It seems Iran is just wanting to paint itself as enemy #1.  Usually they don’t last.  Korea has been an enemy but not the #1 enemy.  China has been an enemy but not the #1 enemy.  Russia was the #1 enemy and now it is transformed and on most occasions a partner.  China is no doubt being bought off, but they seem pretty happy and should lose their free trade with us.

Iran will not make a nuclear weapon.  I would rather see Israel do the military thing with us mostly redeployed, but the rumblings are no doubt there. 

I would rather see the use of a nuclear bunkerbuster then any U.S. prolonged engagment.  The missles in the mountains would require extensive sorties and any ships would be sitting ducks until the missles are destroyed.

The more I hear the more I’m convinced that we really need to step back and get our troops out of there.  It is unbelievable to me that the people of the United States are not demanding that we get out.

Let them have their civil war in Iraq and let Israel do her thing.  It seems that no matter what remedy you choose to put forth it includes more death on an even larger scale.  Maybe the UN ought to secure the ports and give the revenue to the legitimate goverment as it adapts to its civl war.

As they fight themselves both sides will be weakened.  Israels next adventure will probably be in Iran striking the nuclear facilities.  We should pull out at least until some of the dust settles.

Bring our kids home for Christmas.

All of you mentioning that the rise of political Islamism (whatever the hell that is) is a result of US policies are conveniently forgetting that Iran became the first true Islamic state in 1979.  That they have been exporting their brand of Islam since then, regardless of what the US has or has not done, is a fact.  US actions have only given them another bogeyman to use on the masses.

Bush and his apparatchiks seized on the 9/11 tragedy as the means of creating an enemy, Bin Laden to the Axis of Evil to Islamo-fascists (perceived by most Muslims to include them) - the bigger the number, the bigger the threat, the more power you can claim unimpeded.  It’s a formula that seldom fails to work (Hitler through Goebbels rose to power by demonizing the Jews as enemies of the State.) The drawback is the enemy you create often, in turn, creates you to be its enemy. Normally disparate groups of people will always join ranks when faced with a common enemy, especially when that enemy holds the disparate groups to have one identity - in our case Muslims. The rise in popularity of political Islam should have been a foregone conclusion.

I haven’t heard that the two soldiers have been released even if they have I think it is clear that Israels agression is in response to Hezbollah’s agression in the form of rockets and missles.

I believe that the majority of Islamist want peaceful cohabitation. It is the fundamentalist groups that sponsor and finance the armed agression and bombings.  They cause the masses to be involved by hiding amonst civilians when they strike.

Hezbollah is far from a Holy Group but neither are the Bushites.  Americans on the other hand are not protesting enough to this fascist regime but it does not represent the majority of Americans.

It seems to me, from all that I’ve heard, that Hezbolla did rush in with aid for schools and hospitals and help with some re-building in Palestine. This made a great impression on people and was great P.R. This will happen again in Lebanon, albeit with massive aid from Iran.  But I believe neither they nor Hamas have any stomach for actually governing, setting up the institutions necessary for it, seeing that the government actually listens to and meets the needs of people. It is far easier (Lord knows the Republicans have found this out, to their dismay, that it is easier to criticize than to govern), to call for Israel’s destruction, than it is to govern and build a state that Palestinians would be glad to live in. Neither Syria nor Iran has the stomach to govern either and both will use the Palestinians as they see fit, and then abandon them. The same seems to be true of the remainder of the oil-rich Middle Eastern countries. So once again the Palestinians are being led astray and shafted. Not the first time, as Arafat proved, not the last time.

Fadel states “Having said this, I want to assure my fellow fair-minded Americans that they have nothing to fear from a resurgent popular Islam with identified leadership. Islam is a rational religion of practical formulas for solving social, economic, and moral failures of human beings. The world is better off with Muslims who feel secure in their religion and with their authentic leaders, not dictators supported by Western powers.”

Is he kidding?  Hezbollah, and their puppetmasters in Iran, preach hatred and murder.  Hezbollahs stated goal is the destruction of Isreal AND wiping out Jewery.  One can argue why they feel that way, but the fact that they do, and they fervently preach it, is irrefutable.

Please also remember that until the 9/11 attacks, Hezbollah was responsible for killing more Americans than any other terrorist group, in a variety of geographically disperse places.  This is also a fact.  Even Jimmy Carter, fool that he was and is, tried to move peace forward with the new Iranian regime of Khomeini, but was rebuffed by hatred and, of course, the storming of our embassy by the same man who is now the President of that country.

How can anyone with a functioning brain believe that the US and other Western nations have nothing to fear from a resurgent Islam.  The leaders of movement use the US and Isreal as its entire reason for being, and constantly urge the populace to kill in the name of Islam.  Modern Islam is quickly doing in Europe what it failed to do at the Battle of Tours, turn Europe into a Muslim controlled continent and wipe out non-believers.

