The Flashlight, Jan. 20-26, 2007

THE FLASHLIGHT, Jan. 20-26, 2007

Lebanon

Guardian 1-23, Tuesday. Many thousands of demonstrators, led by Hizbollah staged a general strike They blocked the roads of Lebanon with the avowed intention of overthrowing the elected government. At crossroads and in traffic circles they burned old rubber tires, which sent up thick black smoke. The police and army sought to quiet them with negotiations. The next day the strike turned violent and there were scattered gun battles.
Then Hassan Nasrallah, general secretary of Hizbollah, called off the strike, saying that he could topple the government any time. But both sides feared a civil war. Lebanon had fought a fifteen--year civil war, 1976-1991, which most adults remembered. This time four died and over 150 were wounded before the two sides backed off.

NY Times 1-26. In Paris donor nations agreed to provide over seven billion dollars to pay for the rebuilding of Lebanon, which was badly damaged during the Israeli air attacks last summer. The Lebanese public debt is now at forty billion dollars. Unemployment is high (hence the availability of people to demonstrate) Public utilities frequently malfunction.
The political issues debated by the parties for almost two months remained unresolved.

Turkey

The funeral of the Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in Istanbul was attended by an estimated crowd of 100,000. Dink was a symbol of freedom of speech, and personally popular. An Islamist newspaper headline: “Our Hrant is murdered.”

Israel

CNN 1-23. The President of Israel, Moshe Katsev, accused of rape and sexual harassment, took a three month leave of absence. There is talk of his impeachment.

US Politics

[Congressional committees held hearings. The President gave his State of the Union speech. The Libby trial for perjury was providing some clues to secret maneuvers in the White House in 2003-04. Nothing of great note happened in Washington this week.]

Neuroscience

NY Times 1-26. A study of 32 stroke patients revealed that damage by a stroke to the insula, a part of the brain near the ear, may instantly and permanently break a smoking habit. This indicated that addictions required that neural networks formed circuits which could be turned off suddenly. The insula connects the unconscious and conscious parts of the brain. This is a radically new development, offering hope of better treatments for many kinds of addicts. The discovery was made at the Brain and Creativity Institute at USC, headed by the famed neuroscientist Antonio Damasio.

Speech and Book Review

Speaker: Dr. Norman Finkelstein, professor of political science at DePaul University, Chicago. He is 53 years old, very tall, lean, and energetic. His parents survived the Holocaust. He grew up in New York city. His Ph.D at Princeton was on Zionism and he was a Marxist in his youth.
Noam Chomsky is Finkelstein’s friend and ally, while Alan Dershowitz, law professor at Harvard, is their bete noire. [black beast] Dershowitz is a leading defender of Israel, and of torture for political ends.

The Speech. Professor Finkelstein is one of the best public speakers I have ever heard, surpassing even Sen. John Edwards.

His lecture occurred on Jan 25, 2007, in Stanford’s Cubberly Auditorium. The auditorium, containing c. 500 seats, was full: The sponsor was the Coalition for Justice in the Middle East, a Stanford student organization. Most of the people there looked like graduate students or older.

Finkelstein began by saying that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, relatively speaking, is not controversial or complicated. He says that the controversy has been fabricated to divert attention from the facts in the documentary records and to produce confusion. It is intended to immunize Israel from criticism. But the facts and central issues are quiet clear.
The World Court has ruled that Israel has no title to the land it occupied during the l967 War. The Jewish settlements on that land are all in flagrant violation of international law. The occupation of East Jerusalem is also according to the Court. Dr. Finkelstein said that Pres. Carter’s conclusions in his recent book were also uncontroversial
The Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, et al. agree that Israel has had a terrible human rights record for the last twenty years. It has been in flagrant violation of international law.
To condemn two parties who violate a moral law is justice, said Finkelstein, but to condemn only one party is hypocrisy. Israel charges the Palestinians with terrorism, but many of its own acts deserve the label.
If terrorism is the indiscriminate killing of civilians, then Israel is guilty of terrorism against the Palestinians. The only difference is that Israeli terrorism is four times as lethal, according to statistics on the deaths of men, women, and children..
Israeli scholars now agree that there was an ethnic cleansing of Palestine. The only area of disagreement is whether or not it was premeditated. The scholar Ben Ami says it was premeditated. [So does Ilan Pappe, author of The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, 2006,]. They found Hebrew documents to support their position.
Instead of recognizing the Palestinian state, as agreed upon in peace negotiations in 2000, Israel is dismembering the Palestinian state.
Jewish claims of Holocaust uniqueness are used to exempt Israelis from moral examination according to ordinary standards. The aim is to avoid comparison of the Jewish case with other cases. The comparison of Israeli policies on the West Bank with South African apartheid is valid, said Finkelstein, except that the Jewish treatment of the Palestinians is worse than the Boer treatment of the blacks in South Africa.
Toward the end of the speech the dramatic tension built. The speaker released some tension by mocking the UN members who, besides the US and Israel, voted against censures of Israel These were the five island groups of the Pacific. Finkelstein mispronounced their names with glee. He talked about his: struggle with Alan Dershowitz, perhaps the most acclaimed Jewish defender of Israel in the last thirty years. Bursts of applause began.
Finkelstein ended with the assertion that “we” have the most powerful weapons, truth and justice, on “our” side. He received a standing ovation at the end. The audience was fighting mad and seemed happy to find this leader who shared their feelings. .

