hersh strikes again

While not the sensational(ist) expose of his abu ghraib article, Seymour Hersh publishes a piece in this week's new yorker that builds on the investigative journalism in san francisco chronicle/guardian/the hindu (see previous posts), et al. concerning the degree of preparation behind idf's "operation just reward." hersh links preparedness to the bush hooligans' interest in the war, a 'new middle east,' and specifically air force operations.

Hersh does not reify these into a great conspiracy theory. In fact, he's very careful to note that basically noone really knew what an other was doing or when the act might occur (israel, bush administration, halutz, nasrallah, ahmadinejad, rummy, et al.). but critical support was gathered... hence cheney knew from the outset that israel needed 35 days to complete the operation, once it started.

For me, the article explains why mainstream media currents (WSJ, Newsweek, Time, Fox, CNN, NY Times) consistently objectify Lebanon as a catalyst for Bush administration geopolitics in this war. Because Cheney really wanted to see how things would go in Lebanon as practice for Iran. Lebanon really is the punching bag of the Middle East! But I think I didn't quite realize how much Lebanon is also the punching bag of the White House.

It sickens me that as American media consumers, we are constantly fed these stories about the interconnectedness of Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, Hamas when really this is the view from the White House that doesn't match reality on the ground. What a sick game to be caught up in. It makes the scholar's transgression of Orientalism look like child's play. Just go peruse the last four weeks of WSJ op-eds and you'll see my point.

None of this is new. None at all. But the exacting level of detail corroborates our earliest suspicions (e.g. why the u.s. wasn't moving very fast to evacuate its nationals) and disgusts me at new levels. No degree of hyperbole is enough to express.... anyways, it's 7am and I haven't gone to sleep yet... ears still ringing from dancehall at a's goodbye party, where we bid her off to cairo for the year...

highlights for me:
- parallels with kosovo (which explains olmert's press comments about two weeks ago)
- callousness of cheney
- Hersh in a followup interview: "Nobody digs like the Iranians. The Persians have been digging holes since the 11th century."

tbc...