In Pervez Musharraf, the Bush administration has bet on a leader whose incompetence mirrors its own. Pakistan’s hapless military dictator can’t seem to do anything right: stop Taliban infiltration into Afghanistan, catch Osama bin Laden, settle the Kashmir dispute with India, or follow through on promised democratic and educational reforms. So why does the Bush […]
Blake Hounshell
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The Dream Palace of the Bushies
Lebanese-American scholar Fouad Ajami, who contributes to the Wall Street Journal opinion pages and consults with the Bush administration on Middle East affairs, originally became known for his dense essay collection The Dream Palace of the Arabs. In it, he harshly criticized his fellow Arabs for their predilection for failed ideologies like Arab nationalism and […]
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THE MAIN EVENT.
THE MAIN EVENT. Today’s meeting between President Bush and Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki in sunny, safe Amman is not likely to solve Iraq’s problems. If the text of Stephen Hadley‘s leaked memo is any guide, the purpose is to confirm that al-Maliki is still our guy despite his inability to control the sectarian violence that […]
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DID SYRIA DO IT?
DID SYRIA DO IT? Never loath to leap to conclusions without evidence, the Wall Street Journal editorial page has already decided that Syria killed Pierre Gemayel, Jr. last week. The Journal is pushing back against the expected Baker-Hamilton proposal of talks between the United States and Syria, which seem to meet with widespread approval everywhere […]
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TRAGICALLY HIP.
TRAGICALLY HIP. I’m afraid that this innovative ad campaign, which pokes fun at Lebanese sectarianism through billboards like “Parking for Maronites Only,” is bound to be misunderstood. Maybe it’s a little too close to Lebanon’s reality for comfort? — Blake Hounshell
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AN ENCOURAGING SIGN.
AN ENCOURAGING SIGN. Ehud Olmert surprised me today by announcing a new peace initiative following the shaky truce in Gaza: The Israeli prime minister today said he was prepared to free “many” Palestinian prisoners in return for the release of Cpl Gilad Shalit, the soldier captured by Palestinian militants in June. Speaking on the second […]
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WHILE WE WERE AWAY.
WHILE WE WERE AWAY. Believe it or not, it’s possible for Iraq to slip even further into chaos. The Iraqi government — not that it’s really in charge of the country anyway — is on the brink of collapse after Moqtada al-Sadr & company threatened to withdraw if Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki goes ahead with […]
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EMINENT DOMAIN.
EMINENT DOMAIN. The New York Times has an explosive story on its front page this morning: JERUSALEM, Nov. 20 � An Israeli advocacy group, using maps and figures leaked from inside the government, says that 39 percent of the land held by Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank is privately owned by Palestinians.Israel has […]
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FRIEDMAN OBIT ROUNDUP.
FRIEDMAN OBIT ROUNDUP. Yesterday I noted that Milton Friedman had just died, joining John Kenneth Galbraith as the second towering figure of 20th-Century economics to die this year. Now the obituaries are out in most major publications (here’s the New York Times). Berkeley economist and blogger Brad DeLong submitted his own to Salon. It’s a […]
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THE OTHER BIG…
THE OTHER BIG LOSER IN LEBANON: AMERICA. The argument about whether Israel or Hezbollah won their summer war goes on, but everyone agrees that the Lebanese people were the big losers. The image of the United States also took a pounding in Lebanon, according to the initial findings of the latest Gallup World Poll (annoyingly […]