Charlie Rose

tareknaga  03/27/2010 06:53 PM Report

It is very disappointing to see Charlie Rose being so soft on the belligerent Israelis!

Ehud Barak, Netanyahu, or other Israeli leaders are just masters of distorting the truth and realities on the ground, and for a very smart and capable interviewer like Rose to fall into that trap is mind bulging!

Too, too bad.

Mr. Rose please do not lose your credibility and respect with your wide audience.

Reuven  03/27/2010 02:12 PM Report

truth_hates_delay

You only forgot to mention the fact the Israel left Gaza in 2005 and that after the complete retreat from there, the Hamas launched between 7,000 and 8,000 rocket and mortar attacks aimed at civilian towns and villages.

I wonder what other government would have waited three years before responding? I know what would have happened if this happened to us. We would have seen B-52 in the air withing one day.

Reuven  03/27/2010 02:07 PM Report

So: If Israel defends itself and kills Hizbollah and Hamas terrorists it's aggressive and colonialist, bla, bla, bla.

It it wants peace, the Zionists get cold feet.

What a bunch of hypocrites! Why don't you admit all you want is to see Israel destroyed?

Your problem is that this is not going to happen. And if indeed Israel has so many nukes as one of the people commenting here states, a nuclear exchange with Israel will result in a lot of cold winters for everybody on this planet.

breakfromthemaze  03/26/2010 04:21 PM Report

I was interested to note that Barak said:

"...I found it -- I found it important and impressive that members of this [Israeli]

cabinet, including Lieberman, doesn’t repeat what they told, they use in

public appearances.

All of us are focused, including Lieberman, on what should be done in

order to navigate properly the concrete policies of Israel.

We have differences in ideology. We have differences in ideology, we

have differences in wishes and dreams and hopes, you name it. **But when it

comes to the constraints of realities, we are closer than you would expect

and what should be done, how to navigate the realities.**[emphasis added]

And I can tell you from my experience and observations, leaders do not

necessarily great decisions out of sense of greatness that came out of the

blue. In many cases greatness is born under the tyranny of circumstances...."

So it will be the job of Obama et al to exert considerable "constraints of realities" to the Israelis.

charlizecourriers  03/26/2010 02:38 PM Report

It sure looks like the Zionists are getting cold feet-knowing that they will have to die for their fantasies. Please, Zionists of the world-attack Iran! And destroy yourselves in the process. The whole world is watching and waiting-and hoping!

doodahdaze  03/26/2010 07:13 AM Report

I've always been impressed with Israel's ability to survive, even this long. A tiny little strip of useless land with no oil on it, surrounded by sworn fanatical enemies based on religion, race and jealousy. While fighting off those distractions, they take that useless land and irrigate it, cultivate it, and turn it into a very successful garden that feeds quite a lot of people outside their borders. As a group, like the Chinese and Japanese, they tend to be quite industrious; and they're neighboring enemies would do themselves some good to stop fighting them and try to emulate them (make themselves useful) (for a change). .. And then just maybe, Armageddon, won't be a viable option. Especially for those, who enjoy life's modern inventions just a little too much. Because Nature will find it's balance, one way or another.

ddhelm  03/26/2010 12:45 AM Report

I was so looking forward to this (Ehud Barak) interview. Finally...an opportunity to get into the complex issues of the Israel/Palestine conflict; a chance for TV's best interviewer to ask the tough questions and press for straight answers. But alas, there were few tough questions, the same predictable answers and little or no follow-up. Perhaps the worst Charlie Rose performance I've ever witnessed.

Ricardo_Amaral  03/26/2010 12:25 AM Report

You can read about president Lula’s recent trip to Israel at:

Brazzil magazine – (reprint from O Estado de S. Paulo) - Tuesday, 16 March 2010

“Lula's Pharaonic Dream of Bringing Peace to Middle East Leads Him from Futility to Absurdity.”

http://www.brazzil.com/component/content/article/217-march-2010/10370-lulas-pharaonic-dream-of-bringi ng-peace-to-middle-east-leads-him-from-futility-to-absurdity.html#comments

This time, the proverbial good luck of President Lula seems to have deserted him. He arrived Sunday in Tel Aviv amid a rare crisis between Israel and the United States and another West Bank's blockade in retaliation for a new outbreak of Palestinian protests against Israeli policy of annexation of East Jerusalem.

