Ed is the son of medical missionaries to Yemen and Gaza during the 50s, 60s, and 70s (I think). He went to school in Alexandria, then back here in the USA, and finally at the American International School near Tel Aviv — I think you’ll find a familiar perspective borne of his years “over there.” …
Category: The Middle East
Permanent link to this article: https://levantium.com/2007/05/01/reflections-from-palestine/
Apr 30 2007
Woolsey disgraces himself again
Dear Friends: Former CIA Director James Woolsey gave a talk at Princeton University last week. I decided not to attend, fearing that I might be unable to restrain myself from causing an ugly scene. But I am extremely pleased and proud to forward to you a letter written to the campus newspaper the next morning …
Permanent link to this article: https://levantium.com/2007/04/30/woolsey-disgraces-himself-again/
Apr 28 2007
War games
Fisk on the death of journalism: http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-we-are-now-in-the-firing-line-sadly-446522.html or http://bit.ly/bnqdXg or http://tinyurl.com/38h6k57 And here’s one on how surgingly swell things are for the British in Basra: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/serving-british-soldier-exposes-horror-of-war-in-crazy-basra-446395.html or http://bit.ly/bA4W72 or http://tinyurl.com/32duxzw And, if you can find it, the farewell telegram from Sir Ivor Roberts as he left his job as Rome ambassador is quite interesting. Sir Ivor got in trouble …
Permanent link to this article: https://levantium.com/2007/04/28/war-games/
Apr 26 2007
The real meaning of “surge”
I have noted from several recent newspaper and TV accounts covering the “surge” in Iraq that a significant percentage of the “Iraqi Army” soldiers engaged in joint operations with the US Army are actually members of Kurdish units — presumably peshmerga militia forces assigned temporarily to Baghdad and the surrounding area as part of the …
Permanent link to this article: https://levantium.com/2007/04/26/the-real-meaning-of-surge/
Apr 18 2007
Lebanon (1890-1900)
Thanks Fadwa. What a beautiful country! Whenever I see pictures like these and read accounts from the same time period, I wish I could have walked the countryside paths and ridden on four-legged beasts instead of whizzing around in noisy cars and airplanes. Imagine the time they had back then, to think, to see and …
Permanent link to this article: https://levantium.com/2007/04/18/lebanon-1890-1900/
Apr 03 2007
15 sailors
…and whaddaya get? Another day older and deeper in debt… Bush and Blair have got to be the most inept diplomats in the world: http://news.independent.co.uk/world/fisk/article2412764.ece The whole thing is rather silly — the general area where the incident occurred has been disputed for a long time and isn’t exactly well-delineated… In better times, both sides would …
Permanent link to this article: https://levantium.com/2007/04/03/15-sailors/
Mar 28 2007
Ides of March
We’re about to finish out our 5th March in Iraq and according to http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/iraq_casualties.htm, this is the deadliest one yet for our boys and girls in the military. Thank goodness our wise commander-in-chief has outsourced the “ugliest” operations to Blackwater mercenaries (http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Blackwater_USA)… It hardly matters really, since they aren’t good Christian Americans (isn’t that a triple tautology?), but who knows …
Permanent link to this article: https://levantium.com/2007/03/28/ides-of-march/