Regarding the recent flap between the U.S. and Israel over housing settlements in the latter country, British political writer Melanie Phillips understands far better the nature of the situation than President Obama, who, for all his measured oratory, persists in ignoring the history of the Jewish state. There is, Phillips points out, only one true…
Category: Middle East
Abdul-Latif Moussa, Gaza’s David Koresh?
Abdul-Latif Moussa leads an Islamic terrorist group called Jund Ansar Allah that as of now is literally fighting for its survival in the Gaza Strip. But their opponent isn’t the Israeli Defense Forces as one might expect; rather, Moussa’s group is holed up in a mosque surrounded by hundreds of armed members of Hamas. At…
Obama Addresses the Muslim World
Barack Obama’s speech to the Muslim world was one worth making. He made some important points and made them more firmly than I had hoped he would. True, the president could have done more to clarify our country’s intention to hold to its own values, regardless of public opinion among foreign Muslims, but then he…
Will Muslims Respond to Barack Obama’s Overtures?
Alaa Al Aswany says that Muslims from the Middle East will not respond to Barack Obama’s friendly overtures until they see him taking sides with Palestinian rebels against Israel. I found a combination of glowing enthusiasm for Mr. Obama, a comparison between the democratic system in America and the tyranny in Egypt, the expectation of…
War Crimes in Gaza, Mogadishu
Jeffery Goldberg wonders if American troops committed war crimes in Somalia while fighting rebels in Mogadishu. The question seems ridiculous at first. What war crimes could be committed against murderous insurgents responsible for a civil war? Goldberg’s big gun, however, is astounding. According to Mark Bowden, author of Black Hawk Down, 80% of Somalia casualties…
Nuclear Power, Waste, and Theft
William Tucker, author of the forthcoming book "Terrestrial Energy: How Nuclear Power Can Lead the Green Revolution and End America’s Long Energy Odyssey", says that nuclear power is both safe and required if we are to ensure that the electrical demands of Americans are met. I’ve written about this before, often enough to bore, frankly,…
Repression in Yemen
From the NY Times and Jane Novak’s Armies of Liberation blog comes the story of Abdul Karim al-Khaiwani, a journalist who is facing a potential death sentence tomorrow as a consequence of writing about the rebellion in northern Yemen that’s cost thousands of people their lives. Read the NYT article and Jane’s post, then consider…
The Politics of Appeasement
Politics is exactly what Barack Obama and others on the left are playing at when they protest, overmuch, that President Bush attacked the presumptive Democratic nominee when he delivered a much-needed slap in the face to those who would look away from terrorism rather than face the threat directly. Dana Perino had to love delivering…
Ah, Intellectuals
David Frum recently wrote about what he thinks is a disturbing trend among conservatives, dismissing too intellectual positions without properly understanding them while advancing popular, even common, causes and people instead. While it is true that progressive points of view are given short shrift by conservatives there are often valid reasons for their dismissal. As…
A Palestinian State?
The NY Times has a transcript of the speech read by President Bush at Annapolis yesterday here. The key bits: The Palestinian people are blessed with many gifts and talents. They want the opportunity to use those gifts to better their own lives and build a future for their children. They want the dignity that…