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Par Kh\u00e9mais KHAYATI<\/font><\/strong> Dans quelques jours, le Ramadan tirera le rideau de sa fin, pour cette ann\u00e9e. Plus de veill\u00e9es tardives sur les trottoirs ou m\u00eame sur la chauss\u00e9e \u00e0 tripoter les cartes et s\u2019\u00e9pancher sur les signes annonciateurs de l\u2019Heure, plus de rondes familiales \u00e0 s\u2019empiffrer de sucreries tout en se plaignant du surplus du poids qu\u2019on a engrang\u00e9 durant les semaines pass\u00e9es\u2026 D\u00e8s lors, chacun retournera \u00e0 ses affaires et les vaches seront bien gard\u00e9es. La vie tirait paresseusement son ramadanisme qui la fit mettre sens dessus dessous\u2026 Mais c\u2019est le destin et une vie sans destin est comme une rupture du je\u00fbne sans chorba\u2026 El\u00e9mentaire ! \u00a0 Mais par une certaine nuit de pleine lune ramadanesque, alors m\u00eame que les je\u00fbneurs du jour prennent leur revanche la nuit par des rasades multipli\u00e9es de soda gaz\u00e9ifi\u00e9s, de volutes opaques de chichas pomm\u00e9es et des goinfreries p\u00e2tissi\u00e8res de jeunes enceintes en mal d\u2019adolescence, ne voil\u00e0-t-il pas qu\u2019un \u00e9clair fendit le ciel noir gaie \u00e0 faire d\u00e9croitre la lune et fr\u00e9tiller les \u00e9toiles ! Occup\u00e9s \u00e0 prendre leur revanche nocturne sur les privations doctrinales diurnes, nos Tunisiens \u2013 eux qui sont alertes \u00e0 capter l\u2019entr\u00e9e d\u2019un millepatte dans leur univers – ne se rendirent pas compte le moins du monde qu\u2019un visiteur d\u2019un ailleurs bien curieux leur est tomb\u00e9 sur la caboche comme reviendrait de guerre un jeune marin demander la main de sa ch\u00e8re Ad\u00e8le\u2026 V\u2019l\u00e0 X93, le Martien ! Muni de ses multiples petites antennes bien vertes comme pousses de bl\u00e9 \u00ab kajib\u00e9enne \u00bb bien tendres, sa t\u00eate, avec sa capacit\u00e9 \u00e0 s\u2019adapter \u00e0 toute forme que nul esprit tunisien ne peut concevoir, fit deux tours et trois mouvements autour d\u2019elle-m\u00eame scannant contours et pourtours et se faire une id\u00e9e pr\u00e9cise de ce qui l\u2019attend dans cette contr\u00e9e dont on lui a susurr\u00e9 tant de bien, avant de le propulser hors de sa plan\u00e8te guerri\u00e8re dans le but de rapporter un rabiot d\u2019infos sur cette contr\u00e9e tant convoit\u00e9e.\u00a0 Le corps bien fr\u00eale pas plus haut que trois pommes ou comme celui d\u2019un indien d\u00e9laiss\u00e9 dans sa r\u00e9serve, le Martien X93 de ses multiples mirettes amovibles et de ses perforations extensibles prit la temp\u00e9rature. Et que ne vit-il de si \u00e9trange ? Jamais il ne vint \u00e0 l\u2019esprit d\u2019X93, – lui, le laur\u00e9at de l\u2019APJT (Acad\u00e9mie Prospective des Jeunes T\u00e9racaghiens \u2013 qu\u2019il put exister dans l\u2019Univers une communaut\u00e9 de gens et de gentes aussi pacifiques que ceux de la Tunisie. D\u2019o\u00f9 la raison de sa mission moult ultra secr\u00e8te pour une possible colonisation\u2026 D\u00e9j\u00e0 dans leur d\u00e9marche, il sentait un penchant cong\u00e9nital pour la torpeur. Dans la mani\u00e8re de lancer le pied droit qu\u2019ils faisaient suivre par le gauche en appuyant fortement sur le sol comme pour\u00a0 lui dire leur attachement, il y a comme une harmonie de la l\u00e9thargie\u2026 Battant l\u2019air de leurs bras ballants, ils travaillaient l\u2019air pour en augmenter le taux d\u2019oxyg\u00e8ne qu\u2019ils respiraient par petites doses. X93 se dit que c\u2019\u00e9tait l\u00e0 une mani\u00e8re intelligente bien plus simple et plus pratique que toutes les usines de Mars destin\u00e9es \u00e0 distiller l\u2019atmosph\u00e8re qu\u2019elles finissaient par polluer\u2026\u00a0 X93 remarqua que, contrairement \u00e0 ses concitoyens de T\u00e9racagh \u2013 une sorte d\u2019USA martienne -,\u00a0 les habitants de la Tunisie des deux sexes se parlaient plus par les regards tant leurs mots \u00e9taient des chausses trappes\u2026 Mais ces regards \u00e9taient tellement per\u00e7ants et leur tendresse percutante qu\u2019il craignait que ce ne soit l\u00e0 que leur arme secr\u00e8te de d\u00e9fense contre eux m\u00eame et les leurs\u2026 Que dire s\u2019ils les utilisaient contre des envahisseurs venus de derri\u00e8re la m\u00e9sopause qu\u2019ils n\u2019ont cess\u00e9 de percer par des mots perforants ! Quant \u00e0 leurs mioches, ils leur laissaient une totale libert\u00e9 dans l\u2019exercice de leur baragouin pr\u00e9f\u00e9r\u00e9, la langue-fourche. C\u2019est un capharna\u00fcm d\u2019expressions les plus grossi\u00e8res qu\u2019on ait jamais entendues dans aucun autre pied-\u00e0-terre du cosmos\u2026 Heureux de voir leur engeance exceller dans un tel exercice, ils ne cessaient de leur en fournir de nouveaux comme dans un jeu de \u00ab tire plus haut sans t\u2019amocher \u00bb en leur rappelant qu\u2019il est plus g\u00e9n\u00e9reux de faire un don de mots qu\u2019un don de c\u0153ur, \u00e9tant entendu que ce dernier est traitre puisqu\u2019il leur fait aimer ce qu\u2019ils n\u2019aiment pas vraiment\u2026 Car, ils s\u2019amourachent comme ils respirent, en un laps et comme ils expirent, s\u2019en d\u00e9fassent en un clin\u2026 La fid\u00e9lit\u00e9 leur est inconnue et la d\u00e9merde est une de leurs devises les plus reconnues. Quand \u00e0 la responsabilit\u00e9 port\u00e9e sur Mars par l\u2019\u00e9lite de l\u2019APJT comme dogme, X93 vit qu\u2019ils s\u2019en tapaient comme de leur derni\u00e8re promesse\u2026 Leurs administrations sont une galerie de vestes sur des porte-manteaux comme un d\u00e9fil\u00e9 d\u2019\u00e9pouvantails. Leur phrase de pr\u00e9dilection est \u00ab reviens demain \u00bb\u2026 Leur slogan favori est \u00ab On n\u2019y peut rien \u00bb\u2026 Ils v\u00e9n\u00e8rent un Saint qui ne fait rien, qu\u2019ils nomment Laroui et \u00e0 qui ils se plaignent de la mort et de la vie. Devant une telle nonchalance et go\u00fbt de la bonne franquette \u00e9lev\u00e9es en devises nationales,\u00a0 le Martien X93, la fine fleur de l\u2019APJT de T\u00e9racagh conclut\u00a0 sans coup f\u00e9rir que sa mission n\u2019\u00e9tait qu\u2019une promenade de routine et que la colonisation de la Tunisie n\u2019est qu\u2019une question de temps donn\u00e9 au Grand Tout, chef supr\u00eame de T\u00e9racagh. Il d\u00e9cida alors de ramasser ces faits et ses effets et s\u2019appr\u00eatait \u00e0 dispara\u00eetre comme il \u00e9tait venu, dans un \u00e9clair \u00e0 faire avorter la lune s\u2019il ne vit une bo\u00eete s\u2019animer… La T\u00e9l\u00e9 rus\u00e9e La bo\u00eete qu\u2019X93 entraper\u00e7ut \u00e9tait de forme cubique avec un \u00e9cran cathodique sur lequel des ombres agissaient, faisaient et d\u00e9faisaient\u2026 Pour de plus amples informations, il d\u00e9cida, pour un court temps, regard y jeter\u2026 Et que ne vit-il ? Ce n\u2019\u00e9tait qu\u2019une ruse que les Tunisiens s\u2019\u00e9taient invent\u00e9e pour ennemi tromper. Et il se le dit pour vrai. Dans cette bo\u00eete cathodique, des Tunisiens autrement mieux accoutr\u00e9s, dans des espaces mieux agenc\u00e9s et des immeubles st\u00e9rilis\u00e9s, vivaient une vie que nul Martien ne pouvait deviner et que ses m\u00e9ninges ne pouvaient inventer\u2026 Il vit dans les \u00ab Astres de la Nuit\u00bb, des bandits que le bon Dieu ne pouvait cr\u00e9er et en Tunisie installer, armes de toute sorte et stup\u00e9fiants de tous les go\u00fbts manier et \u00e9couler\u2026 Il y vit des Paters par l\u2019oseille obnubil\u00e9e et pour elle, leurs m\u00e8res vendraient\u2026 Il y vit la pauvret\u00e9 clinquante et la richesse non moins aveuglante\u2026 Il y vit des plantes plus plantureuses tu meurs, aux regards langoureux et \u00e0 la lame coupante que seule la bonne intention sauverait de la G\u00e9henne\u2026 Des caisses brillantes et des baraques clinquantes et se dit que c\u2019est l\u00e0 la vraie Tunisie qu\u2019il \u00e9tait venu espionner en vue d\u2019occuper\u2026 Il vit dans \u00ab Les jours de Maliha \u00bb une paysannerie comme un sou neuf, des voleurs de brebis portant gourmettes et queue de cheval agir dans une campagne aseptis\u00e9e, un fin cerveau qui feint la bonne franquette mais des plans sur la com\u00e8te tracerait sans se g\u00eaner et une \u00e9tudiante, de l\u2019idiotie compl\u00e8te passer \u00e0 l\u2019intelligence la plus rutilante. Il y vit des bandes et des contrebandes \u00e0 qui le diable donnerait sa mauvaise \u00e2me en gage et se dit que c\u2019\u00e9tait l\u00e0 la vraie Tunisie qu\u2019il \u00e9tait venu espionner en vue de l\u2019occuper\u2026 Il vit dans \u00ab Ma belle m\u00e8re ch\u00e9rie \u00bb des Tunisiens feindre la niaiserie, s\u2019agiter comme guignols pour mieux tromper\u2026 il y vit des gens agit\u00e9es autour d\u2019une pellet\u00e9 de d\u00e9bilit\u00e9s ciment\u00e9es comme pour feindre le rire alors que larmes ils viseraient\u2026 Et se dit c\u2019est l\u00e0 la vraie Tunisie qu\u2019il \u00e9tait venu espionner pour bien l\u2019occuper\u2026 Il vit dans \u00ab Casting \u00bb une armada d\u2019\u00e9ph\u00e8bes et de nymphes dans un d\u00e9cor de trompe l\u2019\u0153il occup\u00e9s \u00e0 triturer les sentiments dans le sens et le contre sens qui \u00e0 tordre le cou \u00e0 la