Good information for concerned historians, Antoun, keep up the good work.

Certainly Middle East complicity largely backed by Bush et al, must be totally uncovered, otherwise as Kissinger warned so many years ago, that Nixon allowing Israel to go Nuko, would cause serious trouble for the Middle East.

In fact, from your more up to date historical accounts, Antoun, looks like Obama will need to carefully watch his way, as he could easily become part of the blame.

I personally appreciate an article on contemporary Middle East conflict that offers objective reasoning rather than extremist rhetoric.
There's not a great deal Australians can do to resolve this conflict other than to maintain an independent National Policy not tied to the blatant militarism of the United states and it's Israeli proxy.
So far we appear to have achieved that with the Rudd Government and I believe we should encourage Rudd to continue with such policies into the Obama Presidency.

No, sorry to say, Macaras, Rudd is starting to make mistakes, not only with getting rid of the Single Desk marketing system in favour of Big Biz, but also in supporting Bush, Blair and Howard in fully backing Israel.

Only wish both Rudd and Julia Gillard would confer with a few genuine political historians re' the scary Middle East problems.

And could say the same for Obama.

Regards, BB, WA.

It’s good to see that the enemies of freedom and of the values of Western civilization in our midst can write uncensored under the freedom of expression and expose themselves for what they are.

It’s a well known adage that it’s in critical situations, such as presently in Gaza, that one reveals his true beliefs. And Antoun Issa is a perfect example of this. In his reverential support of Hamas-Hezbollah and its state sponsors Iran and Syria and in his identification of the West’s “devil”, he exposes himself to be just another fanatic of the Diaspora of the Muslim Brotherhood. In two paragraphs following each other in his article he states and condemns the perfidy of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan to make “a deal with the devil”, without however naming the latter, which obviously is America. This is the pre-eminent slogan of the Muslim Brotherhood, and al-Qaeda, i.e., the Great Satan America, under which they recruit the holy warriors of Mohammed. Antoun by adopting this slogan and characterizing America as the “devil” shows himself to be, if not a holy warrior in the flesh, definitively a holy warrior in the spirit.

Moreover, he exposes the fallacy of so many in the West who insist that if only their governments relinquished their ‘Islamophobia’ and supported the moderate Muslims, the latter would have taken up the cudgels against the extremists. Antoun makes it quite clear that the “Arab street” is in full support of Hamas-Hezbollah and the Muslim Brotherhood. And is this surprising, when their radical imams are preaching for years now to their ‘open-mouthed’ credulous flock the great evils that afflict the West and especially America?

http://kotzabasis4.wordpress.com

Themistocles, are you implying that the author's critique lacks credibility or just flogging a pro-American/Israeli line whilst ignoring the disproportionate military offensive and loss of innocents lives in Gaza..It would appear the latter is the case

Themistocles,
My concern with your response is a bit like coming into a complex Chinese movie halfway and trying to make sense of it.
Clearly there is no simple solution for the well entrenched problems that make up the cesspit that is Middle East politics. Much less the idiotic immoral suggestion of from the ashes of war….et al of the web site you posted.

One is left to wonder who is the war between? How wide it will be?
Containment is something the US isn’t very good at, given the supply of arms available.
2016/20 isn’t that far away. Take your pick White turbans V blue turbans Nostrodamas’ arcane predictions or Mayan end of the Cycle.
I don’t believe that the end of the world is nigh but if you play with explosives you don’t understand then don’t be surprised if you get blown up.

Bush at sec went into Iraq without any real idea of what was involved and the consequences are a quagmire of proxy power plays.

The one issue missing in most pieces on the Middle East is the destitution and utter hopelessness of the people. Egypt e.g. Has an underclass of unemployable graduates. If we add to this a repressive corrupt dictatorship and we shouldn’t be surprised that there is a popular support for another system a more radical one.
Consider Czarist Russia 1917 and the violence and extremism it spawned.
One doesn’t need to be too smart to see the same forces brewing in the Middle East.
Likewise all those self interested countries that profit and interfere by propping up local despots are seen as ‘Great Satans’…hardly a surprise. Iran and the Shah should have told us that.

If we add to that arbitrary divisions and giving away land to interlopers. What do you expect?

It is simply cause and effect if we continue to support Israel at all costs then don’t be surprised if we are in their cross hairs.
What is forgotten most Muslims really want a fair go the longer we deny that the greater the anger

Maracas1,

No, no, the "author's critique' is full of "credibility" as to his credentials of being an extremist Muslim. Since unashamedly and clearly supports the terrorist organizations of Hamas-Hezbollah and Ahmadinejad's clerical Iran.

And indeed there are innocent lives that are used by Hamas, and generally by terrorists, as human shields. Hamas's cult is the cult of death not like yours the cult of life. And therefore it has no qualms to sacrifice, and indeed, to deliberately kill civilians and even children in the name of their Allah since they fanatically believe to be jihadists in His cause.

