Friday News Roundup - Hour 2
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2011-09-09/friday-news-roundup-hour-2
A panel of journalists joins Diane for analysis of the week's top international news stories: A German court ruled that bailouts to troubled eurozone countries are legal but required future rescue packages be approved by Parliament; convoys of Libyan loyalists fled to Niger while the whereabouts of Muammar Gaddafi remained unknown; the U.S. announced it would keep 3,000-5,000 troops in Iraq into 2012; and a bomb exploded outside India's High Court on Wednesday, killing eleven people.
Guests
Elise Labott
senior State Department producer for CNN.
David Ignatius
columnist, The Washington Post; contributor to “Post Partisan” blog on washingtonpost.com. His latest book is titled "Bloodmoney: A Novel of Espionage."
Edward McBride
Washington correspondent, The Economist.
Comments
Please familiarize yourself with our Code of Conduct and Terms of Use before posting your comments.
Diane it was refreshing to listen to your guest yesterday discuss some of the core reasons for the anger and hatred directed towards the US. But all three guest when asked about Al Qeada said that Al Qeada had been "decimated, destroyed, the snakes head had been cut off" But that is not what former head of the CIA's Bin Laden unit Micheal Scheuer has written in a recent article at the National Interest called "The Zawahiri Era" Also on All Things considered last evening they followed Scheuer lead and reported that "Al Qeada has morphed" Both of these reports would directly contradict what your 3 guest said yesterday about Al Qeada.
Can your guest today address these extremely polar opposite takes on Al Qeada...now
"The Zawahiri Era"
http://nationalinterest.org/article/zawahiri-era-5732?page=1
Scheuer "Being a highly talented combination of seventh-century believer and twenty-first-century CEO, bin Laden built, in al-Qaeda, an absolutely unique Muslim organization: multiethnic, multilingual, organizationally sound and resilient, religiously tolerant and militarily effective. We will see in the next few years if bin Laden was the indispensable glue that kept al-Qaeda together or if his skill, his leadership and its nearly twenty-five years of being institutionalized as an organization created a survivable entity. The question on everyone’s lips is whether new al-Qaeda head Ayman al-Zawahiri is up to the job. My own bet is that al-Qaeda will survive, as it did after near economic ruin in Sudan (1994–96); after the pounding it took from the U.S.-NATO-Pakistan coalition (2001–02); and after the U.S. military helpfully killed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al-Qaeda’s chief in Iraq (2006), whose indiscriminate targeting of Muslims almost pushed al-Qaeda to the brink of defeat."
cont:
Scheuer continues:
"Having inherited a sound and expanding organization and the very media-marketable memory of bin Laden’s ministrations and exploits, prudently managed, al-Zawahiri’s assets are more than sufficient to keep al-Qaeda in a position to help feckless U.S. politicians promote America’s financial ruin for decades to come. And worse."
I hope you have former head of the CIA's Bin Laden unit on again to discuss this issue.
Yesterday on All Things Considered they also reported that "Al Qeada has morphed"
http://www.npr.org/2011/09/08/140295343/a-decade-on-al-qaida-weakened-bu...
Kathleen: Maybe "our" secret government and "our" CIA have morphed and the Pakistan Secret Service and AlQueda have had to respond like good subcontractors. Money hunger rules and it knows no limits. Maybe "Peak Terrorism" has been reached. The sheep are in the pen and the herding stops.
Why did (is) "our" FED bail(ing) out European Oligarchy?
Maybe it is because "our" FED is owned by "our" biggest banks, the same ones that have caused the European debt crisis. Pay yourself first is good advice.
A Quadrillion in derivatives is outstanding at any single micro-second. That is more net worth than all the assets extant in the world. Now riddle me this: What is more real- life or money? And why is life and death easier to regulate than money?
Police State to People: Boo!
Yesterday during the Diane Rehm show "Perceptions of America Ten Years After 9/11" when Diane asked about the state of Al Qeada all three quest answered in similar ways "decimated, smashed, the head of the snake has been cut off" Yet former head of the CIA's Bin Laden unit Micheal Scheuer has written in a recent article at the National Interest titled "The Zawahiri Era"
that Al Queda is alive and well. There was also a report on NPR's All Things Considered last evening that stated that that "Al Qeada has morphed" and "adapted" Can your guest please discuss these polar opposite responses to the state of Al Qeada
One of the guest just said that you do not look to Ahmadenejad for "humanitarian advice"
That statement would apply to the US also. Do not look to Hillary Clinton or anyone else in the Bush or Obama administrations for "humanitarian advice"
Diane good try
Asking any of your guest about Iran when they have their marching orders from the I lobby to keep repeating unsubstantiated claims about Iran.
