Fight in Israel
You know what's going on between Israel and Lebanon right now, so I won't go into the details. Let me offer a couple of quick opinions.
First, PM Ehud Olmert is making his bones. He's not an accomplished former general like more Israeli leaders have been, so he needs to show that he can bring the heat. Done.
Also, Olmert wants to re-cast the relationship between Israel and the Hamas/Hezbullah terrorists. While it's true that Sharon and others traded prisoners in the past, Olmert is making a strong point that those days are over.
Hezbullah has tried to have it both ways, acting as a terror/paramilitary group but also trying to win international hearts and minds as a relief organization. That doesn't work (outside of Europe).
The shaky Lenanese government has only recently succeeded in expelling Syrian troops and now has a shot at disarming Hezbullah. Israel needs to play it carefully here, pressing hard enough to deactivate Hezbullah, but not hitting so hard that they topple the government.
Canadian PM Steven Harper and Georgie are both supporting Israel, which is good but not great. Georgie, in particular, throws a lot of weight the opposite way because he is reviled around the world and respected nowhere.
Harper is a Georgie in waiting - a hidden neocon just timing it out to get a parliamentary majority he can use to dismantle Canada's civil society the way Georgie has done so effectively with the US.
The Iraq debacle has taken the reins off all the regional players. Nothing is out of bounds now. For the Arabs, no act is too barbaric to beat what's going on in Iraq. For Israel, they'd have to go a long way to be compared to the US. The rules have changed for all the players, and a period of violent shifting of positions is to be expected.
More later - on football.
First, PM Ehud Olmert is making his bones. He's not an accomplished former general like more Israeli leaders have been, so he needs to show that he can bring the heat. Done.
Also, Olmert wants to re-cast the relationship between Israel and the Hamas/Hezbullah terrorists. While it's true that Sharon and others traded prisoners in the past, Olmert is making a strong point that those days are over.
Hezbullah has tried to have it both ways, acting as a terror/paramilitary group but also trying to win international hearts and minds as a relief organization. That doesn't work (outside of Europe).
The shaky Lenanese government has only recently succeeded in expelling Syrian troops and now has a shot at disarming Hezbullah. Israel needs to play it carefully here, pressing hard enough to deactivate Hezbullah, but not hitting so hard that they topple the government.
Canadian PM Steven Harper and Georgie are both supporting Israel, which is good but not great. Georgie, in particular, throws a lot of weight the opposite way because he is reviled around the world and respected nowhere.
Harper is a Georgie in waiting - a hidden neocon just timing it out to get a parliamentary majority he can use to dismantle Canada's civil society the way Georgie has done so effectively with the US.
The Iraq debacle has taken the reins off all the regional players. Nothing is out of bounds now. For the Arabs, no act is too barbaric to beat what's going on in Iraq. For Israel, they'd have to go a long way to be compared to the US. The rules have changed for all the players, and a period of violent shifting of positions is to be expected.
More later - on football.
posted by fiduciary at 8:09 AM
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