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Berlin Wall Fell, Obama Stays Away

National Review asked, "How big a deal is it that the president won't be going to Germany to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Berlin Wall?" My response follows; what others wrote can be found at "Forgetting the Fall."

Let us meditate briefly on Obama and the year 1989.

In one of the first interviews of his fledgling presidency, on January 27, 2009, Obama informed the audience of an Arabic-language television channel that he hoped to restore "the same respect and partnership that America had with the Muslim world as recently as 20 or 30 years ago."

How interesting that Obama praised 1989 as a time of exemplary U.S.-Muslim relations, and not the collapse of the Berlin Wall. Nineteen eighty-nine was an undistinguished year for U.S.-Muslim relations but it was before the U.S. government had sought to democratize the region. It was when Washington still focused on getting along with kings, presidents, emirs, and other autocrats. Obama's phrasing, Fouad Ajami points out, signals "a return to Realpolitik and business-as-usual" in relations with Muslims.

The president's decision to skip the celebrations in Berlin, thus, fits a larger pattern of nostalgia for the good old days before George W. Bush's "freedom agenda" and its inconvenient tensions with dictators. (November 6, 2009)

November 6, 2009  |  Permalink  |  Comments (11)

Nidal Hasan – Initial Thoughts on the Ft. Hood Jihadi

Was the Ft. Hood massacre an act of terrorism? For two reasons, I find this an unproductive question. First, terrorism has, in one count, 109 definitions, making this a question more suited to mulling over in a university seminar than to public policy. Second, an attack on soldiers is by definition not terrorism. Better to ask, then: Was this an act of jihad, that is, an attack intended to help Muslims vanquish infidels so as to impose Islamic law on them?

The New York Daily News captured Hasan's personality in one line: "a soldier who didn't want to go to war, a man of God who defended murder and a doctor who shot up the soldiers he was supposed to heal." Or this little gem from the Associated Press: "He required counseling as a medical student because of problems with patients."

Hasan is not some street hoodlum like Hasan Karim Akbar but a Ph.D. in psychology who had a role advising in a task force presenting homeland security options to the new administration in January 2009.

If Hasan merely wanted to get out of being deployed in Afghanistan, he could have shot his toe, not gone on a rampage killing 14 people. (November 6, 2009)

November 6, 2009  |  Permalink  |  Comments (4)

Karzai's Brother and Washington's Kept Politicians

Ahmed Wali Karzai, brother of Afghan president Hamid Karzai (pictured) is reportedly on the American payroll.

This unsavory news has many negative implications about Hamid Karzai's presidency; the one that interests me most is how it confirms his status as a kept politician, a leader who enjoys his present position due to foreign backing.

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October 28, 2009  |  Permalink  |  Comments (20)

That Nobel Peace Prize: Bashes Bush, Handcuffs Obama

"He won what?" is the universal first reaction.

And second, at least on the Right: "Why did they do that?"

Thorbjørn Jagland, Chair of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee, proudly displays a picture of President Obama.

Reading carefully through the entire citation suggests that Obama is being celebrated for two reasons. Its chatter about "a new climate," the United Nations, a "vision of a world free from nuclear arms," and "great climatic challenges" points to his being the anti-George W. Bush.

Second, the prize committee hopes to constrain Obama's hands vis-à-vis Iran. It lauds him for not using force: "Dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts." This is obviously gibberish: whereas Bush did not use force against North Korea, Obama does not rely on dialogue in Afghanistan. But the statement does pressure Obama not to use force in the theater that counts the most, namely the Iranian nuclear build-up.

So, from the Leftist Norwegian point of view, it's a twofer – bash Bush and handcuff Obama.

My prediction: The absurdity of the prize decision will harm Obama politically in the United States, contrasting his role as international celebrity with his record devoid of accomplishments. Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee, notes that Obama "won't be receiving any awards from Americans for job creation, fiscal responsibility, or backing up rhetoric with concrete action." Expect to hear much more along those lines.

October 9, 2009  |  Permalink  |  Comments (27)

American Taxpayer Money Spent on Eradicating Hebrew-Language Signs

A road sign with Hebrew.

Comment: So much for the prospects of normalization, harmonious peace, or a Palestinian population content to live side-by-side with Israel. (August 27, 2009)

August 27, 2009  |  Permalink  |  Comments (38)

"Jewish" - Not the Same as "Pro-Israel"

It's an obvious point, but it needs stating:

1. Not all Jews are Zionist. Some believe in universal socialism, some support Palestinians, others hold that only God can create a Jewish state or have been disappointed since 1977 when the right first came to power in Israel. Some openly hate Israel, others pretend it does not exist, and the most crafty of them present themselves as Zionist.