Ask the one guest what kind of evidence that he has to back up what he just inferred that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons.
Oh yeah ask your guest when any of them will apply some pressure on Israel to sign the IAEA's non proliferation treaty that Iran signed long ago. Ask when Israel will open their doors to inspections for their massive supplies of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons? This monstrous contradiction has gotten under nations skins for decades.
Demand that Israel sign the NPT they are decades behind Irans efforts to play fair
When will the Diane Rehm show team actually get guest on the program who can present a verifiable view of Iran? Former CIA middle east analyst Flynt Leverett for one. Or Steve Clemons, IAEA inspectors.
So tired of hearing the same responses "bad bad bad Iran"
Seymour Hersh
Elise Labott "we have always winked at Israel's bomb" Then she goes on to say that all of the international community has gone along with this. Total bull crap. Many middle east countries have contacted the IAEA for decades about pressuring Israel to sign the NPT. Elise lied
Also Iran is one of the countries who has been pushing for a nuclear free middle east for a very long time
Israel started the nuclear arms race in the middle east. Period
Yep, Kathleen, Israel began that arms race with help from the worst unsavory partners (South Africa for example), and with cooperation from our covert agencies. And like a convenience store clerk, gun at head, those who lack the bomb (missiles) are extremely polite to those who have it. It's almost as good as information gained through torture. Who is the next witch (after Quadaffi, who shared magic with the CIA) who must burn (to "recover the fingerprints")?
("The plane, boss, it's the plane!!" still visiting fantasy island.)The funny part is Al Mazzin playing Obama's speech promise for a Palestinian state. Memory holes are funny things.
kathleen wrote:
"Israel started the nuclear arms race in the middle east. Period"
You seem to present yourself as knowledgable about the ME. Perhaps you can answer a simple question for me:
Which country said their goal was to wipe a different country off the map?
And don't even start with the mis-translation BS. It doesn't fly here.
Nuclear missiles do fly, and they can fly here, and the criminals who replenish and proliferate nuclear arms deserve our prosecution.... no matter what race you think they are, or how inferior or superior you deem their race to be.
Dave Letterman's "Will It Float?" merits more respect and notice than some of the thought police wannabes who frequent this site to insult caring and thoughtful commenters. I am puzzed why DRShow tolerates bullies. Sometimes I must assume they are paid psyops because they persist in psychotic ways and opinions not characteristic of a genuine sane person. As I said elsewhere today: People make themselves credible more by their positive acts than by their empty words. No matter how insanely or hatefully you rant you will not deter me from what I consider acts of goodness. I know myself thoroughly and I am at peace with what I believe. Why can you find no peace?
Pancake Rankin wrote:
"No matter how insanely or hatefully you rant you will not deter me from what I consider acts of goodness. "
Like calling people "racist" with no evidence or the guts to back up such a scurulous charge, GLC? Would you consider that an "act of goodness".
I believe it was this segment which included a caller who referred to the Democratic Party as the "Democrat Party".
Thank you, Diane, for momentarily pausing the flow of conversation to note, question, and ponder this practice. And, to point out that it is equivalent to referring to Republicans as "Republics". (Or, "Republiks"?)
Those who pepper their speech with this term may not realize that it is noticed, and that it is perceived by those they ostensibly hope to persuade, as an attempt to insult, demean, and bully. They may not realize that it is perceived as a not-so-sly, drive-by slur. That it's hit-and-run name-calling, and the opposite of being straightforward and up-front.
Needless to say, the use of this derogatory term seriously detracts from any legitimate point its user may have hoped to make.
Come to think of it, maybe its users just don't have many legitimate points...
MDavey wrote:
"Needless to say, the use of this derogatory term seriously detracts from any legitimate point its user may have hoped to make. "
Derogatory? Why? Aren't these people Democrats? They're not Democratics, right?
