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As many of you know, I really try to avoid working on issues related to the Israelis and Palestinians. The whole mess reminds me of the Western Front, with both sides entrenched in their fighting positions and lobbing round after round of heavy artillery at the other side. I mean, on the one hand, I have spent a lot of time in the Arabic-speaking world, have traveled widely through Israel and the Palestinian Territories, speak one of the relevant languages, and genuinely like visiting Israel and its neighbors (where I have many friends). So I really should take an active interest in the issues. On the other hand, though, I have instead chosen to spend my days trying to think of ways to win a counterinsurgency campaign in a landlocked mountainous state in Central Asia in part because it's a lot more "do-able" than brokering peace in the Levant, and no one is going to call me ugly names if I suggest, to pick one example, talking with our violent Islamist adversaries.
That having been said, I know enough about the issues to know that the release of the so-called "Palestine Papers" is kind of a big deal. So if you have any interest whatsoever in the Middle East "Peace Process" and are not otherwise busy breaking down Green Bay's blitz packages or pondering what President Obama will say in tomorrow's State of the Union Address, you'll want to follow their release, which you can do here, as well as the commentary, which you can do here.
Have fun with that. Let me know how everything turns out.
"I have instead chosen to
"I have instead chosen to spend my days trying to think of ways to win a counterinsurgency campaign in a landlocked mountainous state in Central Asia in part because it's a lot more "do-able" than brokering peace in the Levant"
LOL, no it isn't, especially as you're determined to play by retarded liberal rules in both games.
I am, actually, quite busy
I am, actually, quite busy breaking down Green Bay's blitz packages, and wondering how they need to be adjusted against a quarterback who can take hits as well as Pittsburgh's can. But I'll get to this Mideast stuff eventually. Israel and the Palestinians will still be there in two weeks.
Andrew, You want to get your
Andrew,
You want to get your ticket punched (ie. justify the expense) on USAID, but you do not want to talk about how to pay for your pet program.
That is pretty typical tax and spend idealogy. That money does not grow on trees or get printed at the fed. Someone somewhere has to generate wealth rather than just hand out freebees.
Government prints money, I have never seen a government employee earn a profit.
" I have instead chosen to
" I have instead chosen to spend my days trying to think of ways to win a counterinsurgency campaign in a landlocked mountainous state in Central Asia"
So you guys have come up with a definition for a "win"? Pray tell...
Mr AbuM, I've a solution for
Mr AbuM, I've a solution for Americans to both the Levantine and the C. Asian Gordian knots. The first step is quite simple and cost-effective. Leave, pull out of the region. The next step is more difficult as we wean the American hoi polloi from the internal combustible engine.
Now careers will be curtailed, prestige tarnished, and the traditional means of displaying virility (buying one of Detroit's ,now taxpayer-saved, abominations) will be destroyed, but with any operation regrettable collateral damage will occur and sometimes traditional cultures must be altered for the good of the tribal peoples involved. We will have to find hobbies for all the Gen Y John Boltons, and honorable retirement pasturage for the Baby Boomer and Gen X political and military leaders. Perhaps we could use them in quelling/and or coming up with nifty theories regarding the resulting Christian Dispensationalist insurgencies that will emerge as leaders like John Hagee realize a threat to their power. How do we reach out to McMansion-man when he no longer has the gas to mow his yard? What carrot can we offer him to get him to come to the bargaining table?
When even Fnord's
When even Fnord's successfully scoring points on you there's a problem.
I think the strategy went something like
1. Surge
2. ???
3. Improve governance!
Zathras, Hope your quaterback
Zathras,
Hope your quaterback wears the American Label. Labor is watching the game, his team might get penalties otherwise. Green Bay and Pittsburgh are pretty true and loyal to the Red, White and, Blue.
Andrew, I am starting to
Andrew,
I am starting to believe. The Palestine Papers are more interesting......
Got to the second paragraph about honoring Giffords.....didn't he already do that? Politics to the extreme, that is rude.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/48036.html
...............I am tuned out before it starts. Competitiveness? That is an insult that burns deep. People get offshored because US corporations can buy ten workers in China for the price of one in the US, there are less EPA rules, human rights are a joke, the Chinese government subsidizes the business, and the Renminbi is controled. Obama might as will get up on the stage and piss on the American people, same effect. Offshoring got started in the Clinton Administration and Obama is going to take it to the next level.
Hope the Bears are playing. Hear Rahm got benched.
Andrew, Looking forward to
Andrew,
Looking forward to your talk at MEI tomorrow, and hope to catch up with you afterwards.
Best,
Bill
Unfortunately I think that
Unfortunately I think that just like everything else involving the Israel/Palestinian issue, people will just use this to reinforce their own bias and POV. Israel doesn't come across looking like a very honest broker for peace, rejecting Palestinian offers to give them a lot of what they want, but the pro-Israel crowd will point to the fact that the PLO/Fatah looks absolutely useless and no matter what agreement they came to, it would be unenforceable anyway with their completely justified lack of popularity among the Palestinians. This won't serve to change anyone's mind though it makes for an interesting read. I think at this point any deal that avoids a Yugoslavia/Kosovo style war over the West Bank and Gaza is the best we can hope for.
I don't agree with Mateo's
I don't agree with Mateo's comment upthread. My sense is that the documents leaked to al Jazeera show the Israeli government speaking and acting in bad faith -- not so much toward the Palestinians, but rather toward the American government. This is bad for Israel.
The Israeli government has told us it is committed to the peace process, and the Israeli prime minister has even endorsed the concept of a two-state settlement in public. In actual conversations with the Palestinians, though, the Israeli government appears to have made clear that no ideas inconsistent with the maximum agenda of the Israeli settler lobby would be acceptable, a position that practically speaking excludes de facto Palestinian statehood. This has evidently gone on for years, and not just under the Netanyahu government.
Sentiment cannot trump interest indefinitely. The fact is that there is no American interest in who governs what parts of the West Bank of the Jordan River. American support of Israel is premised on the idea that the Jewish state's existence is under mortal threat, but the leaks to al Jazeera make it appear that our support for Israel has not only been taken for granted by that country's government but used to buttress Israel's position in a territorial quarrel that is not ours. I would be very surprised if these disclosures did not turn out to be a signpost on the way to a serious crisis in Israeli-American relations within the next two years.
Fair point Zathras, and
Fair point Zathras, and personally I agree with you. I just see the problem being that pro-Israel sentiment is so firmly entrenched in some circles (though it is starting to wane a little bit), in particular the US congress, that it will be very hard for us going forward to make any significant changes re: our stance on Israel. They know there is no way we will ever cut off foreign and military aid, they called our bluff on settlements and won, and even though I see change happening over time it will take a very, very long time, and the in hoping for a Palestinian state time is not on our (or the Palestinians side). I do agree with you though, to me, Israel came across looking horribly. They have been essentially portraying themselves one way to the US public and then negotiating entirely different, their actions and rhetoric were nowhere near the same. I just mention that the Palestinian Authority takes a hit on this because for their part they were negotiating in a way that the Palestinian public would never accept, giving up parts of East Jerusalem and WB. You're completely right though, Israel comes out of this looking really bad and it'll be interesting to see how the US govt reacts.
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