Monday, January 12, 2009

Los Angeles Times: What gives? [Updated]

The thesis of this piece is that the Gaza war is really a campaign against Iran. Moreover, Israel is taking extraordinary steps to protect civilians. What is quite extraordinary is that one of the authors is on-duty in Gaza as an IDF reserve officer according to As'ad AbuKhalil. If this is true, it is important for readers of the LAT to know this fact, but the byline says nothing of the sort. I consider this deceptive, and readers deserve to know who is responsible for this significant omission.
[Update: Michael Oren's own words verify the claim made by AbuKhalil, which I traced to Mondoweiss. Oren notes that he has volunteered to serve in the IDF reserves although he is not required to do so by virtue of his age. He notes that he knew officially of the call-up by January 3rd, and, based of my knowledge of how military bureaucracies usually work, I surmise that he would have been alerted before then. This means he had plenty of time to contact the LAT by email and advise them of his change of status, which is highly relevant in that he would be doing PR or propaganda work for the IDF.
And this: "A mainstream Western correspondent in Israel sent me this. I will not reveal his/her name so that he/she can keep his/her job. "My stomach turns at this massacre. It's a struggle to cover given that we're shut out of Gaza--I'm glad you highlighted the absurdity of Michael Oren's role in this bloodbath. I saw him in uniform, m-16 dangling at his side, whoring himself to the media on what we...where the media is camped overlooking Gaza. Needless to say, I declined his services." ]

In Gaza, the real enemy is Iran - Los Angeles Times: "Though civilians have, tragically, been hurt, about three-quarters of the 400 Palestinians killed so far have been gunmen -- an impressive achievement given that Hamas fires rockets from apartments, mosques and schools and uses hospitals as hide-outs.

"Israel has recently allowed nearly 200 truckloads of food and medicine to enter Gaza, even under shellfire. It is in Israel's urgent interest to minimize civilian suffering and forestall international criticism. For that same reason, Hamas welcomes the suffering of Palestinian civilians. According to a BBC report on Dec. 30, dozens of ambulances were dispatched by Egypt to its border with Gaza, only to remain empty because, according to Egyptian authorities, Hamas wasn't allowing wounded Palestinians to leave.

"The international community must not be duped again. If Hamas is successful in manipulating world opinion into the imposition of a premature cease-fire, it will proclaim victory and continue to stockpile long-range missiles for the next round of fighting. That would mean another triumph for Iran.

"The international community must not be duped again. If Hamas is successful in manipulating world opinion into the imposition of a premature cease-fire, it will proclaim victory and continue to stockpile long-range missiles for the next round of fighting. That would mean another triumph for Iran.

"No less crucially, the international community must not allow the Gaza crisis to divert its attention from the imminent -- and ultimate -- threat of a nuclear Iran. Intelligence sources now measure that threat in months rather than years.

"President-elect Barack Obama has declared his intention to confront Iran through diplomacy. Ideally, that process should begin in the aftermath of an Iranian defeat. If Israel is allowed to achieve its goals in Gaza, the Obama administration will be better poised to achieve its goals in Iran.

"Yossi Klein Halevi is a senior fellow at the Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies of the Shalem Center in Jerusalem. Michael B. Oren is a distinguished fellow at the Shalem Center and a professor at the foreign service school of Georgetown University."

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why not believe As'ad AbuKhalil. Why, because he has no idea what he is talking about. The author is in his mid fifties & has not been in the reserves for 15 years. He's too old.
Check out your facts before writing them

arn said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
arn said...

Anonymous, I suggest you check the facts before you pontificate, and next time please have some courage and use your name. While you are technically right about the age limits for the reserves, Oren, by his own admission, has volunteered to continue to serve.
This means he knew, at least by January 3rd, that he was going to Gaza in uniform. Given the time difference, he had plenty of time to notify the LAT of this important and relevant change of his status.

Here are Michael Oren's own words:
"Back to the Front

" Dawn, the morning after Israel's ground incursion into Gaza. Last night, I received an emergency IDF call-up order--via SMS. Israel, 2009. Gone are the days when such commands were hand-delivered or broadcast in code over the radio. Gone are the prearranged assembly points in town where members of various units would meet and file into specially-mobilized buses. Today we travel to our bases individually, often by cab. Yet the result is the same: The citizen army of Israel has been summoned and is heading to war.

"To be sure, I am far beyond reserve age (two of my post-army kids are waiting for their call-ups), but have remained in the ranks because of my familiarity with the foreign press. Though I'll soon be signing off on a weapon and body armor, more efficaciously, I'll check out the maps, photographs, and statistic charts designed to reinforce Israel's case in the media. Such accoutrements can be as crucial as any tank on today's battlefield, where victory may hinge as much on individual valor as on a collective image on TV. And, with all due deference to Hamas's fighters, journalists often pose a more formidable challenge."
http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_plank/archive/2009/01/04/back-to-the-front.aspx

arn said...

This earlier post may be of interest, esp. the comments.