The Daily Background

Another week, here we go again…

The Middle East

Editor’s note: the situation in Lebanon has changed dramatically over the last 24 hours. Please check this important item, and then this important update to understand what the current situation is.

In short, the Israeli military illegally bombed a building holding 60 civilian refugees (of whom more than half were children), killing everyone. While the Israeli government has expressed official “sorrow” for the civilian deaths, the Israeli military maintains that the small town it bombed was a legitimate military target. Following an overwhelming amount of international outcry yesterday, the Israeli government claimed it would suspend airstrikes in southern Lebanon for 48 hours to allow humanitarian aid to enter the area.

The Israeli military recently did not allow humanitarian aid by the United Nations to enter the area after refusing to promise not to bomb a UN World Food Program convoy. The Israeli military holds open its option that military action may continue during the supposed 48 hour stay however, which is shorter than the 72 hour humanitarian ceasefire which the United Nations had been pressing for.

More than 700 Lebanese civilians, 18 Israeli civilians, 11 Lebanese soldiers, 34 Israeli soldiers are estimated to have died in the 20 day war. An unknown number of Hezbollah militants have died, but it is estimated to be substantially, substantially less than the number of Lebanese civilians.

Lebanon, Israel, the UN and the US–
The United Nations Security Council, in an emergency meeting yesterday after the Israeli military’s shocking bombing of a refugee site which killed an estimated 34 children in their sleep has issued a statement saying that it “strongly deplores” the most recent Israeli military’s action.

American Amb. to the United Nations John Bolton (who happens to be concurrently up for confirmation hearings in the Senate) refuses to support a ceasefire or even the self imposed Israeli military’s halt of bombing for 48 hours after the tragic illegal Israeli airstrke which killed 60 civilians, most of them child refugees.

The Washington Post ran an analysis piece yesterday entitled “Returning to Old Approach, U.S. Faces Risky Path Ahead,” and is today running another analysis piece this time on Page One entitled “Crisis Could Undercut Bush’s Long-Term Goals.”

Iraq– Iraq’s current extremely violent state is bad enough, but the Iraqi Prime Minister is now threatening to effectively mount a campaign of press censorship against news organizations which choose to show graphic images. Associated Press reports:

“Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki warned television stations against broadcasting footage that could undermine the country’s stability at a time of rising sectarian tensions…. The statement said the government will take legal action against television stations that do not uphold the code of media ethics. The statement did not elaborate, but it fell short of an earlier al-Maliki warning that he will not hesitate to “shut them down”

A government holding press organizations to a vague undefined “moral code”? Doesn’t sound like a free democracy to me, even if this is part of some supposed effort to calm the situation.

Additionally, four US Marines died in Iraq yesterday, as thousands of American soldiers were sent into Baghdad to try and quell the increasing violence.

Two notable Washington Post op-editorials
I thought I’d take a moment and highlight two rather notable editorials in yesterday’s Washington Post. The first is from Stars and Stripes military reporter Andrew Tilghman who writes about his experience in Iraq where he met a certain now infamous private and was struck by his nonchalantness about killing people. To find out who the private turned out to be go check out Tilghman’s op-ed.

The second op-ed is from Senator Kennedy (D-Ma). He writes that Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts misled the Senate and the American public during their confirmation hearings. You can read Kennedy’s op-ed here.

Bits and Pieces
Liberal filmmaker Michael Moore, who is in his home state of Michigan hosting his second annual wildly popular non-political film festival this week, has told Reuters in an exclusive interview that he gets lots of hugs from Republicans who now realize they were wrong to support the war. Moore is also said to be wrapping up filming on his next hard-hitting documentary, entitled “Sicko” which will target the for-profit health care system in the United States. Editing will take several months however and Moore says he’s expecting a summer 2007 release date.

John McCain’s 18 year old son has decided to enlist in the Marines. Perhaps Senator McCain saw Moore’s film Fahrenheit 9/11 and was inspired by the now famous scene where the filmmaker chases congressmen around on Capitol Hill trying to get them to sign their sons and daughters up to fight in Iraq.

Fox News is said to be close to settling a sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges that a Fox Vice President repeatedly and openly referred to one pregnant woman’s breasts were “fucking huge,” “cannons” and “melons.” Outrageously, Fox has responded that this behavior is okay, saying “we don’t view any of the assertions in the action as… harassment”

Today Brad Friedman and a group of lawyers and anti-voting machine election advocates are introducing a formal election contest to the CA-50 election a few months ago between Francine Busby and Brian Bilbray. You may remember that on election night, I liveblogged the election results until 3:30 in the morning.

Not all evangelical Christians are conservatives, you know.

And finally…
Photo of the day:

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