Why Gay Marriage is Good for U.S. Foreign Policy
- Published on Wednesday, 03 April 2013 00:00
A couple of years ago I devoted a couple of blog posts to arguing that allowing gay Americans to serve openly in the military made good strategic sense. My logic was straightforward: We want to attract the best people to military service and any sort of artificial restriction (such as banning gays, or any other social group) inevitably reduces the talent pool from which the country can draw. The result would be a weaker military than we would otherwise have. I'm certain my posts had exactly zero impact on President Obama's subsequent decision to end "don't ask, don't tell," but I was certainly happy when he did.
READ MORE AT Foreign Policy
*Photo Credit: VJnet
The Frightening Effects of the NYPD's 'Mapping Muslims' Program
- Published on Wednesday, 13 March 2013 00:00
Between 2001 and 2011, in an expansive surveillance operation of Muslims in the New York region, the NYPD sent informants and undercover agents into cafes, mosques, restaurants, bookstores, clothing stores, salons and other businesses and institutions, assembling a collection of maps and guides whose level of mind-numbing detail — Are there newspapers available? Are antiques sold? Is the food Halal? — approaches that of a Lonely Planet guide to Islamic New York.
With the exception of widespread public outrage when the Associated Press exposed the program in a Pulitzer-winning investigation last year, the "human mapping program" of the NYPD Demographics Unit produced nothing: not one uncovered terrorism plot, not even a criminal lead.
READ MORE AT The Atlantic
*Photo Credit: By Pete Stewart from Perth, Australia (NYPD patrol car) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Port Said Soccer Fans Fight On, Force Work Stoppages
- Published on Monday, 18 February 2013 00:00
Thousands of militant soccer fans, in an indication that emergency rule will not squash mass protests, blocked government buildings as part of a general strike in the Suez Canal city of Port Said that is at the center of mounting anger at the brutality of police and security forces and demands that those responsible for the death of more than 800 protesters since mass demonstrations erupted in Egypt two years ago and toppled president Hosni Mubarak be held accountable.
The protest that forced the closure of the port authority and disrupted rail and telecommunications services constitutes a reaffirmation of a deep-seated sense among residents that Port Said is being made a scapegoat for at best the failure by law enforcement to prevent and at worst to have instigated a politically loaded soccer brawl a year ago in which 74 fans were killed.
Syrian Revolution even Bloodier in March, with Record 6000 Dead
- Published on Wednesday, 03 April 2013 00:00
Syrian dissidents say that some 6,000 people died in Syria in March, the largest one-month toll since the movement to overthrow the Baathist regime of Bashar al-Assad began two years ago. The UN estimates that over 70,000 have been killed in the fighting. Of the 6000 who died in March, one third, or 2000, were innocent noncombatants, and 300 of those were children. That means 4000 combatants died, between government troops and rebels. Meanwhile, the rebels continue to take territory on the ground, now having 70% of the country’s oil wells.
READ MORE AT Informed Comment
*Photo Credit: James Gordon
Obama & Brennan Brought GOP Filibuster on Themselves by Extreme Secrecy on Drones
- Published on Friday, 08 March 2013 00:00
John O. Brennan was confirmed as head of the Central Intelligence Agency yesterday, after the confirmation was held up for 13 hours by a filibuster by Rand Paul and other Senate libertarians or tea partiers. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas gave as his reason for the attempt to delay the vote his concerns that the Obama administration has a secret doctrine that it can kill Americans by drone at will, asking if there was a precedent...
Attorney General Eric Holder sent over to Paul a statement that the president does not have the authority to drone to death an innocent noncombatant, which ended the filibuster.
It is alarming that Cruz appears to have thought that there are circumstances in which a US citizen *could* legitimately be droned to death on American soil. Obama and Brennan brought this kind of humiliation on themselves by their extreme secrecy about the drone program...
READ MORE AT Informed Comment
*Photo Credit: Secretary of Defense
The War of Logistics in Northern Syria
- Published on Friday, 15 February 2013 00:00
The rebel strategy of taking Syrian government bases and airports in north Syria to prevent the regime from resupplying its forces in the north has made strides this week. The LAT reports that the revolutionaries are fighting for Aleppo International Airport, having taking Jarrah military airport a couple of days ago. The regime cannot easily supply its troops and bases in the north by road, since rebels control key points along the highway and can ambush convoys. If Damascus loses all the airports in the north, rebels will be able to starve out the troops, who will run low on ammunition and supplies.
