http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Ted_Koppel_United_States_already_at_0722.html
"The United States is already at war with Iran; but for the time being the battle is being fought through surrogates," begins a New York Times Op-Ed written by former ABC Nightline host Ted Koppel.
Excerpts from the Op-Ed:
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That message was conveyed to me recently by a senior Jordanian intelligence official at his office in Amman. He spoke on the condition of anonymity, reflecting gloomily on the failure of the Bush administration's various policies in the region.
He reserved his greatest contempt for the policy of encouraging democratic reform. "For the Islamic fundamentalists, democratic reform is like toilet paper," he said. "You use it once and then you throw it away."
Lest the point elude me, the official conducted a brief tour of recent democratic highlights in the region. Gaza and the West Bank, where Hamas, spurned by the State Department as a terrorist organization, was voted into power last spring and now represents the Palestinian government; Lebanon, where Hezbollah, similarly rejected by the United States, has become the most influential political entity in the country; and, of course, Iraq, where the Shiite majority has now, through elections, gained political power commensurate with its numbers.
In each case, the intelligence officer reminded me, the beneficiary of those electoral victories is allied with and, to some degree, dependent upon Iran. Over the past couple of months alone, he told me, Hamas has received more than $300 million in cash, provided by Iran and funneled through Syria. He told me what has now become self-evident to the residents of Haifa: namely, that Iran has made longer-range and more powerful rockets and missiles available to Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eat-the-press/2006/07/22/ted-koppel-in-the-nyt-t_e_25598.html
Ted Koppel in the NYT: "The United States Is Already At War With Iran"
New York Times | For What It's Worth | Posted Saturday July 22, 2006 at 11:27 AM
Ted Koppel has one of his semi-regular op-eds today in the New York Times, except it is less op-ed than a reported piece based on a conversation Koppel had with a senior Jordanian intelligence official, who warned Koppel about Iran's growing power in the Middle East. "The United States is already at war with Iran," Koppel begins. "But for the time being the battle is being fought through surrogates."
Koppel goes on to note that "over the past couple of months alone, he told me, Hamas has received more than $300 million in cash, provided by Iran and funneled through Syria" and "the more than 12,000 missiles and rockets...in Hezbollah's arsenal were largely provided by Iran." Here's the important passage:
"The United States is already at war with Iran; but for the time being the battle is being fought through surrogates," begins a New York Times Op-Ed written by former ABC Nightline host Ted Koppel.
Excerpts from the Op-Ed:
#
That message was conveyed to me recently by a senior Jordanian intelligence official at his office in Amman. He spoke on the condition of anonymity, reflecting gloomily on the failure of the Bush administration's various policies in the region.
He reserved his greatest contempt for the policy of encouraging democratic reform. "For the Islamic fundamentalists, democratic reform is like toilet paper," he said. "You use it once and then you throw it away."
Lest the point elude me, the official conducted a brief tour of recent democratic highlights in the region. Gaza and the West Bank, where Hamas, spurned by the State Department as a terrorist organization, was voted into power last spring and now represents the Palestinian government; Lebanon, where Hezbollah, similarly rejected by the United States, has become the most influential political entity in the country; and, of course, Iraq, where the Shiite majority has now, through elections, gained political power commensurate with its numbers.
In each case, the intelligence officer reminded me, the beneficiary of those electoral victories is allied with and, to some degree, dependent upon Iran. Over the past couple of months alone, he told me, Hamas has received more than $300 million in cash, provided by Iran and funneled through Syria. He told me what has now become self-evident to the residents of Haifa: namely, that Iran has made longer-range and more powerful rockets and missiles available to Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eat-the-press/2006/07/22/ted-koppel-in-the-nyt-t_e_25598.html
Ted Koppel in the NYT: "The United States Is Already At War With Iran"
New York Times | For What It's Worth | Posted Saturday July 22, 2006 at 11:27 AM
Ted Koppel has one of his semi-regular op-eds today in the New York Times, except it is less op-ed than a reported piece based on a conversation Koppel had with a senior Jordanian intelligence official, who warned Koppel about Iran's growing power in the Middle East. "The United States is already at war with Iran," Koppel begins. "But for the time being the battle is being fought through surrogates."
Koppel goes on to note that "over the past couple of months alone, he told me, Hamas has received more than $300 million in cash, provided by Iran and funneled through Syria" and "the more than 12,000 missiles and rockets...in Hezbollah's arsenal were largely provided by Iran." Here's the important passage:
This is an important piece, written by a guy who is has some experience with the region. Already it's climbing the search ranks on Technorati. And it's behind the TimesSelect subscription wall. If the NYT's mission is to deliver the news and, almost more importantly, frame it with the kind of analysis that can provide context and a look ahead, it should not be keeping this kind of material behind a paywall.
