Read this tribute to David Petraeus that was published first in An-Nahar (the dying Lebanese right-wing, racist, sectarian Christian newspaper) and then on the site of Al-Arabiyyah (the news station of King Fahd's brother-in-law) and wonder whether it was literally a paid political advertisement. When I read it I remembered about the contracts by the Pentagon with the Lincoln Group which drafted articles that were favorable to US wars in the Middle East, and then translated them and had them published (for a fee) in Arabic newspaper. Read this passage and let me know if it is possible that this was not a PAID political advertisement inserted in the Arabic press:
(What happened with Petraeus should not remove from memory what he did for Lebanon, as he sought to improve the capabilities of the the Lebanese state and its institutions and apparati, through the supply of support for the Lebanese Army and the security forces in order to meet the challenge that is constituted in the trend toward the formation of "state-within-a-state [sic] regional extensions, and what he aimed at in order to extricate the republic from the logic of "followership, guardianship, and hegemony. And Petraeus also contributed to the official effort aiming at fightign extremism and terrorism and to limit the spread of fundamentalist currents. And lastly, Petraeus was concerned about the protection of minorities in the region, as part of his belief in its role in spreading the values of moderation, tolerance, democracy, freedom and human rights and the establishment of the "righteous states).
"ما حصل مع بترايوس لا يُغيِّب من الذاكرة ما فعله من أجل لبنان، إذ سعى إلى تعزيز قدرات الدولة اللبنانية ومؤسساتها وأجهزتها، عبر توفير الدعم للجيش اللبناني والقوى الأمنية، لتتمكّن يوماً من مواجهة التحدّي المتمثّل في الجنوح نحو إقامة "دولة ضمن الدولة" امتداداتها اقليمية، وما هدف إليه كي تَخرُج الجمهورية من منطق "التبعية والوصاية والهيمنة". كما ساهم بترايوس في الجهد الرسمي الهادف إلى مكافحة التطرّف والإرهاب والحدّ من انتشار التيارات الأصولية. أخيراً، حرص بترايوس على حماية الأقليات في المنطقة، إيماناً منه بدورها في نشر قيَم الاعتدال والتسامُح والديموقراطية والحرّيات وحقوق الإنسان وبناء "دول الحق"."
(What happened with Petraeus should not remove from memory what he did for Lebanon, as he sought to improve the capabilities of the the Lebanese state and its institutions and apparati, through the supply of support for the Lebanese Army and the security forces in order to meet the challenge that is constituted in the trend toward the formation of "state-within-a-state [sic] regional extensions, and what he aimed at in order to extricate the republic from the logic of "followership, guardianship, and hegemony. And Petraeus also contributed to the official effort aiming at fightign extremism and terrorism and to limit the spread of fundamentalist currents. And lastly, Petraeus was concerned about the protection of minorities in the region, as part of his belief in its role in spreading the values of moderation, tolerance, democracy, freedom and human rights and the establishment of the "righteous states).
"ما حصل مع بترايوس لا يُغيِّب من الذاكرة ما فعله من أجل لبنان، إذ سعى إلى تعزيز قدرات الدولة اللبنانية ومؤسساتها وأجهزتها، عبر توفير الدعم للجيش اللبناني والقوى الأمنية، لتتمكّن يوماً من مواجهة التحدّي المتمثّل في الجنوح نحو إقامة "دولة ضمن الدولة" امتداداتها اقليمية، وما هدف إليه كي تَخرُج الجمهورية من منطق "التبعية والوصاية والهيمنة". كما ساهم بترايوس في الجهد الرسمي الهادف إلى مكافحة التطرّف والإرهاب والحدّ من انتشار التيارات الأصولية. أخيراً، حرص بترايوس على حماية الأقليات في المنطقة، إيماناً منه بدورها في نشر قيَم الاعتدال والتسامُح والديموقراطية والحرّيات وحقوق الإنسان وبناء "دول الحق"."