The Book: Beyond Chutzpah; On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History. Berkeley, University of California Press, 2005 was on sale.. I bought a copy but have not read it yet.

The Flashlight, Jan. 15 - 19, 2007

THE FLASHLIGHT, January 15 – 19, 2007

Iraq

NY Times 1-15. Two suicide bombers killed 70 students and teachers at a University just outside Baghdad. Truthout 1-8. In Iraq as a whole 280 professors have been killed and 3200 have fled.

NYT 1-18. The Iraqi government of Nuri Maliki has started arresting leaders of the Mahdi Army, led by Moqtada as-Sadr.
Reuters 1-18. New draft Iraqi oil law allows Halliburton to broker leases on all Iraqi oil fields. The full text of the law will appear next week.

Lebanon

An-Nahar, Beirut 1-13, The $40 military aid shipment to the Lebanese government will include riot gear. Hizbollah has threatened another big demonstration before Jan. 25, when the donor conference for Lebanon opens in Paris.

Turkey

Guardian 1-19. The Turkish Armenian editor, Hrant Dink, who has been repeatedly condemned for “insulting Turkishness” by discussing the Armenian Genocide of 1915, and has received many death threats, was shot dead in the street in front of his office in Istanbul. Prime Minister Recip Erdogan condemned the killing and said that two suspects had been arrested.

Israel-Palestinian conflict

NYTimes. 1-19, Israeli Prime Minister Olmert announced that Israel was transferring 100 million dollars in Palestinian duties withheld by Israel to President Abbas and the Palestinian Authority. None of this may go to Hamas or used to pay Hamas-affiliated Palestinian officials. It is estimated that $500 million is still being withheld by Israel. The money belongs to the Palestinians by international agreement.

“Israel and the Jews”
The Economist, 1-13. In a long article entitled, “Second Thoughts about the Promised Land,” In a survey by Stephen M. Cohen, of Hebrew Union College, just 17% of American Jews called themselves Zionists. Only 57% of American Jews said that “caring about Israel is a very important part of my being Jewish,” down from 73% in a similar survey in 1989.
The article concludes: “But increasingly, today’s young Jews see the future not as a choice between Zion and exile, but as a fruitful fusion of both.”
US Politics

` NY Times. 1-16. Barack Obama took a further step toward declaring his candidacy from the Presidency.

CNN 1-17. Hilary Clinton is lagging behind other Democratic Senators in opposing the troop buildup in Iraq. McCain supports the buildup and stands for sending more troops still.

NYTimes 1-18. The Bush Administration reversed itself in agreeing not to make any further warrantless wiretaps on people suspected of terrorism. The FISA Court will continue to act legally.

Supplement to the Flashlight, 1-13

SUPPLEMENT TO THE FLASHLIGHT, January 13, 2007
From Mary K. Matossian

Trudy Reagan, a member of Palo Alto Friends meeting, alerted me to news that I had not seen in the mainstream media which I routinely cover. I found the following news with the help of the advanced news search service of Google News at 4:30 p.m., Saturday.

US Military Aid to Lebanon

Herald Tribune International, 1-13. The US has promised $40 million dollars in military aid to the Lebanese Army. The first plane to land with this aid, carrying 20 Humvees, landed at the Beirut Airport, where journalists were barred. Besides 265 Humvees, the ingredients in the aid package have not been revealed. [Hizbollah is preparing a third wave of demonstrations and strikes in Beirut very soon. It would not surprise me if the US aid includes tear gas and other equipment for controlling large crowds.]

Disclosure of Plan for Foreign Control of Iraqi Oil Reserves

Global Research.ca 1-13. Jerry White. Title: “Iraqi Regime to Hand Over Oil Reserves to US [and British] Energy Giants”
Source: The Independent, UK. Jan. 7, from leaked information. A new law under consideration by the Iraqi Parliament would give to ExxonMobil, Chevron, and British Petroleum production sharing agreements. The Iraqi government would keep formal ownership of its oil reserves, which constitute one tenth of the world’s total reserves. But it would pay billions to these foreign companies for their investments in infrastructure and operation of drills, pipelines, refineries. These companies would take 60-70% of the oil profits until their investments were repaid. The contracts would last thirty years. Any disputes would be settled by an international organization, not by any Iraqi agency.