vraisemblance\u2026 Il y vit comme une jeune fille mineure \u2013 au grand dam de ses parents et amis – tendre un pi\u00e8ge amoureux \u00e0 un jeune mari qui y tombe comme tombait la Pomme des mains d\u2019Adam d\u00e8s qu\u2019il y planta ses dents. Il se dit que c\u2019est l\u00e0 la vraie Tunisie qu\u2019il \u00e9tait venu espionner pour mieux coloniser\u2026 X93 la fine fleur de l\u2019espionnite sortie de l\u2019Acad\u00e9mie Prospective des jeunes Taracaghiens, la grande puissance de la plan\u00e8te Mars, venu en \u00e9claireur sur terre pour fouiner la vie des Tunisiens en vue de les coloniser dut se r\u00e9soudre qu\u2019il devait ses clic et ses clacs ramasser et la Tunisie et la Terre au plus vite quitter et retourner vers les siens les seins de sa clon\u00e9e de m\u00e8re t\u00e9ter\u2026 Les Tunisiens qu\u2019il vit ne sont pas les Tunisiens qu\u2019il vit aussi\u2026 Qui sont-ils, alors?\u00a0 Comme Hamlet mourut avec sa lancinante question, X93 disparut avec la sienne une certaine nuit de ramadan \u2026 mais bien que nous ne s\u00fbmes pas encore qui sommes-nous, nous v\u00e9c\u00fbmes et vivrons comme nous sommes ?.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/div>\n

(Source: \u00ab\u00a0Le Temps\u00a0\u00bb (Quotidien – Tunisie) le 5 septembre 2010)<\/strong><\/font><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Enseignement de base Chassez le \u2018\u2019public\u2019\u2019, il revient au galop ?<\/font><\/h3>\n
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Par Mona BEN GAMRA 24 mille \u00e9l\u00e8ves inscrits dans le priv\u00e9, soit un pourcentage de 2,4%. L\u2019enseignement public reste la r\u00e9f\u00e9rence aux yeux des parents d\u2019\u00e9l\u00e8ves, ind\u00e9pendamment des consid\u00e9rations mat\u00e9rielles Les parents ne s\u2019y trompent pas, loin des statistiques et des chiffres abstraits, la rentr\u00e9e scolaire est une p\u00e9riode d\u00e9cisive pour choisir l\u2019\u00e9tablissement scolaire pour leur futur \u00e9colier. Ecole priv\u00e9e ou publique ? Cela induit des th\u00e9matiques assez importantes qui permettent de trancher. \u00a0 \u00a0Faut-il opter pour une \u00e9cole priv\u00e9e r\u00e9solument tourn\u00e9e vers l\u2019apprentissage des langues, cl\u00e9 d\u2019acc\u00e8s \u00e0 tous les enseignements? Ou encore faut-il choisir l\u2019\u00e9cole publique, o\u00f9 la gratuit\u00e9 de l\u2019enseignement, par ailleurs un acquis, est \u2018\u2019contourn\u00e9e\u2019\u2019 \u00e0 grands renforts de cours particuliers ? Selon les statistiques de l\u2019ann\u00e9e scolaire 2009\/2010, les \u00e9l\u00e8ves inscrits dans des \u00e9coles priv\u00e9es, au nombre de 24000 ne repr\u00e9sentent que l\u2019infime pourcentage de 2,4% par rapport aux \u00e9l\u00e8ves\u00a0 recens\u00e9s dans des \u00e9coles primaires \u00e9tatiques, soit 1 200 000 \u00e9l\u00e8ves. \u00ab Au regard de ces chiffres, on ne peut en aucune mani\u00e8re consid\u00e9rer que l\u2019\u00e9cole publique peut \u00eatre d\u00e9tr\u00f4n\u00e9e par l\u2019\u00e9cole priv\u00e9e, m\u00eame si le nombre des \u00e9tablissements priv\u00e9s a affich\u00e9 une nette augmentation pendant l\u2019ann\u00e9e scolaire \u00e9coul\u00e9e(104), si on le compare \u00e0 celui d\u2019il y a 10 ans. En 2001\/2002 ils \u00e9taient au nombre de 42. A cela ajoutons le fait que ces \u00e9coles sont actuellement implant\u00e9es \u00e0 l\u2019int\u00e9rieur du pays \u00e0 Kairouan, Kasserine, Gafsa, Sidi Bouzid et Gab\u00e8s, outre ceux d\u00e9j\u00e0 existant \u00e0 Sousse, Nabeul, Bizerte et au grand Tunis. \u00bb remarque M. Mohamed Zoghlami, le directeur de l\u2019enseignement priv\u00e9 au minist\u00e8re de l\u2019\u00e9ducation nationale. C\u2019est que, et toujours selon notre interlocuteur,\u00a0 l\u2019\u00e9galit\u00e9 des chances \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9cole n\u2019est pas un beau\u00a0 slogan qu\u2019on brandit \u00e0 chaque fois qu\u2019il est question d\u2019\u00e9voquer l\u2019enseignement dans notre pays. \u00ab\u00a0 La seule gratuit\u00e9 de l\u2019\u00e9cole, par ailleurs un acquis pour nous autres Tunisiens, suffit pour dire que tous les enfants quelle que soit leur appartenance sociale sont \u00e9gaux face \u00e0 l\u2019apprentissage. \u00bb dit-il. R\u00e8gles sacro-saintes<\/strong> Cela ne sera pas vraiment le cas si l\u2019on consid\u00e8re que les \u00e9tablissements priv\u00e9s se chargent de la garde des enfants pendant les heures creuses, une solution salutaire pour des parents qui travaillent, alors que d\u2019autres enfants ayant le m\u00eame \u00e2ge se retrouvent dans la rue et ses tentations, une fois les heures de l\u2019\u00e9cole termin\u00e9es. Sans oublier la discipline qui est de mise dans les \u00e9coles priv\u00e9es bien plus qu\u2019ailleurs. Selon Mme Sond\u00e8s Kh\u00e9lifi, m\u00e9decin, \u00ab Les directeurs des \u00e9coles priv\u00e9s m\u00e8nent \u00e0 la baguette les enfants dans leurs \u00e9tablissements respectifs. Ils ne badinent pas avec les r\u00e8gles de politesse et de bonne tenue.