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Mideast spiraling in war and terror
8/8/2014 4:50:13 PM
- The Iraqi government and security forces are battling ISIS
- A three-year civil war is raging in Syria
- "No one is winning; no one can win," says U.N. secretary-general
- Official warns Libya is at risk of becoming a failed state
(CNN) -- It's a region of crises next door.
A brutal civil war in Syria has spawned an equally, if not more, ruthless crusade in Iraq. Libya is at risk of becoming a failed state. And even Israel -- a relative oasis of calm -- is in the midst of a campaign in Gaza, where people are being killed nearly every day.
What's going on?
A casual observer could be forgiven for being lost. The region, rich in history, is as complex as it can be confusing.
With so many conflicts, on so many fronts, here's a quick look at what's happening:
Iraq
Who's fighting?
The Iraqi government and security forces are battling ISIS, which calls itself the Islamic State. Since spilling into Iraq from Syria, the group has captured city after city, including the country's second-largest city, Mosul.
The United States is supporting the Iraqi military in its effort, by bombing ISIS positions and making humanitarian airdrops.
Why?
ISIS is clear about what it wants: To create a caliphate, or Islamic state, spanning Iraq and Syria.
Its Sunni Muslim fighters have been targeting Iraq's Christians and other minority groups, as well as Shiite Muslims.
"Those people are not people; they are monsters," said a student, 22, who spoke to CNN in the Iraqi city of Irbil, after fleeing his home. "Not monsters; monsters are better."
What's the latest?
The situation on the ground is in constant flux. U.S. airstrikes are ongoing.
More than two years after President Barack Obama brought home forces from the country, officials have ruled out getting involved in a combat role.
But, "when we have the unique capabilities to help avert a massacre, then I believe the United States of America cannot turn a blind eye," the President said.
Will anyone stop ISIS?
Syria
Who's fighting?
What started as a popular protest against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has swelled into a civil war of more than three years and counting.
The armed opposition is made up of various groups, including the Free Syrian Army. The government says it is fighting terrorists.
Why?
Rebels want an end to the rule of al-Assad, whose government is determined to keep power.
The United Nations says more than 150,000 people have been killed in the past three years.
"No one is winning; no one can win," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said. "Even if one side were to prevail in the short term, the devastating toll will have sown the seeds of future conflict."
What's the latest?
ISIS, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, is using the opportunity of war to carve a swath of territory deep inside Syria. It has consolidated control over several towns along the Euphrates River in the east.
"ISIL is no longer simply a terrorist organization. It is now a full-blown army," said Brett McGurk, with the U.S. State Department.
Terror havens in Syria and Iraq: Five reasons the West should worry
Israel and Gaza
Who's fighting?
Israel is faced off against the Palestinian side, which includes Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Counties in the region, and outside, also have a stake in the outcome. Egypt is attempting to help broker a peace, with the United States playing a supporting role in talks.
"It's a proxy war for control or dominance in the Middle East," said CNN's Fareed Zakaria.
Why?
Israel is calling for Hamas, the militant Islamic group that runs Gaza, to disarm.
Hamas, meanwhile, wants an end to the Israeli blockade of Gaza, a measure Israel says is necessary to stop weapons being smuggled in.
It's a decades-old conflict, with potentially new complications.
Gaza: Why it's different this time
What's the latest?
A brief period of calm was shattered Friday.
The Israeli military said it carried out strikes on militant targets in Gaza in response to a barrage of rocket fire after a three-day truce came to an end without a longer-term agreement.
Renewed hostilities mean more misery for the people of Gaza.
Close to 1,900 people have been killed there so far, including hundreds of children, according to Palestinian health authorities.
The United Nations estimates at least 70% of the dead were civilians.
Israeli officials have said 64 Israeli soldiers and three civilians in Israel died. Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system intercepts many of the rockets fired at populated areas of the country.
What is Hamas' endgame in Gaza?
What is Israel's endgame in Gaza?
Libya
Who's fighting?
Nearly three years after Libyan rebels overthrew a longtime dictator, the country is no closer to a lasting peace. In fact, the fighting is the worst it has been since the revolution.
