongly recommend Niqula Nasif’s Al-Maktab Ath-Thani: Hakim Fi Adh-Dhill (Mukhtarat, 2006). The writer is a right-wing analyst (formerly for An-Nahar and currently with Al-Akhbar) who knows inside Lebanese politics more than probably anybody. This meticulously researched book is one of the most interesting (in 700 pages) books on [...]

Posted on August 15, 2006 by As'ad

“There were calls for General Halutz’s resignation in the Knesset after it emerged he had sold off 120,000 shekels (£15,000) in shares only three hours after two Israeli soldiers were abducted by Hizbullah on July 12, triggering the war.”

Posted on August 15, 2006 by As'ad

“Spinoza’s faith in reason”

Posted on August 15, 2006 by As'ad

Lies of Israeli propaganda. The war has ended, and Israeli propaganda is so desperate for a victory of some sort (as if Hasan Dib Nasrallah was not enough) that it has not stopped producing lies and fabrications. Here, Israeli military claims that a “top Hizbullah man” was killed by Israeli occupation troops. So you read [...]

Posted on August 15, 2006 by As'ad

Finally, an American news source pays attention to the victims of the Israeli war of aggression on Lebanon: “Israeli zoo animals show signs of stress” (thanks Sid)

Posted on August 15, 2006 by As'ad

Today, Lebanese prime minister, Fu’ad Laval Sanyurah, was seen crying. He was asked why he was crying. He said that he misplaced his keys.

Posted on August 15, 2006 by As'ad

Jihad Bazzi interviews those who fought the Israeli occupiers.

Posted on August 15, 2006 by As'ad

My dear friend Salih Agha evaluates the role of Hizbullah in Lebanese politics. (Salih is one of the few Lebanese with whom I can practice my Persian when in Beirut).

Posted on August 15, 2006 by As'ad

The effective propagndist of the Syrian regime, Muhammad Habash (member of the Syrian useless parliament), said something revealing on Al-Arabiya TV. He said that there are rising voices in Syria calling for resistance in the Golan heights. The ruling family in Syria will crush those voices, I am sure.

Posted on August 15, 2006 by As'ad

“Petition for U.S. Jewish Solidarity with Muslim and Arab Peoples of the Middle East” (I don’t mean to be picky, but why did Mohammad Basirul Haq Sinha and MOHAMAD JABER sign this peitition?)

Posted on August 15, 2006 by As'ad

You realize where Sunni Arab public opinion is, Saudi-Israeli-Bin Laden’s plans for Sunni-Shi`ite conflict notwithstanding, when you hear the leader of the Syrian Muslim Brothers, `Ali Al-Bayanuni, expressing full support for Hizbulah.

Posted on August 15, 2006 by As'ad

Time magazine reporters can’t count. Time magazine reporters can’t count. Read all about. From Time magazine: ” This, after all, has been Israel’s third military intervention in southern Lebanon.” What? Third? Are you serious? Do you mean third in a decade? I worry about American readers if this is considered the most “prominent” US “news” [...]

Posted on August 15, 2006 by As'ad

From the southern suburbs of Beirut yesterday.

Posted on August 15, 2006 by As'ad

“Far from humiliating Iran and Syria–which was the Israeli-American plan–these two supposedly pariah states have been left untouched and the Hizbollah’s reputation lionized across the Arab world. The “opportunity” which President George Bush and his Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, apparently saw in the Lebanon war has turned out to be an opportunity for America’s [...]

Posted on August 15, 2006 by As'ad