Everybody loves Al-Qaeda – Part Two

Read Part One here.

Through their reactive kneejerk policies over the last few years, policies that conform both to their inherent nature and parochial interests, Russia, Iran, the Assad regime, Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and all other Middle Eastern regimes managed to create a situation in Syria where the United States had no choice but to intervene to midwife a process that will eventually secure the interests of most of these regimes, most of which will survive the current mayhem with little or no change.

Fighters of al-Qaeda linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant parade at Syrian town of Tel Abyad — An ISIS parade in the Syrian town of Tal-Abyad

Continue reading “Everybody loves Al-Qaeda – Part Two” →

Ideas and Sterility

Comment 1: Indeed Arab attitudes towards America are far more complex than traditional media and scholars let on. The fact that foreign policy is not a priority for the Arabs though, should not come as a surprise to anyone; foreign policy is hardly a priority for any people. People’s immediate preoccupation is always with their specific living conditions. But as people understand more and more the intimate linkages between domestic and foreign policy, perhaps their attitudes will change. There is this myth among many Arabs that just because they can name the leaders of so many countries around the world, this, somehow, makes them more knowledgeable about the world, than, say, the American people, who often fail to name even their own leaders. But there is more to knowledge, especially knowledge of foreign policy and world affairs, than naming names. The reality is we are no less ignorant about the world than it is about us. But we are paying the price for our continued ignorance in this regard, because we are the weaker link. Continue reading “Ideas and Sterility” →

Muslim reformers need to shout

First posted on my short-lived blog Tharwalizations.

In their first women conference in Hyderabad, India, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind president Dr. Mohammed Abdul Haq Ansari asserted that, “[i]n the name of liberty, women are being sexually exploited and misused for promotion of brands. But reality is that dogs are given better treatment than women in the western countries.” Continue reading “Muslim reformers need to shout” →