By Lawrence Davidson 10 September 2011 Lawrence Davidson looks at how “groupthink” and “the narrow fate of party and career” prevent senior politicians and bureaucrats from honestly speaking out their minds on crucial matters of war and peace while they are in a position to put their views into practice. There is an interesting phenomenon which we can call "the political retiree’s confession". I don’t mean all those hyped memoirs, ghost written for all manner of high ranking ex-officials. Here I refer to statements by important political leaders and bureaucrats, either out of office or about to vacate their positions, publicly describing what really needs to be done. For instance, what really needs to be done to obtain peace, or accurately pointing fingers at those obstructing peace. These statements can be shocking in their honesty, but curiously enough, are never made, much less acted upon, while the truth sayer is in a position of power. They come to us only with retirement or pending retirement.
Example 1: Ehud Olmert on the occupationFor example, take former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Olmert was prime minister from 2006 (replacing Ariel Sharon who had suffered a debilitating stroke) till early 2009. A few months before leaving office Olmert told the newspaper Yediot Aharonot that, in the end, Israel would have to return "almost all" of the West Bank to the Palestinians, including East Jerusalem. There was no other way to achieve peace with the Arab world. Olmert went on to say that "the decision we are going to have to make is the decision we have been refusing for 40 years to look at open-eyed...The time has come to say these things. The time has come to put them on the table." Of course "the time" oddly coincided with a period when the prime minister could not move this insight from theory into practice.Example 2: Robert Gates on Israel the ungrateful allyNow we have another example of this strange phenomenon. This time from the United States. According to Jeffrey Goldberg, the national correspondent for The Atlantic magazine, former US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates, "in a meeting of the National Security Council Principals Committee held shortly before his retirement this summer [2011]", gave his expert opinion that the Israeli government was ungrateful for United States assistance. That despite all the Obama administration had done for Jerusalem, "access to top-quality weapons, assistance developing missile defence systems, high-level intelligence sharing ... the US has received nothing in return". On top of that, in Gates’s estimation Prime Minister Netanyahu is "endangering his country by refusing to grapple with Israel’s growing isolation..." No one at the high level meeting disagreed with this analysis.Gates’s publically revealed anger is nice to hear about but, like Olmert’s epiphany, it means little in practice. Netanyahu has been rude, duplicitous and downright nasty to President Obama in what was actually a replay of the behaviour of Menachem Begin toward Jimmy Carter in the late 1970s. Carter’s National Security adviser, Zbigniew Brzezinski, learned to distrust the Israeli leadership and would later, after he was no longer in office, advocate an increasing hard line toward Jerusalem. Indeed, he once suggested military confrontation with Israel if that country’s leaders risked a regional war by attacking Iranian nuclear development sites (he suggested the US Air Force shoot down the Israeli planes). This was a reasonable suggestion given the stakes but, of course, it was made when Brzezinski had no position of influence. Getting back to the article on Gates’s negative opinion of Netanyahu and his government, Jeffrey Goldberg writes that the former defence secretary actually "articulated bluntly what so many people in the administration seem to believe". OK. So what are they doing about this? Absolutely nothing. They will all wait until they no longer have positions of influence to come out and vent. The situation is disgusting. And it is disgusting because in both the US and Israel (and no doubt in many other countries as well) there are leaders and advisers who know what needs to be done in Israel-Palestine to make the world more secure and stable, and yet they stand by and twiddle their thumbs. Why do these leaders do nothing about matters of such importance? Here are two interconnected reasons:
1. In his book Victims of Groupthink (1972) Irving L. Janis shows how governing political elites create self-reinforcing decision-making circles that insulate themselves from serious challenge. It is rare that anyone within these circles "thinks outside the box". However, it turns out that the "box" must always be able to accommodate the demands and interests of other groups whose money and power support the "circle’s" political viability. This is a system that must produce frustration and a sense of powerlessness among (the rare) officials who can see even a little more clearly than their peers. By the way, it is not a problem unique to political elites. It surely exists in most organizational structures. It is just that when it comes to government the stakes are so much higher for all of us. 2. Enmeshed