Democrats committed to violence
Letter to Hastert condemns Iraqi PM for wanting Israeli killing in Lebanon to stop
As far as stopping war is concerned, perhaps the worst thing that could happen is a Democrat take-over of Congress. Get this:
Senate Democrats press Iraqi PM on Israel remarksIn a letter to [Iraqi Prime Minister] al-Maliki, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, Democratic Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois and Sen. Charles Schumer of New York called the Iraqi leader’s comments troubling.
“Your failure to condemn Hezbollah’s aggression and recognize Israel’s right to defend itself raise serious questions about whether Iraq under your leadership can play a constructive role in resolving the current crisis and bringing stability to the Middle East,” the letter said.
The key phrase there is “recognize Israel’s right to defend itself.” The Iraqis–all of them, it’s one of the few things that unites them–don’t see pummeling of Lebonese civilians and infrastructure as part of “Israel’s right to defend itself.”
However, the Iraqis do seem to recognize Hezbollah’s “right to defend” Lebanon. I personally do not condone rocket attacks. But then, I am not in a position where I must survive against a vastly more powerful military force that wants to kill me. But I do believe that al-Maliki has it exactly right on Lebanon:
What is happening is an operation of mass destruction and mass punishment and an operation using great force that Israel has — and Lebanon does not.
July 28th, 2006 at 23:42
It’s all spin isn’t it! I thought it was mildly amusing that Bush’s poster boy for Iraqi “democracy” would criticise Israel’s war crimes. It was quite amazing that Bush did not comment at all on these remarks. It speaks volumes about the neocons and Bush; they support whomsoever fulfills their manaical political goals, whether they’re pro or against Israel or not. Naturally, Israel would always come first, but in Bush/neocon world morals and ethics are not important. I mean, if it suited their agenda they would cut aid to Israel in a heartbeat and Israel knows it. They turncoated on Saddam in 1990 didn’t they and had no qualms about supporting him during the 1980s? But yes, of course, there will always be the Lobby and yes support for Israel wil probably always be prioritised no matter the situation. But this issue of self-defence is so completely spurious. I mean a cursory glance at the facts would tell you that the cause of the current crisis was not about Israel being under imminent threat such as to warrant a heavy defensive reaction. Israel’s towns, cities and infrastructure, civilians etc were not being bombarded were they? NO, Hezbullah’s actions, rightly or wromgly, did not warrant the action Israel took. By using the term “self-defence” one is once again playing into the narrative that resounds that Israel is the perennial victim and peace-loving party in all of this. And unfortunately this narrative is still effective even during the most liberal of representations in the media (such as CNN, for example).
February 15th, 2007 at 01:41
[...] I wrote about the letter signed by Democratic senators opposing Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s statements condemning the Israeli attack on Lebanon here. [...]