2. Plenty of non-Jews are Zionist. Christian Zionism began in nineteenth-century Great Britain, included many leading American personalities, culminated with Lord Balfour and Harry S Truman, and today, as I put it in 2003, "other than the Israel Defense Forces, America's Christian Zionists may be the Jewish state's ultimate strategic asset."

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August 18, 2009  |  Permalink  |  Comments (69)

Reflections on the Sixth Fatah General Congress

Four observations on the Sixth Fatah General Congress, which took place in Bethlehem on August 4-9:

The Fatah leadership openly played to the Palestinian street, ignoring Washington or Jerusalem: Examples indicative of the intended audience:

• At the opening ceremony, Palestinian Media Watch reports, "Fatah leaders responded with loud applause when two terrorists who committed the worst terror attack in Israel's history were referred to as heroic Martyrs by former PA Prime Minister Abu Alaa."

• Ahmed Tibi, a member of the Israeli parliament, termed Israelis living within the 1949 lines "settlers" and declared that "Whoever came last should be the first to leave."

• Jibril Rajoub announced that "Resistance [DP: i.e., terrorism] was and is a tactical and strategic option of the struggle."

• Zakaria Zubeidi advised Palestinians to ready themselves for the possibility that "it is war that Israel wants, and not peace."

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August 14, 2009  |  Permalink  |  Comments (10)

Islam and Western Militaries

Are we at war with radical Islam or not? Government actions leave the answer much in doubt.

This weblog entry keeps an eye on the evolving relationship of Western militaries and the religion of Islam, in reverse chronological order. (I have previously written about American forces succumbing to Islamic codes – abayas in Saudi Arabia and the prohibition of sending pork products to soldiers in Iraq.)

Hijabs in Afghanistan: Reporting from Afghanistan, Alfred de Montesquiou informs us that a "Female Engagement Team" of 46 American Marines in Helmand province all-female unit patrolled with hijabs – brightly colored head scarves under their helmets – this week in an effort to win the confidence of Afghan women. "It's part of the effort to show we're sensitive to local culture," says Capt. Jennifer Gregoire who leads the team. "If you show your hair, its kind of like seeing a nude picture here." (August 15, 2009)

Ramadan and swimming pools in Kuwait: (This breaks news.) Lt. Terry Cox of the United States Navy Customs mission in Kuwait issued guidance for his sailors in an e-mail titled "Ramadan info / Pool Info (UNCLASSIFIED)":

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August 12, 2009  |  Permalink  |  Comments (32)

Calls to Settle Palestinians Living in Arab Countries

Arab state treatment of the Palestinians, with the partial exception of Jordan, has been the silent disgrace of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

The bulk of the refugees fled in 1948-49 and the great majority of them are now dead; what are called "Palestinian refugees" are nothing of the sort, but the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren of refugees. Year after year, they are born into "refugee camps" or are otherwise kept apart from the mainstream society (I document some of the disabilities they suffer in one country at "Restrictions on Palestinians in Lebanon") – all for the purported reason of keeping them ready for "return" to a hoped-for Palestine and to keep them handy as a dagger poised against Israel's very existence.

This maltreatment has gone virtually unremarked for decades. Must yet more generations be born before Arabs conclude these people need to allowed to live normal lives in the places they were born?

In reverse chronological order, this weblog entry follows calls made for settlement of Palestinians.

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August 11, 2009  |  Permalink  |  Comments (17)

New Frontiers in Islamism

I've studied Islam for a long time (forty years next month) but Islamists are constantly surprising me with their practices. In reverse chronological order, this blog occasionally chronicles some of the more colorful examples.

Forcibly remove gold and silver teeth: The Somali Islamist group al Shabaab has begun to pull gold and silver teeth from residents in southern Somalia on the grounds that they contravene the Shari'a. Abdi Sheikh reports for Reuters:

Al Shabaab in action, when not pulling teeth.

Residents in Marka say al Shabaab has been rounding up anyone seen with a silver or gold tooth and taking them to a masked man who then rips them out using basic tools. "I never thought al Shabaab would see my denture as a sin. They took me to their station and removed my silver tooth," resident Bashir told Reuters. "I met several men and women whose dentures were being pulled out by a masked man they called a doctor. The doctor used a pincer or his gloved hand depending on the strength of the tooth," Bashir said. "As you smile your silver tooth accuses you. I was at a counter with my friend when three armed al Shabaab ordered me to follow them," he added. "I am afraid they want to make money from taking all this precious metal."

(August 10, 2009)

August 10, 2009  |  Permalink  |  Comments (25)

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