as they are in a system of national interest group politics that dictate the fate of their various political parties and their own careers, those who might suspect a world outside the box will stay silent. The narrow fate of party and career is, apparently, worth more than world peace. It is worth more than the lives of millions of doomed civilians and soldiers. It is worth more than justice for nations and peoples. Only when free of this debilitating system do some of these people find their tongues. But by then all they have are impotent words. This is what we are seeing in the belated surfacing of rational criticism and analysis from unexpected sources such as Olmert and Gates. ConclusionHow often do we read about individuals and groups who, witnessing an accident or a crime, just stand by and do nothing? These people do not want to "get involved". Afterwards, such folks are usually very quiet and meek. They don’t want their neighbours to know that they stood by and did nothing. But the position of these confessing political retirees is quite different. They were already involved. And now, after the fact, these one-eyed men in the world of the blind want us all to know they have seen the light. Great. Now you tell us! |  |
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MORMON ROMNEY |
In a rendition programme, America hired private firms who “flew terrorism suspects to locations around the world, where they were often tortured,” the article reports. Uprooted Palestinian
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Egyptians victorious attack on Israeli embassy in Cairo last night leads to a dramatic decision: Israeli Air Force plane returns ambassador, members of diplomatic staff and their families to Israel. 
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Via FLC"...The United States, which has poured billions of dollars of military aid into Egypt since it made peace with Israel in 1979, voiced concern about the violence after protesters hurled embassy documents and the Israeli flag from windows...
Israeli ambassador Yitzhak Levanon, staff and family members arrived home on Saturday but one diplomat stayed in Egypt to maintain the embassy, an Israeli official said...
"This action shows the state of anger and frustration the young Egyptian revolutionaries feel against Israel especially after the recent Israeli attacks on the Egyptian borders that led to the killing of Egyptian soldiers," Egyptian political analyst Nabil Abdel Fattah told Reuters...
On Friday, the wall was torn down after a demonstration in Cairo's Tahrir Square calling for speedier reforms and a deeper purge of officials who worked for Mubarak, the former president on trial on charges including conspiring to kill protesters...
During Mubarak's rule, Egyptians could never show such hostility to Israel without facing a crushing security response. Egypt's ties with Israel were a pillar of his foreign policy and buttressed his claim to be a regional mediator. ..."
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 During a meeting with the Russian Federation Council delegation on Sunday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad warned against "any foreign intervention that threatens to fragment states in the region and increase the risk of extremism in them".Assad said "every reform step taken by the Syrian government was faced with escalation, foreign political and social pressures and attempts of foreign interference in Syria's internal affairs and undermining its stability through armed terrorist operations targeting civilians, policemen, and army and security forces' members. He hailed the balanced and constructive Russian position toward the security and stability of Syria. The Russian delegation was headed by the Council's Deputy Chairman Ilyas Umakhanov. President al-Assad warned that foreign interference threatens fragmenting the countries of the region and increases the risk of extremism in it. For their part, the delegation members expressed pride in the Syrian-Russian historical relations, stressing their country's support to reforms taking place in Syria and its rejection of any foreign interference in the internal affairs of the Syrian people. They added that they will convey the real image of what is taking place on ground to the Russian Parliament and people and all the European and friendly parliaments, according to SANA. The meeting was attended by Deputy Speaker of the People's Assembly Fahmi Hassan and Presidential Political and Media Advisor Dr. Bouthaina Shaaban. Ilyas Umakhanov, deputy head of Russia's upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, held discussions with Assad that were "open, trust-based and substantial," Russia's Interfax news agency said. "It confirmed that the country's leadership understands that one can only overcome a political crisis by uniting all the country's healthy political forces." "We once again saw for ourselves that the country's leadership intends to firmly move along the path of political reforms, create all the necessary conditions to consolidate society and all the patriotic forces of the country," the Russian senator was quoted as saying. |
