Al Qaeda tongue-tied in the face of uprisings in the Arab world

New challenges to bin Ladenism

NY Times foreign affairs correspondent Tom Friedman raises some good questions about U.S. involvement in the Middle East and the Arab world.

In this morning's op-ed, Friedman asks:

When one looks across the Arab world today at the stunning spontaneous democracy uprisings, it is impossible to not ask: What are we doing spending $110 billion this year supporting corrupt and unpopular regimes in Afghanistan and Pakistan that are almost identical to the governments we’re applauding the Arab people for overthrowing?

He continues:

Ever since 9/11, the West has hoped for a war of ideas within the Muslim world that would feature an internal challenge to the violent radical Islamic ideology of Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda. That contest, though, never really materialized because the regimes we counted on to promote it found violent Muslim extremism a convenient foil, so they allowed it to persist. Moreover, these corrupt, crony capitalist Arab regimes were hardly the ideal carriers for an alternative to bin Ladenism. To the contrary, it was their abusive behavior and vicious suffocation of any kind of independent moderate centrist parties that fueled the extremism even more. 

Now the people themselves have taken down those regimes in Egypt and Tunisia, and they’re rattling the ones in Libya, Yemen, Bahrain, Oman and Iran. They are not doing it for us, or to answer bin Laden. They are doing it by themselves for themselves — because they want their freedom and to control their own destinies. But in doing so they have created a hugely powerful, modernizing challenge to bin Ladenism, which is why Al Qaeda today is tongue-tied. It’s a beautiful thing to watch.

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Pulitzer prize-winning Friedman’s educational background gives him additional credibility on today’s topic: he received a B.A. degree in Mediterranean studies from Brandeis University in 1975 and in 1978 he received a Master of Philosophy degree in Modern Middle East studies from Oxford.

Persecution of Baha'is in Iran

In separate interviews this week, members of the St. Paul area Baha’i community, Dolly Britzman and Louis Offstein, expressed their concern in response to breaking news of the persecution of fellow members of their faith in Iran.

According to an update from the Baha'i World News Service, the Jan. 12th session of the Iran government’s trial of seven imprisoned Baha'i leaders lasted about three hours, and no date for future sessions was provided. The release cited reports indicating “numerous violations of legal due process.”

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The Critical Importance of Secretary Clinton’s Trip to India

Considering the recent reports of Secretary Clinton’s marginalization by the Obama Administration, kudos to the NY Times today for its thoughtful editorial spotlighting the secretary’s trip to India. The editorial board focuses on India’s relationship with neighboring Pakistan and that nation’s continuing battle with extremists.

India’s expanding nuclear arsenal is also a topic of discussion:

One of our many concerns about the nuclear deal was that it would make it easier for India to expand its arsenal — and drive Pakistan to produce more of its own weapons. With access to global fuel markets, India can use its limited domestic uranium stocks for weapons. President Obama and Secretary Clinton both endorsed the deal. Now they have a responsibility to do what President George W. Bush never did: push India to stop producing more weapons fuel rather than waiting for a multinational treaty to be negotiated. That would make it easier to press Pakistan to do the same. Both India and Pakistan claim that they want only a “minimal credible” nuclear deterrent — but who knows what that means?

President Obama’s efforts to revive arms control talks with Russia and his commitment to seek ratification of the test ban treaty mean that Mrs. Clinton arrives with bolstered credibility. She should urge India to consider opening regional arms talks with Pakistan and China and drop its opposition to the test ban treaty.

The editorial mentions India’s responsibility in helping other nations block Iran from becoming a nuclear power:

The world’s wealthy nations have given Iran until late September to accept restraints on its nuclear program or face consequences. We hope this time India’s arm will not have to be twisted and — if needed — it will use its trade clout to curb Iran’s ambitions.

India wants to be seen as a major world power. For that to happen, it will have to drop its pretensions to nonalignment and stake out strong and constructive positions. President Obama and Mrs. Clinton say they consider India a vital partner in building a stable world. Now they have to encourage India to behave like one.

