Links for March 17th

Links from my del.icio.us account for March 17th:

• Salon.com | Obama's Middle East moment of truth - "Obama's refusal to stand up for Freeman indicates that he is unwilling to challenge Washington's quasi-official, bipartisan policy of unswerving support for Israel, and raises serious questions about whether he will be prepared to confront the incoming right-wing Israeli government led by Benjamin Netanyahu. But if he fails to do so, all his diplomatic overtures in the region will only be so much hot air." Kudos to Salon!


• Egypt envoy in US to seek softer stand on Hamas - Suleiman in Washington, after Gamal, Suzanne, Mohieldin, Boutros-Ghali and Rachid. But they clear the agenda for Baba Hosni himself to make his comeback after five years?


• The American Conservative -- Freeman’s Fight - Philip Weiss on Chas Freeman (note the irony of Weiss, a Jewish leftist, finding the American Conservative one of the only publication willing to carry his excellent critiques of American Zionism.)


• ReliefWeb » Document » OPT/Gaza: World's leading investigators call for war crimes inquiry - open letter - "Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Mary Robinson and Justice Richard Goldstone among signatories "shocked to core" by recent events." They call for a UN commission of inquiry.


• Time to rethink our strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan | Stephen M. Walt - Stephen Walt is a Talking Heads fan! Here he tracks down the broad steps that led to the fall of the American imperium in Southwest Asia / Gulf region.