TheDailyBanter.com

Bill Moyers: Israel Guilty of State Terrorism

By Ben Cohen

Bill Moyers really is a national treasure, doing reporting that the MSM won't touch and keeping his journalistic integrity intact regardless of the political climate. Here he is weighing in on the violence in the Middle East, holding both sides to account and providing a brilliant analysis of current events:

Middle East and North Africa Update

By Hugo Foster

From bread riots to talk of Arab-Israeli war and/or peace, a lot has been going on in the region lately, although, admittedly, when has this not been the case? What follows are three big issues from the past week.

Oil exceeds $116 per barrel. Great news for the Saudis, Emiratis and other Gulf countries, who are being afforded even more time to build mega-cities, massive airports, record-breaking hotels and generally not-very-sensible-sounding projects like ski runs in the desert, before the oil revenues really dry up. Bad news for Western consumers, as they begin to face up to the potential fallout from the American economic slowdown.

Expect to hear much speculation in the coming months over the increasing role of Arab sovereign wealth funds in bailing out struggling Western banks and other cash-strapped enterprises (as with Citigroup, Merill Lynch and co. in recent months). With inflation issues and shortages in the supply of power and cheap labour limiting the speed at which the GCC countries can actually invest at home, the Gulf countries will undoubtedly seek to snap up more and more stakes in overseas assets.

The BBC and the Arabs

By Hugo Foster

In recent decades, Arab governments have become renowned for their inability to cooperate with one another. Yet there is one area in which cooperation comes more easily, and that is in strengthening their own authoritarian rule, stifling dissent and generally repressing their respective populations.

Earlier this year, Arab ministers met to discuss ways to place further restrictions on freedom of expression in their individual countries. The object of their ire were the satellite television networks that have proliferated across the Arab world in the last decade; the end product was a ‘Charter of Principles’, setting out further draconian restrictions on satellite broadcasting. Prohibitions included criticism of leaders and religious figures, as well as acts deemed to compromise such ambiguous notions as social peace, public morality and national unity, though it remains to be seen how strictly these provisions will be implemented.

Come Again Soon....

By Hugo Foster

President Bush’s whirlwind tour of the Middle East, which concluded last week, clearly proved an uncomfortable experience for some of his hosts in the region. In Israel & the West Bank, leg one of the tour, Bush’s arrival preceded some of the worst exchanges of violence between Israel and the Gaza Strip this year.  In ‘friendly’ Dubai, major routes, bridges and tunnels were emptied and shut down, no doubt a sign of the President’s enduring popularity. In Cairo, his mere mentioning was enough to unite both ends of Egypt’s opposition spectrum – Islamist and secular - in protest. Not that he would have noticed – his three-hour chat with Egypt’s President Mubarak took place in the comfortable surroundings of the Red Sea resort Sharm el-Sheikh.  

Iraqis Reclaim Their Streets

By Ben Cohen

Unknown to most westerners, many Iraqis have been fighting for peace and democracy in their country since the U.S led invasion. With the U.S essentially selling off Iraq's natural resources to its own corporations, the country quickly fell apart due to the lack of proper post war planning. Despite the rhetoric about 'bringing freedom' to the Middle East, the U.S has done little to enact serious political change in the country, blocking democracy movements, and ramming through its own corporate friendly legislation. While the country burnt, American commentators blamed Iraqis for the catastrophe, accusing the Arab nation of being 'ungrateful', and 'unready for democracy'.

In a sign that further dismisses this imperialist notion that Iraqis are 'incapable of looking after themselves', community based groups around the country are banding together to reclaim their streets from criminal gangs and militias.

From the Guardian:

Under the embers of the wintry evening sun the Tigris river, usually as brown as old boots, had turned almost blood red. Its waters were calm but its oily sheen was disturbed by the oars of a rower as he sculled his way through the city's fractured heart.

Bush continues to lie about Iran

By Ben Cohen

The Bush Administration was caught up in another hugely embarrassing scandal this week, when it was revealed by a U.S intelligence report that Iran had stopped its nuclear weapons program in 2003. Having been through months of escalating rhetoric (World War 3, a nuclear attack on Israel etc), the report poured cold water on the idea that Iran posed an 'imminent threat' to the U.S. The Bush Administration has been caught red handed given it knew about the report when it came out. Not to be dissuaded by the facts, Bush is doing his best to convince everyone that the report actually proves Iran is even more of a threat.   

From the New York Times:

President Bush warned today that Iran remained a threat despite an intelligence assessment that it had halted a covert program to develop nuclear weapons four years ago, as the administration struggled to salvage a diplomatic process now in disarray.

Bush announces Middle East peace proposal, but no one cares.

By Ben Cohen

Apparently George Bush now wants peace in the Middle East. Having invaded two countries in the region, and funded another (the Israeli invasion of Lebanon), Bush is casting himself as a leader dedicated to ending the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Announcing a Middle East Peace conference, Bush said:

"We can help them prove to the world, the region and Israel that a Palestinian state would be a partner, not a danger".

"We can help them make clear to all Palestinians that rejecting violence is the surest path to security and a better life,"

Rejecting violence? Is he serious? Given the United States has systematically ignored the plight of the Palestinians and bankrolled an Israeli military that has caused thousands and thousands of illegal deaths, not to speak of its own murderous policy in the region, it is beyond ridiculous that Bush would even attempt to speak about the issue.

With the death toll in Iraq rising, and a war with Iran being discussed, the United States has zero credibility when it comes to matters of peace.

Bush has 18 months left in office, and he should probably spend the time on issues he is better able to cope with. Walking his dog and running around the park take skill and dedication, something Bush would be well advised to concentrate on.