Harry Reid's Anti-Islamic Agenda
The Eastern Sierra Speaks
Harry Reid's Anti-Islamic Agenda
Categories: Iraq, National Politics, War and Peace, International Relations, Afghanistan, 2516 words1 feedback •Wednesday 01 September 2010
by: Stephen Zunes, t r u t h o u t | Op-EdThe moral bankruptcy of the Democratic Party could not be any more evident than in its continued support for Nevada Sen. Harry Reid as majority leader despite his decision to join the bigoted and Islamophobic campaign against the Park 51 Islamic Cultural Center in New York, arguing that it "should be built somewhere else."
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Why the Wars can't be Won
Categories: Iraq, National Politics, Iran, War and Peace, Afghanistan, 1451 words2 feedbacks •by Prof. John Kozy
Edmund Burke's statement, "Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it" is frequently cited, but in truth, even history's obvious lessons are unrecognized by many who know history very well.
Did 9/11 Justify the War in Afghanistan? Using the McChrystal Moment to Raise a Forbidden Question
Categories: Iraq, National Politics, Iran, Media Issues, War and Peace, Afghanistan, 10238 wordsSend feedback •by Prof. David Ray Griffin
There are many questions to ask about the war in Afghanistan. One that has been widely asked is whether it will turn out to be “Obama’s Vietnam.”1 This question implies another: Is this war winnable, or is it destined to be a quagmire, like Vietnam? These questions are motivated in part by the widespread agreement that the Afghan government, under Hamid Karzai, is at least as corrupt and incompetent as the government the United States tried to prop up in South Vietnam for 20 years.
The Growing Storm
Categories: Iraq, 1694 wordsSend feedback •by Dahr Jamail
April 2nd, 2009 | T r u t h o u tLast weekend, the Iraqi government arrested an Awakening Group leader of a Baghdad neighborhood, then moved into the area. With the help of US occupation forces, they disarmed the militiamen under his control, but only after fighting broke out between US-backed Iraqi government security forces and the US-formed Sunni Awakening Group militia. This disturbing event is the realization of what most Iraqis have long feared - that the relative calm in Iraq today would eventually be broken when fighting erupts between these two entities.
Six Questions for Juan Cole, Author of Engaging the Muslim World
Categories: Iraq, Iran, War and Peace, International Relations, 2981 wordsSend feedback •By Scott Horton
Juan Cole is one of the nation’s leading historians focusing on the Middle East. Over the past decade he has emerged as a commentator on Middle East policy and a reliable source for new ideas that may enable the United States to pursue its foreign policy objectives more effectively in the region. For millions, his frequent posts at the Informed Comment blog provide a daily update on press accounts from the Islamic world, often including translations from Arabic- and Farsi-language sources in close-to-real time. His new book, Engaging the Muslim World, will be published on March 17.
1. What are the three biggest misperceptions Americans have about the global Islamic community?
Prof. Juan Cole
One: If you watch American television, you see the most extreme charges against Muslims set forth by pundits. Some allege that Muslims are inherently violent and commanded by scripture to attack infidels. In fact, the Quran forbids murder and commands Muslims to make peace with people who seek peace with them. The “infidels” whom the Quran urges the faithful to combat were the militant pagans of ancient Mecca, who had aggressively attacked the Muslims and were trying to kill them all. The Quran praises the Hebrew Bible and the Gospels as full of “guidance and light,” celebrates the children of Israel, and says that Christians are closest in love to Muslims. Of course, some Muslims are bigoted and manage to ignore those parts of their scripture, but it is not the case that the religion is essentially militant. I’ve gone with Americans to the Middle East, and after a few days they typically come and confess to me that they are amazed at how nice the people are, how kind and generous to foreigners, and how little they resemble U.S. media stereotypes.
