Anger towards Americans high

CAIRO, Egypt -- Anger toward America is high, extremists are on the upswing and hopes for democracy in the Middle East lie dashed. The Lebanon war is creating dangerous ripples in the war on terror, the future of Iraq -- even the effort to keep nuclear weapons from dangerous hands.

"America, we hate you more than ever," Ammar Ali Hassan wrote in the independent Egyptian daily Al-Masry Al-Youm, in the kind of visceral, slap-in-the-face rhetoric boiling across the region.

So far, the violence has not led allies to take steps that directly hurt America's strategic interests, such as forcing the military from its regional headquarters in Qatar or its naval base in Bahrain. And there are those who see the conflict as the bloody but necessary prelude to a real assessment by the Arab world of its choices: democracy and peace, or Islamic extremism and warfare.

Yet so far, almost every U.S. and European goal for the region -- keeping oil prices stable, promoting democracy, fighting extremists, strengthening moderates -- is suffering.

Jordan's pro-American King Abdullah gave the sharpest warning last week: Even if Hezbollah loses the military battle, its rising popularity among Arabs mean a like-minded group could pop up anywhere in the Middle East, even in his own country.

Others worry terror groups may already be directly benefiting. Al-Qaida's No. 2 leader has called on supporters to wage holy war against Israel in a clear effort to turn the hostility to its advantage.

More broadly, a wide swath of even progressive, middle-class people across the Mideast are outraged at the Israeli bombing of Lebanon and in part blame the United States. That means the long-sought U.S. effort to win Arab and Muslim "hearts and minds" -- so crucial to fighting terrorism -- has suffered a huge blow.

-- Moderates such as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas have become almost irrelevant. All hope of an Israeli-Palestinian "land for peace" deal lie in tatters for the foreseeable future.

-- Iran has received a prestige boost as a key Hezbollah backer, and it has gained some relief from its own problems: U.N. efforts to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions still limp along, but have taken a back seat.

-- The effort to calm Iraq has been "complicated," because the Lebanon war has boosted the prestige of Shiite extremists who are pushing Iraq toward civil war, said a senior U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the issue's sensitivity.

The fighting even led to tension between Washington and Iraq's Shiite moderates, when the country's prime minister was harshly criticized by Democrats for condemning only Israel, not Hezbollah.

-- The push for democracy in other Arab regimes, already stalled, has ground to a halt. The U.S. is unlikely to pressure allies such as Saudi Arabia or Egypt for reform when it needs their help to end the crisis. Even many Arab reformers now believe the U.S. cares more about supporting Israel than anything elsey.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice believes the fighting, though painful, is the "birth pang of a new Middle East."

-- meaning the bloodshed and disarming of Hezbollah are required before the region can move toward peace.

There is indeed a widely held view that the Arab world needs a shakeout before it can make progress toward democracy or peace -- to decide if it wants to follow Hezbollah and Iran or moderates such as the Palestinians' Abbas.

President Bush hinted at that when he called the Israel-Hezbollah fight part of a "a larger struggle between the forces of freedom and the forces of terror."

Still others believe some of the Arab support for Hezbollah and its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, could wane once the bombing ends and those in Lebanon take a hard look at the damage.

William Brown, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel, contends America and Europe could seize an opportunity if Israel managed to disable Hezbollah temporarily. Brown said the U.S. should try to push a comprehensive peace plan that involves Israel, the Palestinians, Syria and Iran once the fight is over.

"I wouldn't like to see Nasrallah emerge as a hero in all this," Brown said. "But it's a distinct possibility."

It is the documentary about the firefighters...see this link at:

9/11 The Movie by the Naudet Brothers

It is probably the most powerful of the works done that address what happened on that day. A reviewer on Amazon wrote this nice commentary:

This film is the "accidental documentary" made by French brothers and film makers, Gedeon and Jules Naudet. The brothers were making a film about a young fire fighter during his 9-month probationary period. With the help of their friend, firefighter James Hanlon, there were given nearly unlimited access to all the goings-on at the firehouse, Engine 7, Ladder 1, on Duane Street in Lower Manhattan, less than ten blocks from the World Trade Center. Little did the brothers know that they would be the witness to history, just three months after they began their project. Gedeon is the older brother, and the avid film maker. But, by the time of 9/11, an additional camera had been purchased for Jules for "camera practice." Jules is with the Battalion Chief, Joseph Pfeifer, and 13 other fire fighters from the house, filming as they investigate an odor of gas at 8:46 am on Tuesday morning, September 11, 2001. They are standing in the path of the plane as it flies over and hits Tower 1, and Jules is filming the entire time. His is the only footage of the attack on Tower 1. The reaction of the firefighters is immediate, as they take off for the Trade Center, a place they previously would visit up to five times a day on a shift. They know the Trade Center perhaps better than any other firehouse in Manhattan. But, nothing has prepared them for this.

What transpires is the only known footage of the struggle of the firefighters inside Tower 1 as they try to figure out what to do in the chaos and confusion. They had seen it all, they thought, but this was something they hadn't prepared for. The film is very sensitively edited, so you don't see the blood or the gore or the bodies, you only hear about them. The focus in this film is on the brotherhood of the firemen, what was going on in the towers while the rest of the world looked on, helplessly. How men who make less money than half of the City are the ones who rush into the burning buildings, and who do not hesitate to lay down their lives while saving others. It is the tale of a true brotherhood, of men who are doing jobs handed down to them from generations before. It is more than a story of 9/11, it is the story of the world of New York fire fighters.

Before 9/11 happens, we see the inside of the firehouse, how the young "Probie", Tony Benatanos, is brought into the fold, how the firemen interact and eat together and needle each other. The French brothers did not set out to make a documentary on 9/11, certainly, but fate dealt a hand. This is the most extensive, mind-boggling film, and the DVD contains extended interviews with the firemen, who have seen so much, but still seem to be in shock about what they saw that day.

James Hanlon narrates this film beautifully, and the brothers are interviewed describing that terrible day. The firemen are truly amazing, the footage is incredible, and, if you only see one documentary on this horrible day, this is the one to see. It truly portrays the victims, the heroes, and the survivors sensitively, honestly, and shockingly. It is unforgettable.

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