Horse Sense about America and the Middle East A review of Lee Smith's, "A Strong horse."

Crystal Ball 2010 - What may happen, and what won't happen, in the coming year in the Middle East.

A Palestinian peace plan for all of us - A plan that has ideas that might work is very dangerous, and therefore must be ignored by leaders of both sides.

The end of the peace process movie? - Was Tom Friedman right about the peace process movie? Are the Americans just a passive audience or could they change the ending?

The summit of the absurd: Middle East process without peace - The failure of the trilateral summit epitomizes the "peace process," which is all about process and not about peace.

Why Israelis and Americans are angry - The gap between Israeli Jews and Americans may be more imaginary than real, and less about settlements than about how the issue was presented and faith in the peace process.

The vicissitudes of the Israeli-Palestinian-American Peace Process - Barack Obama will have to provide more than public relations spin if he is to win back the confidence of Israelis and Palestinians in the peace process. The United States will have to pressure itself as well as the sides, and it will have to take "painful risks for peace."

Gauging US policy: Afghanistan and Iraq - America's allies around the world are gauging US policy and resolve by events in Afghanistan and Iraq. What they see cannot be encouraging.

Michael Jackson effect on the Middle East - For the rest of the world, the problems of the Middle East recede into obscurity and are replaced by more interesting infotainment, but the reality remains.

Where is Iran going? - Iranian unrest is the subject of a lot of speculation, but the truth is that nobody has real answers.

Handing Netanyahu a victory Palestinian reaction to the Benjamin Netanyahu speech was unwisely harsh and harped on themes that are not going to bring peace.

Iranian elections: It could have been worse! - If the elections had been "fair" the bad guys would have enjoyed more international legitimacy.

El Rais Obama? - Barack Obama is trying to become a popular Middle East leader in the style of Gamal Nasser.

Obama, Abbas, Netanyahu: Much ado about nothing - The break might come sometime, but we are not there yet. Peace won't break out even if Netanyahu says "Two state solution."

Book Review: Benny Morris, One State, Two States - An important, if flawed, look at why peace solutions are all doomed to failure at present.

Israel. USA and the peace initiative: So dumb it has to be smart? - Israel and USA are both pursuing policies that don't make sense. There has to be a plan, right?

The Middle East is not all bombs, violence and fanaticism. Wonderful people live here, people with dreams and hopes about democracy and peace and decency. The Middle East was once the birthplace of the world's great ideas. It was the cradle of civilization and the birthplace of the three monotheistic religions. "Greek" science was born in Asia minor. After the decline of the ancient world, civilization and intellectual curiosity were revived and maintained by the Arab civilization, born once again in the Middle East.

Those achievements, and not wars and conquest, are the real enduring legacy of the Middle East, that we must revive and pass on to our children. The Middle East is our home. It is time for our home to become ours, not the playground of alien, evil and dogmatic ideologies, cynical dictators and religious fanatics. We will not have a bright future in the Middle East until we stop letting extremists manipulate us.  A brighter future for the Middle East is up to us.  Can we build a better future for the Middle East?

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Lebanon - "La Vache Qui Rit" (laughing cow or mad beast) is the local nickname of pro-Syrian President Emile Lahud.

Pilots' Ward Abu Salam Al-Arabi  June 23, 2003

I was a reserve lieutenant serving in an Arab army during the 1973 war. I was positioned at a big military hospital. The adjacent ward was assigned to the injured Israeli pilots whose jet fighters were shot down by air defense missiles. Many of them ejected from their planes just seconds before being hit by SAMs.  More  Arabic Version

Online Middle East  Magazine

Arabic: US Bill of Rights
Declaration of Human Rights