The civil war that culminated in Moammar Gadhafi's 2011 death has given way to warring militias, which outnumber and outgun the country's security forces.
Why?
The overthrow of Gadhafi created a power vacuum.
Many inside Libya are desperate to get out while others are moving in to take advantage of the increased instability.
"These people do not recognize borders. For them, if there's an opportunity for them to act, they act," Libyan Foreign Minister Mohamed Abdelaziz said about extremists. "And we should not give the opportunity to them."
What's the latest?
Witnesses reported heavy shelling and fighting last month around the international airport in Tripoli, which has been under attack by an alliance of powerful militias from the city of Misrata and Islamist groups.
The fighters are trying to take the airport from militias from the city of Zintan, which have controlled it since the 2011 revolution.
With Tripoli under siege, Libya's newly elected parliament met in far-away Tobruk. It called for an immediate cease-fire under U.N. supervision.
"I must really underline the fact that all the factors at the moment are leading in the direction of a failed state," Abdelaziz said.
July: U.S. Embassy in Libya evacuates personnel
CNN's Holly Yan, Josh Levs, Jethro Mullen, Tom Cohen, Frederik Pleitgen, and Hala Gorani, contributed to this report.
Can West live with ISIS?
8/9/2014 8:29:15 AM
- The West may decide on a "wait and see" approach regarding ISIS, writes Fahad Nazer
- Nazer: Unlike other al Qaeda branches, ISIS doesn't seem eager to attack the West
- Its focus appears to be consolidating and expanding areas under its control, he says
- The declaration of a caliphate last month by ISIS leader signaled a major shift, he writes
Editor's note: Fahad Nazer is a terrorism analyst with JTG Inc, an analysis and intelligence company in Vienna, Virginia, that has government and private clients -- including defense companies in the U.S. and abroad. Nazer is a former political analyst at the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, CNN, Foreign Policy, Yale Global Online and Al Monitor. Follow him on Twitter. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
(CNN) -- As the international community contemplates what should be done about the Islamic State, formerly the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) -- the brutal al Qaeda offshoot that now controls a wide swath of territory spread across the Iraqi-Syrian border -- the West, with the United States at its helm, may decide that while ISIS constitutes an imminent threat to the security of the countries in whose midst it has risen, a "wait-and-see" approach, remains a viable option for a simple reason: Unlike other al Qaeda branches, ISIS doesn't seem eager to attack the West. It has too much to lose.
Its nascent, quasi "state" could be destroyed if it sponsors a terrorist attack in the West and it knows it. Its focus instead appears to be consolidating -- and expanding -- the areas that have already come under its control in Iraq and Syria. Its clarion call to Muslims is not so much to attack the West but to "migrate" East, where it claims "Caliphate" has been restored.
The declaration of a caliphate last month by ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, signaled a major shift. The former al Qaeda affiliate has eschewed being just another branch of a secretive, loose, international network that launches small- and occasionally large-scale terrorist attacks against soft targets in the West in an effort to force it to disengage from the Muslim world, and across the Muslim world to destabilize and ultimately supplant the regimes there.
That does not mean that ISIS will abjure the barbaric violence, insidious sectarianism and abhorrent intolerance that have been the hallmarks of al Qaeda. However, there are indications that Baghdadi's declaration may be more than mere delusions of grandeur. The Islamic State is starting to act less like a "base" from which to plan terrorist attacks and more like a very violent "state."
The world grew accustomed to Osama bin Laden's audio and video messages from undisclosed locations in which he railed about Western "crusaders" and their "agents" in the Arab and Muslim worlds and vowed to bring death and destruction to both. Although what appears to be Baghdadi's first audio message after the declaration of the caliphate still hit on those themes, war against the West doesn't seem to be his focus.
Fahad Nazer
His sermon in a mosque in Mosul was startling. The image of Baghdadi preaching in public -- mostly about the implications of the establishment of his caliphate and his responsibility to Muslims and theirs to him -- was a game changer. It was a stark contrast to bin Laden's -- and his successor, Ayman al-Zawahiri's -- messages, which are recorded in makeshift studios with no audience and remain largely reflective of an organization engaged in a covert, asymmetrical war whose aim is to weaken its adversaries and their "patrons" before it can establish its ultimate goal. Baghdadi portrays al-Zawahiri's dream as his current reality.
