Juan Cole: Bush’s Open-Mike Comments Leave Me ‘Trembling’

BLANK Jul 17, 2006 The University of Michigan professor and Middle East expert is horrified at Bush's belief (caught on an open mike) that Hezbollah is entirely to blame for the violence wracking Lebanon, and that Syria could easily stop Hezbollah if it chose to do so "It is an astonishingly simple-minded view of the situation I come away from it shaken and trembling" . Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Hezbollah’s Existential Calculus

Staff / Truthdig Jul 16, 2006 Although some in Lebanon hail members of the militant group as national heroes, others call them outright terrorists who are dragging the country into an unwinnable war. The future of Hezbollah--and perhaps its imitators and spawn across the Middle East--would seem to hang in the balance over this conflict. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Stop the Presses! WSJ Flip-Flops on Iraq!

Staff / Truthdig Jul 16, 2006 After spending years blasting the idea that the U.S. is "bogged down" in Iraq, the Wall Street Journal editorial page did just that--saying that the Israel-Lebanon situation stems from a worldwide perception that America is so "bogged down" in Iraq that it can't flex any muscle in the Middle East. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Chris Hedges: Mutually Assured Destruction in the Middle East

Chris Hedges / Truthdig Jul 15, 2006 The former Middle East bureau chief for The New York Times and author of the bestseller "War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning" argues in this Truthdig column that the bloodshed now engulfing Lebanon and Israel will only worsen as long as extremists on both sides continue to indulge in "collective necrophilia." Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Humanity Lost in Lebanon

Staff / Truthdig Jul 13, 2006 As Israeli warplanes ravage Beirut in retaliation for Lebanon-based Hezbollah raids, a prominent Beirut-based blogger decries being made a "pawn on the board of an imaginary game." He is "infuriated that such risks and actions can be taken with absolute disregard of the lives that are at stake, the lives of the people that make a country what it is." Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Gay Rights in the Middle East Still Nascent

Staff / Truthdig Jun 3, 2006 CNN features a rare interview: a homosexual Lebanese man who is unafraid of going public about his sexuality. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )