Letters to the Editor
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THE ONE WORD FOR EVERYTHING BUSH DOES
Enantiadromia. Let's hope it's somewhere on his "Learn A Word a Day" calendar.
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Enantiodromia (note the spelling)
Enantiodromia is a concept introduced by psychiatrist Carl Jung where the superabundance of any force inevitably produces its opposite. It is equivalent to the principle of equilibrium in the natural world, in that any extreme is opposed by the system to restore balance.
Jung used it particularly to refer to the unconscious acting against the wishes of the conscious mind. ("Aspects of the Masculine", chapter 7, paragraph 294).
From: http://encyclopedia.tfd.com/Enantiodromia
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Just Fine, Juan.
So we have a real election for the Palestinians and they throw out the crooks and thugs that have been stealing them blind for the last 40 years - and that is a bad thing? And now the "revolutionaries" who love to parade and chat have to pick up the garbage and run the state. But now, they are responsible and have to accept the consequences of their actions and (overheated) rhetoric. Seems like a improvement to me.
Both sides are playing the rug market game now - staking out their positions so that they can bargain. "I won't talk to you if you don't change your ways" and "No dealing with the occupiers" Yawn. Give them time and they will find a formula to talk and get things done. It always works that way.
The fundamental point is that the only way that the Middle East is going to change is to empower the people in the region so that they can exercise some control. This has not happened for the last 50 years (or 50 centuries) and now things are starting to change as people realize that they do have a voice. It is not going to happen (as Mr. Cole seems to imply) by the munificent devolution of power from the ruling elite to the unwashed masses. It is happening because the idea of having a democracy is beginning to take hold in the region.
I just get so discouraged when the only perspective in an article seems to be generated by BDS (Bush Derangement Syndrome). I don’t remember the part where every short term event has to be “positive” to change the system for the better – sometimes you need movement in the opposite direction for a while to find the path through the maze. So now we have the snake devouring the rat, but in the long term maybe that will lead to a situation (to make the long winded analogy) where the crop isn’t eaten in the fields before it is grown. Maybe then we can end up improving the harvest (and the region)
Sometimes change may not be what you want - but that does not mean it can't be good.
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overstating Bush
OK Bush does some pretty stupid things, but I think it's a bit much to blame him for the entirety of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Maybe he hasn't helped solve it, but I think it's somewhat ridiculous to say whatever happens it's his fault...
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Heck of a job, Dubya
Jimmy Carter couldn't fix the problems in the mid-east; why would anyone think a hopeless screw-up like George Bush could get it right?
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O, happy day
If we simply wring our hands with sufficient force, all will be sweetness and light. I can think of no more constructive suggestion, no more efficacious policy. Victory is defeat and work will make us free.
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Do "Many believe Hamas is ready to accept Israel with its 1967 borders"?
Perhaps many Western, pro-Palestinian journalists trying to rationalize their views after these election results. But not many Palestinians: Hamas spokesmen, including Al-Zahar himself, have made it clear again and again that Hamas will continue to stand by its charter and central mission: to destroy Israel and expel the Jews into the sea. His own words can be read at www.memri.org. It's time Western journalists started paying attenmtion to what the Palestinian leadership tells its own people, instead of its lip service to the West.
And what does this mean, "putting Hamas to the test"? Hamas has promised nothing to Israel but violence, a promise it has fulfilled again and again. Would America put an unrepentant Al Qaeda to the test that perhaps it will stop murdering US citizens?
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Hamas may have to change its tone now that it is the official government
Our challenge in the War on Terror has been that terrorists usually are not attached to a particular geography or government.
Before the election, Hamas' extra-governmental role made it difficult to attack it head on and all out.
But this victory settles its geography and its role in government. Its decisions to take military action must now be weighed not as a group hiding in the shadows, but as the national force risking its borders being overrun by the enemy.
I wonder if those factors will compel Hamas to soften its position and seek reconcilation.
Otherwise Hamas risks becoming the next Afghanistan.
The US and its allies cannot afford to dismiss the election and the new regime because that position may bolster Hamas' extremists. I suspect that concern is a factor in Bush's confusion: he doesn't LIKE Hamas, but he doesn't want to challenge their legitimacy head on and risk having no one to discuss peace.
So, while I'm no fan of Bush's, I'm not worried about the semantics of whether democracy, free elections or working institutions bring peace.
I think in this case we'll find sensible policies will go a long way.
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US and Israel prefer fundamentalists to Progressives
TomDispatch - Tomgram: Dreyfuss on Bush's Deadly Dance with the Devil...
Ironically, a great deal of Hamas' present power exists only because of the
support offered its founders by the Israeli military authorities in decades past ...
www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=39971 - 44k - Cached - Similar pages
US and Israel have history of supporting Islamic fundamentalist fascists. Remember Bin Ladin in Afghanistan? How about the Shiites in Iraq now? You think that's an accident after 2 trillion dollars? US thought that militant Islamic fundamentalists would be usefull in fighting communism....and nationalism and democracy and progressive movements.
Read "Devil's Game: How the US helped unleash fundamentalist Islam." by Robert Dreyfuss.
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"Bring 'em on"
At what point do we reach the threshhold of impeachment?
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Encumbent on Israel now to resolve
I believe the tide has shifted away from the deference accorded Israel these last 40 years in negotiating for their particular and peculiar sort of religious democratic state with the native Arab population. All Israel has materially done with this latitude is expand onto Palestinian land by an oppressive occupation that has killed thousands. (See the Israeli human rights web site for info www.btselem.org/English .) If Israel does not seriously negotiate for a just solution, then the inevitable solution will be the one that was considered by many early Zionists when they realized how many Arabs lived in Palestine--a one-state solution for all religions. After all, Palestinian Jews, Muslims, and Christians had lived there mostly peacefully for centuries.