Thomas Friedman: Democrat Voice of Reason

[Felix_Nietsche]

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/10/op...friedman.html?

Besides writing first rate books, T.Friedman has a great mind about the middle east.

[zaxx19]

From Jerusalem to Beirut is probably the seminal work on the area in the last 50 yrs....

I always find myself shocked when SOME left wingers call him "pro-Israel" as Israel's portrayal in the book was hardly complementary.

[Felix_Nietsche]

I love his books and the research he puts into them but sometimes the conclusions he draws from his research can be a little kooky..........

E.g. He blames a Palestinian massacre on Isreali troops for failing to stop the Phalangilist(sp?) Christians who did the killing.... It seems to me when two blood thirsty groops are trying to kill eachother.... The smart thing to do, is to sit back, not get involved, and let nature take it course.... For the Israeli troops to leave their camp, drive several miles, and attack their own allies....does not seem reasonable to me...

[Autocratic]

I love Friedman. As a centrist Dem he's one of my favorites (also, try Kenneth Pollack for ME commentary).

[zaxx19]

Remember left wing-Arab logic:

A)Jews kill Arabs = Jews fault

(targeted assassinations, wars of national defence,crosfire instances...etc.etc.)


2)Arab kills Arab = Jews fault
(Black September, Lebanon...)

3)Arab kills Jews = Jews fault
(Settlers are legitimate targets for murder..even babies since they are in violation of international law..Israelis are fair game bc of the occupation...Argentinian Jews deserve to die bc they supported the Zionist entity and its policies of genocide)


Laid out so logically it sure does make sense doesnt it.

[Cyrus]

[ QUOTE ]
[Friedman] blames a Palestinian massacre on Isreali troops for failing to stop the Phalangilist(sp?) Christians who did the killing.... It seems to me when two blood thirsty groops are trying to kill eachother.... The smart thing to do, is to sit back, not get involved, and let nature take it course.... For the Israeli troops to leave their camp, drive several miles, and attack their own allies....does not seem reasonable to me...

[/ QUOTE ]

That is a rather simplistic view of what happened in Lebanon, at the time.

The Israelis did not have to "fight their enemies", they only had
(a) not to withdraw their forces from around the camp,
(b) honour the agreement (made under US auspices, etc etc, the usual rigmarole that Israel doesn't give a shit about) which provided assurances to the Palestinian fighters leaving Lebanon that their families would not be harmed, and
(c) not invite (yes, invite!) the equivalent of the Fascist Party of Lebanon, i.e. Pierre Gemayel's Phalangists to avenge the Palestinians for having killed a prominent Phalangist a few weeks before.

Israel, through Sharon, who was the chief of the Lebanon invasion, intentionally promoted and was instrumental in the massacre of old Palestinian men, women and children in the camps of Sabra and Chatila, Lebanon.

But Ariel Sharon was a war criminal long before that! If you truly wanna learn about HORROR, check out Ariel's early years as the leader of an "elite Israeli commando unit" whose specialty was deep incursions into Arab territory and the surprise, unprovoked, clandestine slaughtering of Arab civilians in villages near the border. Sharon alone must have slaughtered at least forty or fifty chickens, aka Arab women and children.

The purpose was to empty the villages around Israel's borders. It's all water under the bridge now, since Sharon and the new Palestinian PM are shaking hands and smiling for the cameras.

[nicky g]

"E.g. He blames a Palestinian massacre on Isreali troops for failing to stop the Phalangilist(sp?) Christians who did the killing.... It seems to me when two blood thirsty groops are trying to kill eachother.... The smart thing to do, is to sit back, not get involved, and let nature take it course.... For the Israeli troops to leave their camp, drive several miles, and attack their own allies....does not seem reasonable to me... "

The Israelis were involved. Despite promises to the US, they broke through the Muslim lines on the Phalangists' behalf and brought the Phalangists to the camp . They then guarded the exits of the camps preventing anyone from leaving, over three days. They were not several miles away, they were on the doorstep. All of this is in Friedman. They facilitated, aided and abetted the massacre.

[nicky g]

Its Beirut to Jerusalem.

"I always find myself shocked when SOME left wingers call him "pro-Israel" as Israel's portrayal in the book was hardly complementary. "

A lot of people feel he's shifted more towards a pro-Israeli/anti-Palestinian viewpoint since that book was written.

[Utah]

"A lot of people feel he's shifted more towards a pro-Israeli/anti-Palestinian viewpoint"

I wish he would shift to an interesting writing style + more that first grade logic viewpoint.

Also, as I have mentioned before, I have met the guy twice (he is related to my wife's childhood friend) and I really dislike him. He seems to be an ass.

[nicky g]

I didn't know you'd met him. He comes across as a bit of an ass in his writng. He is very full of himself for his endless stupid metaphors for globalisation etc.