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They used to say that the Maronite Patriarch was above all politicians, and that no one can has even the right to question his ideas and motives… However, what was applicable under Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir doesn’t seem to be the same under Patriarch Beshara Rahi in their eyes, for a simple and convincing reason: Patriarch Rahi’s opinions are different! Thus, during the last few hours, Patriarch Rahi turned to be the new target of the so-called March 14 forces. The “crime” he committed was that he warned against the negative repercussions of overthrowing the Syrian current leadership, and that he noted that Hezbollah weapons were the result of the ongoing Israeli occupation.  Yet, this was enough for the March 14 officials to criticize the Patriarch and assail him.Lebanese Forces MP George Odwan claimed that the patriarch’s remarks seek to justify the rise of what he called a mini-state outside state control and provide cover for the presence of weapons other than those of the army and security forces. “Approaching the issue of weapons in this manner undermines all the foundations of the Lebanese state,” he went on to say. For his part, Lebanese Forces MP Antoine Zahra said the patriarch’s remarks on Hezbollah weapons “contradict with the principle of keenness on building the State and its authority, as liberating Lebanon and supporting the Palestinian rights should be done by the State, not by an armed party that is breaching the State’s jurisdiction and contesting its authority over the Lebanese territory.” March 14 General-Secretariat Coordinator Fares Soaid said in turn that the patriarch’s remarks “contradict with all of the church’s historic principles, especially that he took part in drafting the text of the Synod for the Middle East which only mentions the support of the State.”  The Future party was also involved in the anti-patriarch campaign.MP Khaled Daher, who did not hesitate to assail the Lebanese national army a few days ago, was the first Future lawmaker to condemn Rahi’s national stances. He claimed in this regard that the Syrian president “has dispatched envoys to meet with the patriarch in Lebanon in order to rally the support of Lebanese minorities for his regime.” He voiced surprise over the patriarch’s statements, saying they “contradict with the history of Christians and Bkirki, which has always supported freedom and stood by people and their rights.” That’s it… In the March 14’s logic, when the patriarch adopts their opinions, he becomes a red line and it’s prohibited to disagree with him. But, when he has different opinions, then launching war against him becomes more than legal! | |||
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You can now pre-order Gilad Atzmon's New Book on Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk Uprooted Palestinian
| Local Editor | ||
Egyptian protestors attacked and invaded the Israeli embassy in Cairo Friday night, took off the Israeli flag and raised the Egyptian flag instead, and tossed official papers and documents, including “confidential” ones, through the windows into the massive crowds rallying near the building.
After that, they surrounded and detained six of the embassy security men, who were saved by the Egyptian commandos. 18 people were martyred and 450 others were injured during the protests after the Egyptian police confronted and attacked the protestors' movement, and used tear bombs to separate them.  The official Egyptian News Agency Al-Sharq Al-Awsat reported that the protestors successfully took control over “confidential” documents that belong to the Israeli apparatuses, and claimed that the “documents included letters from Israeli employees to their Egyptian counterparts written in Arabic but have Israeli stamps.” One of the activists told Al-Manar TV Channel that some of the documents included information about the Israeli spy in Egypt Azzam Azzam whom ousted President Hosni Moubarak ordered his release four years ago.  Furthermore, the 25 January revolution coalition stated that the protestors have detained three of the Israeli embassy employees, and moved them to a “safer” place. The coalition coordinator Houssam Al-Din Ammar told Al-Manar that the three officials were the Israeli ambassador’s secretary, and two communication and protocol officials in the embassy. He also said that high-ranked officials have called him personally asking for the release of the Israeli detainees, but he demanded the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador and all the embassy staff, and the summoning of the Egyptian ambassador in Israel before any release, and put a time frame of three hours to do so. Media reports revealed Saturday that Higher Chief of the Armed forces Hussein Tantawi began personally negotiating with the protestors to release the detainees, but the revolution coalition put the mentioned conditions and warned that if they were not implemented, they will intensify their movement. The Israeli ambassador in Cairo Yitzhak Levanon reportedly left Egypt Saturday, leaving behind his senior diplomat to resume the embassy’s work.  AFP quoted an Israeli official as saying that "we left the deputy ambassador to keep up contact with the Egyptian government."For his part, US President Barack Obama expressed his “great concern” of the rising situation to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, and demanded the Egyptian authorities to “protect” the Israeli embassy; while Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak requested US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to help protecting the embassy in Cairo. Obama’s office issued a statement indicating that Obama has “reviewed the steps that the United States is taking at all levels to help resolve the situation without further violence, and to call on the Government of Egypt to honor its international obligations to safeguard the security of the Israeli Embassy."  Israeli ambassador flown from Cairo in private jet[ 10/09/2011 - 08:14 AM ] (PIC)-- The Israeli ambassador to Cairo, his family, and his staff have been flown by private jet to Israel after Egyptian protesters stormed the building housing the Israeli mission to Cairo late Friday night, Egyptian state television reported. The decision to fly out Ambassador Yitzhak Levanon came during an emergency meeting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held with his cabinet to address the dangers that enveloped the embassy. Protesters managed to knock down a wall that had been set up to protect the embassy, then they entered the embassy, threw official papers from the windows and tore down and burned the Israeli flag for the second time in a few weeks. Protests flared around the embassy a few weeks back when Israeli soldiers shot and killed Egyptian security men in a cross-border raid. Israeli media sources said PM Netanyahu had been following with the Israeli ambassador in Cairo developments that had been playing out and said that all staff had been evacuated and were confined to their homes. Those sources said that a crisis intervention unit had also been following events. According to Israeli experts, although the storming was limited to a storage room on the 18th floor and not the embassy itself, there would be significant repercussions to relations between Israel and Egypt. Tensions ran extremely high before midnight Saturday morning when police forces near the embassy fired teargas at protesters who tried to storm the Giza security directorate near the embassy. The protesters set two police vehicles alight. Skirmishes resulted in injuries to more than 450 people, mostly from breathing teargas. Some of the documents thrown from the embassy window revealed requests for permission to carry arms and requests for visits to spy Azzam Azzam, as well as intelligence documents on Egyptian political forces. Central security forces had begun withdrawing from around the embassy earlier leaving securing the embassy to police. Earlier, protesters who planned to take down the 3 meter high wall guarding the embassy gathered numbers from protests that amassed in Tahrir Square. River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian |
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| Wissam Issa to Al-Manar Website: 
In an exclusive interview with Al-Manar Website, Issa praised Patriarch Rahi’s stances, and said the Patriarch proved to be really the patriarch of Antioch and all East, while his predecessor Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir was only Jounieh’s patriarch, after he was involved in personal disputes and proved to be biased. Issa criticized the Lebanese Forces party which never showed commitment to the state, and said the mentioned party has always dreamt of federalism and division. He warned that the LF stance was not backed at the Christian level, and highlighted that “the Sunni and Shiite LF base does not allow the party to neglect its Christian base.” On the Syrian situation, Issa expressed belief the “danger became behind us,” and said that reforms were advancing against sedition schemes. He hailed the Russian position which considered “was not a joke,” and revealed that the possibility of external threats in Syria was very limited. WE DON’T STAND BEHIND CHURCH  Issa told Al-Manar Website that Al-Marada movement was not accustomed to stand behind the church, and distinguished between religious and political matters in the regard. Yet, he expressed full satisfaction for the harmony between his party and the Church’s stances towards the Syrian developments. He spoke of a serious role to be played by the Vatican as part of its commitment to the East’s Christians. He noted that the decision to change the Patriarch came in this future Vatican vision, in light of the experience in Iraq and Palestine, alongside the inability for Christian to visit their sacred sites.While noting that Patriarch Beshara Rahi was adopting the Vatican position, he expressed belief the Patriarch was showing some kind of openness, in contrast with his predecessor Nasrallah Sfeir. “It is the first time we feel we really have a Patriarch for all East. We believe Patriach Sfeir was Jounieh’s patriarch as he was involved in personal disputes and conflicts. Patriarch Rahi’s moves are great.” WHERE IS LF PARTY GOING?  Commenting on the Lebanese Forces stance towards the Patriarch’s latest positions, Issa denounced the LF claims that the Patriarch’s statements undermine the logic of the state. “The LF party has never shown commitment to the state. They have always sought to establish their own state inside the state. They dream of federalism and division. This scheme is old, it returns to the seventies,” he said.Issa warned that the LF stance was not backed at the Christian level. He also cautioned that the LF Sunni and Shiite bases do not allow the party to neglect its Christian base. He said the LF was committing in this context a historic mistake, and wondered where the LF has been taking itself along with others. Issa noted that balances have changed, in light of the openness reflected by the Christian leaderships, at the top the Marada movement head MP Sleiman Franjieh as well as the head of the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc MP Michel Aoun who signed the famous understanding with Hezbollah. “This is the Eastern honorable alliance. We know we’ll remain here and we’ll live here. We perceive days of surrender have gone. All balances have changed. Our allies are victorious. We don’t know defeat anymore.” DANGER BECAME BEHIND US  Asked about the developments in Syria, the Marada movement politburo member expressed belief that “danger became behind us.” He noted that all tools to undermine the regime and trouble it were exploited but failed to achieve anything. He noted that reforms were advancing and sedition schemes were retracting.Issa also assured that Syria was externally fortified. He pointed to the Russian solid position, noting that Moscow’s stance was not a joke, as it obstructed the possibility to military interfere in Syria through the United Nations and the NATO forces. He also concluded that the possibility of external threats was very limited. Furthermore, he urged the remaining “honorable opposition figures” in Syria to release a specific program and to open dialogue with the regime over their demands and dreams. He noted that the main weak point in this regard is that the Syrian regime does not enjoy a serious interlocutor. SECURITY UNDER CONTROL  To conclude, Issa was asked about the possible repercussions of the Syrian crisis on ground, whether in Lebanon or Syria, in light of the tense political rhetoric. He warned that the collapse of the sedition plot would take its sponsors to a new dangerous stage, the retreat one. He predicted that the next stage could represent a real crisis in Syria, which would be reflected through explosions and assassinations.Issa expressed hope Lebanese “heroes” would not take Lebanon to the same scenario, and noted that the security in Lebanon was still under control and that the Lebanese army was consistent. Yet, he did not rule out the possibility that some “crazy men” could seek to move things according to a sectarian vision. “There are some attempts that were suppressed in this context. I don’t think they can create such atmosphere in Lebanon. However, we believe disruption happens everywhere, without necessarily creating a threat to the regime.” | |||
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 Deadline set for Muammar Gaddafi loyalists to surrender expired on Saturday, as rebel commanders were assuring an attack on towns controlled by strongman’s forces would take place soon.The National Transitional Council (NTC) set the deadline for towns still loyal to Kadhafi to surrender, and on-off talks have been going on for days over Bani Walid, , a Gaddafi stronghold southeast of Tripoli. A number of former regime officials, including Gaddafi’s spokesman Mussa Ibrahim, were believed to be holed up there. NTC forces were massing some 30 kilometers from Bani Walid. Fighters returning from the front reported clashes between NTC "sleeper cells" and pro-Gaddafi forces in and near the town overnight, and said they were reinforcing advance positions amid "fierce resistance" from diehards. "ATTACK IMMINENT"  According to chief NTC negotiator Abdullah Kenshil, "the attack will take place, but its timing will be decided by military leaders on the ground."On Friday, a top NTC commander said "decisive military action" was imminent. "Up to now these negotiations did not lead to positive results," said Salem Jeha -- a highly influential member of Misrata's military council -- just hours ahead of the midnight deadline. "If the negotiations fail then there will be decisive action, decisive military action," Jeha, a former colonel in Kadhafi's army, said from the NTC military headquarters in Misrata. "But where this military action takes place that is a surprise. We are in position and we can move in any direction and this is our strength." Meanwhile, distant artillery fire was heard on Bani Walid’s eastern front at Sedata some 60 kilometers south of Misrata. NATO aircraft could also be heard overhead early on Saturday.  NTC CHIEF HEADS TO TRIPOLI For his part, NTC Head Mustafa Abdel Jalil was flying on Saturday to Tripoli for his first visit since its fighters seized the capital, an AFP correspondent said. Abdel Jalil said his visit to Tripoli from NTC headquarters in Benghazi was "temporary" and that the council he heads would be transferred to Tripoli "after the (full) liberation" of the country. | |||
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