The rebels are claiming major advances in the airport area, saying that they have taken virtually complete control of Base 80, which had been in charge protecting Aleppo International Airport.
READ MORE AT Informed Comment
*Photo Credit: FreedomHouse2
Stop Trying to Split Gays and Muslims
- Published on Wednesday, 03 April 2013 00:00
Last week I learned that Geller and one of her biggest allies, Robert Spencer, are hosting a fundraiser for their anti-Muslim advertisements on the website Indiegogo. This disturbed me for a number of reasons, but particularly because Indiegogo’s terms explicitly prohibit “anything promoting hate.” (Despite reports from me and many others, Indiegogo has so far declined to remove the fundraiser; if so inclined, you can let them know what you think about that here.)
READ MORE at Salon.com
Collaboration Between IDF, settlers Reaching Point of No Return
- Published on Sunday, 24 February 2013 13:30
Israeli democracy is being severely compromised by the army’s collaboration with the settlers, and the fact that more and more Israeli citizens now see the occupation as the natural order of things.
The following complaint was received from M., a resident of a village near Qalqiliya:
“Last night, at about 7:30 p.m., we were all in the house. Suddenly I heard a noise outside, including the engine sound of a military vehicle. We didn’t leave the house and I looked through the window. I saw a military jeep parked west of the house, some 150 meters down the road towards the town center. I also saw a large group of settlers moving on the road bordering my house. A military jeep was driving before the mass of settlers, with another jeep behind them...."
READ MORE AT +972Magazine
*Photo Credit: Tal King Photographer
The Twisted Tale of Prisoner "X"
- Published on Thursday, 14 February 2013 00:00
Back in 2010, I reported that Israel had arrested an unidentified individual, and imprisoned him in total secrecy in an Israeli jail. The cell he occupied had once housed Yigal Amir. Even his jailers didn’t know who he was. His jailers apparently did a lousy job of monitoring Prisoner X, as he was called and he hung himself from a bar in his cell. In December 2010, Australian Jewish media reported that Ben Zygier had died in Israel and was to be buried in Melbourne’s Jewish cemetery. There was little spoken about the cause of death.
Now Australia’s ABC network blows open the story...
READ MORE AT RichardSilverstein.com
Dawkins, Harris, Hitchens: New Atheists Flirt with Islamophobia
- Published on Sunday, 31 March 2013 01:00
Richard Dawkins, the preppy septuagenarian and professional atheist whose work in the field of evolutionary biology informs his godless worldview, has always been a prickly fellow. The British scientist and former Oxford University professor has expended considerable ink and precious breath rationalizing away the possibility of cosmic forces and explaining in scientific terms why those who believe in a divine creator are, well, stupid.
It appears, however, that some of those believers are stupider than others.
READ MORE AT Salon.com
*Photo Credit: Steve Jurvetson
In Iran, the ‘Harlem Shake’ Could Be Revolutionary
- Published on Saturday, 23 February 2013 09:59
The Harlem Shake video craze has had a great run since Filthy Freddy first uploaded the goofy dorm room dance about a month ago. Thursday, the video’s success culminated in a Billboard No.1 single designation for the techno song that has fueled so many flaming limbs, Baauer’s “Harlem Shake.” Some netizens may have already grown weary of watching the creative use of non-traditional headgear and sleeping bag wiggles. But if there’s one last Harlem Shake video to watch before the meme goes the way of Antoine Dodson and the Keyboard Cat, this important, light-hearted gem from ZirZameen might just be the most revolutionary iteration of the format to date.
READ MORE AT MSNBC.COM
Israel's Democracy is a Myth
- Published on Thursday, 14 February 2013 00:00
Back in 1993, just months before signing the Oslo Peace Accords with Yasser Arafat in Washington, then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was asked by a group of journalists which Arab leader he trusted the most. He didn't hesitate when he said: "Hafez Assad." The answer took some in the group by surprise - Rabin had not only never met Assad, he'd spurned an American suggestion the year before that concluding a peace agreement with Syria would be easier than concluding one with the Palestinians.
But Rabin was adamant. "Hafez Assad keeps his word," he explained and then, after a moment's hesitation, he added, "and he knows how to deal with Islamists." Rabin's matter-of-fact statement needed no further explanation...
