Instahoglets Sunday

By Cernig

- Gitmo won't close in Obama's first 100 days, he says. Some are putting the best face on it they can. Others aren't. "We will send a message to the world that we are serious about our values" - just not yet. So when will America stop illegal detentions which have enabled torture and abuse? When will the Obama  administration stop perpetuating the self-admitted criminal acts of the last one? Can we have a timetable, please, Mr. President-Elect?

- The Bush Legacy project continues with the full co-operation of the conservative media, and Poppy is fully onboard, unwilling to see his offspring go down in the textbooks as the worst president ever. Just watch, when a still-fractured Iraq swings back into civil war again, it'll be Obama's fault for re-designating combat troops as trainers not Dubya's for invading in the first place. "So what?"

- Terrorism worldwide has seen a five-fold increase in the last eight years. Raw Story's Eric Brewer asked, but deputy WH press secretary Scott Stanzel can't handle the truth any more than Dubya can.

- Meanwhile White House stenographer David "Judy in Drag" Sanger is lying again as he rolls out the next stage in the "Attack Iran" PR campaign, claiming that the Bush administration refused to sell penetrator bombs to Israel that it...umm... previously admitted selling to Israel.  In the course of his article, he also managed to confirm Sy Hersh's reporting on covert action against Iran and repeat the neocon spin about the last Iran NIE. If the Fifth Branch told Sanger the sky was purple (unofficially, of course), he'd faithfully report it without looking up - that's why he's a favorite for the "Faster Please" crowd.

- In Washington, all roads lead to Tehran - even the one's through Gaza.

Israel's culture of eternal war: "look anywhere else on the planet at any government and any nation whose political system is profoundly molded by warfare and it is clear that relentless war and sustainable democratic governance are incompatible. Any nation that perpetually focuses on threats from outside, simultaneously rots from within." (And yes, Hamas commits war crimes too. They're a semi-state actor employing terrorist tactics. Which should have the sense to eschew such crimes? But the Palestinians are the Unchosen People, so that seems to make it OK.)

- Cordesman, via Matt Y : "Has Israel somehow blundered into a steadily escalating war without a clear strategic goal or at least one it can credibly achieve? Will Israel end in empowering an enemy in political terms that it defeated in tactical terms? Will Israel’s actions seriously damage the US position in the region, any hope of peace, as well as moderate Arab regimes and voices in the process? To blunt, the answer so far seems to be yes." So, shooting the US as well as itself in the foot.

- Blog news: my good pal Kyle Moore will be posting some over at Publius Endures, which is great. Both Kyle and Mark (Publius) are two of the sharpest thinkers going. Here's Mark on the "Grand Old Dogma" Party.

- Funniest snippet this week: the co-creator of Barbie was a sex addict. Cue the music.

Comments

[Peter G.]

The Cordesman article is the one that caught my eye since it deals the strategic aspects of Israel's incursions into Gaza and Lebanon. There clearly can't be any real strategic vision here. A full scale conquest or reconquest can't be the goal so what is the exit strategy when you start moving in ground troops. They've traditionally relied on third party diplomatic pressure and negotiated ceasefires to provide an excuse for disengagement. Absent that, any disengagement under fire translates into a defeat. Any Israeli government that stopped unilaterally would have a hell of a time explaining to their electorate what the point of any incursion would be.They have a tiger by the tail and they can't let go. The longer this goes on the poorer the Israeli position gets even as they gain tactical victories. Just another of those conundrums that plague the Middle East I suppose.

[Mark]

C-

Thanks for the linkies! One slight correction - our blog name is Publius Endures, not Publius Pundit.

[Steve Hynd]

My apologies Mark, I had a brainfart. Fixed.

Regards, C