Author Archives: Soccerdad

About Soccerdad

I'm a government bureaucrat with delusions of literacy.

Israel: cancelled

Those moderate voices from Iran continue to reverberate throughout the world: Iranian calls for the destruction of Israel are almost routine these days. But for a former official of the Islamic Republic to call for the destruction of the Jewish … Continue reading

Posted in Iran, Israel, Israel Derangement Syndrome | Tagged | 1 Comment

Still the Samir?

Given the sympathy that the Washington Post once showed for Samir Kuntar in a news story, the editorial An Unwelcome Hero was welcome, if flawed. If anyone ever deserved the title “baby-killer,” it is Samir Kuntar. Yet his freedom has … Continue reading

Posted in Israel, Israeli Double Standard Time, Media, Media Bias, Terrorism | Tagged | 1 Comment

Authority without accountibility

After Arafat died, a number of news articles appeared reporting on how pragmatic Hamas politicians were. The gist of the articles was that though Hamas was known as a terrorist organization, there was no denying that the politicians from Hamas … Continue reading

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Haveil Havalim – doing what he does anyway

Check out the latest Haveil Havalim #172 hosted by my old friend (appropriate since it’s the “old fogey” edition) Daled Amos. Truth is he’s doing what he does daily anyway. If there’s any blogger out there who’s promoting the rest … Continue reading

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Celine Dion on the Middle East

I’ve learned many important things from Barry Rubin. Last week’s column taught me something new: Celine Dion covered Eric Carnen’s “All by myself.” Dr. Rubin used the lyrics to illustrate the shifting sands of politics of the Middle East. For … Continue reading

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Booting Hersh

Last week, Cheat Seeking Missiles went after Seymour Hersh for an recently written “expose” in the New Yorker. What troubled me is that CSM took everything Hersh wrote at face value. Hersh cherry picks some stuff, confuses some stuff, makes … Continue reading

Posted in Iran, Israel, Media Bias | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Fine Arabian chargers

Horse racing appears to be really popular among the Palestinians. Unfortunately there was an accident at the races today near Nablus. A Palestinian man , left and a horse rider, lay on the ground after they collided during a horse … Continue reading

Posted in Media, Media Bias | Tagged | 3 Comments

Interesting euphemisms

Honor Guard An honor guard stand to attention … These are members of Hamas brandishing (I think) AK-47’s. Wouldn’t the more appropriate term be “armed terrorists?” Iranian diplomats picture depicting the four Iranian diplomats who were kidnapped in Lebanon in … Continue reading

Posted in Media Bias, Miscellaneous | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Not the worst politician

Eric Trager had a post a few days ago The Worst Politician Ever?: Still, one might expect Israel’s political leadership-which overwhelmingly approved the deal yesterday-to declare that Israel is achieving some sort of strategic benefit through the prisoner swap. After … Continue reading

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Never the twain shall meet

Griff Witte’s report, Motives in Earthmover Rampage Debated in Jerusalem is striking for two things one that it says and one that it omits. Israeli officials and media described Edwyat as a terrorist who had targeted Jews. But friends and … Continue reading

Posted in Israel, Media Bias | Tagged | 1 Comment

Reflexively telling

Yesterday, Boker Tov Boulder aptly observed that following a terror attack: … there’s the attack by the media that inevitably follows. Then there’s the aftermath, in which we can see the results of the first two, usually along the lines … Continue reading

Posted in AP Media Bias, Israel, Israel Derangement Syndrome, Terrorism | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Benchmarks, liquor then Israel?

According to a report issued by the White House, the Iraqi government is showing satisfactory progress on most of the political benchmarks it needs to. Iraq’s political and military success is considered vital to U.S. interests, whether troops stay or … Continue reading

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The world’s worst motivational poster

I’m sure you’ve seen those motivational posters around. (This parody was created by Despair, Inc.’s Parody Motivator Generator.) I saw this picture and thought it must be the world’s least appropriate motivational poster. Israelly Cool! thinks it’s part of a … Continue reading

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Sneaking peace

According to Ha’aretz a law that just past its first reading stipulates Territorial withdrawal only by referendum: An existing law already mandates a referendum before ceding any territory under Israeli sovereignty, but it also states that this requirement will not … Continue reading

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The final piece

Amos Harel wrote Prisoner swap is capitulation to blackmail by terrorists. Judging by the title alone it would seem that it’s a critique of the government’s decision to trade Samir Kuntar and other terrorists for Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser. … Continue reading

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