In addition to controlling more territory than any al Qaeda branch ever has, ISIS has commandeered heavy weaponry from Iraqi security forces that have failed to defend Sunni-majority areas. Its total assets in cash and weapons are estimated at about $2 billion.
Its rapid advances in Iraq also indicate that it has learned from other al Qaeda affiliates' mistakes, as it has forged tentative alliances with some Sunni tribes and ex-Baathists. Its propaganda makes clear that the group is committed to presenting itself as an entity that can actually govern and that can provide the public goods and services -- including security -- that weak or oppressive states fail to provide. In short, it is adopting the Hamas and Hezbollah model.
While the West has never been comfortable with Hamas in Gaza or Hezbollah in Lebanon, it has largely left it up to the countries of the wider Middle East to deal with these militant, Islamist organizations. Likewise, and despite what has been described by the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. as the "systematic, industrial-style slaughter and forced starvation killings" being carried out by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the West appears unwilling to intervene militarily to stop the catastrophic war in Syria.
Many will argue that al Qaeda has repeatedly attacked the West in the past and has vowed to do so again. However, ISIS is unlike any al Qaeda affiliate. It has accomplished what "al Qaeda central" and other affiliates have failed to do for years. Thanks to al-Assad's brutality, it was able to craft a jihadist narrative that made Syria the favorite destination of thousands of Islamist militants. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's sectarianism and his inept military that has seceded entire cities to ISIS, lent credibility to the notion that an Islamic "state" actually exists.
The West may find solace in the fact that ISIS has many enemies in the Arab and Muslim worlds. In addition to al-Assad and al-Maliki, Sunni-led Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey and Jordan, see it as a terrorist organization committed to their destruction.
As it has done in Syria, and contrary to its grandiose claims of restoring the dignity of Muslims, ISIS has systematically terrorized anyone who stands in its way, including Shia, Sunnis, Sufis and even Christians. While many will unfortunately suffer from ISIS brutality, its violent ideology and brutality makes its endurance over the long-term unlikely.
As Syria has shown, the West appears resigned to leave it to Arabs and Muslims -- and recently Israelis -- to sort out their conflicts. Unless ISIS makes it so by planning a major terrorist attack in the West, the latter will likely adhere to its new mantra: "It's not our war."
MAPS: Understanding the crisis
READ: Iraqi Yazidi lawmaker: 'Hundreds of my people are being slaughtered'
READ: Facing fines, conversion or death, Christian families flee Mosul
The views expressed in this commentary are solely those of Fahad Nazer.
How Korea made itself cool
8/8/2014 3:54:37 PM
- Jeff Yang: For many years, I was never one of the cool kids, part of the in crowd
- Yang: I was surprised when Japanese and Hong Kong pop culture became popular
- He says South Korea is now hot -- with K-pop, Samsung, "Gangnam Style," movies
- Yang: Latest Korean cool can be sampled at KCON this weekend in Los Angeles
Editor's note: Jeff Yang is a columnist for The Wall Street Journal Online and can be heard frequently on radio as a contributor to shows such as PRI's "The Takeaway" and WNYC's "The Brian Lehrer Show." He is the author of "I Am Jackie Chan: My Life in Action" and editor of the graphic novel anthologies "Secret Identities" and "Shattered." The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.
(CNN) -- For many years, I had a pretty good working definition of cool: It was the thing that I was not.
I was a chubby, bespectacled kid with a bowl haircut and my nose buried in the nearest book. When it came time to choose up sides for sports, they assigned me to the team with the best players — as a handicap. The cool kids came to school in Jordans and Polo. I rocked Keds and fake Sanrio T-shirts my aunts sent to us from Taiwan.
And that, of course, pointed to the biggest and most insurmountable obstacle standing in the way of my joining the ranks of the cool — the fact that I was one of just four Asian kids in my entire school, a tally that included my younger sister. The cool kids were all white, except for a handful of black and Latino athletes. My fellow Asian students, meanwhile, were to varying degrees just like me: We were seen as permanently different, always out of sync with the shifting tides of style and status. Not quite outcast, but never part of the in crowd either.
