Archive for March, 2008|Monthly archive page
Rice: ‘Iraq was harder than I thought’
Filed under: Democracy, Iraq, Islam, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, War, religion |
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By CLAUDE SALHANI (Editor, Middle East Times)
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Thursday said the United States remained “concerned” about (nuclear) proliferation in the Middle East and singled out Syria in particular. Washington has been “concerned by proliferation in Syria for some time,” she told a group of editors and reporters from the Middle East Times and The Washington Times during an hour-long meeting on Thursday.
America’s top diplomat also reflected on “two tough decisions taken: to overthrow the Taliban and to liberate Iraq from Saddam Hussein.”"Both right and both necessary. Both very difficult pathways for these young democracies,” said Rice.
Looking back on the last five years and the war in Iraq, Rice admitted: “I thought it would be tough, but I didn’t think it would be this tough.” She added, “It’s a society that’s only now beginning to emerge.”
Commenting on the Islamists’ loss of ground in Iraq Rice said, “In showing their brutality al-Qaida has reunited the Iraqi people again.”
“This is not a war with or about or against Islam. This is about a group of people who have a particularly converted view of religion and will kill in its name.”
Politics & Policies: Mideast forecast
Filed under: Democracy, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Middle East, Peace Talks, Syria, WMD |
Leave a Comment By CLAUDE SALHANI (Editor, Middle East Times)
The political situation in the Middle East is reaching a dangerous crescendo. The status quo cannot continue; either the comatose peace process shifts into high gear, and all parties concerned become serious about moving toward a peaceful solution – without reservation – or the region faces a serious risk of slipping into greater violence.
As things currently stand, it could go either way in any of the four theaters of conflict: Israel-Palestine, Iraq, Iran, and Lebanon-Syria.
Gaza under Hamas – Is peace attainable?
Leave a CommentBy CLAUDE SALHANI
Two recent reports – one from the International Crisis Group and the other from Radio France International – have reached the same conclusion regarding the policy applied by Israel and backed by the United States on trying to pressure and isolate the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip into submission.
Leaving room for optimism the International Crisis Group report finds that despite numerous difficulties and road blocks, there’s still a possibility of moving forward. “The policy of isolating Hamas and Gaza is bankrupt and, by all conceivable measures, has backfired,” says Nicolas Pelham, Crisis Group’s senior analyst in Jerusalem. “The population’s suffering has only increased its dependence on its rulers.”
Indeed, not only has this policy increased the people’s dependence on the rulers, but in the case of the Gaza Strip it has also increased the support of the street for the rulers of Hamas in the wake of rising violence. Despite harsh retaliatory military action by Israel to punish Hamas and Islamic Jihad for their bombardment of Israeli civilian population centers and in spite of the heavy toll in human casualties suffered by the Palestinians in Gaza, still, a large segment of the population according, to the RFI report, support military engagement with Israel over carrying on peace talks. The general perception is that the talks are leading nowhere but the barrage of Qassam rockets is being heard and is getting some reaction.
US ‘guarantees’ Lebanon independence 100%
By CLAUDE SALHANI (Editor, Middle East Times)
Lebanon’s independence and sovereignty is guaranteed “100 percent” by the Bush administration, according to the leader of the Lebanese Forces who met with top U.S. government officials in Washington last week.
After a series of meetings with representatives from the House and Senate, top officials from the Bush administration which included U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Steven Hadley, President George W. Bush’s national security adviser and Elliott Abrams, deputy national security adviser, Samir Geagea told the Middle East Times in an exclusive interview last Saturday that he felt more confident regarding the future of Lebanon.
Lebanon: Pregnant with incredible danger
By CLAUDE SALHANI (Editor, Middle East Times)
Four months later and 16 attempts at staging elections to fill the vacant presidency, Baabda Palace remains unoccupied – and Lebanon remains without a president. Yet again it seems as though the Lebanese political parties have developed collective amnesia, brushing aside recent history. Electing to forget bitter lessons of a devastating civil war rather than electing a president, Lebanon’s rival political and religious parties have started to rearm.
This is “a moment that is pregnant with incredible danger,” said Augustus Richard Norton, a faculty member of both international relations and anthropology at Boston University during a discussion Tuesday night at Georgetown University addressing the current political impasse affecting Lebanon.
Politics & Policies: Assessing terrorism
By CLAUDE SALHANI (Editor, Middle East Times)
Where do we stand seven years after the 9/11 in the war on terrorism?
Robert C. Martinage a senior fellow with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments writes in a newly released book titled, “The Global War on Terrorism: An Assessment,” that the violent radicalism we’re witnessing today is in fact nothing new.
“Since the death of Muhammad in 632, Islamic history has been punctuated by many periods in which various heterodox sects have emerged and clashed violently with mainstream Muslims, as well as with the West.”
As history points out the problem of global terrorism has been cyclical, ebbing and flowing with the changes occurring in the world’s geopolitical systems.
