Samir Amin on Islam

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

>Reed Tryte:
>
>>>  "I hate and despise Hezbollah and Palestinian
>>>  suicide-murderers, as they ought to be called,
>>>  but they'd have to work day and night for
>>>  years to equal the total of civilians killed
>>>  in Lebanon alone, or by Sharon alone."
>>
>>Hmm. That sounds like he's asserting that Hezbollah
>>and Palestinian terrorism on its worst day is no worse
>>than Israeli foreign policy on a good day. I just hope
>>there's an English-born contrarian writer around to
>>call him soft on Islamo-fascism.
>>
>>I assume there's a fair amount of tension in Hitchens'
>>mind between the fact that his view of Al-Qaida and
>>the Likud view of Hamas are exactly the same. I wonder
>  >how this tension will be resolved?
>
>All cuteness aside, the difference is Israel invaded Lebanon
>and the occupied territories. What did the US do to Al-Qaida?
>He said the above on CPSAN and that contrarian Andrew
>Sullivan went ballistic.
>
>Peter

*****   11/13/2002 Entry: "THE NEXT VOICE YOU HEAR"

THE NEXT VOICE YOU HEAR. I thought Osama was dead, but maybe not. The 
CIA director has said Al Queda is fully reconstituted. Obviously the 
invasion of Afghanistan, threats to Iraq, and continuing denial of 
Palestinian claims give AQ a great banner to recruit as many people 
as it is able to absorb. I don't see any alternative to the way 
events in Afghanistan have unfolded, but on the whole our situation 
does not look a lot better than on 9-11. All the more reason to steer 
clear of a new adventure in Iraq.

More scary than OBL's voice was that of Mir Aimal Kasi [@ 
<http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,69510,00.html>], the Pakistani 
on Death Row who shot dead two CIA employees in their cars as they 
were coming to work. It was scary because he sounded so sane, 
composed, and neighborly, at the same time as he reflected a 
determination to wage war on the U.S.A. He's to be executed tomorrow, 
which is fine with me. But I figure the ratio of new Kasis created to 
one Kasi eliminated is about a million to one.

The witches' brew in all of this is Pakistan. The government's 
political sway is flimsy, the nukes are plentiful, the Islamist 
population is huge and incorrigible (as far as U.S. domination is 
concerned). It's several Viet Nams rolled into one. There would seem 
to be few better places for AQ and OBL to nest. I see no good news 
here.

 From a domestic political standpoint, Iraq is in the nature of an 
upper. Take it and we feel a little bit better for a while, but the 
side effects could be very bad. I propose we find an easier place to 
invade and occupy, ideally one that won't mind it so much. Maybe 
Mississippi. They need a Marshall Plan anyway.

Replies: 23 comments

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-- 
Yoshie

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