(an aerial view of Futenma U.S. Marine Corps Air Station, Okinawa) Chris Nelson blogged before blogs — and his daily take on US foreign policy and political affairs, The Nelson Report, with a zealous slant towards all things Asia — is only available to high end consulting clients and his pals (by fax and email)….
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Director Jeffrey Gedmin has just authored a disconcerting brief on his recent observations of Pakistan’s political and social scene for the journal World Affairs that I encourage folks to read.
RabbiLive got a provocative comment from the iconic White House correspondent Helen Thomas — sort of the Max Blumenthalesque treatment of the Israel-Palestine issue from the other side of the coin. Helen Thomas, in my view, is right to talk about the problems of Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory. She is clearly passionate about that….
George W. Bush said both before and after the Palestine elections of 2006 that they were the fairest and most well run elections held in the Middle East outside of Israel. “The people made their choice,” Bush said.
This is a guest note by Anthony H. Cordesman, holder of the Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. This piece first appeared as a CSIS brief and is reprinted here with permission.
For a few more hours, this is generally my view from the Intercontinental ANA Hotel in Tokyo. The white house there in the middle is the home of Obama California campaign finance chair and now US Ambassador to Japan John Roos, who I had the privilege to meet and chat with the evening before last….
New Republic Literary Editor Leon Wieseltier is one of America’s chief gatekeepers on Jewish experience, culture and politics and has recently been one of those who has led in American journalistic circles in rebuking uncomfortable arguments by Peter Beinart and Andrew Sullivan about Israel’s self-destructive behavior.
(original clip — video released by the IDF on May 31) Max Blumenthal has been working over time to challenge the Israeli government claims and releases on what happened during the clash between IDF forces and the Turkish flotilla bound for Gaza.
I don’t understand the Israeli government defense of the ‘shoot to kill’ behavior of commandos that stormed the Turkish flotilla going toward Gaza. The protesters used primitive weapons — bats, slingshots, etc.
This is a guest note by Col. Lawrence B. Wilkerson (USA, ret) who for sixteen years was assistant to General Colin Powell and who served as Chief of Staff of the Department of State during Powell’s tenure as Secretary of State.