The American Government Has My Back
“I love Americans, but I do not like your government,” is something I was repeatedly told in the Middle East. My conversation mate would often continue with a sort of apologetic detailing of why this was the case and an attempt to get me to explain why the United States government acts as it does … Read more
Thomas Friedman Might Be the Most Unknowledgeable Editorialist in Popular American Print Media
I openly admit that I dislike Thomas Friedman. In America, since the spectrum is so skewed, he is considered center or left of center but to anyone who studies Political Science they know he is rather right wing. His book “From Beirut to Jerusalem” is always considered a hit among American Jews who study the … Read more
Marc Lynch Reads Minds
Yesterday I wrote about the limitations of American power and pressure in Syria. The post was a response to a piece in Foreign Policy urging Obama to recall the American ambassador and to openly say that Assad had lost his legitimacy and my response focused on how such moves would not aid the opposition and … Read more
Obama Can’t Stop the Killing in Syria, and Certainly Not Like That
UPDATE: Marc Lynch agrees with me. Tony Badran has a piece in Foreign Policy discussing the various steps that US President Obama can take in order to facilitate the fall of Assad and the end of violence in Syria. As Badran notes, Washington has a poorly defined policy in regards to Syria and the increasing … Read more
Turkish Elections and a Regional Approach to Syria
The area in the north-west of Syria seems to be becoming a violent hotspot in the ongoing protests against the regime of President Bashar Assad. Last weekend, a significant number of Syria soldiers were killed (initially reported as 20, then increased to 120), resulting in an intense, ongoing military operation in and around the town … Read more
Does Obama Think That Arabs Are Stupid?
Earlier this week, Robert Fisk wrote a piece in The Independent decrying the fundamental hypocrisy of America’s Middle Eastern policy: Obama rhetorically supports democracy in the region but has not followed through on his high talk when it came to the Arab Spring. The schism between what Obama says and what the United States does is pretty … Read more
Were There Any Winners This Week?
This has been a pretty sad week for the United States with regards to Israel/Palestine and the rest of the Middle East – and I have let my negativity and cynicism shine through. Obama said nothing when it mattered and was (or will be) ignored when it doesn’t matter while Netanyahu and AIPAC continue to be embarrassing sideshows. Meanwhile, all … Read more
Quote of the Day: Bibi Facepalm
This week has been dominated by the words and rebuttals of Netanyahu and Obama – understandably, this week has also revealed how far the world must go in order to create some kind of lasting and just peace for the Palestinian people. The big take away for others might just be how absolutely insane and embarrassing … Read more
For Now, AIPAC Can Afford to Ignore Obama
Naturally, when President Obama spoke at the annual meeting of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), he offered a predictable avalanche of rhetorical love for Israel (“friends,” “unbreakable bonds,” “ironclad” commitment to Israel’s security – and that is only one paragraph). Yet, after wading through the love notes, it is clear that Obama was … Read more
Obama’s Empty Words
Despite the disingenuous fuss that has been made about the mention of 1967 borders in the President’s Cairo II speech, Obama really did not say anything, despite standing at the microphone for nearly 50 minutes. In many ways unlike his Cairo speech in 2009, President Obama’s beautiful rhetoric was generally empty of any real meaning, … Read more
