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Armageddon-in
July 25, 2006 8:50 AM
So...our Nightline profile of Kos ran last night (CLICK HERE TO WATCH VIDEO) and already the 'net is buzzin'!
In the interview Kos talked about his admiration of the Republican machine, and addressed criticisms of his harsh comments about contractors killed in Fallujah ("Screw them") and the so-called Kosola scandal.
The full transcript of our interview -- for Kossacks looking to prove what an idiot I am, or Kos-detractors looking to slam him -- can be read HERE.
Today Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki comes to the White House for his first time in what will no doubt be a visit fraught with Nyets. Al-Maliki wants a number of things that simply don't square with Bush administration policy -- amnesty for insurgents who have attacked US troops; the end of immunity for US troops who have committed crimes in Iraq; and condemnation of Israel for its bombing of Lebanon.
Which Hill Democrats are hammering al-Maliki for doing, including Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-IL, who's circulating a "Dear Colleague" letter to his fellow Congressmen urging House Speaker Dennis Hastert to cancel al-Maliki's Wednesday’s address to Congress for slamming Israel's strikes against Lebanon. "We are unaware of any prior instance where a world leader who actively worked against the interests of the United States was afforded such an honor," the letter says.
Begging off the wisdom of this move politically, it's worth noting that Emanuel's ties to Israel are rather deep. His father emigrated from the Jewish state to the US in the 1950s. During the first Gulf War, Emanuel moved to Israel to volunteer at a supply base near Kiryat Shmona, where he did menial work.
A deep and troubling subtext in ALL of these Middle East conflicts: the rising prominence of Shiite Iran, which the US wants to contain and Shiite Iraq wants to cozy up to.
Speaking of which, am I the only one who's shocked by the news from the full translation of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah's interview on Al Jazeera? According to MEMRI'S TRANSLATION, Nasrallah claimed that he had told Lebanese political leaders about Hezbollah's plans to kidnap Israeli soldiers -- and had received their blessings.
"I told them that we must resolve the issue of the prisoners, and that the only way to resolve it is by abducting Israeli soldiers," Nasrallah said. "(N)obody said to me: 'No, you are not allowed to abduct Israeli soldiers.' ...I said that we would abduct Israeli soldiers, in meetings with some of the main political leaders in the country. I don't want to mention names now, but when the time comes to settle accounts, I will. They asked: 'If this happens, will the issue of the prisoners be over and done with?' I said that it was logical that it would."
Nasrallah seems to say he miscalculated -- that neither he nor these unnamed Lebanese officials thought Israel would retaliate as it has. "(S)how me a country, show me an army, show me a war, in which two soldiers, or even civilian hostages, were abducted, and a war was waged against a country - and all for two soldiers. This has never happened throughout history, and even Israel has never done such a thing."
This to me seems like huge news, considering the way that US officials have been talking about Lebanese political leaders as a potential solution to the problem of Hezbollah. But I haven't seen it get much play anywhere.
More later...am "SUBSTITUTE GUY" " at the White House again today...
Seacrest out --
Jake
July 25, 2006 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (3)
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I suppose his education didn't include the Trojan War, then.
Posted by: Linkmeister | Jul 25, 2006 1:42:17 PM
Bear in mind that the leb government is fractured, so if he told the syrian stooge president or some of the other Hizbullah aligned members it does not really count. By the way in the Us, we have been informed by many that the US has plans to strike Iran, and many people have supported this action. Does this then mean, that democrats in congress would be supportive of such action and should be blamed if it took place? it is pointless to think of the leb govt as some unified administration, there is a schism and we talk to a section, that group had no knowledge.
Posted by: hummbumm | Jul 25, 2006 12:46:22 PM
Although the Iraqi prime minister is the titular head of the government, I think it's clear who is really calling the shots when it comes to governing Iraq, and it's not any Iraqi. It will be a very telling sign if al Maliki is disinvited to address Congress.
I'd not heard anything about the interview Nasrallah had with Al-Jazeera, and I thank you for publicizing it. If the translation you cited is indeed correct, the Lebanese leaders gravely underestimated Israel's response to Nasrallah's actions, as did Nasrallah himself, and are paying for that error with their people's lives. Of course, Nasrallah could just be spinning the facts to take blame off himself and his gang of thugs. Things are never what they appear to be in the Mideast, no matter whose side you're listening to.
Posted by: chuck | Jul 25, 2006 9:07:47 AM
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