'The US is the kiss of death' in the Arab world

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HH05Ak03.html

WASHINGTON - After almost four weeks of fighting between Lebanon's Hezbollah militia and Israel, the US administration's ambitions to transform the Arab Middle East into a pro-Western, more democratic region are fading fast.

Not only is Washington's thus far staunch support for Israel losing Arab "hearts and minds" at an astonishing pace, but the "moderate" governments and non-governmental forces the administration had hoped would act as catalysts for reform are increasingly isolated across the region, according to Middle East specialists.

"I have never seen the United States being so demonized or savaged by Arab commentators, by Arab politicians," Hisham Melham, veteran Washington correspondent for Lebanon's An-Nahar newspaper, told a conference this week at the Brookings Institution, an influential think-tank.

"People are clinging to Hezbollah, clinging to Hamas, because they see them as the remaining voices or forces in the Arab world that are resisting what they see as an ongoing hegemonic American-Israeli plan to control the region," he said.

Shibley Telhami, an expert on Arab public opinion at the University of Maryland, observed at the same meeting, "Right now, the United States is the kiss of death. snip

In Iraq, where Washington is currently spending nearly US$7 billion a month, a series of US-organized elections appears only to have hastened the country's descent into a brutal sectarian civil war, a scenario conceded by two of Washington's top generals on Thursday as having become increasingly possible.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

1. Bush has the Minus Touch

It may take until the end of the century for the damage to America's image from Bush, the Neocons, and the PNAC psychopaths to be undone.

[vssmith]

5. Right! everything he touches turns to SHIT!

[bronxiteforever]

2. the natural outcome of cowboy diplomacy

"my way or the highway". It feels good to those who said it but the bill is coming due soon with an increasing isolated US. Thanks to the GOP our foreign policy is a smoldering heap of rubble. Guess the GOP will leave up to the Dems to clean up their mess AGAIN.

[partylessinOhio]

3. Did the Arabs "Bring it on?"

:bounce:

[patdem]

4. At my age frowning is the last thing I want to do..but have no other

way to express my anger at what is happening to the image of my country..and of course more horribly what is happening to the Iraqi's and the Lebanoese and Palistineans..I am at a loss..and my fingers feel fluid...no feelings just posting.

[BeHereNow]

6. an ongoing hegemonic American-Israeli plan to control the region

Yes, that is the bottom line and there is going to be hell
to pay for it.
Blowback is inevitable.
I don't plan on going to many public places for the
rest of my life.

BHN

[NNN0LHI]

10. At one time my dream was to visit different countries all over the world

Not any more.

:scared:

Don

[Quantess]

13. Same here. B*sh poisoned the waters.

I'm going to wait until we get a leader with better foreign relations. People in other countries shouldn't blame me for what my worthless "president" does and says, but I'm not going to take that chance.

[BeHereNow]

14. Hell, I'm scared to go to the market in my neighborhood!

You're right, it will not be safe for Americans to travel
outside of the US for a long time.
And I think it is only a matter of time before
we see blowback in our cities, not unlike
what has happened in Israel.

Thanks to the neocon spawns of Satan
and the cretins who voted for them.

BHN

[BeHereNow]

7. Keep this kicked and recommended!

I have observed that MANY DUers have no clue what
is happening as they whimper about Israel having
the "right to defend herself." The talking point is utter bullshit
and has NOTHING to do with what is actually going on.
This article illustrates very well what the Arab
world understands about what is going on and how the
neocons are involved.
Some DUers need to get another perspective,
as in the ARAB perspective and this article is
one of the best I've seen about that aspect of
the imploding ME and how neocon America is seen
to be the blame.
Blowback aint an if, it's when.

BHN

[BeHereNow]

8. Kick n/t

bhn

[Deja Q]

9. The world knows this yet does nothing. Why is nobody asking that?

[JackNewtown]

11. I would love to blame this on Bush and the Republicans

But I can't because both parties have the same exact position on this. We need to examine why...

[Martin Eden]

12. K&R

Our government is blind to the fact that with every one of our bombs that Israel drops on Lebanon, our national interests in the Middle East are being blown apart.