Are these facts to you "flogging a pro-American Israeli line?"

http://kotzabasis.createblog.com/blog/

There is much that is correct in this article and I applaud it. As a Sunni Muslim of European descent who lived in Beirut during the Civil War from 1973 to 1983 (on and off), stayed in Israel for a while in Jaffa & Tel Aviv, Lived in El Maidi in Cairo for a year and having two daughters and a grandchild living in New York I believe I have more than a balanced view of the Middle East and more than a passing knowledge of the politics of the region.
The only complaint I have is the continual reference to the "Arab Street" as I have no idea what that phrase is supposed to mean. If its meaning refers to the "common" man then it is incorrect as many professionals feel the same way about the three corrupt American Puppet Regimes of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. There is a great deal of support for Syria & Iran to add balance to a ridiculously lob-sided debate on Palestine.
There is no love for the USA in the Arab world today. There used to be admiration and respect but that too is gone as under Bush they showed their true colours as an extremely biased arbitrator between Israel & the Palestinians. I prey that Obama will prove to show more moral fibre.
As far as our Government is concerned I have ZERO respect for Rudd who Howard like chases after his masters the USA.
His election promises are already being broken not the least of which the truly pathetic carbon omission targets and his deputy Gillard, who I thought was a genuine working class hero, in fact makes an excellent Liberal Party front bencher.
When Gareth Evans fought for Australia to have a seat at the UN Security Council I wrote many letters to the UN explaining that the USA has enough seats on the Security Council with Britain without adding Australia. Israel has a seat and veto power through the USA adding Australia would be superfluous

examinator

You are one of those admirable gentile souls who attempt to cogitate and philosophize and be judgmental about the morality of realpolitik but who are completely ignorant and oblivious of the fact that the contemporary practitioners of geopolitics, as all their predecessors, are the direct descendants of the feudal knights—omnipresent throughout human history—”who made literal mincemeat of their enemies, leaving the clergy to handle the morals”, to quote the great Austrian writer, Robert Musil.

One would have expected you to at least be consistent with the logic of your own argument. If you are going to blame the U.S. of “propping up local despots”, who at most repressed their own peoples, and which perforce had to do during its deadly contest with the Soviet Union, you have to praise the U.S. for having defeated the foremost dictatorships of our times, Nazism and Communism, not to mention Imperial Japan, which threatened to repress the freedom of mankind. Why have you ‘slipped’ from this consistency and irresponsibly imply that the perception of many people of the U.S. as the “Great Satan” could be justified?

As to your facts which some of them are imprecise, such as giving land to “interlopers”, and the ones that are correct, you draw the wrong conclusions from them as a result of lack of imagination. The establishment of the Jewish State was the result of the “Balfour Declaration” re-affirmed by the Mandate of the League of Nations and was not the offspring of imperialist interests, if this is what your loaded word “interlopers” implies. And the upheavals of 1917 what did they bring in their wake? The most brutal millenarian movement, Communism. And the upheavals of the Middle East, what do they presage? Another more brutal millenarian movement, Islamofascism. This is what the West must prevent at all costs, if it has learnt the lessons of history.

http://kotzabasis.createblog.com/blog/

Your analysis of the shifting political dynamics in the M_E is rather compromised . Repeated reference to alliances with the devil betray your own naive, propagandistic support for populist extremism.You are enthusiastic about Iran's growing influence and popularity in the Arab "street". A credible observer or journalist would also have noted that Iran's regime is very unpopular with its own people, and is every bit as oppressive as its rivals in the Arab world. You do not factor in Iran's shaky economy and the impact of the downturn in oil prices, which may curb Iran's support of groups such as Hizbollah and Hamas, and spell electoral trouble for the regime. Iran's elections are a travesty of democracy. But economic failure could cost Ahmedinajad the next election.

The author has, as boldly as the Iranians, declared his bias. His opinion is as subject to fault as the next person, probably moreso given his subjectiveness.
Egypt isn't really doing anything socially wrong by siding with those dominant. This "western" dominance is both real and as a result of the endemic inferiority complex throughout the Arab world. The Egyptians have been snotted more than once in their attempts to be part of a (laughable) Arab bloc. They now realise the futility of pitting primitive idealism against modern western will and technology. That the primitives in Iran et al. have not yet seen the light is no reason that Egypt should be concerned. NO COMPLICITY, JUST INTELLIGENCE IN ACTION Antoun.
If the cold hard truth be known, and many of the people reading this will be outraged I'm sure, the Arabs of the world should be grateful for our benevolence. All this "evil", "satan" and sufficient armaments to make a rather large pothole of the middle east and yet they're still around...go figure! If we had been as evil as advertised, then there would be no middle east, just lots more mediterranean!
As it stands, until there is realisation of their place in the world and the need for them to behave, primitive Arab thinking will ensure continuance of the status quo.