Please, do not insult my intelligence.

Israel, egged on by us (the USA), screwed up big time.

Hezbollah’s stock in the hearts and minds of Muslims is ascending while ours is descending throughout the WORLD.

The simple absurdity of us having to beg others to come in and clean up the mess in Southern Lebanon that we are resposnible for ... well, like I don’t think GW ever read Robert Fulghum’s book, ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED IN KINDERGARTEN.

If it weren’t so tragic for my country and the Middle East, I would label Israel’s reaction to the taking of two of her soldiers a farce.

Doesn’t anybody on “our side” think about the consequences BEFORE they roll out a “military solution” ... an even more dangerous oxymoron than “miltary intelligence”?

It bothers me to here you so acceptable to Hezbollah.  It is true that they seem to be better at providing for the people that they represent then the U.S. is for sure. 

I truly believe that the Powerful figures running the U.S. government are best at robbing the taxpayers which is increasingly the middle and lower class.  They use their power to deceive the masses and create hate and fear to continue their robbery.  They serve multinational interrest over the people they are charged with representing.

I cannot forgive the bombing of the Marine Barracks back in 1983 or other bombings for which Hezbollah is responsible.  It is not acceptable to me that anyone should aim missles into populated areas unless these attacks have a good chance at depriving an attacking force of their militants or amunition.

I totally believe that there is a small percentage on both sides of any violent issue that insists on continuing the violence.  Those criminals should be held to account by their own people.  The true enemy of all is corporate fascism not the people of any government or religion. I believe that it is hypocritical of Christians or Muslims to initiate violence.  Jesus went to his death being nonviolent and I believe that all life should be held as sacred in both religions.

“Hezbollah’s perceived victory over Israel has only helped to enhance the growing stature of Islamism in forming a regional identity.”

What is this word “Islamism”? Are you trying to detach a people from their religion and making it to mean something else? I don’t understand why you are using this word. Why can’t you just say the plain truth:

Hezbollah’s . . . victory over Israel has only helped to enhance the growing stature of Islam in forming a regional identity.

This article, by New York Times, represents a very precise and accurate picture of the situation in the Muslim world today. I, as a Muslim, couldn’t have said it better; therefore I am thankful for the New York times for saying what if I have said it no mainstream publication would consider publishing; and even if it would have been published somewhere many would dismiss it as Islamic propaganda, and possibly accusing me of being a terrorist.

My personal situation as an intellectual, university professor and published author is a true testimony to what this article says.

In my young years as a university student in Egypt, my hero was Jamal Abdun-Nasir (known in the West as Nasir); he represented Arab nationalism at its best. My religion at the time was Arab Nationalism, and I was only a nominal Muslim. I even flirted with the Communist party in my hometown.

Over the years, and mostly because of the humiliation of two defeats by Israel in 1976, and 1973 and all the atrocities committed by Israel and its supporters in the West over the years, I reverted more and more to my Islamic identity. All these years since, I was looking for a hero, and the noble and courageous Hassan Nasrallah is my hero now. This is despite the fact that I am a Sunni Muslim and he is a Shi’ite Muslim; and also despite the fact that misguided American policies label Hizbollah as a terrorist organization.

I am not going to go into the details of the good this organization is doing to its people; something the U.S. Administration was not able to do to one disastrous-stricken city of it its union, New Orleans. The good social and economic services provided to all Lebanese, regardless their religious affiliation, is common knowledge now and you can check it on the internet, and the article alluded to it in passing.

Having said this, I want to assure my fellow fair-minded Americans that they have nothing to fear from a resurgent popular Islam with identified leadership. Islam is a rational religion of practical formulas for solving social, economic, and moral failures of human beings. The world is better off with Muslims who feel secure in their religion and with their authentic leaders, not dictators supported by Western powers. The alternative is continued chaos and radicalization by fringe groups when Muslims are defeated and insecure.

My personal advice is: Don’t listen to fear-mongers, warmongers and the devilish propaganda machine of the neo-Nazis who want to control your lives through insecurity, fear and hatred.

Remember that enlightened and secure normal Muslims venerate the person of Jesus Christ, Moses and Abraham as great Messengers and social reformers, and for them this is a prerequisite for being a true Muslim. Even if you are an atheist, the Qur’an respects your choice when it declares “there is no compulsion in religion.” (Qur’an 2:256)

Your article cites an Egyptian woman saying: “I have more faith in Allah than in Hosni Mubarak.”

If this is a translation from her Arabic, then in writing this, you are (probably unconsciously and with no ill will, I suspect) adopting a common trick of the anti-Muslim, pro-Israel press: not translating the word “Allah” into “God”.

“Allah” simply means “God” in Arabic. Jesus himself spoke Aramaic, in which the word for ‘God’ is a close cognate — something like “Alliya”.

To have this Arabic-speaking person say in English “I trust Allah” makes her sound more foreign, ungodly, and even idolatrous to American Christian or Jewish ears.