Admiral William Fallon appointed head of Central Command for the Middle East

Consortium News.com, Robert Parry. This appointment seems odd, since present war is limited to ground battles. But there is fleet of aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf, along the Iranian coastline. They may be intended to support an Israeli air attack on Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities, and to deter retaliation from Iran after such an attack.
Admiral Fallon moves in neocon circles.

The Flashlight, Jan. 6-12, 2007

THE FLASHLIGHT, Jan. 6-12, 2007

US Policy, Iraq War

[Now we can make a fair guess about why former president George H.W. Bush broke down and cried in public some weeks ago. It was not about his son Jeb Bush. Another child was breaking his heart.]

Starting in TIME, 1-6, the story of Pres. Bush’s new Iraq policy leaked so completely that when he stated it publicly Wednesday evening, 1-10, it was no longer news. Immediately Bush is sending 21,500 troops to Baghdad and Anbar Province. He asked. for an additional allocation of a billion dollars for job creation in Iraq Both such measures have been tried before, said the Times, and they have failed.
Bush said that American troops will be embedded in Iraqi troop units, as suggested by the iraq Study Group. [An unstated purpose is to prevent the Shiites from committing atrocities against the Sunnis] Bush expected it will take two to three years to get the situation under control. There were also hints of possible attacks on Iran and Syria.

The response on Capitol Hill was strongly negative. All Democrats opposed it, and ten Republican moderate Senators did so as well. Sen. Lieberman, now an Independent, supported the President. Republican Senator Chuck Hagel said that Bush’s new proposal is “the most dangerous foreign policy blunder since Viet Nam.’ Democratic Senator Russ Feingold said that Congress should “defund” the Iraq War. Secretary Rice, appearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, encountered a solid bipartisan opposition to the new policy. Stephen Colbert suggested that Bush had become the “Surgin’ General.”

London Times, 1-8, reported in Consortium News.com, Paul C. Roberts predicted that Israel will use tactical nuclear weapons to destroy Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities.

President Bush moved without the support of the Congress, most of his generals and current commanders in Iraq, the Iraq Study Group, and Prime Minister Maliki hmself. They were disappointed and pessimistic. The Iraqi government has resisted an American escalation. The opposition of the American public to continuing the war, already demonstrated in last November’s election, is growing. The AP poll of 1-11 found that 70% of Americans are against the escalation.

Arguments against the new policy:
1. David Brooks, conservative columnist NY Times. Maliki wanted US troops out of Baghdad so that the Shia there would have a free hand against the Sunni residents. The Shias do not want to make any concessions to the Sunnis. But the new policy is unlikely to change that.
2. PBS, 1-11. Zbig Brzezinski, former national security advisor, said that the military proposals were useless, and there was no hint of a political strategy. He noted that Bush seemed to be preparing to “blame and run” from Iraq. He thought the greatest danger would be attacks on Iran and Syria. He described the iraq War as a colonial war, and out of sync with History.
NY Times 1-12. The Times reported evidence of Shia resentment of the new Bush policy. Maliki would not comment on it in public, but sent a spokesman.
The Times also reported that the White House was dismayed at the hostile reception of its proposals on Capitol Hill. There were protestors outside the White House with signs, “Stop the War.”

[The Democratic National Committee urged Democrats to write letters of protest to newspaper editors. The Friends Committee on National Legislation urged Friends to write to their representatives in Congress.]

Washington Post 1-11. 83% of Democrats want Congress to stop the troop increase. 81% of Republicans favor the troop increase. 51% of Independents oppose it, 37% of Independents favor it.
Democrats discouraged talk of stopping the escalation, for practical reasons, but plan to stop funding of further expenditures in Iraq. They advocated a beginning of withdrawal four to six months from now. They plan a “symbolic” resolution against the escalation which will force Republicans to go on the record as to their position.”

Miscellaneous news: CNN 1-11. Bush plans adding 92,000 new troops to the Army and Marine total.
PBS 1-11. The Democrats plan to hold their 2008 Convention in Denver, Colorado. [This reflects their drive to expand in the non-coastal western states.}

Iraq statistics

Washington Post 1-8. Death total of Iraqi civilians an police, Jan-June 2006, 5.640. For July-Dec., 17,310. = three times as much.

Other US News

1-6, NYTimes. Eliot Spitzer began his term as the new governor of New York by creating a non-partisan districting commission to stop political gerrymandering. He intends to lower the campaign finance contribution limit and introduce public funding of political campaigns.

1-6 The Guardian Unlimited (UK). It was revealed that William Rehnquist, the late Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, was addicted during 1972-1982 to Placidyl, a drug for back pain, of which he took a triple dose. During detoxification he ran from his room in pajamas saying that the CIA was plotting against him.

NYTimes 1-9. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed a universal health insurance measure, costing 12 billion dollars, for the state. It would cover the 6 million people currently uninsured and even undocumented aliens.

CNN 1-10. Deval Patrick became the first African-American governor of Massachusets.

Lebanon

An-Nahar 1-12. The Western backed Siniora government in Lebanon, currently under siege by Hizbollah and its allies, announced plans for a $6.3 billion dollar lawsuit against Israel for damages during the 34-day war last summer. [This is probably intended to distance the government from the unpopular US-Israeli alliance.]

World Climate

WPost, 1-9. Last year, 2006, was the hottest year in the US on official instrument record, the records having started in 1895. In the East, daffodils and cherry blossom bloomed on New Year’s Day. Scientists blamed fossil fuel emissions.

The Flashlight, Dec. 30, 2006 - Jan. 5, 2007

THE FLASHLIGHT, December 30, 2006 – January 5, 2007

Iraq

NYTimes 1-1. US deaths in the Iraq War passed the 3000 mark. The US turned over Saddam Hussein to the Iraqi Shiite dominated government, which promptly hung him, to jeers. A secret photographer took pictures and they appeared soon after in the mass media. The photographer was later arrested.
NYTimes 1-5. Lt. Gen. Petraeus was appointed head of US military operations in Iraq.

The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Importance of Settlement

NYTimes 1-4. Brent Scowcroft, national security advisor to Presidents Ford and George H.W. Bush, argued that a vigorous effort to resolve
the Israeli-Arab Conflict was important because:
1. It would push Iran into a more defensive position.
2. Hizbollah and Hamas would lose their rallying principle.
3. Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states would assist in stabilizing Iraq.
He argued that a settlement is feasible because Arab leaders are keen to resolve the conflict, and perhaps Israeli Prime Minister Olmert as well. Moreover,
An agreement on settlement of the conflict was negotiated in 2000, and a plan for implementation in 2002. What is needed now is to put it into effect, and that requires U.S. leadership.

US Politics

NYTimes 1-4. The new Democratic led Congress went into session. The Democrats moved immediately to sever ties between legislators and lobbyists by rules forbidding gifts and free travel on corporate jets. They sought to end pressures on trade groups and lobbying firms to hire Republicans.
Democrats said that they would follow a pay as you go policy on government finance, but made no mention of reversing Bush tax cuts.
Rep. Charlie Rangel, Chairman of the important House Ways and Means Committee, moved into the suite formerly occupied by Vice President Cheney.
Rep. John Conyers, one of the minority of Democrats who favor impeaching Pres. Bush, became Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. He announced six hearings on the Iraq War and the “war on terror.”

The White House announced some new appointments. John Negroponte was shifted from Director of Intelligence to Deputy Secretary of State. Admiral Mike McConnell, an intelligence specialist, will replace him as Director of Intelligence. Zalmay Khalilazad, born in Afghanistan, became the US Ambassador to the UN.

CNN. 1-4. The NY Daily News reported that Pres. Bush, in a recent signing statement, claimed the right to open the first class mail of US citizens.

Reform in Health Care
NYTimes 1-3. Paul Krugman summarized the case for health care reform in 2007. He said that today there are 47 million Americans (out of c. 300 million) who have no health insurance, and many more who have inadequate insurance. People who have the slightest hint of a pre-existing condition are denied insurance.
Lack of insurance causes millions of Americans severe financial distress and thousands of premature deaths.
The US is the only advanced country which does not provide essential health care to its civilian population. The US health care system is very inefficient. American spend more on health care per person than any other nation, and yet they have the highest infant mortality and rate and life expectancy than the people of any other advanced country.
The causes of this inefficiency are:
1. The high cost of excessive paperwork and high overhead of private insurance companies.
2. Private insurers do not pay for preventive care. [Kaiser Permanente is an exception.]
3. The US is far behind in the use of electronic medical records.

Of the candidates for President in 2008, so far only former Senator John Edwards has called for universal health insurance. Other Democratic candidates have called for insurance coverage for all children.

Science: the Electric Brain

NY Times 12-30. The human brain is powered by electricity. It constantly generates twelve watts of energy.
Human beings tend to add meaning to events that have none.
According to a recent issue of Nature, the leading British journal of science, by stimulating the brain with electricity, scientists can produce a sense of being haunted by a shadowy figure, or ghost. But only two subjects have been studied so far.