READ MORE AT Al Jazeera
*Photo Credit: IsraelMFA
Bassem Youssef : A Valuable Egyptian Voice That Will Not Be Silenced
- Published on Saturday, 30 March 2013 16:31
Early on Saturday morning, I received a message that Bassem Youssef, the Arab world’s answer to 'Jon Stewart', had been issued a compulsory summons and arrest warrant by the prosecutor-general. The prosecutor-general's office wanted to investigate two charges against him: 'insulting Islam' and 'insulting the president'. All I could do was smile -- because I knew that was exactly what Bassem would be doing as soon as he heard the same.
READ MORE at Tahrir Squared
*Photo Credit: Gigi Ibrahim
Does Hollywood Have a Foreign Policy?
- Published on Saturday, 23 February 2013 00:00
Foreign-policy wonks enjoy movie stars and high fashion as much as everyone else, but this Sunday they may have extra incentive to tune in, thanks to two nominees very much in the center of pressing international political debates. It's not often that Hollywood films prompt official Senate inquiries, but the early scenes of Kathryn Bigelow's Oscar-nominated Zero Dark Thirty, which strongly imply that torture was used to gain valuable intelligence that led to the killing of Osama Bin Laden, have reignited the debate over the "enhanced interrogation" practices of the George W. Bush era. Some insiders say the controversy over torture has scuttled the generally well-received movie's chances of taking home the big prize this year.
Meanwhile, Best Picture front-runner Argo, which presents a more uplifting -- if even more inaccurate - tale of American confrontation with radical Islam, has stirred controversy in Iran, the country where most of the action takes place.
READ MORE AT Foreign Policy
*Photo Credit: Medill DC
Did the CIA Betray Syria’s Rebels?
- Published on Sunday, 10 February 2013 00:30
In mid-August, a well-connected Syrian activist drove to the border city of Gaziantep in southern Turkey to meet two officers from the CIA. The officers had set up shop in a conference room at a luxury hotel, where representatives from a handful of opposition groups lounged in the lobby, waiting for their turn at an audience.
The activist, who had been a journalist before the conflict, came with three colleagues from Aleppo, the Syrian commercial capital that had recently turned into the main theater of the war. Inside the room, two casually dressed Americans were rolling up maps from the previous meeting.
READ MORE AT The Daily Beast
*Photo Credit: FreedomHouse
The Seven Pillars of the Arab Future
- Published on Thursday, 28 March 2013 00:00
The early days of the Arab uprisings were uncomplicated and inspiring, as they reaffirmed many Westerners’ long-held beliefs regarding universal values, human rights, and democratization....But as violence assumed a more prominent role in Libya, Syria, and elsewhere, the straightforward and attractive image of organic protest against authoritarian rule became muddied. The uprisings and their consequences—the murders in Libya of U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three others, the democratic enfranchisement of illiberal factions, the Mali unrest, the ongoing crises in Egypt—have forced Western liberals to grapple with their fears regarding both regional instability and Islamists and their attempts to insert religion more prominently into governance and the public square.
So what does the future hold?
READ MORE AT Democracy Journal
*Photo Credit: Ruth_W
Atomic Scientists: Iran Centrifuge Magnet Story Technically Questionable
- Published on Friday, 22 February 2013 00:00
Last week, the Washington Post reported that "purchase orders obtained by nuclear researchers show an attempt by Iranian agents to buy 100,000 … ring-shaped magnets" and that such "highly specialized magnets used in centrifuge machines … [are] a sign that the country may be planning a major expansion of its nuclear program." As evidence, the Post's Joby Warrick cited a report authored by David Albright of the Institute for Science and International Security PDF (ISIS); dated Feb. 13, the report says that an Iranian firm, Jahan Tech Rooyan Pars Co., made an inquiry "posted on a Chinese commercial website … to buy 100,000 ring magnets." As Warrick goes on to explain: "it is unclear whether the attempt succeeded."
READ MORE AT Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
*Photo Credit: IAEA Imagebank
Why Do Zionists [Falsely] Claim BDS Movement Opposes Two-State Solution?
- Published on Sunday, 10 February 2013 00:00
As Brooklyn College faces intense bullying and threats over its hosting of an event this week with Omar Barghouti and Judith Butler, Zionists are renewing their false claims that the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement opposes a two-state solution.