… Biden left Israel humiliated. In Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she was "insulted" and the principal adviser to the president, David Axelrod, spoke of "outrage".

****

So far there are 34 comments following the above article, and members of the Charlie Rose forum will enjoy reading some of the comments.

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Ricardo_Amaral  03/25/2010 11:58 PM Report

We have been discussing the Middle East meltdown at the Elite Trader Forum for the last 7 years including the Iraq war, the Israel invasion of Lebanon, and the imminent development of nuclear weapons by Iran.

Iran’s nuclear weapons have been around the corner for the last 6 years. Iran was supposed to have these nuclear weapons 6 years ago according to the mainstream media latest spins – and time after time Iran’s nukes will be ready in six months.

We also have been laughing about every time we see the spin-doctors on TV or articles on the mainstream media saying that Israel is getting ready to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities.

First, Israel does not have the balls to attack the nuclear facilities in Iran.

Israel should stop the Blah, blah, blah about attacking Iran, because that rhetoric is very old and boring. If anything it is laughable and only naïve people falls for that line of BS.

I am agnostic, and I don’t believe in fairy tales. For me Israel is just a little piece of desert populated by a bunch of troublemakers.

There are better things around the world to take the attention of the US government regarding the future such as concentrate in places like China (1.4 billion people), India (1.1 billion people), South America (400 million people) and so on….

I have been sick and tired of this Israel/Middle East mess since the 1970’s, by the 1980’s I was completely saturated, since the 1990’s I can’t stand even to hear the name of Israel.

Here is my latest posting commenting on article published today on the Asia Times and you can read the entire debate about Israel, the United States, and Brazil at:

http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=2782580#post2782580

… March 26, 2010

SouthAmerica: The Jewish Lobby in the United States is turning the United States into a Banana Republic at the speed of light.

The American people still think the United States is a superpower.

But then comes the big question: Why a supposed superpower let a single lobbying group (the Jewish Lobby) highjack its government and dictate policies over and over again that are completely against the self-interest of the United States in the short and long-term? And at the same time make the United States look like shit to the rest of the world.

Is this a smart superpower or just a former superpower that is in complete free fall and following the same path into total collapse like the former Soviet Union?

How PATHETIC the United States has become in the eyes of the rest of the world?

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winter  03/25/2010 09:48 PM Report

Every President has to parade the quadrennial peace from Israel as if it were a rite of passage ...it is. I might give Israel a break if they weren't throwing famlies out of the homes they've lived in for generations and find a different plot to build on but come on its just uncivilized and inspired by nothing but religious fanaticism to justify it. The arrogance of it is indefensible. www.IfAmericansOnlyKnew.com ----check out that website for the truth.

AdamKhan  03/25/2010 08:41 PM Report

Great interview. Barak is cogent, interesting and frank; Charlie seemed deeply engaged.

factsplease  03/25/2010 06:12 PM Report

Surely Mr.Rose knows that Israel is the only nation in the Middle East with nuclear warheads(may have more warheads than China does);that Israel refuses to be accountable by being a member of the NPT(unlike Iran) He should know that for all the rhetorics of Israel and the United States, Iran is currently refining uranium to the lowly 4%(you need 90+% to be weapons'grade). Iran has not invaded any country for at least a hundred years. Iran, unlike Israel is not a military occupier. Unlike Israel, Iran has not killed over 1,000 every other year since 2006.Why is Mr.Rose going along with the lie that Iran is a threat to the Middle East? Why didn't Mr.Rose present Mr.Barak with the facts? What is this? A love fest or a journalistic interview?

truth_hates_delay  03/25/2010 06:06 PM Report

"No regrets" Olmert.

Are you, the audience, shocked? saddened? not surprised? indifferent?

