Neocon Nightmares

An editorial in today's Haaretz has a brief history of "Clean Break", the Neocon plan for the Middle East, and it's implications now.

Disentangling Israeli interests from the rubble of neocon "creative destruction" in the Middle East has become an urgent challenge for Israeli policy-makers. An America that seeks to reshape the region through an unsophisticated mixture of bombs and ballots, devoid of local contextual understanding, alliance-building or redressing of grievances, ultimately undermines both itself and Israel.

(snip)

In 1996 a group of then opposition U.S. policy agitators, including Richard Perle and Douglas Feith, presented a paper entitled "A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm" to incoming Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The "clean break" was from the prevailing peace process, advocating that Israel pursue a combination of roll-back, destabilization and containment in the region, including striking at Syria and removing Saddam Hussein from power in favor of "Hashemite control in Iraq."

(snip)

Beyond that, Israel and its friends in the United States should seriously reconsider their alliances not only with the neocons, but also with the Christian Right. The largest "pro-Israel" lobby day during this crisis was mobilized by Pastor John Hagee and his Christians United For Israel, a believer in Armageddon with all its implications for a rather particular end to the Jewish story. This is just asking to become the mother of all dumb, self-defeating and morally abhorrent alliances.

Text of "Clean Break" here.

Health Care House Parties, Corrente Style

Monroe/Seattle, WA (December 27, 2:00PM

Philadelpia, PA (December 29, 6:30 PM)

A reality-based survey for your party (as opposed to Daschle's)

Who else wants to host a House Party in real life? NY? CA? FL? Post on it!

We'll also be holding Virtual House Parties here -- with special guests!

Previous Virtual House Parties

Festivus, December 23 (roundup

Feed the hamsters...

... that work the wheels that keep the Mighty Corrente servers turning. Help us cover monthly hamster kibble anxiety:

...or provide temporary relief:

Thank you!

I support Americans United for Separation of Church and State.