Would we quote a French person saying, “I believe in Dieu”? Would we say, “The pope called on Dio to bless the crowd”?

““We need an umbrella,” said Mona Mahmoud, 40, Jihan’s older sister. “In the 60’s, Arabism was the umbrella. We had a cause. Now we lack an umbrella. We feel lost in space. We need to be affiliated to something. Usually in our part of the world, because of what religion means to us, we immediately resort to it.””

And there, in a nutshell, is the problem. Whether you are Arab or Inuit, Christian or Muslim, male or female, you only THINK you “need an umbrella.” You’ve been CONDITIONED to think you need a “cause,” an “affiliation to something” by whatever religion or culture you’ve been born into.

It’s unacceptable to “authorities” in societies that individuals be FREE SPIRITS, willing and able to THINK FOR THEMSELVES and ACT ACCORDING TO THEIR OWN DESIRES. It’s unacceptable to “authorities” not to have POWER over you and CONTROL of your life. But they need to be subtle about it… no obvious power trips. Best to figure some way to get YOU to CONTROL YOURSELF!

We all wonder where we came from, where we are going and “What’s It All About, Alfie.” NOT having ready answers to these things produces ANXIETY. And people don’t like to feel anxious. Some turn to drink or drugs or sex… ANYTHING to divert attention from having to deal with the reality that they cannot know the “answers.”

Others grab onto the more “approved” diversions - religion, culture, whatever - that will PROVIDE something that will pass as “answers” and that they can accept/make their own. Better still, if they can assimilate into an EXCLUSIVE group (Islam, Christian, etc.), where they can feel SUPERIOR to those in other groups they now not only have “answers” but “status” and “identity.” Double bonus!

While all that I’ve described may (or may not) be true there’s no escaping IT’S ALL A FICTION… the entire scenario has been concocted by those who NEED TO CONTROL for those who think/feel they NEED CONTROLLING.

MY reality, for whatever reason, allows and enables me to live unemcumbered by “membership” in any group or group-think other than those over which I have no conscious control (skin color, gender, etc.). God, to me, is clearly the most effective mass control agent yet devised/invented. And the religions/cults created in the name of this imaginary friend have had millennia to perfect their brainwashing and other control techniques. Boy, do they work!

I doubt it will ever change. I have no idea why I DO NOT NEED TO KNOW. I just accept there’s a lot I do not, or cannot know and get on with enjoying what I DO understand and “know.” Why? Because there’s nothing I can do to change the end result… DEATH, DISINTEGRATION, A RETURN TO THE ELEMENTS AND ATOMS FROM WHICH I AROSE just as with all other living and perhaps non-living things. I’ll be damned (pun intended) if I’m going to waste any of my precious “alive” time fretting about or participating in psycho/emotional-diversions regarding things I can’t change, control or even understand (eg Who or What made the Universe(s)?) Gives me a brain ache but it doesn’t justify accepting someone else’s answers… they can’t know either!

But… good luck to you all who don’t see things as I do!

Well, well, well here we see again how another missed opportunity at a meaningful foriegn policy approach, one based on at the very least a sense fair human recognition, has cost and will cost America a lot of moral captital around the world. To the point, what Hezbollah has accomplished is something the founders of the Pan Arab nationalistic movement and its sec-cu-lar ideology of Arab unity founded in the late forties and then morphing into organazations like that of the Ba’ath Party in the mid sixties, was unable to do. That being giving Arabs something to be proud of about themsleves ie. BEING AN ARAB; and bring them together with a collective understanding that sets them apart from what they had been previously viewed. As just a bunch of ignorant nomadic and tribulistic Bedouins; now given to being autocratic in policy and nature. Yet now, after having dropped the ball and driven their consciousness in a direction where we have little or no influence because of no less a lack of forward historical insight on our parts and forigen policy decisions, into a more religious fundamentalist tilt. And now we think by painting them all terrorist religous zealots, we hope to inspire the more moderate (uncle tom sell outs in a growing number of their views) among them to be able of persauding their unina formed brothern to some how ‘come around’ to the right cause. Then again as an old saying go’s ‘We know the house is on fire, but where is the exit’. Well it anit in the direction we’re heading now, we as a country outa to just step back, draw a long breath and let it out slow. Start by stop trying to tell other people what is best for them even if it go’s against our better interests; and start to lis-ten to what others like to see and think of themsleves. Then try and make in roads based on offering to help in assiting others help themsleves; in there own way, no matter how backward it may seem to us. Begin to establish policies here at home that focus’s more on providing working examples and models of how to teach others to help and promote the common good for all its citizens. That is when will we might begin to see a seed change in those we hope and wish to influence around the globe.

Of course they are turning to the people who deliver. We would too.

Unfortunately no force in US society seems intent on delivering for the ordinary majority who are eager simply to get along, not desirous of domination and empire.