Or perhaps you mean derogatory as in "Republi-Cons", supposedly short-hand for "republican conservatives", but carrying quite a different meaning. Or perhaps you mean derogatory as in "teabaggers", supposedly a moniker created by the Tea Party themselves, but carrying quite a different meaning.
Come to think of it, maybe users of these terms just don't have many legitimate points ...
"kathleen wrote:
Israel started the nuclear arms race in the middle east. Period"
Kathleen:
A better statement would be "Israel should have Nuclear arms".
5 wars between Israel and Arabs since the inception of Israel in 1948. All five wars started by the Arabs. Period,
democrat party vs. democratic party. I too choose to use democrat party because I choke on the dictionary definition, when I compare the definition of the political "democratic party" and the word democratic there is a big difference. I am pretty sure when this word was adopted as a political party label cynical motives were involved. To consider the use of the word "democrat" as in "democrat party" as an insult is baseless, dishonest and self serving.
From the start of May until the end of August, the show featured 607 guests.
Of that 607, 402 were men.
http://thirdestatesundayreview.blogspot.com/2011/09/our-miss-priss-ann-a...
Exactly what policy is being followed in the booking of guests? I do not feel that NPR's diversity goals are being met.
That you book more women than men is obvious on almost every Friday when you have 6 guests and 4 of them are almost always men.
Looking forward to your reply as we continue to track the gender of guests on this show.
ew
ecgberht wrote:
kathleen wrote:
"Israel started the nuclear arms race in the middle east. Period"
You seem to present yourself as knowledgable about the ME. Perhaps you can answer a simple question for me:
Which country said their goal was to wipe a different country off the map?
And don't even start with the mis-translation BS. It doesn't fly here.
Of course Diane Rehm actually attempts to fly the truth on her show. Not always successful but she and her producers do seem to try. Now has she allowed Reuel Marc Gerecht and others to repeat unsubstantiated claims about Iran? She sure has. Has she at times even repeated them herself...yes she has. But when our MSM, some of our leaders repeat these unsubstantiated claims that example seems to leak through.
Israel, the Israeli Lobby have indeed purposely mistranslated what the Iranian President has said. Those purposely mistranslated and often repeated false statements move quickly through our media and into the population. Hell I have not only heard Rachel Maddow and Terri Gross to allow guest to repeat those lies and mistranslation they have repeated those falsehoods themselves. The DR show does try to fly the truth
Professor Juan Cole directly translated
http://www.juancole.com/2006/05/hitchens-hacker-and-hitchens.html
"But the actual quote, which comes from an old speech of Khomeini, does not imply military action, or killing anyone at all. The second reason is that it is just an inexact translation. The phrase is almost metaphysical. He quoted Khomeini that “the occupation regime over Jerusalem should vanish from the page of time.” It is in fact probably a reference to some phrase in a medieval Persian poem. It is not about tanks."
Israel needed to sign the IAEA's Non Proliferation Treaty decades ago. Just as they continuously demand that other nations who have signed abide by it. Their actions are absurd and extremely and dangerously hypocritical.
Israel needs to sign the NPT now and open up to international inspections as Iran and Iraq have. They need to do it now. As well as Pakistan and India.
Israeli Nuclear Capabilities and Threat
http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:0pR_yjdSfg0J:www.iaea.org/Abou...
"kathleen wrote:
Israel needed to sign the IAEA's Non Proliferation Treaty decades ago. Just as they continuously demand that other nations who have signed abide by it. Their actions are absurd and extremely and dangerously hypocritical"
Kathleen:
And you need to acknowledge that Bush and Company (Dick Cheney) brought Libya back from "The Dark Side" in their nucleur ambitions. In other words, a hated person of Israel in Gaddiffi.
kathleen wrote:
"Israel, the Israeli Lobby have indeed purposely mistranslated what the Iranian President has said. "
That's why I attempted to pre-empt this weak response. It is simply false. Farsi is FULL of idiom. You can't just translate word for word and get the meaning. It's like saying, "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse". Translate that litterally and you'll get strage looks overseas.
Iran's goal IS to erase Israel from the "pages of time" as though it never existed. There is only one way they can do that and it is with a nuclear weapon.
You are on the wrong side kathleen. God said "I will bless those that bless Israel."