Secretary Clinton is the most knowledgeable and widely respected foreign affairs specialist in the Obama Administration, and it’s good to see her back on the road again.

Secretary Clinton Responds to Saberi’s Conviction

Politico’s Michael Calderone reports on Secretary Clinton’s response to Roxana Saberi’s conviction:

Hillary Clinton said in a statement that she's "deeply disappointed" by an Iranian court's conviction on Saturday of Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi on espionage charges, and promised to "vigorously raise our concerns to the Iranian government.”

Saberi, a 31-year-old former Miss North Dakota who moved to Iran six years ago, had worked the BBC and as a stringer for Fox and NPR until Iran's Iran's Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance revoked her press credentials in 2006, without explanation.

"Ms. Saberi was born and raised in the United States, yet chose to travel to the Islamic Republic of Iran due to her desire to learn more about her cultural heritage. Our thoughts are with her parents and family during this difficult time," said Clinton in the statement.

Saberi, a dual national of the U.S. and Iran, has been held since she was arrested in January for buying a bottle of wine. The arrest only became known in the United States after NPR aired a report on it on March 1, after hearing from her father.

She is the latest in a series of Iranian-Americans in Iran to be charged with spying in recent years, and her eight year sentence — following a one-day trial — is the longest thus far handed down to a dual Iranian and American citizen.

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Secretary Hillary Clinton’s Efforts on Behalf of Roxana Saberi

Roxana Saberi, Getty Images

A NY Times editorial on Thursday (April 16) reported the status of journalist Roxana Saberi, imprisoned in Iran. The editorial board failed to mention the efforts of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Saberi’s behalf noted earlier in The Women on the Web. The board also appeared clueless regarding Secretary Clinton’s enlistment of Bill Richardson’s assistance on the case: Richardson negotiated with Mohammad Khazaee, the Iranian ambassador to the United Nations, to allow Saberi's parents to travel to Iran to see their daughter.

From the Women on the Web:

Tehran’s prosecutor claims Saberi, 31, accepted all the charges against her, but other reports say she hasn’t even seen them. The exact charges should be announced Saturday, and she could go on trial in Iran’s Revolutionary Court as early as next week. All this worries not only Saberi’s family, who say they’re staying in Iran until she’s free, but also Hillary Clinton. The secretary of state — who also this week said it "makes sense" to start negotiations with Iran on its nuclear capabilities — called on Tehran once again to release the freelancer. The Swiss government has been working to get information on Saberi’s case to the U.S.

"We are deeply concerned by the news that we are hearing," Clinton said after a diplomatic meeting in Washington. "I will, as will the rest of the (State) Department, continue to follow this very closely and we wish for her speedy release and return to her family."

The NY Times editorial reports:

There is nothing resembling justice in Iran’s prosecution of Roxana Saberi. The government’s accusations against Ms. Saberi, a journalist with dual American-Iranian citizenship, have fluctuated wildly — culminating only last week with charges that she spied for the United States government. Her one-day trial this week was held in secret, and state officials have not revealed any evidence against her.

Iran’s government needs to release Ms. Saberi and end this dangerous farce.

Ms. Saberi, whose father was born in Iran, grew up in North Dakota. She moved to Iran six years ago and worked as a freelance reporter, including for National Public Radio and the British Broadcasting Corporation, while also pursuing a master’s degree in Iranian studies.

When she was arrested in January, Ms. Saberi was first accused of buying wine (illegal in Iran but hardly meriting imprisonment) and then of working without press credentials. While the government revoked those credentials three years ago, it tolerated her filing of news stories for months afterward, according to NPR.

On March 6, in comments that seemed to suggest the case had been resolved, an Iranian prosecutor told the Iranian Student News Agency that Ms. Saberi would be released from custody “in the next few days.”

Then last week, the government suddenly charged Ms. Saberi with espionage.

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P.S.

Even a Time’s reader was aware of developments one might have expected the editorial to include:

Apparently, Secretary Clinton has enlisted the help of Governor Bill Richardson and he was able to negotiate a visit with her by her parents just before the trial. If he can employ his diplomatic skills to extract her from this peril, it will be a true miracle.

