The ever insightful Jim Lobe injects some perspective into the vacuous Beltway debate about Obama's alleged naivete in being committed to talking rather than shooting first in the Middle East.LobeLog.com » Blog Archive » The Chalabsey Twins*Senators John McCain and Joseph Lieberman have been traveling around the country together repeatedly charging that Sen. Barack Obama’s foreign-policy ideas are “naive” and even “reckless.” But what they hope their audiences will forget is … [Read more...]
Johann Hari: The loathsome smearing of Israel’s critics
May 14, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Examples like this is why I get such a kick out of the complaints about the supposedly inordinate influence of CAIR and Muslims in general in American politics. As if Muslims can generate a fraction of the heat constantly unleashed by all these pro-Israeli pressure groups.But frank discussions of the predations against open debate by the imaginary yet curiously powerful and visible Israeli Lobby is to traffic in conspiracy theories, so I'll shut up. Conspiracy theories about pro Israeli pressure … [Read more...]
IPS: “Iraq Invasion – 5 Years On”
March 22, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Rather than summarize its latest reports myself, I'll just share the latest newsletter (which you should be getting if you're looking for sober, honest analysis of US foreign policy) from the Inter Press Service News Agency in Washington, DC. IPS has a fraction of a fraction of the resources of MSM outlets, but runs rings around them in terms of insight and topicalness.5th Anniversary of the War in Iraq===================================Why Did the U.S. Invade Iraq? Analysis … [Read more...]
Juan Cole on ‘Combatting Muslim Extremism’
January 18, 2008 By 3 Comments
While I'm at it, a month earlier Juan Cole had wrote an astute assessment of "Combating Muslim Extremism" and how abysmally Washington is failing in this area for all the tough talk, also The Nation. Some notable excerpts:The Republicans are playing Russian roulette with America's future with their bigoted anti-Muslim rhetoric. Muslims may constitute as much as a third of humankind by 2050, forming a vast market and a crucial labor pool. They will be sitting on the lion's share of the … [Read more...]
The eerie familiarity of Ehud Olmert’s problems
June 2, 2007 By Leave a Comment
Doesn't this report about embattled Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert have an eerily familiar ring to post-9/11 American ears? IPS : Peter Hirshberg - Noose Tightens Around Olmert It [a government report] accused him of going to war "hastily", of lacking a "detailed military plan", and of "a serious failure in exercising judgment, responsibility and prudence." Political leaders, public figures and most of the country's leading columnists have repeatedly called on the prime minister to resign. … [Read more...]
New from Monty Python: the Ministry of Silly Islamic Activists
March 3, 2007 By 25 Comments
Ever wonder how Monty Python would've discussed Islam and Muslims? Wonder no more. Behold the upcoming Secular Islam Summit, wherein an assortment of people with Muslim-sounding names are going to--drum roll, please--"chart the future course of reason, pluralism, and freedom of conscience in the Islamic world". Some folks in the MSM appear to be excited about this millennial gathering, including CNN Headline News' Glenn Beck, who announced that he'd be broadcasting his … [Read more...]
Carter: Americans agree with me, not the MSM
February 22, 2007 By Leave a Comment
I posted on eteraz.org about Jimmy Carter's claim at an event today ("Carter says majority in U.S. support views in book") that normal Americans share many of his concerns. Eteraz.org || Carter: Americans share my concerns The article closes with an observation from somebody on the other side of the issue."It seems from what he said today that Israel's occupation is at the root of the problem. But I would argue that Palestinian terrorism is at the root of the problem," … [Read more...]
L.A. Eight vindicated
January 31, 2007 By Leave a Comment
I just posted over at Eteraz.org on the "L.A. Eight" case. Eteraz.org || LA Eight's vindication a defeat for Islamophobia and victory for America Good news in the war on terror, bad news in the War Against Muslim Participation in American Life. A resounding blow has been struck for justice and rule of law in a decades old case of government-sanctioned pro-Israeli political persecution against American Arabs and Muslims. The "LA 8" have finally been vindicated. A … [Read more...]
Mainstream sources for rebuttals of Neocon sophistry
January 14, 2007 By 2 Comments
Recently someone on a mailing list that I'm on asked for suggestions of American media or thinkers who challenge the Neocon world view that makes Muslims the root of all evil today. He was especially interested in sources coming at it from the right and that themselves had solid pro-Israeli credentials. What follows is the gist of my response. -------------------- There was a time when this task wouldn't have been quite so difficult, but now that we've replaced for most of the American … [Read more...]
Amazon.com joins the lynching of President Carter
January 12, 2007 By 4 Comments
There's an online petition to get Amazon to change how it has listed Jimmy Carter's controversial book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. The petition ("Tell Amazon to Treat Carter's Book Fairly") points out that Amazon has taken the highly unsual step of prominently featuring an exceedingly partisan and hostile review of the book by Jeffrey Goldberg originally published in The Washington Post the "Editorial Reviews" section normally dedicated to excerpts from the book's blurb … [Read more...]
Follow Patheos
Muslim: