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“Two important phenomena, of the same nature but opposed, are emerging at this moment in Asiatic Turkey. They are the awakening of the Arab nation and the latent effort of the Jews to reconstitute on a very large scale the ancient kingdom of Israel. These movements are destined to fight each other continually until one of them wins” From ‘Le Reveil de la Nation Arabe’ by Najib Azouri, written in 1905 March 29th, 2002 | Comments are closed
 Not everywhere in the Islamic world forces women to hide under burqas.   As Jordanian society gradually evolves towards a more sophisticated extended order, I cannot think of an image more subersive and corrosive to the joyless Pan-Islamist world view than Queen Rania of Jordan: intelligent, elegant, articulate and Palestinian. March 10th, 2002 | Comments are closed
The murderers of Daniel Pearl live in another world. It is a world in which acts of deception that result in the murder of an unarmed noncombatant is seen as somehow heroic. It is an inverted world in which showing your weakness by murdering the would-be journalistic bearer of your own message is seen as showing your enemies that you are strong. It is a world with a chain of unfathomable logic that suggests that a course of action that murders a single fine but helpless American in Pakistan will change America foreign policy more to the murderers’ liking even when killing 3,000 helpless Americans in New York did not. Well in the last one they are at least partially correct. By killing 3,000 Americans they filled the skies of Afghanistan with thunder and caused the destruction of their patron government, which was indeed a change in American foreign policy. And by killing this good man they move America closer to another change. Pakistan must now realise that they have no choice any longer but to crush the serpent in its midst with whatever force it takes or the United States will rightly do it for them in Daniel Pearl’s name. Just as these monsters filmed their foul acts of cowardice, so too we may soon see the deaths of his murderers, if not from the forces of the Pakistani state then through the green light of night vision scopes and guided bomb cameras of a vengeful America. February 23rd, 2002 | Comments are closed
It is rather surprising, in the year 2002, to find someone expressing the thoughts noted in this article to which the Opinion Journal’s handy e-mail newsletter directed me.
I think someone should warn Mr Ragab of what we did to the Nazi’s the last time around. Note: If anyone has a link to photo’s of the hangings of the Nazi war criminals, I would appreciate it. February 13th, 2002 | Comments are closed
Whilst I often agree with Glenn Reynolds over on Instapundit, there is one pet theory of his that he has mentioned several times before that I find baffling:
To which I say, and have said before, what on earth is in it for the Jordanians? Why would the Hashemites want to risk another Black September uprising against their Bedouin dynasty five to ten years down the road by adding 2 million pissed off, radicalised, impoverished Palestinians to an already complex Jordanian 5 million strong ethnic Palestinian/Bedouin mixture? Quite apart from the horrendous political and security nightmare the occupied territories would present to Jordan if they were handed back to them, they are an economic booby prize. The Jordanians have a GDP of about $3,500 per capita, hardly rich…compared to the West Bank Palestinians GDP per capita of about $1,500, which is truly dire. So whilst it might well take the pressure off Israel, so what? I must ask Glenn to say what on earth is in this for Jordan? They would have to be bonkers to want the West Bank back! [Update: Glenn responds on Instapundit. However I do not doubt that Jordan and Israel will continue to cooperate in security matters, just that Jordan will accept the poison pill of reacquiring the West Bank. The article to which Glenn links seems to strengthen my case regarding the lack of enthusiasm on the part of the Jordanian monarchy for having the West Bank Palestinians within Jordanian borders] February 8th, 2002 | Comments are closed
Today’s Opinion Journal newsletter has an interesting quote from the Axis of Evil:
While his statement is true as far as it goes, he neglects to include the response from elsewhere. I humbly suggest the US could spare a volley from a Trident or two without even raising a particular sweat. It would be such a lovely memorial fireworks display. Mister Rafsanjani could watch it and ponder his errors… during his last .00000001 seconds. February 7th, 2002 | Comments are closed
To say that things are getting nasty in the Middle East would be facile. They’ve been nasty for quite some time But if this report is anything to go by then the ratchet has moved yet another notch and Israel and the Palestinians are heading into a full scale, balls out, pants down shooting war for real Is anybody surprised? January 23rd, 2002 | Comments are closed
This test, being prepared all sorts of people, will be to see if the Bush administration is actually as sophisticated as I think they might be. Somalia is being suggested as the next course on the menu after Afghanistan by all manner of odd bed fellows, from the Ethiopian government who would like to see their neighbour destabilized for their own ends, to oil companies looking to redeem worthless Siad Barré era concessions, to certain conservative US revanchists looking to avenge the bloody 1993 repulse of US Rangers by Somali militiamen. My guess is that if there is any US military action at all, it will be highly targeted, rather than just blundering in and picking a fight with a Somali clan over an absurd UN derived desire to reorder Somali polity more to Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali’s liking, as happened last time. January 19th, 2002 | Comments are closed
Israel and the Middle East Take a look at Victor Hanson in his article about why Arabs have misunderstood Israel. In a nutshell, his thesis is that if Israel did not exist, then as far as many Arabs are concerned, they would have to invent it.
January 10th, 2002 | Comments are closed
Scholar of arcane Anglospheric Cultism, the eminent James C. Bennett of Miskatonic University, has turned up a disturbing fact after translating an ancient text. In a closed session address to Foreign Policy Research Institute, Bennett reported his findings:
Naturally the Saudi ambassador dismissed this as:
Alarming stuff. [Editor’s note: you need to have read H. P . Lovecraft’s horror stories to have the slightest idea what this means] January 4th, 2002 | Comments are closed
Another recommended article for fellow Blogistas: Ralph Peters, a retired U.S. Army officer and author of “Fighting for the Future: Will America Triumph?”, has a piece in Opinion Journal called Riyadh is at the root of much evil, arguing that the most important source of instability and terrorism is Saudi Arabia, and the U.S. will have to confront it at some point. My knowledge of Saudi Arabia is thin so it would be good to get some discussion going on whether folk think the guy has a point or is wildly overstating the case. Tom Burroughes January 4th, 2002 | Comments are closed
Regarding the latest ‘close call’ terrorist mid air incident, News Max reports, with more than a hint of irony:
Nothing eh? Now call me churlish, but when a suicidal Islamic person gets on a US civilian airliner, with a three-week-old passport of dubious provenance, and who looks like Osama bin Laden on a ‘bad hair day’… and who then tries to blow himself up over a fuel tank mid-air using his ‘shoes-of-death’ filled not with improvised explosives but with MilSpec C-4 (not something one commonly finds in French drugstores), I would have to say there is indeed ‘something’ rather than ‘nothing’ linking him to what came to pass on September 11. Does that mean I am convinced he is an Al Qaeda terrorists? No, not completely, but if I were a betting man I sure as hell know where my money would be going. December 24th, 2001 | Comments are closed
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