Tag: Egypt

Saints Need Not Apply!

Comment 1: Multilateralism does not preclude the need for leadership and decisiveness, especially when we have many dangerous facts on the ground moving at too fast a pace.

Comment 2: ElBaradei is already facing an uphill battle and he needs everybody to mount a serious campaign that has the least bit of a chance to shake the system. ElBaradei needs to cast a wider net and do some ego-stroking. His old-style as a UN technocrat might lend him credibility but it is not going to work in the political field. Continue reading “Saints Need Not Apply!” →

Unblessed Stand the Meek!

Comment 1: That’s how Middle Eastern dictators love their American presidents: weak, clueless and irrelevant. Furthermore, and the Cairo Speech which appeased the regional officialdom notwithstanding, Obama’s “street creds” in the region have always been low due to his abandonment of the Freedom Agenda. The rhetoric of the Bush Administration might have offended the sensibilities of our peoples at times, but they did love it when their rulers squirmed. Obama’s policies, on the other hand, have painted too many smiles of contentment and ridicule on the faces of our autocrats. The meek are not always blessed. Continue reading “Unblessed Stand the Meek!” →

Obama’s Regional Tour

  1. The inability to see and believe the obvious reflects an equally obvious inability to envision an effective strategy for dealing with it. 3:17 AM Jul 6th
  2. U.S. policymakers refuse to see the obvious in our region: unfriendly regimes will always be unfriendly and will not be part of any solution 3:55 AM Jul 6th
  3. The status quo in our region is crumbling, but America won’t have any friends unless she invests herself fully in producing the alternatives 3:57 AM Jul 6th
  4. Fighting blood-thirsty tyrants with eloquent speeches, handshakes and assurances of respect make good PR but not a good foreign policy. 4:04 AM Jul 6th
  5. You cannot fend off vampires with lollypops. You cannot oppose tyrants with words. You cannot win respect by a show of weakness. 4:10 AM Jul 6th  Continue reading “Obama’s Regional Tour” →

Tweeting Against Tyranny

  1. People can behave and think pragmatically only when they have something to lose. Impoverished, we become radicals incapable of compromise. 4:38 PM May 29th
  2. So the Wall is still standing and my head bleeds! So what? At least I have something to warm me, to cover my shame. My blood is my fig leaf. 7:29 PM May 29th
  3. Those who reduce our current dilemma to a choice between peace and freedom deprive us of both. 10:48 PM May 29th
  4. We fight for freedom. We fight for peace. We fight for justice. We fight for hope. We fight for love. Fighting is how we communicate best. 12:36 AM May 30th
  5. If you want to change the world, then put something of yourself in it. That’s the best recipe for change I know, for better or worse. 8:19 PM May 31st Continue reading “Tweeting Against Tyranny” →