MIDDLE EAST REPORT FOR 1-5-06

News of Frodo and Gandalf, et al, would be in the Middle EARTH report, NOT the Middle EAST report. Meanwhile ...

The top story on Aljazeera’s Website is a rehash of claims that the Israelis were responsible for September 11, 2001 attacks and that Osama bin Laden was an uninvolved scapegoat. The terror bombings in Iraq, Israeli PM Sharon’s stroke, and Iran’s missing an International Atomic Energy Agency meeting played second fiddle followed by a claim that we could use nuclear weapons — they call them WMDs as well — to destroy Iran’s nuclear stockpile. These guys really don’t get it … we won’t NEED to use nuclear weapons if we hit them NOW.

One of the three top stories in today’s Teheran Times concerns predictions for 2006 in the US. It notes, “The country could impeach Bush or declare him emperor and establish a ruling dynasty,” going on to compare the convoluted plot of the movie “Syriana” (for some reason George Clooney has decided to go the way of Tom Cruise, Oliver Stone, et al.) with reality in the US. That ought to give you some insight into the politics inherent to “Syriana” and Clooney. That’s what I strive to achieve as a means of marking success: becoming the source of quotes and story generation in the Arab press.

The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) top tales for today concern Iran and it’s rights to pursue nuclear viability. I know IRNA is an Iranian mouthpiece regardless of its grandiose name (note the clever interpolation of letters. Rearrange them and they spell IRAN. Why, I should be in the CIA), but they don’t even mention the terror bombings in Iraq. No mention of Clooney or Syriana either.

The Syria Times hasn’t updated its front page list since January 3.

Cruising around elsewhere I read the tale of the “Martyr Mom,” Umm Nidal Farhat, who mothered three Hamas terrorist sons all of whom were killed while participating in “martyrdom” operations against the Israelis. She’s really quite proud of her sons and is a much-respected figure in Arab society. This is the kind of crap we’re supposed to be treating like human beings. This also should bring the inherency/learned debate to a close. Apparently you can teach anybody to like ANYthing.