by Patrick Lang (bio below)
“So,” he said, in a conclusion that may not seem immediately logical to outsiders but was repeated again and again in interviews here, “I think it is the best chance for peace. I think Hamas can understand there is no way to destroy the state of Israel and will take a course to peace.
“Hopefully.”
Among Israelis, already reeling from having a prime minister in a coma, there is no lack of shock and anger that Palestinian voters overwhelmingly chose a radical Islamic group with a deadly résumé: 21 dead at the disco here in 2001; 19 dead on the No. 32A bus in Jerusalem in 2002; 23 dead on the No. 2 bus in Jerusalem in 2003; a double bombing on buses in Beersheba in 2004, killing 16 and injuring 100. And that is only a small, and recent, part of the list.” NY Times
“We will continue to fight against the occupation…” Hamas speaker in Gaza.
Occupation—- Interesting word. The sweet in nature and soft of head have heard that kind of language a lot from Palestinians (and generally heard in it what they wished). “All we want is our land back..” It took me some time to understand that what is really meant is all of Palestine, all of it, maybe a piece now, a sliver later. Maybe it will take more generations of struggle and death. “I will struggle and live in misery and pain, but my grandson will live free in his own land.” I have heard that many times, from Muslims, from Palestinian Christians.
The “occupied” have a certain right to be deceptive and disingenuous in pursuit of what they see as FREEDOM. A lot of us in the West still have a remarkable naive and patronizing attitude towards the Arabs, and the Palestinians are not made exceptions to this rule. We still think of them as essentially childlike and waiting to have revealed to them the “truths” of our civilization, which we “know” must constitute the unitary path to the future and progress of mankind.
The exit polls told us this would not happen? Surprise! People routinely lie to pollsters in the Arab World. Why? It is because knowledge is power and why should one give power to strangers?
So, when we find that they are filled with guile and skillful at manipulating words to tell us what they see we desire to believe, then we are surprised. Delightful! Mufaja’a ya al-Ajanib! The same pollsters have told us for years that the Palestinians want PEACE, like the Israelis are said to want peace, but in neither case have they ever convincingly told us WHICH PEACE either group wants.
Now we are predictably told that Hamas are not really religious-nationalist fanatics (seemingly mutually exclusive but nevertheless doable). No, rather, they are the next wave of negotiators who will come to the table once they realize that they can’t collect the garbage on time and that the Americans are unhappy.
“There’ll be pie in the sky bye and by, bye and bye………”
Joe Hill (sort of. My old man was a wobbly at heart. This is for him.)
Pat Lang
Col. Patrick W. Lang (Ret.), a highly decorated retired senior officer of U.S. Military Intelligence and U.S. Army Special Forces, served as “Defense Intelligence Officer for the Middle East, South Asia and Terrorism” for the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and was later the first Director of the Defense Humint Service. Col. Lang was the first Professor of the Arabic Language at the United States Military Academy at West Point. For his service in the DIA, he was awarded the “Presidential Rank of Distinguished Executive.” He is a frequent commentator on television and radio, including MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann (interview), CNN and Wolf Blitzer’s Situation Room (interview), PBS’s Newshour, NPR’s “All Things Considered,” (interview), and more .
Personal Blog: Sic Semper Tyrannis 2005 || Bio || CV
Recommended Books || More BooTrib Posts
Novel: The Butcher’s Cleaver (download free by chapter, PDF format)
“Drinking the Kool-Aid,” Middle East Policy Council Journal, Vol. XI, Summer 2004, No. 2
There can be intoxicating romance in politics.
I recall feeling it decades ago when I read Leon uris’s “Exodus.” Who could not?
I recall feeling it when I attended the memorial service for Rachel Corrie in Olympia, Wash (she was run over by an Israeli bulldozer defending a Palestinian doctor’s home from demolition. The bulldoxer was sold to the Israelis by the U.S. company Caterpillar).
I recently finished John LeCarre’s “The Little Drummer Girl,” and was sympathetic to Charlie’s muddled expressions of her political views, because I’ve often done the same…. attracted to a true political and humanitarian problem more by the romance of heated, visceral, a-intellectual political passions than the task of solving the problem or the more pragmatic functioning issues of daily governance. Like garbage collection, for example.
Let’s hope, for the sake of all in the region, that the fiery passions fade and practical problem-solving comes to the fore. Or is that too a dreamy hope?
I’m glad Hamas won. That very fact introduces some much needed ‘reality’ to the faith-based neo-cons. This creates some very telling ironies. If I were an Israeli I might feel differently.
But this probably benefits Israel hardliners because no one can complain anymore that they are not willing to make concessions.
George Bush is sure trying to put a happy face on it.
I’m confident Cheney and Wolfowitz and Perle and the rest of the war enthusiasts are ecstatic about this. With Sharon in a coma and Netanyahu slobbering with anticipation tolead Israel into all out war, Hollywood couldn’t have devised a more simplistic yet compelling plot.
