On the on-going Israeli-Palestinian talks, Lee Smith in the Weekly Standard said it best . After describing the possibility that SECSTATE Kerry is trying to sneak in some sort of lasting agreement while the rest of the Arab world is not looking , (being embroiled in domestic conflict), Lee goes on to write……
“Or maybe Kerry is pushing the peace process simply because he is vain. Neither the Palestinians nor the Israelis believe a deal is possible at present but Kerry can sidestep that rather inconvenient detail because this is not about the Israelis or the Palestinians. Nor is it about the vital interests of the United States, which is hemorrhaging prestige throughout the Middle East while American allies are begging the White House to lead on the issues that truly matter. If Kerry cannot see what the rest of the region looks like at present, it’s because he likes what he sees in the mirror. As secretary of state why shouldn’t he, too, get his peace process just like so many shuttling diplomats before him? Kerry, according to the Daily Beast, has been preparing for the role for years now, with “meetings, late-night talks, personal visits, and phone calls with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, and other key leaders in the Middle East.” So what if the curtain’s falling, Kerry’s memorized his lines so the show must go on.” The entire article that says it all is at http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/requiem-peace-process_742378.html
Lets face it. The only smart thing Kerry has done in his life is to marry a rich widow.
Turning to Egypt, the idiocy of our media, and its coverage of Middle Eastern affairs has a fresh example in the NY Times. ( Big surprise that is!!!~)It exhibits that curious empathy that the left wing “intellectuals,” academics and neo-Arabists have for radical political Islamism. It has something to do with totalitarianism, with which the radical left has been has always been enamored. More about this in a later blog.
Barry Rubin captures the essence of this in his article from his blog
“Would you ever imagine that the leading American newspaper would openly advocate siding with radical Islamist forces in the Middle East against all of America’s allies and friends, and I mean with eyes wide open and with full awareness that it sought to overthrow them? Well, the day has come.How has the argument for this strategy, which the Obama Administration is already pursuing being made?A New York Times July 30th editorial entitled “Egypt’s Dangerous Slide” shows a real catastrophe for the United States. What is amazing is that it takes less than five minutes to deconstruct Obama Administration’s Middle East policy.But be wary since if you do this—even once—you will be barred from 95 percent of mass media and academic jobs. [Note: What’s amazing about the previous sentence is that it is in fact accurate. That’s why the public debate is so bad.]After all, we are at a moment when Israel-Palestinian talks haven’t even agreed on pre-conditions (a point which is usually reached before the two sides even begin talks) yet Secretary of State John Kerry predicts success within nine months (and the mass media quotes him without snickering).
“Deadly blundering by Egypt’s military rulers is making a bad situation much worse,” starts the editorial.
One of the most blatant, arrogant views of the American foreign policy establishment today is the frequency with which its members insist that leaders know nothing about their own countries. Thus, Obama, a man who has spent a few hours in Israel and has no empathy with it, can dare to say that he knows better what the country needs than does Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.’
The entire article can be read at….http://rubinreports.blogspot.com
I know from personal experience that the neo-Arabist/Islamist view of the Middle East as taught in out centers of Islamic studies ( often funded by the Saudis) has nearly overwhelmed the contrary views. A view, like mine, based on nearly 45 years of experience is often dismissed as “non scholarly” or simply out of the mainstream.
Most of our middle east commentators, the ones you are likely to see on PBS or hear on NPR, such as Juan Cole, are left-wing ideologues. Unfortunately, the abysmally politically correct leadership of the US military these days has allowed this ideology to seep into our military education system.
We are suffering at the top and bottom because our inability to speak the truth about our enemies. That specifically includes the Muslim Brotherhood.
I will return to this later.
