It’s come to my attention that some people have confused our work here at the Harding Institute with that of Michael Eisenstadt of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Michael’s a terrific guy and a distinguished expert in the field of Middle Eastern security affairs. So out of respect for him, and to alleviate any lingering confusion, I’ve decided to start to publicly use the name that most of my friends call me anyway, Marty.
Loyal readers know that we’ve taken umbrage with NBC in the past, but when I heard the news today about the passing of Lil’ Russ, I was deeply saddened. Tim was a tower in the Washington journalism/political scene, and with his invigoration of “Meet the Press” in 1991, he set the stage for a new breed of talk show in Washington: Where insightful questions, diligent research and informed guests would dominate. He brought out the best - and sometimes - the worst in his guests. Be they politicians or pundits, Tim always kept us on our toes. Rest in peace, Tim.
Do I think that the US and Israel will attack Iran before George Bush leaves office? Yes. Iran has become a thorn in too many sides. It meddles in the affairs of other countries. It is the only country bold enough to use the Holocaust as a card in its political feuds with Israel and the West.
Iran trains, funds and arms Hamas in Israel’s south and Hezbollah in Israel’s north. Understand. It is not just Israel and the US who have beef with Iran. Sunni and Christian Lebanese are none too happy about having a Persian trained Shia militia running wild across their country. While non-fundamentalist Palestinians are none too happy about having religious fanatics, trained, funded and armed by far away Iran, grind their earthly lives into a living hell. And then there are Iran’s neighbors, our petrol allies in the Gulf, from Arabia to the Emirates, Sunni and Arab, who fear and detest Shia Persian Iran even more than we or the Israelis.
So in the event of an attack, Iran will surely find itself alone, with no friends or sympathizers save leftist Americans and weak-willed Europeans. Iran chose this path of confrontation. It was not thrust on her. I guess we’ll have to wait and see how all this plays out.
It has come to my attention that a golf blogger who moonlights as a shill for identity politics has been calling us names and challenging our right to speak freely. My assistant Jimmy thought I would be upset upon hearing this news. But I explained to him that flying under the radar in these turbulent times is not a bad thing, especially considering the sensitive national security work in which we sometimes engage. Unlike the Bill Wolfrums, Marnie Vander Helsings and Arianna Huffingtons of the world (or even my esteemed colleague Debbie Schlussel), my ego is not so out of whack that I feel compelled to plaster my face next to each and every blog entry, potentially compromising the safety of my dedicated staff and trusted contacts in the field.
To paraphrase the late Dartmouth professor Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy, “a citizen is a person who, if need be, can re-create his civilization.” Here at the Harding Institute we take pride in being good citizens, and part of being a good citizen is accepting that the “other”, even if you don’t completely understand him/her, is just as real and true and worthy as yourself.
Been meaning to blog from the AIPAC conference but most of what I wanted to articulate I’ve decided to self censor for security reasons. To the lady with purple hair who spent more time at the buffet than the caterers, Passover is the unleavened bread holiday, not the atonement one. Now you know why security cross checked your badge and why you were escorted out. Better luck next time fruits of Islam.
Nice to see things are finally coming together in Iraq. Anybody who has spent time in the Middle East knows that the virtue most widely accredited to the Persians is patience. Things sometimes take 100 years. Something blowhards raised on fast food and narcissism will never understand.
