Saturday, June 28, 2014

Thomas Friedman, "Arsonists and Firefighters": Tom Spews More Rubbish

In a New York Times op-ed entitled "Arsonists and Firefighters" (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/29/opinion/sunday/thomas-l-friedman-who-is-setting-the-sectarian-fires-in-the-middle-east.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&_r=0), subtitled "Who Is Setting the Sectarian Fires in the Middle East?," Thomas Friedman divides the Middle East into "arsonists" and "firefighters," i.e. "bad guys" and "good guys." Among his "bad guys" are Syrian mass murderer Bashar al-Assad and Israeli cabinet ministers Naftali Bennett and Uri Ariel. Specifically with regard to Uri Ariel, Friedman writes:

"Ariel deliberately announced plans to build 700 new housing units for Jews in Arab East Jerusalem — timed to torpedo Secretary of State John Kerry’s shuttle diplomacy. And they did."

Some 700 new homes in Gilo caused the collapse of Kerry's folly? Oh really? As Jonathan Tobin wrote in a Commentary opinion piece entitled "Why Did Kerry Lie About Israeli Blame" (http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2014/04/08/why-did-kerry-lie-about-israeli-blame-peace-process-palestinians/):

"Kerry knows very well that the negotiations were doomed once the Palestinians refused to sign on to the framework for future talks he suggested even though it centered them on the 1967 lines that they demand as the basis for borders. Why? Because Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas wouldn’t say the two little words —'Jewish state'—that would make it clear he intended to end the conflict. Since the talks began last year after Abbas insisted on the release of terrorist murderers in order to get them back to the table, the Palestinians haven’t budged an inch on a single issue.

Thus, to blame the collapse on the decision to build apartments in Gilo—a 40-year-old Jewish neighborhood in Jerusalem that would not change hands even in the event a peace treaty were ever signed and where Israel has never promised to stop building—is, to put it mildly, a mendacious effort to shift blame away from the side that seized the first pretext to flee talks onto the one that has made concessions in order to get the Palestinians to sit at the table."

Among Friedman's "firefighters" is Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. Zarif is a "good guy"? In an editorial entitled "Meaningful Progress With Iran" (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/27/opinion/sunday/meaningful-progress-with-iran.html?hp&rref=opinion&_r=0), The New York Times concluded:

"For all this positive momentum, which includes a reciprocal easing of some Western sanctions, many of Iran’s policies remain indefensible, such as the detention of political prisoners, support for President Bashar al-Assad of Syria and support for Hezbollah. Mr. Zarif failed to address those issues in an article he wrote on Iranian foreign policy in Foreign Affairs magazine. But he firmly committed Iran to 'prudent moderation' and to fostering peace and security. A durable nuclear agreement is an important first step in fulfilling that promise."

Ah yes, "prudent moderation" from Iran, a country that hangs homosexuals, stones to death women accused of adultery, executes poets, and commits atrocities against Baha'is, Kurds, Christians and Sunni Muslims. Apart from failing to distance himself from Bashar al-Assad, has Zarif ever denounced these other abominations?

And then there was Zarif's declaration that pursuant to the six-month nuclear framework deal with the P5+1, Iran "did not agree to dismantle anything" (http://edition.cnn.com/2014/01/22/politics/iran-us-nuclear/).

In short, would-be Middle-East expert Friedman is again wearing his ignorance on his sleeve.

5 comments:

  1. I so admire your ability to read, digest and then comment upon these "Looking Glass" world developments as seen through the eyes of these dolts at the Times where black is white and justice is inverted to within an inch of everyone's life. Idiocy is a plague reverberating from ground zero of this epidemic which is Congress, the State Dept, the U.N., and, of course, The NY Times.

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  2. Yes, how can you read this?

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  3. "In short, would-be Middle-East expert Friedman is again wearing his ignorance on his sleeve."
    It isn't ignorance (or not only ignorance) - it's "evilness"
    This evilness of prostitutes I despise so much.

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  4. My nerves would be worn so thin....come to think of it, they are!

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