Yeah, genuine peace is simple - all it requires is that the Israeli Jews commit suicide.

Rosen himself is an Israeli Jew. What part of what he's advocating would cause the "suicide" of Israeli Jews?

Egypt has been at peace with Israel for almost 30 years. Anwar Sadat, Carter and Begin had long, contentious negotiations, but the agreement was reached.

I don't see Abbas or other Palestinian leaders taking the rhetorical high road that Sadat took in the 1970s. Nor do I see them making so many significant concessions, as Sadat did. he was more of a peacemaker than of the current leaders in the Middle East. The political situation in the area is not what it was in 1978, either.

Liberal/progressive Israelis want meaningful peace talks. Many of this same group favor a two state solution that includes a viable Palestinian state. Nir Rosen falls into this group, IMO.

The problem is, Likud (Ohlmert, Netanyahu and others) is not Begin. Abbas certainly is no Sadat. Carter was and is as honest a broker as Begin and Sadat could have asked for; Bush will offer nothing to this peace process but tired, empty rhetoric.

It never fails to amaze me how often Glenn's descriptions differ from the writing being criticized. Not so amazing is the laziness of commenters here who won't read the piece being criticized, and just go with the flow like lemmings over a cliff. From the blog....

It claims in the lead sentence that "militants from the Lebanese group Hezbollah have been training Iraqi militia fighters at a camp near Tehran,"

but it also says in the first sentence....

according to American interrogation reports that the United States has supplied to the Iraqi government.

Should anyone actually read the whole article, it would be understood that the US is giving information to the Iraqis as prep for the Iraqi trip to Iran. Would it make sense for the US to give said diplomats, bad information, easily vetted? Of course not, which is why that aspect of the article is studiously avoided. More from the post...

Worse, despite noting that "there has been debate among experts about the extent to which Iran is responsible for instability in Iraq," the article does not contain a single skeptical word about any of these accusations, nor does it quote a single "expert" who questions or disputes them.

Well duh, the info is from questioning of prisoners who should know. Does GG expect other sources to contradict closed interrogations? Perhaps grabbing someone from Iran to say, "none of it's true" would suffice. I'm sure that could easily be arranged.

This omission is particularly glaring in light of this McClatchy article from yesterday reporting that "the Iraqi Government seemed to distance itself from U.S. accusations towards Iran," which echoes an Agence-France-Press report that "Iraq said on Sunday it has no evidence that Iran was supplying militias engaged in fierce street fighting with security forces in Baghdad." There's not a word about any of that in Gordon's article (though it does note that the Iraqi government "announced Sunday that it would conduct its own inquiry into accusations of Iranian intervention in Iraq and document any interference").

Well, well. The US provides information to Iraq and they will vet it. Sounds like a perfectly reasonable way to handle allegations. Too reasonable for this blog, which explains the ommissions. But hey, who cares as long there is some cause, (however obscure) to indulge in character assassination? That's all that counts, right?

As an aside, Having a French news agency as a source doesn't fill me with confidence especially after this fake report of four children killed by Israeli rockets in Gaza.
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives2/2008/05/020444.php

NYT masthead link at my name

And Susan Edgerley, Asst. Managing Editor, is taking readers' questions at this url:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/05/business/media/05askthetimes.html?pagewanted=all

Does Michael Gordon have a degree in journalism?

Does, to pick a semi-random counterexample, Sy Hersh?

I wonder whether there's any (positive or negative) correlation between journalism school and good journalism.

Would it make sense for the US to give said diplomats, bad information, easily vetted? Of course not, which is why that aspect of the article is studiously avoided.

When you consider the, ahem, competence of Foggy Bottom these days and the source of this supposed information, its easy to see US officials providing faulty intel to their Iraqi counterparts.

Well duh, the info is from questioning of prisoners who should know.

Again, given the demonstrated incompetence of US intelligence vis-a-vis getting reliable intel out of 'prisoners'? Why should anyone with two eyes and two brain cells give credence to such information?

Does GG expect other sources to contradict closed interrogations?

It would be a bit of a stretch I admit, requiring actual experts in the region and cultures to be heard from. Not very likely given our major news organs are getting their story prompts from a confessed and convicted drug addict, a closet-case radiohead, and a man who should have been tried for treason years ago.

But then again it comes down to who you trust, doesn't it?

Anyone here trust shooter242? Hands?

but not who's in charge of Michael Gordon.

Nevertheless, every one of these is individually and collectively responsible for the propaganda service they provide -- through the "reporting" of Michael Gordon -- to the White House and the Pentagon and the Cheney Bunkers.

BILL KELLER, Executive Editor

JILL ABRAMSON, Managing Editor

JOHN M. GEDDES, Managing Editor

JONATHAN LANDMAN, Deputy Managing Editor

Assistant Managing Editors

DEAN BAQUET

RICHARD L. BERKE

TOM BODKIN

SUSAN EDGERLEY

GLENN KRAMON

GERALD MARZORATI

MICHELE McNALLY

WILLIAM E. SCHMIDT

CRAIG R. WHITNEY

Just a guess, but I'd bet Richard Berke is the agent in charge of Gordon.

Something tells me...

"Officials Say"--Headline

"Americans say"

"American officials say"

"the Americans say"

"American officials say"

"First, they say"

"American officials say"

"An American official said"

“Ali al-Dabbagh, a senior Iraqi government spokesman, said in an interview. "

"But President Bush and other American officials, in public castigations of Iran, have said that Iran has been consistently meddlesome..."

"the American officials said"

"that American officials said was..."

"according to American interrogation reports"

"according to American officials"

"According to American officials"

"According to their interrogation reports,..."

------

"Stated" = "text not found"

"Claimed" = "text not found"

"Parroted" = "text not found"

"Channeled"= "text not found"

"screamed in agony" = "text not found"