\u00a0 C\u2019est essentiellement pour ce\u00a0 motif que j\u2019ai choisi d\u2019inscrire ma fille dans une \u00e9cole priv\u00e9e sise \u00e0 la cit\u00e9 Ennasr. Je suis satisfaite m\u00eame si mon mari juge que l\u2019apprentissage des langues depuis la premi\u00e8re ann\u00e9e de base rel\u00e8ve du bourrage d\u2019esprit. \u00bb\u00a0 souligne notre interlocutrice. 1517 enseignants contr\u00f4l\u00e9s par les inspections de base dans les \u00e9coles \u00e9tatiques Et puisqu\u2019on y est, on apprend et d\u2019apr\u00e8s une source du minist\u00e8re de l\u2019\u00e9ducation que l\u2019apprentissage des langues d\u00e8s six ans sera g\u00e9n\u00e9ralis\u00e9 dans les \u00e9coles \u00e9tatiques. Reste \u00e0 savoir si\u00a0 la qualit\u00e9 de l\u2019enseignement dispens\u00e9 que ce soit dans les \u00e9coles priv\u00e9es ou publiques serait la m\u00eame.\u00a0 D\u2019aucuns consid\u00e8rent que la qualit\u00e9 de l\u2019enseignement dans les \u00e9coles publiques laisse \u00e0 d\u00e9sirer, que des parents bienveillants\u00a0 compensent par des cours particuliers les \u00e9ventuelles d\u00e9faillances constat\u00e9es et ce m\u00eame pour des enfants en premi\u00e8re ann\u00e9e de l\u2019enseignement de base. Pour y r\u00e9pondre M. Zoghlami invoque le fait que les garde-fous du minist\u00e8re\u00a0 veillent \u00e0 garder la m\u00eame qualit\u00e9 de l\u2019enseignement aussi bien dispens\u00e9e dans des \u00e9coles publiques que priv\u00e9es. \u00ab\u00a0 Les enseignants qui \u00e9taient au nombre de 1517 pendant l\u2019ann\u00e9e derni\u00e8re ont tous suivi\u00a0 les m\u00eames cycles de formation et en classe, leurs cours donn\u00e9s ont \u00e9t\u00e9\u00a0 contr\u00f4l\u00e9s par les m\u00eames cycles d\u2019inspection. Le programme des \u00e9coles primaires priv\u00e9es est pass\u00e9 au crible par le minist\u00e8re de tutelle dont les pr\u00e9rogatives consistent \u00e0 v\u00e9rifier leur conformit\u00e9 aux objectifs des programmes de l\u2019enseignement \u00e9tatique. Pour le choix des enseignants cela revient \u00e0 ces \u00e9tablissements de les recruter.\u00bb souligne-t-il. Il y a lieu de remarquer dans la foul\u00e9e, qu\u2019un enseignant ayant exerc\u00e9 dans le domaine \u00e9tatique n\u2019a pas le droit d\u2019enseigner dans le priv\u00e9 et que l\u2019Etat incite les directeurs de ces institutions \u00e0 recruter les jeunes dipl\u00f4m\u00e9s, par ailleurs non exp\u00e9riment\u00e9s.\u00a0 Et ce au grand dam des parents qui esp\u00e8rent profiter de l\u2019exp\u00e9rience de nos doyens de l\u2019enseignement. Equilibre<\/strong> L\u2019\u00e9cole priv\u00e9e pourra-t-elle d\u00e9tr\u00f4ner l\u2019\u00e9cole \u00e9tatique ? Jamais ! Car toute la d\u00e9marche se base sur l\u2019\u00e9quilibre.\u00a0 Les deux volets de l\u2019enseignement ont aussi bien des avantages que des inconv\u00e9nients. La question serait plut\u00f4t de r\u00e9organiser notre \u00e9cole, \u00e0 partir de la maternelle pour que la v\u00e9ritable \u00e9galit\u00e9 des chances, consiste \u00e0 permettre de cultiver les jeunes esprits, de les accompagner v\u00e9ritablement vers leurs aspirations, en profitant au mieux de leurs capacit\u00e9s. \u00ab Aujourd\u2019hui, le cartable de nos petits bout\u2019 choux s\u2019alourdit\u00a0 et leurs capacit\u00e9s d\u2019apprentissage s\u2019affaiblissent. Nous leurs parents, avons r\u00e9ussi \u00e0 \u00eatre brillants \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9cole avec moins de mati\u00e8res \u00e9tudi\u00e9es.\u00bb remarque Mme Leila Megdiche, maman de Linda, 4\u00e8me ann\u00e9e de l\u2019enseignement de base. \u00a0Il est plus que temps, en effet, de revoir tout le syst\u00e8me scolaire et avec\u00a0 les m\u00e9thodes d’apprentissage,\u2026 De le faire en toute conscience pour que ces g\u00e9n\u00e9rations d\u2019\u00e9l\u00e8ves ne se transforment en cobayes de l\u2019enseignement. Il est\u00a0 temps de \u00ab\u00a0sonner la fin de la r\u00e9cr\u00e9ation.\u00a0\u00bb<\/div>\n
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(Source: \u00ab\u00a0Le Temps\u00a0\u00bb (Quotidien – Tunisie) le 5 septembre 2010)<\/font><\/strong><\/div>\n
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They caused the Iraq War and remain without shame<\/font><\/h3>\n