Read the findings of the Goldstone report [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldstone_report ]. Which of these findings does Olmert, or any apologist, have problems with, find biased, unfair? Read the Israeli soldier testimonies about the attacks on the militarily defenseless Gaza and its severely oppressed civilians - See, Breaking the Silence, [http://www.atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/10826-qbreaking-the-silenceq-testimonies-of-israeli-soldiers -.html] or here, [http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/44702 ]. Read about the aftermath of the Israeli aggression/attack against the Lebanese -so many environmental , physical and psychological scars remain their. Two examples, yet many, many more, exist, and heartbreakingly the US condone them. Remember, Palestine is occupied, so legally they have a justification to fight back, whereas legal justification for Israeli "defense" against them is absent.

Investigate the above accounts and understand just how shameful Mr. Olmert's lies and lack of contrition are. This unapologetic criminality makes a mockery of the US position of fairness and its justification towards attacking or sanctioning another country because of international law violations or threat's to peace or threats to US strategic interests.

If these US (and 400+/- nuclear weaponized Israeli) justifications that are so often provided for military aggression and sanctions were applied to Israel, then Israel would look like war torn, sanction starved Iraq, Afghanistan, and perhaps, Iran.

I find myself, again, thinking of all the people that will not be on the Charlie Rose show because they speak of a truth that is too uncomfortable or too unpopular to hear. They just don't fit the Charlie Rose show theme of national delusion.

So, perhaps it makes perfect sense to have Mr. Olmert on for an hour. Another symptom of the madness and delusion we seed. Shameless madness and delusion. And the clock ticks towards the close.

Mr. Olmert's misframing of the truth is nothing new in this regard as there is a long list of Israeli and US leaders who use outright lies, half-truths, lies by omission, historical distortion, and faulty time lines, as the platform and content of their discussions. The more they lie, the more truth must be distorted. It takes too much energy to maintain so many lies. Is it all about energy? Racism? Leverage? Is this what is meant when our leaders say there is no difference in our positions? Shoulder to shoulder.

The irony--land stealing, collective punishment, unfairness, hypocrisy, lawlessness, aggression, genocide. The irony. Tonight, are you proud to have at this table, "Our closest ally"? No, thank you.

truth_hates_delay  03/25/2010 05:54 PM Report

Why give this man an entire hour to speak so freely? Why the soft ball questions? What about follow up?? This is supposed to be a program for honest lively thoughtful debate, right? The right wings (and center) of Israel and the US, and their big corporatists, have proven to be unjust, distrustful, dark and shameless, particularly over the past ten years, and still, they are the most represented on this public broadcast program. The still get a free ride. What has happened to this program and to PBS in general? (Think cancellation of NOW, the loss of Bill Moyer's Journal).

robdverity  03/25/2010 03:54 PM Report

REMant, 'no' in response to your last sentence and query. The establishment of Israel in 1947 was the biggest (and ultimately the final) geopolitical catastrophe and mistake our species will prove to have made. The Armageddon champions will unfortunately prevail with Israel being the lynch-pin to our species self immolation. Iran merely the beginning. Others will follow. Israel's (and ours') arrogance will assure that.

Truman coupled this cataclysmic potential with removing the psychic deterrent to the bomb-use and backing Israel's creation. However, it was doubtless bought and paid-for and out of his hands. The Madoff syndrome, the SEC, the US Government, Goims in general are all for sale. Corruption T-corn pone. It will ultimately prevail - as in Rome? Hillary can exclaim "insulting" but we'll still dance to their tune, and subsidize them with our devalued dollars - right into our mutual oblivion. With friends like them who needs . . . .

REMant for President!!

REMant  03/25/2010 12:44 PM Report

Is Israel at risk because it is a friend of the US? Or is the US at risk because it supports Israel? Does Elmer Fudd have trouble with R's? Since East Jerusalem is not negotiable, not everything is on the table, is it? Since the Palestinians want Jerusalem as their capital as well, negotiations are at a standstill and will remain so until the issue is resolved. Meanwhile Israel continues to appropriate Palestinian land and displace the inhabitants. Surely we do not want nor will we get "world stability" on these terms. How is it that Britain has been able to get the US to fight two world wars for them, and nearly a third, and the likes of Israel is able to get us involved in what could clearly become another? How does Wall St manage to get itself bailed out? How do minorities and the poor manage it? Is there anything about this country that isn't corrupt anymore?