So when the phenomenon of Asian cool first arrived, I was caught off guard, and frankly, more than a little suspicious.
When I was in college, Japanese and Hong Kong pop culture were first catching fire at the fringes; they'd attracted plenty of enthusiasts, but those fans were no cooler than I was. (Possibly less cool.) By the time I was working as a young journalist, I found myself on a beat covering anime and action cinema, J-rock and Cantopop, gadgets and gaming — all things I was personally fascinated by, but couldn't quite believe had attracted the attention of the so-called mainstream. And I secretly thought that it couldn't last. The popularity of Asian pop culture was a fad, and like all fads would eventually fade.
I wasn't entirely wrong. After 1997 and reunification with mainland China, Hong Kong's star ebbed. Anime and manga remain hugely popular, but have lost the dominant position they once held among youth. Japan's once unassailable titans of technology — Sony, Panasonic, Toshiba — have seen their products fall out of place as the must-haves among mobile millennials.
And yet, even as Hong Kong and Japan have moved out of the centerpoint of cultural cool, another Asian nation has stepped into the spotlight: South Korea — the origin point of Samsung, "Snowpiercer," Girls Generation and "Gangnam Style."
The surging popularity of Korean pop culture can be seen in the booming attendance at KCON, the annual California-based gathering for fans of Korean music, TV and cinema, which opens its doors this weekend at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.
"Our numbers have doubled each year," says Angela Killoren, chief marketing officer of the event's organizer, the North American subsidiary of Korean entertainment giant CJ E&M. "We had 10,000 fans at the first KCON 2012, 20,000 in 2013, and expect 30, around 40,000 to 50,000 persons overall enjoying the KCON experience this year" — which includes the appearance of major TV drama stars, a head-to-head pro gaming throwdown, a talent contest called SuperstarKCON and a concert featuring chart-busting idols Girls Generation and G-Dragon as headliners.
But even if Korea is the king of pop-culture cool now, can Korea hold onto the crown better than its Asian predecessors? That's a question Euny Hong addresses in her new book, "The Birth of Korean Cool: How One Nation Is Conquering the World Through Pop Culture."
"I think it can," she says. "The difference between cool Korea and earlier Asian pop culture waves is that Korea has been working to make this happen for almost two decades. Korea is cool because it decided to be cool — it's the first country in history that has made being cool a massive policy priority, backed by the Korean government to the tune of billions of dollars."
The fact is, the machine of Korean pop culture is as sleekly designed, systematically engineered and massively marketed as any Samsung gadget. It's not just a gigantic money-making industry, it's also the primary source of "soft power" by which the nation seeks to shorten its path from war-torn, third-world country to the top ranks of world influencers.
"Koreans have a deep-seated desire to see the nation recognized and validated," Hong says. "We study harder than anyone in the world, we work more hours, and it's all because of this need to see us finally come on top."
Japanese cool is quirky, the sum of the nation's eccentricities. Hong Kong cool is frenetic, representative of the society's freewheeling striving spirit. American cool is casual: It's cool that's anchored in doing without trying, it's about being quintessentially effortless.
By contrast, Korean cool could not be more effort-ful. The hypnotic appeal of K-pop videos are not just their candy-colored, otherworldly aesthetic, it's also because their performers — sometimes numbering in the dozens — are invariably dancing in perfect sync, with a level of precision possible only because candidates for K-pop glory are recruited as adolescents and trained for years in groups that are required to live, take classes, eat, sleep and rehearse together until they've achieved a transcendent level of harmony.
It all underscores the fact that the rise of Korean cool was hardly an accident — and that it could well have staying power.
American pop is often seen by nations around the world as an invading force, crushing native alternatives with the unfair-to-the-point-of-being-weaponized scale of its marketing budgets. Korean cool, by contrast, is recognized as the product of hard work and ingenuity, developed by a nation that just a few generations ago was newly bisected by war and mired in desperate poverty. In the fastest-growing markets in the world — Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East — K-pop is aspirational in part because it holds out hope that they, too, will someday be able to join the ranks of the global economy's cool kids.
Which means that lifelong nerds like myself might not be a completely lost cause, either. Back to practicing my precision dance routines.
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Golf: Tiger's Ryder Cup doubt
8/9/2014 11:49:29 AM
- Tiger Woods misses cut at PGA Championship
- 14-time major winner cannot now automatically qualify for Ryder Cup
- Woods has struggled with injury and form in 2014
Follow us at @WorldSportCNN and like us on Facebook
(CNN) -- It would have been unthinkable a matter of months ago, but could Tiger Woods be set to miss out on the 2014 Ryder Cup?
The 38-year old failed to make the cut at this weekend's PGA championship at Valhalla and looked far from content as he struggled with a back injury.
Woods cannot now automatically qualify for the bi-annual matchup between Europe and the U.S. which will take place at Gleneagles in September and is relying on a wildcard pick from U.S. captain, Tom Watson, to have any chance of making the roster.
"It was sore. No doubt it was sore," Wood's said of the injury when asked by reporters Friday.
"(My body) was telling me on the range it probably wasn't a good idea, but I'm not exactly a non‑stubborn person."
"I need to get stronger physically and be back to where I was."
Woods has missed out on much of the 2014 season with a separate back injury and has struggled for form since his return.
He only just made the cut at the British Open in July and is currently ranked at No. 69 in the American standings.
Only the top nine players automatically qualify for the Ryder Cup team with three captain's picks making up the full squad of 12.
Woods won't be eligible for the FedEx Cup playoffs later this month meaning he will likely not play competitive golf before Watson announces his wildcards on September 2.
Read: McIlroy sets pace at Valhalla
Paul Azinger, who was widely praised for his Ryder Cup captaincy in a five-point win in 2008, said he would not pick Woods for this year's team.
"I don't think I would," Azinger told the Golf Channel. "I don't see how you can take an injured player who is not playing well."
"And also Tiger has not necessarily been the formula for success either. I just don't see how you can pick him at this point.
"I am guessing he will call Tom and beg out of this and say I am not ready, make Tom's decision easier."
Woods told reporters Friday he had not had any conversations about his participation with Watson.
When asked of the 14-time major winner's chances later in the day, Watson said that Woods would only be picked if he is "free of injury and he is playing well."
The U.S. team has already been weakened by Dustin Johnson's decision to take a break from the sport to seek "professional help" to deal with personal challenges.
Johnson was ranked fifth in the American standings before his withdrawal and would almost certainly have qualified automatically.
There was further worrying news for the U.S. earlier this week as two other likely automatic picks Matt Kuchner and Jason Duffner both withdrew from the PGA event with back and neck injuries respectively.
"We're falling like flies right now, some of the players that are either on the borderline or on the team. That's a concern," Watson said.
"(But) there's time for recovery and there's certainly a lot of golf to be played between now and September 2 when I make those three picks," he added.
Read: 18 amazing major golf photos
McIlroy battles to hold day 3 lead
8/9/2014 7:12:25 PM
- Rory McIlroy takes slim lead into final day of PGA Championship
- British Open winner holds one shot advantage over Austria's Bernd Wiesberger
- Rickie Fowler, Jason Day and Phil Mickelson all in chasing pack
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(CNN) -- Rory McIlroy held his nerve to maintain the lead on day three of the PGA Championship at the Valhalla Golf Club in Kentucky and will take a slender one shot cushion into Sunday's final round.
The Northern Irishman, who is attempting to win his third straight tournament and second major of 2014, carded a round of 67 Saturday to leave him on 13-under-par for the week.
Austria's Bernd Wiesberger is a shot back at 12-under-par followed by Rickie Fowler on 11-under.
Phil Mickelson finished the day at 10-under-par alongside Jason Day while Louis Oosthuizen, Henrik Stenson, Ryan Palmer and Miko Ilonen are tied for fifth position at nine-under-par.
"I'm really happy with how I finished again," McIlroy told Sky Sports upon reaching the clubhouse. "I finished really strongly which puts me in good position for tomorrow."
