Rula Jebreal and Elliott Abrams on the Middle East war of words
Former MSNBC contributor Rula Jebreal and former Bush administration deputy national security advisor Elliott Abrams discuss the war of words playing out in the Middle East conflict.
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It's difficult to take Palestinian journalist Rula Jebreal seriously when she doesn't seem willing to accept or discuss the elephant in the room, hamas as a terrorist organization. Dr. Rosenstock certainly puts forward persuasive points.
Res Ipsa Loquitor. Sam's observations are further refuted by Hamas themselves. Why would any responsible party to a dispute involving military activities, the consequences of which have been so staggeringly onesided to the extent that such party has sustained 10,000 casualties and billions of dollars of physical damage, re-engage in said hostilities after a cease fire, solelyt because an agreement was not immediately offing after discussions. It took a year for the parties to the VietNam peace talks to agree on the shape of the table. Is that how long Hamas desires to continue the exchange of fire for the sake of political leverage? How much blood does their ideology demand. How many glorious deaths are wanted for their cause? Bartering is far superior to bullets. At least the children will survive.
Yes it does but without her and other Palestinian spokespeople, journalists, being willing to speak about it, discussion with them is pointless. Is there a threat or fear of retribution from hamas, islamic jihad, etc against those Palestinians who would dare to speak the truth against them?
Journalists have reported that they have been forbidden to visual record military operations in Gaza. Those that have only released their reports after leaving the country. One correspondent requested that his report NOT be televised. They all had concerns for their personal safety. Another reporter who covered the location in Souther Iraq where the IDF soldiers were killed by a suicide bomber was not allowed to film the entrance to the tunnel where the incident occurred.
@ Dr. Rosenstock: Your name is shows your obvious bias as well, as you said based on "heritage and life experience". And do you truly believe the US cares whether they have evidence supporting/refuting locations of rocket launchers? The US support of Israel goes far beyond this "war" (how do you call it a war when only one side has a true military and the financing of the government?). The US/Israel are going to be isolated further from the international community unless this genocide ends now, and Palestinians given statehood.
@Sam: Your assumption of a bias on my part is not only purely empirical but ill-conceived and inappropriate. You know absolutely nothing about me, my background, my knowledge base or the sources from which I draw to reach the conclusions I make. I shall leave it at that for any exposition further on that subject would serve no purpose suffice it to say that when I make an observation as to how this nation conducts its affairs from the position of national security, recent events such as the NSA issue, and the current dustup over a Russian combat aircraft dogging one of our spy planes should support my contention that, internally, this government knows more than it will say publicly. They make it their business to, notwithstanding their public stance in a controversy. My conclusions regarding Rula are derived from listening to her comments on not only Sunday, but in other instances where she has offered her points of view. As far as my comments regarding what appears to have been the chronology of events leading to open hostilities, they are derived from what news reports have provided. With respect to the remainder of your comments, I remember waking up one morning in 1967 to hear that the Israeli Army was poised on the outskirts of Cairo after having marched across the Sinai Peninsula with the Egyptian Army in retreat. After having achieved that objective, and proved their point, they withdrew, held the Sinai, for several years and, in negotiating a peace with Egypt, returned that territory to its control. That peace agreement cost Anwar Sadat his life, taken by members of his armed forces who pledged allegiance to Egyptian Islamic Jihad, the very ideology Hamas is subscribing to. I suggest that you return to the beginning of the 20th Century and review the geopolitical history of that part of the world across that stage, and all the actors who had roles in that play before you come to the conclusion as who and upon whom, a genocide might be inflicted. With respect to same. Give careful attention to the relationship between the Ottoman Empire and the Armenians, The League of Nations, the British and the French, and the Arab states which were carved out of what was left of the Ottoman Empire after WWI.
Elliott Abrams debating integrity and bias? Really? The man has been censored by courts for lying to Congress and almost went to jail for it. Has been defending atrocities in many parts of the world for decades. He is one of those responsible for the mess we are in now. Come on, Reliable Source, if you need a neocon so badly on the show, get at least someone who isn't as discredited as Abrams. Plus, his eyebrows say it all.
@Mary: Taking your argument at face value one could also discredit Rula's point of view as a result of her heritage and life experience. What you are suggesting is that the only way to have a discourse in this matter is between individuals who do not have a dog in the race. Furtheer more, until the news agencies are willing to put their correspondents in harms way to fully document the siting of weapons caches and rocket launchers, an unbiased knowledge of the facts
will not be had. I expect that the US has already trained its spy satellites on Gaza and has visual evidence support or refute the location of rocket launchers, enough to support the contention that they are being placed logistically, such to put the citizenry in harms way. I do not expect the US to reveal this for the sake of our own national security interests with respect to our surveillance capabilities.
Correction: That is to say "to confirm or refute the allegations of the siting of offensive weapons caches and missiles in areas which would put the citizenry in harms way."
I've listened to Rula often and appreciate her attempts to enter into a balanced discussion of this issue. However, she does have a bias in favor of the Palestinian position. The recent conflict was acclerated by Hamas in response to the horrific exchange on the ground of crimes against residents by residents on both sides. It was Hamas who initiated military hostilities and Israel who responded in kind. Instead of dealing with this reality, parties to debates in this matter, the Palestinians, in particularly, never fail to start bringing into the discussions all the peripheral yet unresolved issues.
The central issue at this time and place is the offensive guerilla war infrastructure which Hamas had put in place to attack Israeli interests, the fact that Hamas chose to initiate hostilities in response to what happened on the ground with respect to the inexcusable kidnap and torture of the Palestinian youth, and that Gaza is being subject to a rain of ruin as a result of Israel having declared that they are mad as hell and not going to take it any more. Secondary to this is an observation which cannot be ignored. Gazans do not appear to be exerting any influence on their masters to cease, desist, and explore any and all avenues to stop the carnage either because they do not wish to, or are afraid to.