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Par Dr.\u00a0 James J Zogby<\/font><\/strong> During the past week, as the U.S. president Barack Obama announced the withdrawal of U.S. combat forces from Iraq, there was considerable media commentary focusing on the lies that had been utilized to build public support for the war. The two that received the most attention were the argument that Saddam had an active program to develop weapons of mass destruction and the assertion, made most vigorously by the then vice president Dick Cheney, that there were \u201cproven links\u201d connecting the Iraqi leadership to the terrorist attacks on September 11. Both were, of course, deliberate fabrications but both did play important roles in shaping public opinion and justifying the invasion of Iraq. The propaganda effort to win support for the war involved much more. As I note in my forthcoming book What they are saying to us and why it matters: Arab Voices, proponents for the war, preying on the public\u2019s lack of basic information about Iraq and its people, made exaggerated claims expressing confidence that the effort would be relatively painless. A former official at the Pentagon termed it a \u201ccakewalk\u201d. Mr Cheney said \u201cit\u2019ll go … quickly. Weeks rather than months\u201d. Paul Wolfowitz, another advisor in the Bush administration, estimated the cost of the entire enterprise not to exceed one or two billion dollars, with Iraq\u2019s oil revenues quickly kicking in to \u201cfinance its own reconstruction\u201d. Throughout the media universe, commentators echoed these boasts, regularly churning out outrageous claims on a par with Saddam Hussein\u2019s pre\u2013Gulf War warning that the conflict would be the \u201cmother of all battles\u201d. Before the invasion began, for example, Bill O\u2019Reilly, a commentator of Fox News, wagered \u201cthe best dinner in the gaslight district of San Diego that military action will not last more than a week\u201d. A similarly euphoric (and ultimately equally misleading) statement by Bill Kristol, the editor of the Weekly Standard, soon followed: \u201cThere is a certain amount of pop psychology in America that the Shia can\u2019t get along with the Sunni . . . There\u2019s almost no evidence of that at all.\u201d Finally, journalist Fred Barnes, another host of a programme on Fox News, chimed in: \u201cThe war was the hard part . . . It gets easier. I mean, setting up a democracy is hard, but not as hard as winning a war.\u201d This endless and deadly \u201cspinning\u201d didn\u2019t end with the invasion. Six months into the war, Zogby International conducted the first-ever nationwide poll in Iraq showing that a disturbingly high percentage of Iraqis (including almost the entire Sunni population and a strong majority of Shia) wanted the US to leave their country, did not have a favourable view of the US military\u2019s behaviour, and were not inclined to establish a democracy in Iraq. A few days after these findings were released, Mr Cheney was on a television news programme citing our poll as evidence of \u201cvery positive news\u201d, and using them to make his case that all was going well. The same penchant for fabrication was in evidence in the hype surrounding the \u201csurge\u201d that the Bush administration implemented in early 2007. It is true that sectarian and intra-sect violence declined during this same period. But the reasons for this decline had more to do with the fact that the \u201cethnic cleansing\u201d operations launched by sectarian groups had already left Baghdad\u2019s neighbourhoods purged and divided by barricades. Sunni tribal groups had organised and armed themselves to fight against al Qa\u2019eda before the surge of U.S. troops began. Despite all this, the same cast of characters who promoted the fabrications that led the U.S. into the war had the temerity to upbraid Mr Obama for failing to give George W Bush sufficient credit for successfully implementing measures that ended the war . The U.S. combat forces have now been withdrawn, but this war is not over, it has not been a success, and US responsibility has not ended. Iraq remains a fragile country, divided internally and surrounded by neighbors, some wary of the country\u2019s instability and others eager to exploit its vulnerability. In addition to the 4,400 Americans who died, tens of thousands have been severely wounded and their continued care must remain a national priority in the U.S. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis also perished and 20 per cent of that country\u2019s population at the start of the war are now refugees or internally displaced persons, unable to return home. Meanwhile, instead of a \u201cbeacon of democracy\u201d we see a dysfunctional political order that cannot so easily have closure or implement the results of an election that took place more than six months ago. The nation responsible for this calamity, America, will continue to have a role in Iraq\u2019s future. The US vice president Joseph Biden was right when he noted that \u201cAmerican engagement with Iraq will continue\u201d with a new mission to help the country through reconstruction and reconciliation. And the story doesn\u2019t end there. At some point in history those who brought this disaster down on us all must be called to account for the fabrications, the embarrassment to America\u2019s honour, and the death and waste of so many lives. Until that occurs, the conclusion to this sad chapter will not have been written. *Published in the UAE-based THE NATIONAL on Sept. 5, 2010.James Zogby is president of the Arab American Institute.<\/div>\n
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(Source: Alarabiya.net le 5 septembre 2010) Source: <\/font><\/strong>http:\/\/www.alarabiya.net\/views\/2010\/09\/05\/118558.html<\/font><\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n
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Who does he think he is fooling?<\/font><\/h3>\n
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Robert Grenier deconstructs the political rhetoric of former United States ambassador to Israel, Martin Indyk. \u00a0 By Robert Grenier<\/font><\/strong> \u00a0 The latest piece of ‘analysis’ of the misnamed Israeli-Palestinian ‘peace process’ from Martin Indyk, recently aired by the New York Times Op-Ed page, simply leaves me slack-jawed. On the surface, Martin’s views appear to be the soul of pedestrian reasonableness. Cutting across the grain of current informed opinion, the former stalwart of the powerful pro-Israeli (one might more accurately say pro-Likud) US lobbying juggernaut AIPAC lists four reasons why we should be optimistic about the prospects for the direct peace talks in which Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas finally has been coerced into participating. Flawed reasoning<\/strong> First, says Martin, terrorist violence against Israel has diminished considerably. Second, Israeli settlement activity \u00ab\u00a0has slowed significantly\u00a0\u00bb. Third, he points out, the public on both sides \u00ab\u00a0supports a two-state solution\u00a0\u00bb. And finally, after nearly two decades of on-and-off Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, he says, the broad outlines of a solution are already well-known: It’s just a matter of summoning the political will on both sides to see it through – and the talks in prospect will at least put both sides to the test. Again, seemingly all quite reasonable. If this analysis were submitted by some college sophomore, I’d give him a ritual grade of B-plus and send him on his way. But this is not just some undergraduate: This is Martin Indyk, former senior US official and prominent member of the American peace-process gang responsible, collectively, for the abject failure of American-sponsored Mideast peace-making during the one period – the 1990s – when a just peace might have been achieved. Their failure was not so much the result of incompetence, but of duplicity: For a just peace serving the long term interests of the US (and, ironically, of the Israelis as well) was never their intent – pleasing Israeli leaders and their slavish US supporters was. Unlike our humble undergraduate, therefore, Martin knows better. The fact that he still purveys pious nonsense regarding the peace process calls his motives once more into question, and a brief examination of his views serves to explain why he and his comrades – the Dennis Rosses, the Aaron Millers, the Dan Kurtzers and a few others – somehow managed, on behalf of their political masters, not only to preclude any possibility of a just peace in the Middle East, but to undermine the long-term security of both Israel and the US in the process. Settlement semantics<\/strong> Let’s begin with settlements. There is no other issue which so invites mendacity and obfuscation, and Martin is as adept as anyone. My favourite this time is Indyk’s assertion that due to the (again misnamed) Israeli settlement ‘moratorium’, \u00ab\u00a0no new housing starts in the West bank were reported by the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics in the first quarter of this year\u00a0\u00bb. Gosh, what an interesting