McIlroy won the British Open in July and reclaimed the world No. 1 spot last week when he picked up the WGC Bridgestone Invitational title.
And his big-hitting game seemed made for the tender greens in Louisville that had been softened by early morning rain.
But the day was not without its challenges and McIlroy had to dig deep to fend off the chasing field.
The 25-year-old saved par on the fourth after teeing off into the hazard before carding birdies on holes five and seven.
He bogeyed eight and then once again showed guile to par the ninth when he overshot the green. A birdie on ten was then followed by a bogey on 12 and another difficult par save on 13.
At this stage Day, Fowler and Palmer had clawed McIlroy back to tie for the lead at 10-under-par.
Read: Tiger's Ryder Cup struggles
But the Rory McIlroy of the last month has been nothing if not resilient.
He spoke Friday about how golf has become his life since splitting from fiance Caroline Wozniacki in May. And when the pressure was on here in Kentucky, he excelled.
A birdie on 15 was followed by a miraculous approach shot on 16 that dropped two feet from the hole.
Three birdies from Wiesberger on the final three holes, however, brought the Austrian level atop the leaderboard.
But McIlroy added one last birdie of his own on 18 to secure the overnight lead.
"I knew there were guys ahead of me making birdies and it gives me a lot of confidence knowing that if I get challenged and people put the pressure on I am able to respond like I did today," McIlroy said.
"If I can keep playing well and staying mentally strong, there is another major to maybe come my way."
By comparison, Wiesberger will be aiming for his first ever major win when he heads out Sunday.
The 28-year-old is ranked 70 in the world and had only ever made the cut once in five previous majors.
"I played beautifully today, I didn't miss a lot of shots, set up a few nice opportunities on the last few holes especially. I'm very proud of myself the way I played," Wiesberger said in quotes carried by UK news agency, the Press Association.
"It's a completely new situation for me, only my second cut in a major in six attempts, so I am quite a rookie in this particularly situation. I have driven it really nicely this week and if I can do it again it will settle down the nerves and I am going to have fun tomorrow."
Elsewhere on the course, former world No. 1 Adam Scott scored a fine 66 to leave him tied at seven-under par with Lee Westwood, Hunter Mahan, Kevin Chappell and Jim Furyk.
Wales' Jamie Donaldson is a shot ahead at 8-under-par after scoring an impressive 66 alongside Graham DeLaet and Steve Stricker.
At the other end of the leaderboard, Bubba Watson's frustrating form continued as he scored a disappointing round of 73 leaving him two-over-par for the tournament.
Read: 18 of the most amazing golf shots ever!
Tiger's Ryder Cup doubt
8/9/2014 7:12:36 PM
- Tiger Woods misses cut at PGA Championship
- 14-time major winner cannot now automatically qualify for Ryder Cup
- Woods has struggled with injury and form in 2014
Follow us at @WorldSportCNN and like us on Facebook
(CNN) -- It would have been unthinkable a matter of months ago, but could Tiger Woods be set to miss out on the 2014 Ryder Cup?
The 38-year old failed to make the cut at this weekend's PGA championship at Valhalla and looked far from content as he struggled with a back injury.
Woods cannot now automatically qualify for the bi-annual matchup between Europe and the U.S. which will take place at Gleneagles in September and is relying on a wildcard pick from U.S. captain, Tom Watson, to have any chance of making the roster.
"It was sore. No doubt it was sore," Wood's said of the injury when asked by reporters Friday.
"(My body) was telling me on the range it probably wasn't a good idea, but I'm not exactly a non‑stubborn person."
"I need to get stronger physically and be back to where I was."
Woods has missed out on much of the 2014 season with a separate back injury and has struggled for form since his return.
He only just made the cut at the British Open in July and is currently ranked at No. 69 in the American standings.
Only the top nine players automatically qualify for the Ryder Cup team with three captain's picks making up the full squad of 12.
Woods won't be eligible for the FedEx Cup playoffs later this month meaning he will likely not play competitive golf before Watson announces his wildcards on September 2.
