The topic below was originally posted in my blog, the Intrepid Liberal Journal as well as the Independent Bloggers Alliance and the Peace Tree.

Trying to make sense of tribal politics in the Middle East can't be done with simple bumper sticker slogans. The history, entangling relationships, religious dimension, shifting alliances, geography and multiple cultures are a Byzantine maze of complexity. Specifically, the Muslim world is often regarded by people in the west, especially Americans, as a large bowl of alphabet soup. As a result, policy makers who look for quick and easy fixes by force in the region overreach and miscalculate.

One tragic example of miscalculation and overreach is Lebanon. Once regarded as the "jewel" of the Middle East, Lebanon endured a brutal civil from 1975 to 1990. Surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea, Syria and Israel, this small country the size of Connecticut has flummoxed leaders in Jerusalem and Washington for two decades.

The topic below was originally posted in my blog the
Intrepid Liberal Journal.

Democratic Party strategists must be salivating. An ABC News-Washington Post survey reports 8 out of 10 Americans favor changing the U.S. mission in Iraq from direct combat to training Iraqi troops and significant majorities prefer withdrawing nearly all troops by 2008. The ABC/WAPO Survey also indicates increased support for diplomatic initiatives with Iran and Syria.

Since the Bush Administration has opted to essentially reject the Iraq Study Group's bipartisan recommendations, Democrats have received an early Christmas present: they can embrace the report to appear responsible and allow Iraq to continue dragging down the Republican Party heading into 2008.

If you want to know where the hotbeds of hysterical Republican activity are, you need look no further than Free Republic. Their site is a 24/7 hotbed of mass hysteria, where the screaming never stops. Their latest screamfest is over a recent New York Sun article quoting an Iraqi general under Saddam as saying that Saddam shipped WMD's to Syria in 2002 under guise of flood relief.

The Iraqi general's name is Georges Sada, who has written a book about it named "Saddam's Secrets." He says that Saddam managed the shipment by taking out all of the seats of two Boeing civilian aircraft and smuggling the WMD's to Syria.

When a key UN witness said he was kidnapped, drugged, tortured, and forced to testify against the Syrian government in the Hariri murder probe, I thought it was suspicious.

And now, the UN's other key witness has died in a car crash.

The UN report, based on the testimony of these witnesses, implicated top-level Syrian government officials in the murder of former Lebanon prime minister Rafik Hariri.  But in the span of two days, two key witness in the investigation have recanted or died. Coincidence? Or slightly more suspicious, given that the UN has just a few more weeks to complete its probe into the murder?

Our beloved Condi Rice recently spoke of peaceto a prestigious gathering of the Saban Forum:

"Now, if Palestinians fight terrorism and lawless violence and advance democratic reforms, and if Israel takes no actions to prejudice a final settlement and works to improve the daily lives of Palestinian people, the possibility of peace is both hopeful and realistic,"

And in an alternate, more truthful reality, she continued...

"But as for you, Syria and Iran...well, you're simply f**ked! And don't act like you didn't see it coming. We've made it clear from the beginning:

Let's see what we've learned from the first five years of the Bush Administration. Can you differentiate between recent administration statements about Syria, and past statements about Iraq and Iran?

1)

Hawks in the administration and Congress are trumpeting ominous disclosures about _'s nuclear capacities to make the case that __ is a threat that must be confronted, either by economic sanctions, military action, or 'regime change.'

2)

Bush warned the United Nations that __ could have nuclear weapons within a year of acquiring fissionable material. Cheney said: "On the nuclear question, many of us are convinced that __ will acquire such weapons fairly soon.

3)

But Britain, France and Germany are urging diplomacy, placing their hopes in a deal they brokered last week in which ___ agreed to suspend its uranium enrichment program in return for discussions about future economic benefits.

Wait! There's more...