“We can’t lose focus” after Bin Laden’s death, said the former Secretary of State, the woman who helped author the most costly loss of focus in the history of America’s fight against terrorism. Of course, Condi Rice had no earthly idea when she spouted her “mushroom cloud” warning years ago that Saddam Hussein had long given up his nuclear [...]
Archive for the ‘Iraq’ Category
AfPak: Too Big To Fail?
Posted in 9/11, Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, defense spending, democracy, Fundamentalism, Iraq, islam, Middle East, Muslims, nuclear weapon, Obama, Osama, Pakistan, Radical, revolution, September 11, South Asia, Taleban, Taliban, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy, tagged 9/11, Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, America, Americans, defense spending, Iraq, islam, Middle East, Muslims, nuclear, Pakistan, South Asia, Taliban, U.S. Foreign Policy on May 5, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
What Comes First: The Dictator or the Fundamentalist?
Posted in 9/11, Al Qaeda, democracy, Egypt, Europe, Fundamentalism, Iran, Iraq, islam, Middle East, Muslims, Obama, Osama, Radical, revolution, September 11, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy, youth, tagged 9/11, Al Qaeda, America, democracy, Egypt, elections, Europe, Iraq, Libya, Middle East, mullah, Muslims, Radical, Syria, Tunisia, U.S. Foreign Policy, Yemen, youth on April 24, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
“La Ikhwan, La Salafia. A Sha’ab Bidu Huriyya.” “No Muslim Brotherhood. No Salafists. The Youth want Freedom.” The language above on the sign held up by a Syrian protester this week encapsulates all the promise, and anxiety, of this moment for Western policy makers watching the Arab revolutions unfold. What kind of freedom? Who will [...]
A Thinking Man’s Foreign Policy
Posted in Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, defense spending, Fundamentalism, India, Iraq, islam, Israel, Middle East, Muslims, Pakistan, Radical, South Asia, Taleban, Taliban, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy, tagged Afghanistan, America, Americans, defense spending, India, Iraq, islam, Israel, Middle East, Muslims, Radical, Saudi Arabia, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy on November 17, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
I share Eugene Robinson’s well-articulated concern in his most recent Washington Post column. The numbers are stark: America’s share of total world defense spending is 46.5%. Second place goes to China at a meager 6.6%. In an age of withering economic hardship at home and growing deficits and debt, why do we continue to subsidize a [...]
Under Obama, Business as Usual…
Posted in 9/11, Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Fundamentalism, Iran, Iraq, islam, Israel, Middle East, Muslims, nuclear weapon, Obama, Pakistan, Radical, September 11, Shia, South Asia, Taliban, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy, tagged 9/11, Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, America, Americans, Iran, Iraq, islam, Israel, Middle East, Muslims, Obama, Pakistan, Palestine, Palestinians, Radical, Saudi Arabia, South Asia, Taliban, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy on October 24, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Hussein was not a dirty word for most American Muslims who watched the first black man inaugurated president two years ago. The president’s middle name represented a certain hope, not that our new head of state was a closet Muslim, for we all knew better, and, given many of our experiences, we were not advocates [...]
Development Disrupted
Posted in Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, democracy, Egypt, Europe, Fundamentalism, Iraq, islam, Middle East, Muslims, Pakistan, Radical, South Asia, Taliban, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy, Women, tagged Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Americans, democracy, Egypt, Iraq, islam, Pakistan, Radical, South Asia, U.S. Foreign Policy on October 6, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
In Tamim Ansary’s excellent history, Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes- written in plain, digestable English, not scholar-speak- a particular passage recently struck me as a lost morsel of critical perspective as we wage our “global war against extremism”. In his book, Ansary is talking about the 7th century battle of Uhud, [...]
Insurgency and Counter-Insurgency
Posted in Afghanistan, democracy, Egypt, Fundamentalism, Iran, Iraq, islam, Israel, Middle East, Muslims, nuclear weapon, Obama, Pakistan, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy, tagged Afghanistan, Americans, Arab Gulf, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, islam, Israel, Jordan, mullah, nuclear, Palestinians, Saudi Arabia, Tea Party, U.S. Foreign Policy on September 2, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
This past weekend I hopped on Interstate 95 and rubbernecked my way along stimulus-inspired construction lanes down to colonial Williamsburg, a time-warp back to the days of British empire in America and its discontents. A passion-play called “Revolutionary City” was captivating a crowd of tourists along the former colonial capital’s cobblestone avenues, complete with costumed [...]
The Lost Narrative
Posted in 9/11, Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Egypt, Fundamentalism, Iran, Iraq, islam, Israel, Middle East, Muslims, Obama, Osama, Pakistan, Radical, September 11, Somalia, Sunni, Taleban, Taliban, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy, tagged 9/11, Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, America, Americans, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, islam, Israel, Middle East, Muslims, Obama, Radical, Saudi Arabia, Sunni, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy on August 25, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
I won’t attempt to decipher the swirling debate surrounding the manufactured controversy of Park 51, the “mosque” (actually, cultural center modeled on the Jewish YMCA at 92nd Street) “at Ground Zero” (actually, several blocks away, like the other mosques already in the area.). All heat and very little light, it’s clear the only thing this debate [...]
The Case Against Iran
Posted in Ahmadinejad, Fundamentalism, Iran, Iraq, islam, Israel, Middle East, nuclear weapon, Radical, U.S. Foreign Policy, tagged Ahmadinejad, Al Qaeda, Iran, Iranians, islam, Israel, Middle East, Netanyahu, nuclear, Radical, U.S. Foreign Policy on August 18, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
I will not attempt to dissect the spate of reactions and counter-reactions to the Jeffrey Goldberg article on the Iran-Israel conflict in this past week’s Atlantic. Smarter people who follow this debate every day and have none of Goldberg’s hidden prejudice or agenda have provided some excellent analysis here and here. I highly recommend this reading for anyone who [...]
“Touches Pas A Mon Liban”
Posted in Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Europe, Fundamentalism, Hizbullah, Iran, Iraq, islam, Israel, Lebanon, Middle East, Muslims, Sunni, Taleban, Taliban, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy, tagged Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Americans, Europe, Iran, Iranians, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Middle East, mullah, Muslims, Palestinians, Radical, U.S. Foreign Policy on August 4, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
I don’t usually write about a status update on Facebook, but this one seemed to encapsulate so many of the complexities we deal with when trying to understand the shifting sands of identity in the Middle East. I haven’t seen or talked to this “friend” in several years, since a few too many drinks and [...]
Top Secret America, in Denial
Posted in 9/11, Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Fundamentalism, Iraq, islam, Middle East, Muslims, Obama, Osama, Pakistan, Radical, September 11, Taleban, Taliban, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy, tagged 9/11, Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Americans, Iraq, islam, Middle East, Muslims, Obama, Radical, Taliban, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy on July 29, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
The dust has yet to settle surrounding the twin revelations of the last several weeks: the Washington Post’s revealing expose on America’s mammoth national security apparatus with its ties to big business and the Wikileaks data dump of classified reporting from the front lines of the spiraling Afghan war. Taken together, the two episodes cannot [...]
