Fading Into Mist...
If you keep on excusing, you eventually give your blessing to the slave camp, to cowardly force, to organized executioners, to the cynicism of great political monsters; you finally hand over your brothers~~Albert Camus
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Reinventing Our Relations With the Muslim World: An Interview With Former CIA Analyst Emile Nakhleh
The topic below was originally posted on my blog, the Intrepid Liberal Journal.
Building consensus within America's body politic and national security establishment for a new way forward with Muslims worldwide is a formidable challenge. Many Americans still don't appreciate the complex nuances of Muslim society and remain stubbornly Islamophobic almost seven and half years after 9/11. Equally formidable is earning the goodwill of Muslims worldwide following the Iraq War as well as American atrocities perpetrated upon Islamic detainees at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib. Hopefully, President Obama's historic election has finally opened a path for constructive conversation about how America can most effectively engage the Muslim world.
The CIA's former point man on Islam, Emile Nakahleh, has vigorously entered this conversation with his new book, A Necessary Engagement: Reinventing America's Relations With the Muslim World (Princeton University Press). From 1991 to 2006, Nakahleh served as the director of the Political Islam Strategic Analysis Program in the Directorate of Intelligence at the CIA. He holds a PhD in international relations and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
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Answers to Sean Hannity, No. 21
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Answers to Sean Hannity, No. 17
Mr. Hannity: America's strength does not intimidate other nations. (p. 142)
My response: The United States is the most powerful nation on earth. Since we attained that status in the twentieth century, the rulers of this country have had the capacity to use that strength for good or for evil. In the 1900s we used our military might and economic prowess a number of times to defend weaker countries and assist poorer countries. World War II saved Europe from Nazi aggression, while the Korean and Vietnam Wars attempted to halt Communist advances. Our Marshall Plan helped Europe rebuild its economy after World War II; our Berlin airlift prevented tens of thousands of East Germans from starving to death.
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Answers to Sean Hannity, No. 14
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The USA against Terrorism: From a Catholic Perspective (Part One)
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Answers to Sean Hannity, No. 11
My response: This statement typifies a biased Republican slant on history, which holds that Carter openly surrendered our national interests to foreign extremists, particularly to Iranian radical Ayatollah Khomeini. In fact, this incorrect yet ingenious claim exhibits a quadruple negative, propounding a lie within a lie within a lie within a lie.
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Open Discussion about "Rhetoric of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict"
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Answers to Sean Hannity, No. 4
My response: With the traumatic images of September 11 burned into our consciousness, it can be tempting to look on international "Islamic" terrorism as the greatest evil inflicted by human beings upon our civilization. However, this view is erroneous, pathetically myopic, unconsciously self-pitying, encourages unlawful revenge, and is hypocritical.
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History and Hezbollah: A Podcast Interview With Augustus Richard Norton
The topic below was originally posted in my blog, the Intrepid Liberal Journal as well as the Independent Bloggers Alliance and the Peace Tree.
Trying to make sense of tribal politics in the Middle East can't be done with simple bumper sticker slogans. The history, entangling relationships, religious dimension, shifting alliances, geography and multiple cultures are a Byzantine maze of complexity. Specifically, the Muslim world is often regarded by people in the west, especially Americans, as a large bowl of alphabet soup. As a result, policy makers who look for quick and easy fixes by force in the region overreach and miscalculate.
One tragic example of miscalculation and overreach is Lebanon. Once regarded as the "jewel" of the Middle East, Lebanon endured a brutal civil from 1975 to 1990. Surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea, Syria and Israel, this small country the size of Connecticut has flummoxed leaders in Jerusalem and Washington for two decades.
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Global Warming Solutions, Peace and Econmic Stability
ALL of us are faced with global warming. This will cut across all borders, all divisions, all people. We must all address it. United we have a chance. Excessively divided, we will find ourselves screwed by our own stupidity. THAT is what I am writing about: a more united approach to dealing with economic and environmental problems, with the ancient/modern land of Canaan as my focus.
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Crusading For Justice & Peace: A Podcast Interview With Activist Marisa Handler
The topic below was originally posted in my blog, the Intrepid Liberal Journal.
Marisa Handler lived in South Africa until she was twelve. Both her parents are Jewish liberals and they actively opposed South Africa's racist apartheid system. Their values heavily influenced Handler during her formative years. Perhaps she was destined to become an activist as early as nine years old while attending Camps Bay Primary School in Cape Town.
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A Pox upon Mr. Armstrong's Wonderful World:
by Jason Miller
I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world....
---Louis Armstrong
In an increasingly frightening and unstable world, there is one nation we know will stand firm and resolute in its commitment to freedom, human rights, democracy and the rule of law. Without the relentless, selfless efforts of the United States, humankind would plunge into a seething cauldron of tyranny, slavery, chaos and endless war. Besides Israel, severely weakened as it is by the constant strain of fending off the barbarian hordes seeking to "wipe it off the map" and Great Britain, incessantly pressured by its Leftist, pacifist neighbors to appease and negotiate, the home of the brave wages its courageous struggle virtually alone.
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Mything the Point of Targeted Killing
I used to explain Israel's current situation by comparing the occupation of the West Bank to the period in American history when Andrew Jackson was president. He was willing to violate the law of the land and there was no political will to stop him. His famous contempt for "John Marshall's decision" paved the way for the Trail of Tears and all the genocide that followed. Now we learn even this fig leaf of judicial restraint is gone. In a strange, sad Hanukkah gift to itself, the Israeli Supreme Court delivered a unanimous decision declaring extra-judicial executions are now legal.
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Democrats: Asian Vote, Youth Vote, Jewish Vote, and Native Americans
These are myths. They are myths put out by a conservative media and they were proven wrong in this election. This year not only did the youth vote and Jewish vote go overwhelmingly Democratic, but Democrats can now welcome 16 new Native American politicians into its ranks. The Democrats, with all their faults, remain the party of diversity. UPDATED: Asian-Americans as well are bucking the myth!
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