What do they think

From time to time I like to look outside the US to find out what people are thinking.  Sometimes I catch some flack for it..  I think that's mostly because sometimes the media in other countires isn't saying what we want to hear.  Sometimes it goes against the image our own media wants to create about how we, and our leaders are portrayed overseas.

Marwan Bishara

I've been reading some of  Marwan Bishara blog's. 

This is what his Bio has to say;;  Marwan Bishara is Al Jazeera's senior political analyst.  He was previously a professor of International Relations at the American University of Paris. An author who writes extensively on global politics, he is widely regarded as a leading authority on the Middle East and international affairs.

He's also Palestinian born in  Nazareth. Israel, there's no question that contributes to his beliefs.

Just like like here, where FOX and to a much lesser extent CBS shape public opinion, Al Jazeera has a great deal of influence.  By Middle Eastern standards it's realitively moderate.  Regardless of your politics, you may not like what you see. 




 US wars: People vs Generals

 While the Obama administration continues to affirm its intention to withdraw US troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, the US' military presence in the Muslim world is actually expanding and this is exacerbating tensions and inflaming animosities

This is most evident in the withdrawal of combat troops from Iraq and the corresponding surge in Afghanistan - an exercise in redeploying military forces, not extracting them.


As the gap between words and deeds; declarations and policies; public diplomacy and military strategy deepens, so the political and strategic crisis facing the Obama administration continues to deepen.

Enduring presence

There are now more than 140,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan - from the 100,000 Americans to the three Austrians - in an estimated 400 bases.

But, almost a decade after it invaded and a year after the adoption of a new AfPak strategy, the escalation of fighting there serves to underline the failure of the US to implement an effective counter-insurgency strategy.


Read the entire Blog


 
 
I'd love to have him explain this one to a room full of American Women;
 
Western wars vs. Muslim women
 
Western media is awash with reports about Taliban mistreatment of women in Afghanistan and Pakistan that feature countless voices in support of the war to secure a 'brighter future for women's rights'. This week's Time magazine cover story is a case in point
 

I found it, not part of the article.  Count on Time
to feature Journolista Joe Kline

If Western wars 'liberate' Eastern women, Muslim women would be - after centuries of Western military interventions - the most 'liberated' in the world. They are not, and will not be, especially when liberty is associated with Western hegemony.

Afghanistan has had its share of British, Russian and American military intervention to no avail.


Find it here 

Be sure to email it to every Democratic Woman's organization in the county.  Might help resolve the 51 Park Ave Mosque issue.  He also forgets that by the time of the Crusades, Islam had already done a number on Christianity in Turkey, Parts of eastern Europe, Spain, Parts of Greece,  Egypt and tried to take France..



Wars, lies and lyrics

Surprise, surprise ... the US government did not tell the whole truth, yet again, about its war conduct, and indeed misled the public about the true record of the war.

personally have not met anyone who has been shocked by the revelations in the documents published by WikiLeaks, but many are surprised - not so much by the novelty of it all, but rather by the mundane repetition of more of the same deception.


It is déjà vu all over again. Governments lie, especially about war and violence. And the media as well as the elites remain numb and indifferent until their wars go sour and begin to hurt at home as we saw in Iraq after 2005 and today in Afghanistan.


Unlike what mainstream conventional media would have you believe, democratic governments are worse at lying than autocratic or totalitarian ones.


Because unlike their democratically elected counterparts, autocratic or totalitarian governments just do not have the same need for it because they do not seek public approval or ratings.


In fact, the more accountable they are to their citizens, the more sinister and dangerous are the leaders' lies.


Wow,  as you finish reading it here, remember, this guys a moderate by some peoples standards




Peace bullish or 'bullshit'

The good news: "Netanyahu to give peace process a 'robust push". The bad news, any rational person privy to the ideology and makeup of the Israeli government knows this is not serious.



And yet, after their meeting, Barack Obama, the US president, has publically supported his Israeli interlocutor, saying he believed Binyamin Netanyahu would take "risks for peace" and praised the Israeli prime minister for easing the blockade on the Gaza Strip.

Obama also called for "direct talks" between Israelis and Palestinians irrespective of the continued illegal settlements.



All of which begs two questions: How does a defunct and discredited diplomatic process continue to masquerade as a success despite its utter failure? And why do the US and its Western allies continue to finance and pamper it when it creates more instability and conflict than peace and progress?


The short answer is bullshit.


In an attempt to define bullshit and theorise about its uses and meanings, Harry Frankfurt, the Princeton philosopher, has differentiated between bullshit and lies in his book On Bullshit, and concluded that bullshit can be more dangerous than lying.


Bullshit is more than a word; it is a chronic widespread system of rhetoric and representation that mystifies the truth. It has increasingly become a way of communication not only in the private sphere but has become part and parcel of Western propaganda.


What else did he have to say? Find Out Here


I expect some people reading this to have some not so nice things to say about me posting this guys thoughts.  As nicely as I can say it.......grow up.  Marwan Bishara's opinions influence a huge number of people in the Mid East.  What we might think will not change that.   The US should have learned long ago that you don't just change centuries of embedded culture, any more than you can legislate Politicaly Correct Thought or Human Nature.

Don't misunderstand, there is a way to totally change a culture.  It was practised fairly often, right up to the very last days of World War II.   The other option is negotiation.  You cannot sucessfully negoitiate with anyone unless you understand them.. and their values.  That means understand and don't meddle...

On the other hand, bending your beliefs to embrace those of another culture is seen as weakness..  Accept and embrace are two very different words.


FT had a little problem..  rhe comments there were temporaily removed, along with blog, I posted them here for safe keeping