Read: McIlroy sets pace at Valhalla
Paul Azinger, who was widely praised for his Ryder Cup captaincy in a five-point win in 2008, said he would not pick Woods for this year's team.
"I don't think I would," Azinger told the Golf Channel. "I don't see how you can take an injured player who is not playing well."
"And also Tiger has not necessarily been the formula for success either. I just don't see how you can pick him at this point.
"I am guessing he will call Tom and beg out of this and say I am not ready, make Tom's decision easier."
Woods told reporters Friday he had not had any conversations about his participation with Watson.
When asked of the 14-time major winner's chances later in the day, Watson said that Woods would only be picked if he is "free of injury and he is playing well."
The U.S. team has already been weakened by Dustin Johnson's decision to take a break from the sport to seek "professional help" to deal with personal challenges.
Johnson was ranked fifth in the American standings before his withdrawal and would almost certainly have qualified automatically.
There was further worrying news for the U.S. earlier this week as two other likely automatic picks Matt Kuchner and Jason Duffner both withdrew from the PGA event with back and neck injuries respectively.
"We're falling like flies right now, some of the players that are either on the borderline or on the team. That's a concern," Watson said.
"(But) there's time for recovery and there's certainly a lot of golf to be played between now and September 2 when I make those three picks," he added.
Read: 18 amazing major golf photos
Venus victorious in Williams matchup
8/9/2014 9:30:22 PM
- Venus Williams defeats her sister Serena in Rogers Cup semifinal
- Venus hadn't beaten Serena in a competitive match since 2009
- Serena took first set but Venus battled back to win 6-7 (7/2) 6-2 6-3
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(CNN) -- Venus Williams rolled back the clock at the Rogers Cup in Montreal Saturday to claim victory over her younger sister and World No 1. Serena Williams for the first time in five years.
The unseeded Venus lost the first set of the semifinal matchup on a tie break but battled back to win 6-7 (7/2) 6-2 6-3 in just over two hours.
Venus secured what was effectively the match-wining break in the sixth game of the final set before holding her nerve and to serve out.
Despite firing down 19 aces, Serena will be left to rue making considerably more unforced errors than her sister, including nine double faults.
"The level of game we played was pretty high," Venus was quoted as saying by the WTA website after the match.
Venus has struggled for form in recent years and has suffered from injury and illness. But she has bounced back in 2014 and already has one WTA title for the year under her belt.
On finding her way back in to the game, she said: "I've been working hard, and more importantly I've been feeling better.
"I hope I can keep some of this control in my life. If I have that control, I can enjoy being on the court, and I can win as well."
Although she came up short on Saturday, Serena still leads the family head to head in competitive matches by 15-11.
The pair have won 26 major singles titles between them (17 for Serena and nine for Venus) and first faced off in the Australian Open in 1998.
Speaking on court after the match, Serena described being disappointed with some of her own play but was happy to see her sister perform so convincingly.
"She was really opening the court well," Serena said. "She (Venus) is such a good mover.
"I think her serve was way more consistent than mine. I had more aces, but she was just serving better.
"Ultimately I think she returned better as well."
Venus will now play either Agnieszka Radwanska or Ekaterina Makarova, who meet in the day's other semi-final.
Read: Serena Williams joins 200 club
Israel is its own worst enemy
8/9/2014 4:35:22 AM
- Levy: Unprecedented cracks in Israel's democracy have been revealed after month of Gaza conflict
- Levy: Biggest problem is Israeli mainstream's failure to tolerate dissenting voices
- Levy: Many Israelis no longer perceive Palestinians as equal human beings
- Levy: Dehumanization allows Israel to strengthen its occupation and deny Palestinians rights
Editor's note: Gideon Levy is a columnist for the Israeli daily Haaretz, which appears both in Hebrew and in English. He has covered the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza for the last 25 years. His most recent book, "The Punishment of Gaza," was published in 2010 by Verso. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely his.
(CNN) -- The streets of Ashkelon were half empty when I arrived on a Monday afternoon. The latest war was under way, and Haaretz had just published a critical article I'd written about Israel's air force pilots and the grave consequences of their bombardment of Gaza.
