IT'S ONLY ISRAEL SO IT DOESN'T COUNT, EH?

Listen to Journalist James Bennet of 'The New York Times' (Fresh Air, July 08, 2003)

Journalist James Bennet of The New York Times. He's been in the Middle East covering how the crisis there is affecting both Israelis and Palestinians.

There's one of those moments of really crystalline clarity in this interview, as Terry Gross asks Mr. Bennett if the Iraq War has impacted Hamas and Islamic Jihad. He answers that it has not only dried up a source of their funding but the pressure we're now bringing to bear on Syria and Iran--two other sponsors of these groups--has had a trickle down effect, so that Hamas leadership in Syria was instrumental in pushing the current cease-fire.

Suddenly you realize how little reality has to do with American politics and with Middle Eastern geopolitics. The Times has led the charge to say that Saddam didn't support terror, but here's their own correspondent making no bones about the fact he did. Meanwhile, anti-war folks are saying every justification for the war has been disproved, but not only does Mr. Bennett offer up the anti-terrorism effect, he also concedes the beneficial influence on the Arab-Israeli conflict. It's positively surreal. Posted by Orrin Judd at July 9, 2003 12:30 PM