Commentary
Madmen and lemmings stoke Middle East conflagration
By Larry Chin
Online Journal Associate Editor


Jul 18, 2006, 00:47

As the Israel-led rampage in the Middle East worsens by the day, the giddy complicity of the Bush administration, its elite allies, and Arab functionaries becomes more evident. The neocons really think they can bomb and mass-murder their road map into a reality, and seem to be rushing to finish the job (before they lose some of their political power in the fall).

There is clearly no urgency to stop the killing. Witness the brain-diseased Bush yapping and joking about a pork dinner as the Middle East blew up. Witness Bush, just days later, his mouth full of buttered bread, exchanging expletive-laced non-sequitors with Tony Blair.

A widening escalation to take out Iran and Syria appears to be the end game, a deliberate plan, perhaps shared across Washington. For those who remain in deep denial, leading congressional Democrats, including Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and even allegedly antiwar Russ Feingold, have issued statements uniformly and stridently pro-Israel, full of the same disinformation and bilious rhetoric as that coming out of Tel Aviv. Such is the power of AIPAC.

What form will this new and bloody “road map” take if Arab regimes beholden to, or cowed by, the US and Israel, or complicit with them, do nothing? These are the "moneyed Muslims" that Noam Chomsky waxes about. (Some would call them other names, among them "traitors".) More importantly, with an open Pandora’s Box, and the fingers of criminals at the nuclear buttons, what will go wrong?

The analysis being provided by Electronic Intifada, the blow-by-blow front line dispatches of Dahr Jamail, and the blistering analysis of Angry Arab News Service have continued to point the way to nightmarish truths.

As the Angry Arab News Service notes:

“At moments like this, the reality of the regimes is exposed. At a moment like this, you realize that ultimately there are no qualitative differences between Middle East regimes. I mean, Saudi Arabia and Jordan are not different from Syria and Iran. They all care about one thing, and one thing only: their own survival. What have Iran and Syria done to the Lebanese in this crisis? What have they done to the Palestinians? I mean aside from vapid speeches and silly Friday sermons? Sermons don't serve to protect civilians from Israel terrorism.”

“This is an ideological measuring device. Watch their words. Those who speak about Israeli aggression in Lebanon or Palestine and use terms like ‘disproportionate,’ ‘cycle of violence,’ ‘restraint,’ ‘overreaction,’ ‘excessive,’ or those who call to ‘resume the peace process’ are merely providing political cover and legitimacy for Israeli terrorism in Lebanon.”

“Notice that Hariri Inc. politicians are very careful about their rhetoric during those times. They strictly refrain from criticizing the US. And as Walid Jumblat has consistently made it clear: they disagree with Israel on the magnitude of aggression, and not on the aggression itself. Just as Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982 with the collaboration of Lebanese Forces; Israel has the tacit support of House of Saud's clients in Lebanon (and the Nation magazine, let us not forget) during this aggression.”