I came to this southern Israeli town, not far from Gaza, to chronicle the fear spreading throughout Israeli communities near the border. As a columnist for the country's leading liberal newspaper, I am quite used to people being hostile towards my views, but this was something new.
As I arrived in the town center for a live interview with Channel 2, a crowd of people immediately swarmed around me, cursing me with an aggression that I've never seen before. The bullies encircled me, jumping in front of the camera in an attempt to prevent the interview from going on. The show's host cut the broadcast off. The mob hurled insults at me, calling me "garbage" and a "traitor" and accused me of claiming that Israeli pilots were murderers -- something I never said.
As the crowd's anger grew, I rushed to my car and drove out of the town center, the men's screams trailing off as I steered my way out of Ashkelon. But it wasn't just the street mobs. Leading figures in Israel have publically called me a traitor. Yariv Levin, a senior member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's party, called on TV for me to be charged with treason during war time. Haaretz has hired a bodyguard to ensure my safety, and my life has been turned upside down by the incident.
They haven't succeeded in silencing me. I will continue to write about the brutality of this war, about the atrocities, the mass killing of civilians and the horrifying destruction in Gaza.
Gideon Levy
But I am not the story. The real tale to be told is of the unprecedented cracks in Israeli democracy that have been revealed in just one month of conflict. Years of nationalistic incitement by the Israeli government, of expressions of racism, of anti-democratic legislation, of price-tag actions against Palestinians in the West Bank, without anyone being brought to justice -- all of that intolerance has suddenly exploded in our faces.
Anti-war protesters have been assaulted in the streets by right-wing hooligans. People were reportedly fired from their jobs because of critical remarks they made on their private Facebook accounts. And social media was flooded with racist, nationalistic and exceptionally brutal and callous content, which was then spread to tens of thousands of Israelis.
Several weeks ago a university professor in Ramat Gan emailed his students to say he hoped that their families, whoever they might be, would be safe during these dark times. This simple act of kindness was enough for the dean of the faculty to try to have the professor apologize to his students, some of whom claimed to have been offended by his words. Failing to make a distinction between the value of Israeli and Palestinian blood is apparently enough to contravene the values of Israeli academia and cause a public scandal in Israel in 2014.
B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights organization, was concerned that Israeli media never mentioned the names of the Palestinian victims of Israel's offensive. So they produced a paid advertisement listing the names and ages of some of the children who had been killed in Gaza. But the Israeli broadcasting authority refused to air it, on the grounds that it was "politically controversial".
The list of examples could go on and on.
But the biggest problem is not the marginal extremist who cheers for the killing of Palestinian children in Gaza, or applauds every Israeli bomb that falls on a private residence. The biggest problem is the Israeli mainstream, which spoke with one voice during this war, and which had zero tolerance for any kind of dissent, or even the simplest human compassion with Palestinian sacrifice, suffering and bloodshed.
It is all about dehumanization. As long as Israelis don't perceive Palestinians as equal human beings, there will never be a real solution. Unfortunately, dehumanizing the Palestinians has become the best tool to strengthen the occupation, to ignore and deny its crimes and enable the Israelis to live in peace, without any moral dilemmas. If the Palestinians are not human beings, there is no question about human rights. This process climaxed in this war and this is the real basis for the moral blindness which has covered Israel.
One of Israel's greatest assets -- as well as the source of its greatest pride -- has been our liberal, democratic and free society. But what we're doing to ourselves now is a greater threat to our existence than Hamas' rockets could ever be. Israel likes to describe itself as "the only democracy in the Middle East," but it's really only a democracy for its Jewish citizens who are quick to fall in line with the mainstream every time Israeli tanks roll across the border.
It may not have always been this way, but I fear that this new phenomenon is here to stay. There is no one to stop it. The Israeli media, commercial and free, is collaborating with it; the legal and legislative systems are stepping back, and so is the political system. We will carry the scars of this summer with us from now on. The people who were too afraid to speak out against Israeli aggression this time around won't be any more likely to stand up next time. Can you think of any worse news out of Israel?
The opinions expressed in this commentary by Gideon Levy are solely his.
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