First, the facts. The 2005 Palestinian BDS call makes absolutely no mention of one state or two. It is not a call for a political “solution.” It is a rights-based call with three clear demands of Israel...
READ MORE AT Electronic Intifada
*Photo Credit: m.gifford
The Full Story: Silencing English-Language Media in Egypt
- Published on Wednesday, 27 March 2013 12:00
“It is always the fixer who dies,” is the title of a seminal article by George Packer that appeared in The New Yorker in 2009 to mourn the death of Sultan Munadi, a local fixer who lost his life in a commando raid in Afghanistan. The raid that ended Munadi’s life took place in order to free foreign journalists who were captured by the Taliban. The foreign correspondent was freed, the fixer died, and the operation was deemed a success. This tragedy and Packer’s dramatic title are fitting curtain raisers to the struggle of local English-language media in Egypt.
READ MORE AT Jadaliyya
It's Not About Us
- Published on Friday, 22 February 2013 00:00
Forget about the “war on terror.” The next few decades will be dominated by the bitter divide within Islam itself.
Most Westerners have heard that there's a difference between Sunnis and Shiites, but there are very few of us who can say what it is. I hate to be the one to bring this up, but it's probably time to start getting educated. Like it or not, the 21st century will be dominated by the political reverberations of the rivalry within Islam. The so-called "war on terror" pales in comparison.
If anyone had any doubt about this, just take a look at the recent headlines.
READ MORE AT Foreign Policy
*Photo Credit: The U.S. Army
Brave New World: Social Media Capitalizes on Mideast Popularity
- Published on Friday, 08 February 2013 00:00
For its most recent advertising push, the Saudi Arabian telecommunications giant Mobily did not turn to the street or television to engage with customers. Mobily paid to promote itself on Twitter.
The use of social media exploded during the Arab Spring as people turned to cyberspace to express themselves. On the back of that, social media networks, including Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, have moved into the region commercially, setting up offices to sell advertising products to companies like Mobily, which has over 200,000 Twitter followers, to capitalize on the growing audience.
READ MORE AT New York Times
*Photo Credit: Interact Egypt - Play Innovation
Oregon's Arsalan Kazemi: From Iran To NCAA Hoopla
- Published on Sunday, 24 March 2013 00:00
San Jose, Calif., is just a piece of a very big March Madness pie. But in the eight teams that gathered there for second- and third-round games this week, you could see the undeniable trend in big-time college basketball globalization.
Rosters from schools as geographically diverse as Syracuse, New Mexico State and California featured athletes from Senegal, France, Canada, South Africa, Croatia, Sudan.
But it's the University of Oregon with a groundbreaker — from Iran.
READ MORE AT NPRBlogs
*Photo Credit: drburtoni
Islamism Espresso: Cairo's First Halal Cafe Is Trendy And Segregated
- Published on Tuesday, 19 February 2013 10:30
In Egypt's capital, "D.capuccino" is the latest sign of piety since Mubarak fell. In separate sections for men, women and families, it serves up Italian coffee and "pure, Islamic values."
From the outside, the “D.cappuccino” looks like a cool hangout for the hip kids of Cairo. But once inside, the bearded waiter ushers any female customers into the premises, and gently explains that they must sit in the “women only” part of the café, located in the back. The men enjoy the street side on the left, while the “families” – meaning, married couples - have the right section for themselves.
READ MORE AT WorldCrunch
Tunisia's Post Revolution Political Crisis
- Published on Thursday, 07 February 2013 00:00
Tunisia's ruling Islamists dissolved the government on Wednesday and promised rapid elections in a bid to calm the biggest street protests since the revolution two years ago, sparked by the killing of an opposition leader.
The prime minister's announcement that an interim cabinet of technocrats would replace his Islamist-led coalition came at the end of a day which had begun with the gunning down of Chokri Belaid, a left-wing lawyer with a modest political following but who spoke for many who fear religious radicals are stifling freedoms won in the first of the Arab Spring uprisings.
READ MORE AT Reuters
*Photo Credit: Sebastian Baryli
What we Lost: Top Ten Ways the Iraq War Harmed the U.S.
- Published on Monday, 18 March 2013 10:31
As the tenth anniversary of the launching of the Iraq War approaches, I’ll be making some comments about the episode at this blog, which for the years 2003-2010 intensively covered events in Iraq. A decade is long enough for some things to become clear.
