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 [...]
Archive for the ‘Muslims’ Category
“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 »
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 [...]
Europe and the Muslim Conundrum
Posted in Al Qaeda, Europe, Fundamentalism, islam, Middle East, Muslims, Radical, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy, Women, tagged Al Qaeda, Arab Gulf, Europe, islam, Middle East, Muslims, Radical, U.S. Foreign Policy, veil on July 21, 2010 | 2 Comments »
A colleague is heading overseas for an important meeting with some Arab Gulf investors next week. But he flies to South of France instead of the Middle East. Mediterranean Europe has long been the summer playground of the Arab petro-elite. Closer than America (without the oversized no-fly lists) and even more permissive, Arab men have [...]
The Lonely Voice of Bob Gates
Posted in Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, defense spending, Fundamentalism, Iran, Iraq, islam, Muslims, nuclear weapon, Pakistan, Radical, South Asia, Taliban, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy, Uncategorized, tagged Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, America, defense spending, democracy, Iran, Iraq, islam, Middle East, nuclear, Pakistan, Radical, Taliban, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy on July 14, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Hats off to Bob Gates for being a true patriot. For realizing that the real threat to our national security isn’t a group of angry beards in a Pakistani cave or a gaggle of rogue nations whose combined defense spending doesn’t approach one-tenth of ours, but rather the waste and cozy corruption within our own [...]
No Reflection, On Both Sides
Posted in 9/11, Al Qaeda, Egypt, Fundamentalism, India, Iran, Iraq, islam, Israel, Middle East, Muslims, Obama, Pakistan, Radical, September 11, South Asia, Taleban, Taliban, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy, tagged 9/11, Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, America, Americans, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, islam, Israel, Middle East, Muslims, Pakistan, Palestine, Palestinians, Radical, South Asia, Taliban, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy on July 6, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
A pair of instances recently reminded me how both sides- the “West” (more specifically, the United States) and the Muslim World- have engaged in so little self-reflection since the events of 9/11. It is much easier to project outward than to take a hard look at your own society. Problems are no longer yours when [...]
Islam’s Hidden Light
Posted in Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Fundamentalism, Iraq, islam, Middle East, Muslims, Radical, Shabab, Somalia, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy, tagged Al Qaeda, islam, Middle East, Muslims, Radical, Shabab, Somalia, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy on June 8, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Lost among headlines recently of state-sponsored piracy on the high seas and Americans headed to Somalia for jihadist training was a stunning Washington Post article by Sudarsan Raghavan about a little-known militia on the fringes of the civilized world. When we hear the word militia, it typically conjures up negative connotations in our heads; vigilantes [...]
A Real Iran Policy
Posted in Ahmadinejad, Fundamentalism, India, Iran, Iraq, islam, Israel, Lebanon, Middle East, Muslims, nuclear weapon, Obama, Shia, U.S. Foreign Policy, tagged America, Iran, Iranians, Iraq, islam, Israel, Lebanon, Middle East, mullah, nuclear, Obama, Shia, U.S. Foreign Policy on May 20, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Elected in no small part due to the backlash against rash Bush administration misadventures abroad, the incoming Obama team swore to itself it would pursue a more nuanced, collaborative policy towards Iran. And from the beginning, the president has acted with considerable restraint, even when the mullahs’ brutality against their own people streamed across the [...]
Fighting Extremism: Harnessing our Strengths
Posted in Al Qaeda, Egypt, Fundamentalism, islam, Middle East, Muslims, Pakistan, Radical, South Asia, Taleban, Taliban, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy, tagged Al Qaeda, America, Americans, Middle East, Muslims, Pakistan, Radical, South Asia, Taliban, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy on May 10, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
One wonders what would have happened if the Times Square car bomb attempt had occurred in Phoenix instead of the teeming, diverse neighborhoods of NYC. What if the street vendors who tipped off police with vital information that eventually led to Faisal Shahzad’s capture (by his shoe laces) were Latino instead of African-American? Given Arizona’s [...]
Talibaning Times Square
Posted in Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Fundamentalism, India, islam, Middle East, Muslims, Osama, Pakistan, Radical, South Asia, Taleban, Taliban, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy, tagged Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, India, islam, Middle East, Mumbai, Muslims, nuclear, Pakistan, Radical, Saudi Arabia, South Asia, Taliban, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy on May 5, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
It’s too early to know all the facts in the failed Times Square car bomb, but its looks like at least one US citizen of Pakistani heritage was involved and that the plot emanated at least in part from South Asia. Coinciding with the recent conviction of the lone surviving Mumbai terrorist, also a Pakistani trained and [...]
Yes, The Path Does Run Through Jerusalem
Posted in Al Qaeda, democracy, Egypt, elections, Fundamentalism, Hamas, islam, Israel, Middle East, Muslims, Radical, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy, tagged Al Qaeda, America, democracy, Egypt, elections, islam, Israel, Lebanon, Middle East, Muslims, Palestine, Palestinians, Radical, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy on April 20, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Jackson Diehl likes to talk about the futility of a dead Middle East peace process. Like most opinion leaders in our American media, he blames this squarely on a divided Palestinian leadership and an Arab world rife with corrupt autocracies unwilling to compromise. Now is not the time to push major initiatives, he argues. [...]
