1972

sabato, luglio 29, 2006

Vado a farmi un pane elastico. Ali rotanti, così si chiameranno gli elicotteri in Iran dopo la decisione del regime di proibire i termini stranieri:

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad mette al bando le parole straniere: il presidente iraniano ha ordinato alle agenzie governative, ai quotidiani e a tutti gli organismi della cultura iraniana di tradurre in farsi qualsiasi parola straniera diventata di uso comune. Tra queste, ad esempio, la «pizza», che potrebbe trasformarsi in «pane elastico».

Un alleato naturale, non c'è che dire.
Steven Cook analizza il problema della promozione della democrazia: che se ne fa poca.

The real problem in Lebanon is not too much democracy but too little. Had Lebanon emerged from its spring 2005 "independence uprising" as a democracy, Hezbollah could not have continued to operate as an armed and thus autonomous faction.

Here is where criticism of the Bush administration is warranted. Had Washington not turned its attention away from Lebanon after the dramatic events there a little over a year ago, Lebanon's fledgling democratic government could have leveraged public opinion to domesticate Hezbollah. Instead, the administration allowed Hezbollah and its Syrian patron to undermine the democratic and pro-Western government of Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.

If Lebanon, Syria, Palestine and Iran were truly democratic, it is unlikely that Hezbollah and Hamas could engage in irresponsible policies that bring only pain to their people.
To be sure, Washington needs to contend with the problem of what to do when people who do not share its interests are elected in the Middle East. But the current round of violence between Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah does not offer much insight, because the violence is not a result of the Bush administration's push for a more open and democratic Arab world; it is a result of not pushing enough.

Mentre il WSJ torna sull'ultima sindrome pseudo-realista: engage Siria. Ok, facciamolo, ma così:

In order to prevail against Hezbollah, Israel (with implicit U.S. backing) may have to make a similar offer that Syria can't refuse. Either Syria stops arming Hezbollah, or Israel will have to consider taking the fight to Dasmascus.

postato da enzreale | permalink |

A Fabio. A Luisa.