Cheney & Co are almost assuredly celebrating by drinking extra goblets of blood, eagerly gettingready to begin their all out war in earnest. They’ve set the stage with all their sham elections in the region that have elevated the most violent extremists into ever increasing positions of power. Now it’s time to really initiate the war that Iraq was merely the prelude to.
first Sharon goes into a coma and then Hamas win.
I thought about using the term orgasmic in reference to the odious Netanyahu, but decided I didn’t want to trigger the imagery.
I’m glad you did it though. He’s probably out in the countryside buggering sheep with reckless, wanton abandon, striving to get all this wild passionate energy out of his system before he takes over the reins of government.
the imagery in your second paragraph was rather vivid
I know. that’s why eschewed the linkage originally. (Though actually, I first had the thought of serial sheepfucking in connection with arch lunatic Michael Ledeen, as sick and crazy a character as any others on the neocon scene.)
You know what’s ironic? Ever since Bush’s 2004 State of the Union with all that “let’s spread freedom” stuff, there have been a LOT of elections which have been detrimental to Bush’s cause.
Hamas of course, and let’s not forget Hizb Allah winning many seats in Lebanon and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. And Iran, electing the hardliner over Rafsanjani.
And to a lesser degree, Evo Morales, Bachelet in Chile and the Conservatives in Canada. Oh yeah plus Tabare Vazquez in Uruguay.
The only pro-US gov’t elected since that SOTU was in Poland and I guess to a lesser degree in Ukraine (Kuchma was pretty pro-US too).
Now you know why he likes “soft dictatorships” like Kuwait and Pakistan so much – they’re so much more reliable!
Pax
Dear Col. Lang,
Would it would be safe to say that this may be perhaps more a rejection of Fatah? The years of
blatant corruption, the incredible amount of financial theft topped off with countless broken promises and lack of many services had to take its toll on the Palestinian people in their faith of Fatah.
The IRA became a political party, could be there a similar correlation there?
.
I don’t think so, perhaps borderline racism. It’s certainly a prejudice against the Muslims and Arab people, and quite disappointing, though not the first time in recent opinions and diaries.
Occupation —- Interesting word. The sweet in nature and soft of head have heard …
The “occupied” have a certain right to be deceptive and disingenuous in pursuit of what they see as FREEDOM.
Surprise! People routinely lie to pollsters in the Arab World. Why? It is because knowledge is power and why should one give power to strangers?
So, when we find that they are filled with guile and skillful at manipulating words to tell us what they see we desire to believe …
The same pollsters have told us for years that the Palestinians want PEACE, like the Israelis are said to want peace, but in neither case have they ever convincingly told us WHICH PEACE either group wants.
It is not clear whether Pat Lang’s tirade of deceit and evil is addressed solely to the Palestinian people, or also to the sons and daughters of Abraham, the Jewish people who returned in the 20th century to biblical land and the state of Israel since 1948.
The audacity to question the right of the Palestinian people to run their own affairs and be freed from the illegal occupation of their land, is by it’s nature a strange denial of historic facts I don’t understand from a learned person like Patrick Lang.
At least I feel strengthened by this story and opinion of PL, to understand more clearly why we butted heads recently.
Latest news from the occupied territories of Gaza, West Bank and East-Jerusalem ::
NSA intercepts, CIA intelligence and an unknown source close to Olmert and the Likud administration, are whispering the election result was a guile and skillful manipulation of a lying Palestinian people in the Arab world. They are making fools of us all by telling us what we desire to believe that Hamas got most support and 74 out of a possible 132 seats in the legislative parliament. Israeli and U.S. government are at a total loss how to skillfully manipulate, lie and explain this unexpected turn of events in the bantam reservations dotting the Israeli landscape. <snark>
JERUSALEM (Reuters) Jan. 27 — Almost half of Israelis think Israel should talk to a Palestinian government dominated by the Islamic militant group Hamas, which won a parliamentary majority in elections, an opinion poll showed on Friday.
The opinion poll in the Yedioth Ahronoth daily newspaper (click U.S. flag) showed 48 percent of Israelis favored talking to a Hamas-led Palestinian government, while 43 percent were opposed.
Haaretz Newspaper
[Official result shows a change of 2 seats: Hamas 74 and Fatah 45. In a parliament of 132 members, Fatah can now block a constitutional change because it has one-third of the seats – Oui]
Nice K-street lobbyists for the neocons and Israeli politics in the U.S., a deadly combination AIPAC and Abramoff!
“But I will not let myself be reduced to silence.”
▼ ▼ ▼ MY DIARY
the israeli government and the bush administration gave the palestinians every reason to vote for hamas. humiliation is not a good tactic to win hearts and minds. fascism doesn’t make friends and influence people, at least not in a positive way.
neither fatah nor hamas are much of a choice. fatah is more corrupt and has a very slimy track record with governance. hamas may well still “try to drive the jews into the sea.” on the other hand, they may, like the reagan administration, take advantage of an histroic opportunity and look good by settling old scores peaceably. it won’t be pretty and it won’t be simple but it could happen.
or not. i won’t hold my breath. however it goes, and netanyahu will muck it up at every turn, the doings of sharon and bush (and numerous other administrations) have brought us to this point.