factoid. Of course, a count of housing starts in the West Bank would exclude areas illegally and unilaterally annexed by Israel, wouldn’t it? And let’s not even begin to try to ferret out what constitutes a \u00ab\u00a0housing start\u00a0\u00bb in the estimation of the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics. But beyond that, what’s so magical about the first quarter of this year? By my calculation, we’re in the third quarter of the year; is there some reason to ignore what’s been happening since March? But there’s more. As Martin breathlessly reports, there have been \u00ab\u00a0hardly any\u00a0\u00bb – a shockingly imprecise formulation from someone so practiced in the art of fine parsing – new housing projects (not \u00ab\u00a0starts\u00a0\u00bb this time, but entire projects!) since … well, since the huge diplomatic row caused by Israel’s announcement of 1,600 additional residential units in East Jerusalem during a visit by Joe Biden, which occurred in \u2013 well, come to think of it, that was in the first quarter of this year, wasn’t it? One wonders if construction of those new housing units has started yet. Downturn in demolitions<\/strong> Finally, we are told, the demolition of Palestinian houses in East Jerusalem \u00ab\u00a0is also down\u00a0\u00bb compared to recent years. That’s rather like praising someone for beating his wife less frequently. From all this, Martin would have us believe that the current moment is propitious for peacemaking. At least Martin has the grace to admit that the settlement moratorium-in-name-only, due to expire on September 26, \u00ab\u00a0seems unlikely\u00a0\u00bb (nice bit of understatement, that) to be extended by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and of course Mahmoud Abbas has declared his intention to withdraw from negotiations if and when the ‘moratorium’ ends. Martin’s got a nifty compromise, though: Perhaps Netanyahu could restrict building \u00ab\u00a0to ‘modest growth’ in the settlement blocs that will most likely be absorbed into Israel in the final agreement\u00a0\u00bb. And that would be the whole point of these ‘negotiations,’ wouldn’t it? It is only the Obama White House which wants these negotiations, and their point would be to provide the illusion of progress – a perceived necessity, given the extravagance of President Obama’s early pretensions as a Middle East peacemaker. Necessary irritant<\/strong> The price of cooperation in this charade for the Israelis is that they be allowed to continue to build, and thus to further consolidate the unilaterally-imposed settlement first conceived and initiated by Ariel Sharon in 2005. Netanyahu is not about to let progress toward that goal be impeded by negotiations; those negotiations, at worst, are just a necessary irritant to be borne while he moves forward to seize what he wants. That’s a deal the US administration is quite willing to accept. The Palestinians know this, which accounts for their extreme reluctance to play along with these negotiations in the first place. And Martin knows it as well as anyone. Indyk is right that the public on both sides supports a two-state solution, which makes the current situation all the more tragic. While Martin would like to pretend that Netanyahu is motivated to work against the prevailing anti-two-state sentiment within his own Likud Party, he clearly is not – whatever he might say. On those rare occasions when Netanyahu can bring himself to form the words \u00ab\u00a0Palestinian state,\u00a0\u00bb one can fairly hear the wheels turning in his head: What he means when he says the words is that if the Palestinians should wish to call a chain of non-contiguous, demilitarised Bantustans on the remaining land Israel has elected not to annex a \u00ab\u00a0state,\u00a0\u00bb they are welcome to do so, no matter how distasteful the sound. And of course, none of this involves Gaza, which is to remain what it is now: A vast prison camp. Martin Indyk would have us believe that all that stands in the way of a viable peace between Israelis and Palestinians – the broad outlines of which, he correctly points out, are already well-known – is for both Netanyahu and his Palestinian counterpart to summon the necessary \u00ab\u00a0willpower\u00a0\u00bb to bring it about. Binyamin Netanyahu may lack many things, but willpower is not one of them. The notion that Netanyahu is secretly wishing he could embrace a compromise solution which would involve dismantling a significant number of West Bank settlements and accepting some form of shared sovereignty in East Jerusalem is simply ludicrous. He has always made clear he would never do so. Why would he do so now? To please President Obama? No, Netanyahu has no end of willpower – and what he wills is far removed from the type of agreement past negotiations suggest might be marginally acceptable to the Palestinians. Duplicitous diplomacy<\/strong> Which brings us back to Martin Indyk. No one understands the above better than he. He knows Netanyahu’s thoughts and intentions better than I could ever hope to. He knows fully and well that the prospective direct talks are going nowhere – hence his disingenuous final coda, that we should \u00ab\u00a0suspend disbelief\u00a0\u00bb and \u00ab\u00a0welcome the fact that American diplomacy has ensured (Israeli and Palestinian leaders) will soon be put to the test\u00a0\u00bb. Yes, they will be put to the test, and we already know the outcome. The only conceivable explanation for his mendacity, apart from the desire to see his name in print, is that Martin is continuing to promote the type of ‘American diplomacy’ he championed during his years in the Clinton administration \u2013 diplomacy designed to keep pressure off the Israelis while they do whatever they please. Although he doubtless had to make some accommodations along the way in transitioning from an overt lobbyist on behalf of Israel to a foreign-policy apparatchik in the Clinton administration, one always assumed that his basic motives were unchanged. In those years, he had a lot of company, the redoubtable Dennis Ross being most prominent, and most disingenuous, among them. At least Aaron Miller, another of the state department peace-process team members, has had the good grace since his retirement to admit that he and the others saw their role as acting as \u00ab\u00a0Israel’s lawyers\u00a0\u00bb. For those of us who watched the process from close range in those years, it was obvious that Ross, Indyk and the others saw their jobs as consisting of a two-part process: Find out what the Israelis want, and then help them get it. In this, they could never have succeeded in doing the harm they did on their own. After all, they were merely apparatchiks – viziers serving at the behest of a series of politically craven administrations, of which the current one is merely the latest. But for those of us who spent our careers trying to protect and defend a country whose security was being systematically and gratuitously undermined by the likes of Martin Indyk, this latest bit of cynical posturing in the New York Times is a lot to swallow. I don’t know who Martin thinks he’s fooling, but I can assure you he’s not fooling us. Robert Grenier was the CIA’s chief of station in Islamabad, Pakistan, from 1999 to 2002. He was also the director of the CIA’s counter-terrorism centre. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial policy.<\/div>\n
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(Source: Aljazeera.net le 5 septembre 2010) Lien: : http:\/\/english.aljazeera.net\/indepth\/opinion\/2010\/09\/201094155358615769.html<\/font><\/strong> \u00a0<\/div>\n
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Home – Accueil TUNISNEWS 10\u00a0\u00e8me ann\u00e9e, N\u00b0\u00a03757 du 05.09.2010 \u00a0archives : www.tunisnews.net\u00a0 Kalima: Fronti\u00e8re tuniso-alg\u00e9rienne : contrebande et incidents en hausse Kalima: Pic de pollution dangereux dans le golfe de Gab\u00e8s Lib\u00e9ration: Double extradition vers Tunis – Droits de l\u2019homme . Deux Franco-Tunisiens sont menac\u00e9s de prison. AP: Visite en Tunisie de Mahmoud Abbas AFP: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22040,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[61,41,29],"class_list":["post-17083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-61","tag-41","tag-fr"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tunisnews.net\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17083","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tunisnews.net\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tunisnews.net\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tunisnews.net\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tunisnews.net\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17083"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tunisnews.net\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17083\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tunisnews.net\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tunisnews.net\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tunisnews.net\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tunisnews.net\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}