LGF twisting the facts, what's new?

Sometimes Charles Johnson's postings are so baffling that you have to wonder whether he is pursuing a political agenda or just plain dumb.

Take this one.

Europe has been overwhelmingly sympathetic to the terror suspects imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay, so this seems like a very good idea.

France is pushing for European Union countries to take 60 of the detainees deemed innocent but at risk of torture in their home country, according to a report by the German magazine Der Spiegel that was picked up by Reuters.

Notice that the Europeans are only interested in the ones “deemed innocent.” Naturally.

Well duh! Imagine the Europeans wanting to let the Americans deal with the criminals they picked up. Crazy huh? And only accepting the ones that aren't going to end up in a US high security prison? Wow. It's hard to see how Charles finds that a difficult idea to comprehend.

Then there's this one.

Barack Obama’s first interview since his inauguration went to Al Arabiya, the virulently antisemitic Arab satellite network that regularly broadcasts support for jihad and militant Islam. This is an absolutely horrible precedent, and the implied weakness will surely encourage jihadists worldwide—no matter what Obama thinks he’s “communicating” to them.

This is the very same channel that allows Hamas rockets to be fired from their studio building in Gaza: Video: Al Arabiya Studio Used As Rocket Launching Site.

Anyone who follows the Middle East knows that Al Arabiya was actually launched as a progressive/liberal challenger to Al Jazeera. I mean, look at their presenters for chrissakes! They're the last people to throw their lot in with Hamas. And, if you view the video Charles links to the presenter certainly doesn't look like someone who would "allow" Hamas rockets to be fired from her studio building. Her reaction is one of incredulity and concern.

To misinterpret that isn't just stupid, it's got to be outright malice. And there you have the reason for these idiotic postings. They're the product of a man driven to smear the politics of progress and peace - however stupid it makes him look.

Recommended Fisk

The Independent's Middle East correspondent Robert Fisk is a hated figure among neocons and LGFers (same difference) so he's always worth reading. Imagine my delight when I got copies of a two-volume collection of his articles dating between 1988 and 2008. Perfect for the beach! (even if the content isn't exactly what you want to be thinking about on holiday.)

These books (also available in one volume as 'The Age of the Warrior: Selected Writings') show that Fisk recognized coming trends in the Middle East (and elsewhere) years before anyone else did, and wrote about events that others didn't dare go near or purposefully ignored.

In wingnut circles Fisk has been accused of pursuing an anti-Israel agenda, and of supporting terrorists. While he certainly levels severe accusations at Israel, much of his ire is aimed at hypocritical Arab governments and the cruelty they permit in their own country.

One good example is this piece, about the indiscriminate killing of civilians in Algeria. If you don't think this is great journalism, you need your mind checked.

Charles Johnson: peace = surrender!

Senior foreign affairs analyst Charles Johnson has laid down the ground rules for solving the Middle East conflict by asserting that an Israeli withdrawal from occupied Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian territory would amount to surrender.

Of course, CJ doesn't actually explain WHY ending its foreign occupation would be a surrender, and he doesn't offer an alternative solution to achieving peace in the region.

Cynics might say that's because Johnson & Co. don't want peace, because they benefit from the conflict and because they don't actually give a shit about ordinary people over there as long as there's an opportunity to pontificate about a war most of America doesn't really understand.

We're inclined to agree with the cynics.

Another day, another faux outrage!

Visitor numbers must be down over at LGF.

Chuckie is up in arms about the fact that the "terror-sponsoring Arab state of Qatar and UAE capital Dubai have now gained control of the London Stock Exchange." As usual if you scratch away at the story it adds something extra that Charlie wouldn't want to discuss.

Who sold the decisive share to these states? Was it Clinton? MoveOn? CAIR? Daily Kos? Digg? One of Charles' other enemies?

Nope.

It was that famous left-wing organisation NASDAQ. So if you're going to blame anyone for selling the London to the "terror-sponsoring Arab state of Qatar and UAE capital Dubai have now gained control of the London Stock Exchange" it's the capitalist system. It has shades of the 'Port Scandal', another faux outrage that was something over nothing.

UPDATE: am in the comments brings us another way in which Charles makes himself look and ass with this post.

I'm amazed LGF Watch didnt mention this about Qatar, it hosts the Central Command (CentCom) headquarters for U.S. forces in the region! Thousands of U.S. troops, equipment, jet fighters are based there and were used in the war in Iraq and Afghanistan (and *may* be used in an upcoming war against Iran)! The UAE also hosts U.S. military facilities that are crucial for U.S. operations in the Gulf.

Charles Johnson has just demonstrated that he is the most clueless imbecile that has ever blogged on the net. I'm sure someone sooner or later will point this out to him, but too late, he has certified himself a complete ignoramus with this post.

Charles Johnson, probably the most clueless imbecile that has ever blogged on the net? To be fair, Pamela Geller Oshry and Debbie Schlussel are still ahead of him but as his once loyal 'lizards' are abandoning ship and things are getting desperate, who knows?

When lizards attack

Wow, that Ron Paul guy really got Charlie's goat, didn't he? You have to be in a parallel universe to take as much umbrage at Paul's logical argument about 9/11 (that perhaps the terrorists were motivated by US foreign policy wrongs) as CJ and Guiliani did.

Why, it's virtually an article of faith among the sinking-ship Republicans that 9/11 came completely out of the blue and has nothing to do with 50 years of interventionist policies in the Middle East.

Watch the clip and imagine CJ having a cardiac:

Equal-opportunity offenders

We've come across a rather silly new blog that some of you might enjoy. The Rotten Falafel bills itself as "the Onion of Arab-Israeli online social, political satire." Well, not quite. The quality of the humor is a bit spotty, and they could use a spell-checker, but any site that pokes fun at Islamic misogyny, American right-wingers, and Israeli politicians, in approximately that order, is A-OK with us.

Cracks in the wall

LGF Watch would like to congratulate long time reader and supporter Richard Silverstein for his article Cracks in the Wall, which was published earlier today at the Guardian's CommentIsFree online blog. We hope you'll give it a read and also check out all the other articles currently published there in response to the Independent Jewish Voices debate. This quote from his essay, in this bloggers mind, sums up the current feeling from anyone with an honest interest in Middle East peace.

What are we afraid of? Do we not do Israel an injustice by viewing her as so delicate that entertaining a few "unpopular" ideas will lead to her extinction? The Israel I know and love can withstand such debate. In fact, I believe that Israel is only strengthened by the free exchange of ideas.