“The Kennedys died for a reason,” says David Talbot in Salon.com.
Jan 14
ILAR-bashing in Tucson
Americas, assassination, Culture, Internet, political violence, United States
Comments Off
I love Mike Kinsley’s denunciations of “the false rush to claim balance” in the story of the Tucson assassination story–not the least because he got the idea from me.
In 1984, when I was cub reporter at the New Republic–and Kinsley was the cub editor–I wrote a piece about that reflexive tendency of Washington journalists to denounce “ideologues of the left and right” (ILAR). ILAR-bashing, I argued, was usually the indolent scribe’s substitute for the hard work of passing judgment on the facts.
As Kinsley wrote this week.
The “extremists of the right and left” formula generally appeals to newspaper editorialists and the media because it is balanced. And maybe I’m too ideologically blinkered to see the situation clearly. But it seems — in fact, it seems obvious — that the situation is not balanced. Extremists on the right are more responsible for the poisonous ideological atmosphere than extremists on the left, whoever they may be. And extremists on the left have a lot less influence on nonextremists on the left than extremists on the right have on right-wing moderates. Sure, NPR, despite denials, tilts to the left. But not the way Fox News tilts toward the right. Rachel Maddow is no Glenn Beck.
But–my bias for balance is kicking in–I also think David Von Drehle has a fair point in Time. While the right is far more responsible for the legitimization of violence (and the criminally lax gun laws enable it), it has to be said that there is something “not normal” about some of the left/liberal/progressive reaction. The Guardian’s claim that Jared Loughner was “prone to right-wing rants” seems off-base at best. Juan Williams, the affable martyr to NPR, is prone to right-wing rants. Jared Loughner was more confused than ideological in his rants.
I don’t blame ideologues of the left or right for their prejudices. Anybody who writes online journalism understands the imperative of 1) capturing readers with 160 characters or less; for the sake of 2) generating links to other Web sites; which 3) increase the size of the audience. This ardent pursuit of the beloved reader is an exciting and often useful pastime.
But we should not pretend that what we are doing is a normal act of citizenship that deserves emulation. The media provocations in the wake of the Tucson tragedy–the Daily Kos accusations, the Sarah Palin “blood libel” response–were the the normal behavior of public actors seeking attention. These actions are not what most people regard as citizenship. Most people think of citizenship as paying taxes, voting, and obeying the law, not necessarily in that order.
There’s a difference between media provocation and citizenship. We ideologues of the left and right forfeit credibility if we forget the fact.
Jan 05
Pakistan is a war zone unsafe for liberals
Asia, assassination, Pakistan, political violence
Comments Off
That’s the scary message sent by the assassination of Salman Taseer, businessman politician, who dared cross the country’s religious fanatics, I mean, mainstream Muslim organizations, who applauded his murder. Supportive of the pardon of a Christian woman convicted of blaspheming Islam, Taseer was assassinated by a bodyguard offended by his liberalism.
Taseer’s death deprives Pakistan of a colourful politician with unusual reserves of pluck. More significantly, it signals a worrying reduction in the public space for public figures, who cannot even count on their own police to protect them. The country’s liberals have not felt so isolated since the dark years of the Zia dictatorship in the 1980s.
via The Hindu.
Nov 22
JFK: What we know now
Americas, assassination, Cuba, political violence, United States
Comments Off
My take on the historical record of JFK’s assassination appears today in the Atlantic.com (and en espanol on Cubebate.cu)
Feb 15
Rafik Hariri, Lebanese businessman and political leader, slain in 2005. (Wapedia)
The politics of assassination are a more decisive factor than ever in Middle East politics.
This week thousands commemorated the fifth anniversary of the death of Lebanese billionaire Rafik Hariri who was killed in a huge bomb blast in Beirut on February 13th, 2005. But the United Nations investigation of the crime has since stalled and the feeling that politics is trumping justice is hard to avoid. Hariri’s assassination gave rise to Lebanon’s so-called March 14th Cedar Revolution which brought Syria’s foes to power. Now the demographic and political realities of Lebanon have thwarted the movement and created a new status quo. Hariri’s son, Saad, who followed his father into politics, is calling for reconciliation with the government of Syria, the prime (but not the only) suspect in his father’s murder. As al Jazeera noted:
Re-emerging Syrian influence, the persistence of Hezbollah’s role and internal divisions have all dealt steady blows to the alliance that was brought together by opposition to Damascus.
Is justice possible? Continue reading »
Feb 14
Israel’s assassination campaign
assassination, Lebanon, Middle East, political violence
Comments Off
The assassination of Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai was just one aspect of a wide ranging effort by the Zionist state to target its armed opponents, says The Times of London.
More details of the hit from Intelligence Online via Haaretz: ten agents participated including three women, all traveling on European passports.
Feb 13
Iranian nuclear scientist hit: Maybe it was the West
assassination, Iran, Middle East, nuclear, political violence, Science
Comments Off
As if in response to Frontline’s finding that nuclear scientist Massoud Ali Mohammadi, killed by a remote control bomb last month, was a victim of the Iranian governmet, The Economist, leans the other way–to the West.
“It is no secret that America, Israel and European countries are seeking to impede Iran’s nuclear plans, overtly and covertly. Yet the assassination theory was widely dismissed. The professor’s known works on particle and theoretical physics did not seem central to Iran’s nuclear programme. And his name had appeared on a list of Iranian academics favouring Iran’s protest movement. So, ran the prevailing theory, Israel or America had little reason to kill him, though Iranian hardliners may have wanted to do so.
But listen to the whispers of Western spies and diplomats, and the Iranian regime may turn out to be right. Well-placed sources in two Western countries now say the professor was “one of the most important people involved in the programme.”
This is lightly sourced but The Economist is veddy conservative and wouldn’t indict Western powers lightly. This remains a most puzzling case.
Feb 08
Who killed Dr. Masoud Ali Mohammadi?
More than a few commentators, and the Iranian government, blamed Israel for the remote control bombing that killed an Iranian nuclear socientist in January. Friends of Israel did not seem bothered by the allegation. In Haaretz, Yossi Melman attributed his murder to “opponents of Iran’s nuclear program.”
Israel acted in a similar fashion during the 1960s against German scientists working to develop missiles in Egypt, and during the 1970s against various scientists. These included Egyptians and the Canadian scientist Gerald Bull who worked on Iraq’s nuclear and missile projects under Saddam Hussein.
But Frontline’s Tehran Bureau, came out with a better-sourced narrative last month, reportings that Ali-Mohammadi was supporter of the Iran’s reformist Green Movement, was knowledgeable about the dual-use technologies, and interested in visiting the West.
In sum, the new information on Professor Ali-Mohammadi’s background and the circumstances surrounding his murder, and the fact that he had turned against the hardliners and had become a strong supporter of the Green Movement, all point in one direction: the likelihood that he was killed by hardliners terrified by the prospect that he might disclose information on Iran’s nuclear program.
This is hardly the final word on a murky crime but it has more more convincing reporting to back it up.
Feb 05
Mossad hit: the departed in Dubai
assassination, Israel, Middle East, political violence
Comments Off
What they’re saying about the violent death of Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in the European press.
Israels has not denied responsibility and there’s no denying extrajudicial summary justice is a tool of U.S. and Israeli decisionmakers. Hamas says it is not effective.. DebkaFile, the voice of Zionist militarism, says 13 more Hamas leaders have been targeted. While Hamas debates whether it should get into the international assassination business, the group hopes the Dubai police will act.