The first set of issues I want to discuss has to do with the harm the war did to the United States. Coming into 2003, the US enjoyed a great deal of sympathy and solidarity from the rest of the world (including Iran) over the al-Qaeda strikes of September 11, 2001. In the aftermath of the invasion and occupation of Iraq, the US was widely seen as an international bully. The hard-nosed realists of Washington, of course, don’t care how the country is perceived. But the poor opinion translated into an unwillingness to help out with the Iraq project, a project far too large for the United States to handle on its own.
READ MORE AT Informed Comment
*Photo Credit: AmandaLeighPanda
Israel’s Education Minister Accused of Demanding Sex for Government Jobs
- Published on Tuesday, 19 February 2013 00:00
Gideon Saar, known for his adulterous dalliances with a number of women, has now been accused in a new report by News1 (Hebrew) of at least 4-5 affairs with women who were either his subordinates or who sought his help in getting government positions. It appears, if the description is accurate, that sex acts were directly connected either to his supervision or to help getting them jobs. Both types of incidents, if true, would be criminal offenses.
Two years ago, I published a post here about a sex act in the restroom of a Tel Aviv club with a girl who was likely underage. A few weeks ago, I published a new story about a female member of his Knesset staff, Maya Katz, with whom he had an affair. She’s alleged to have written a letter of complaint to the prime minister and other Likud leaders. Afterward, she denied writing the letter.
READ MORE AT RichardSilverstein.com
*Photo Credit: The Jewish Agency for Israel
Obama's First Visit to Israel, With a Weakened Netanyahu
- Published on Wednesday, 06 February 2013 00:00
President Barack Obama will go to Israel in the spring, the White House said Tuesday, marking his first visit to the staunch U.S. ally since becoming president. While in the region, Obama will make stops in the West Bank and Jordan.
Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed the visit to Israel in late January, when Obama congratulated Netanyahu on his success in Israel's recent election. The White House has not released the date of Obama's trip or details about Obama's itinerary, but Israel's Channel 10 reported that the trip had been scheduled for March 20.
READ MORE AT the Associated Press
*Photo Credit: Wiki Commons
Iraq War 10th Anniversary: The Teamster
- Published on Monday, 18 March 2013 00:00
When State Department officer John Kael Weston arrived in Iraq in 2003 he found himself negotiating with the head of the country’s truckers. The first in Weston’s series exploring the lives of Iraqis he encountered during his time.
A lot of articles will be written this week about our experience in the Iraq war from primarily a U.S.-centric point of view. My goal is different: to help convey the stories of ordinary Iraqis and how our voluntary war affected them, and still does, even as Washington and the American public have largely moved on. These vignettes, which will run across consecutive days this week, include: The Teamster (Bassam), The English Teacher (Abbas), The Highway Patrolman (Waleed), and The Last Grand Mufti (Hamza). I also describe my interaction outside Fallujah with former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, a primary architect of our “shock and awe” war.
READ MORE AT The Daily Beast
*Photo Credit: The National Guard
Egypt's New Mufti
- Published on Tuesday, 19 February 2013 00:00
Egypt watchers were briefly all a-twitter yesterday about the appointment of the country's first post-revolutionary mufti. With rumors widespread that a prominent Muslim Brotherhood leader, Abd al-Rahman al-Barr, would get the nod, concerns that the "Brotherhoodization" of the Egyptian state was soon to spread to the official religious establishment. In the end, al-Barr was passed over, but the brief kerfuffle obscures the real long-term struggle likely to take place over Egyptian religious institutions.
Instead of al-Barr, the designee is Shawqi Ibrahim ‘Abd al-Karim, a scholar of Islamic law teaching in Tanta.
READ MORE AT ForeignPolicy.com
*Photo Credit: dustinpsmith
Is Palestinian-Israeli Peace the Key to Happiness in the Middle East?
- Published on Monday, 04 February 2013 00:00
Among many Middle East analysts, particularly those of the so-called "realist" school of foreign policy thought, "linkage" is a holy doctrine. It holds that peaceful compromise between Israel and the Palestinians will lead to a generally placid Middle East. But it's a false notion. One of its more famous advocates is Chuck Hagel, President Obama's nominee to be secretary of defense.
In my Bloomberg View column, I look at Hagel's views, and try to understand how linkage became such a dominant doctrine when it is so provably false...
READ MORE AT The Atlantic