Editor’s note: This week we bring you the second installment of a new weekly column, in which we look back at the week’s opinion pages. The column will be posted every Saturday by noon. Condoleezza Rice says the U.N. resolution ending violence in Israel and Lebanon will be a major setback for Syria and Iran. No. Think again. The biggest winner was Iran. Hezbollah’s boss now has his sites set on the Lebanese presidency, and it’s only a matter of weeks before the Israeli prime minister is ousted. Op-eds and commentary this week were dominated by such assertions. But first, [...]
Israelis take very seriously the admonition that during the life-and-death times of warfare, criticism of the government and the military must wait until the guns have gone quiet. This time, the effort to refrain from second-guessing proved particularly challenging. That’s because the results proved frustrating, painful and frightening in the 34-day war against Hezbollah. The rumbles of a political earthquake are now following the conflict that destroyed Israel’s aura of invincibility. Now that the soldiers are returning home, the shakeup will begin and the careers of respected politicians and military men will be changed forever. This conflict lasted longer than [...]
Reality TV is managing to do in Iraq what few other Western imports have over the last three and a half years — gain a large and devoted grass-roots following. With more than a dozen home-grown shows already having taken to the Iraqi airwaves, the phenomenon has added another country to its global conquest. “These shows are appealing to anyone, but more so in Iraq because it’s being handed to people starving for a vision of something better,” says Dr. Douglas Gentile, Director of Research at the National Institute on Media and the Family. “We’re talking about a country experiencing [...]