Katalusis Readers from Around the World Bring Hope for Peace

photo credits: InternationalDiscussions.com (click to enlarge)

In my Thanksgiving greeting to Katalusis readers last Thursday I mentioned that regular visitors to this web site come from all over the United States and around the world, including Canada, Mexico, the UK, Germany, India, and Australia.

Sitting here at my computer in the Twin Cities, it’s been a joy to check out visits to Katalusis from foreign countries and to welcome aboard those of you who have become regular visitors.

Since Thanksgiving, visitors from several countries not mentioned above have shown up to make my day. These include: Romania, Taiwan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Iran, France, Turkey, Spain, Netherlands, Portugal, Italy, and China.

Each of you affirms the miracle of modern day communication and renews my hope that as we get to know one another better, we will some day experience world peace.

I hope you’ll all stop by Katalusis again soon and don’t forget to leave a comment!

Obama Steps from Comedy Skit onto the World Stage

Photo Credits: AFP

I came across an interesting reader’s comment, posted by “Jr.” while scanning a message board at the Caucus (NYTimes) a few minutes ago. Jr. was responding to a humorous video about Barack Obama by connecting its content to an incident that arose in the news this week.

First, I’ll give you the background from the network news. It began with a speech President Bush made to the Knesset during a visit to Israel. After mentioning Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran, Bush said: "Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along."

Bush went on to say, "We have heard this foolish delusion before," Bush said. "As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: 'Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler, all this might have been avoided.' We have an obligation to call this what it is — the false comfort of appeasement.'"

Positioning himself as the Democratic candidate, even though the race is yet undecided, Obama immediately assumed he was the target of Bush’s criticism and personally led a counterattack on both Bush and John McCain:

In the meantime, our friend Jr. had just viewed a humorous video over at the Caucus that predicted what the world would be like in 2015 with Obama as commander in chief. A man awakening from a seven-year coma realizes that Obama is indeed the second coming of Christ.

Jr. responds:

“That first video is perfect, Obama think hes all that. He even thought Bush was talking about him in Israel. Bush was clearly talking about a politician thats actually done something in this avenue, maybe Jimmie Carter?? Yea this is who he was talking about, Obama looks like a fathead now that is too conceited. Obama isnt even a nominee yet, and thinks he has foreign policy issues already gimme a break, is this the best we can do?? I dont think so, Obama hasnt even gotten as many votes as Hillary let alone won anything yet. What a terrible move for Obama to address that comment like it was towards him. How conceited can you be.. Well I think this video shows how much of that he is. THank you for a perfect video that ties Obama to being the elite, when hes nothing but a senator!!!”

I agree with Jr. that even though Barack Obama is thought to be the Messiah by his followers, he ought to restrain himself from assuming the role of the nominee until he has officially been declared the winner of the Democratic primary. After all, Jesus himself exemplified the virtue of humility.

So how many people do I have to kill to win this game?

Bob Herbert began his op-ed column in the NY Times today by wondering if children should be allowed to watch the Republican presidential debates. Herbert continues:

“There’s so much talk of violence and mayhem as the solution to our ills. The candidates seem so eager to flex their muscles and engage the nation in conflict: Let’s continue the war in Iraq. Let’s show them what we’re made of in Iran. Let’s round up those immigrants and ship ’em back where they came from.

“It’s like watching adolescent boys playing the ultimate video game, with no regard for the consequences. Rudy, the crime-fighter and terror maven, says he’s tougher than Mitt, who actually had illegals working on his property. Mitt begs to differ and says he’d like to double the size of the Guantánamo prison.”

Titled Rambo and the G.O.P., Herbert’s piece reminded me of a column I wrote (see below) on a related topic published in my community newspaper about two years ago:

So how many people do I have to kill to win this game?

A shadow now hovers over a joy I’ve often experienced on weekday mornings. I like to sit at my kitchen table and watch the neighborhood kids tumble down the hillside just beyond my window. The minute the school bus pulls in, they brush themselves off and scramble for its open door.

The shadow first appeared a couple of weeks ago following an online chat with my friend, David. We were just a couple of parents that afternoon sharing our concerns about a perceived up-tick in violence in our culture in recent years. My own two children are mature adults, but David and his wife still have a teenage son at home.

When my kids were young, parents worried about whether or not toy guns were appropriate playthings. We also complained to TV networks about the negative stereotypes and violence in children’s cartoons.

“Lately,” I said, “I’ve been shocked by the video games I’ve glimpsed on television.”

David replied, “It seems the primary goal in some of these games — so popular with today’s teens — is to kill as many people as you can as quickly as possible. It’s as if killing is okay as long as it’s not real people.

“One day someone’s going to think: ‘We’re not killing real people. We're just pushing a button, and some vaguely people-like beings on the other side of the globe disappear.”’

I’m reminded of the frequent recurrence of the word “kill” in the daily news, usually heard in reference to alleged terrorists or insurgents, as in: “We’ll hunt them down and kill them.”

It’s also been unnerving to hear U.S. officials debate on prime time TV what degree of pain we should allow our interrogators to inflict on enemy combatants — short of torture.

Not long after my e-mail exchange with David, something as horrific as the images from Abu Ghraib appeared on my television screen: the surveillance video from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

The teenagers filmed in the act of brutally beating a homeless man have since been taken into custody. The two young males have also been charged with murdering another homeless man and are suspected of beating a third.

The National Coalition for the Homeless reported 105 similar attacks in 2004, including 25 deaths. The majority of attackers were young men between the ages of 16 and 25.

Then from Chaska, Minn. came word of Nancy Everson’s murder. Her son Grant, 20, and three male friends — two 20-year-olds and a 17-year-old — allegedly plotted to kill both of Grant’s parents for his inheritance.

Now in custody, the 20-year-olds are charged with murder and attempted murder. The 17-year-old is charged with aiding an offender.

I’ve no idea whether any of the young men in the above news accounts ever played “Grand Theft Auto” or “Mortal Kombat.” But curiosity prompted me the other day to Google video games and violence.

A Brigham Young University NewsNet article confirmed that games depicting shooting, violence and drug usage have been among the best-selling. The article noted: “One example of a game with high levels of graphic violence and gore is ‘Carmageddon,’ a game released several years ago in which players run down pedestrians and crash into other cars. If all levels are completed, one researcher estimated, the player would have killed nearly 33,000 people.”

A news release from the American Psychological Association (APA) cited research indicating “exposure to violence in video games increases aggressive thoughts, aggressive behavior, and angry feelings among youth.”

The APA’s resolution recommends all violence be reduced in video games and interactive media marketed to children and youth.

I’m one parent who wouldn’t await further word.

As it is, the shadow still lingers over the nearby hillside well after my neighborhood kids have boarded the school bus.

Placing my coffee cup in the dishwasher, I wonder how long it will be before these youngsters are lured from the innocent play of childhood by darker thrills — those that come from the power to deal out death on an animated screen.

Footnote:Since I wrote the preceding column, violence in our culture has increased even more and as Bob Herbert points out, it might be a good idea in today's world to shield the children from Republican debates.

The Far-Reaching Effects of the Quagmire in Iraq

Brent Budowsky’s hard-hitting op-ed in Tuesday’s edition of the Hill begins:

Democrats in 2008 have an issue more powerful than Kennedy’s campaign against Nixon and the missile gap in 1960, and Reagan’s campaign against Carter championing military strength in 1980.President Bush is so obsessed with Iraq that he damages the war in Afghanistan, contributes to destabilizing Pakistan, fails to kill Osama bin Laden and destroy al Qaeda, and does grave harm to our military and troops.

There’s no let up from Budowsky:

The quagmire in Iraq and grave damage to our mission in Afghanistan continues. The escape of Osama bin Laden and resurgence of al Qaeda continues. The ability of Iran to exploit the Bush blunders in Iraq continues. The damage to our military, the ugly divisions in our nation, and the global loathing of our president are escalating.

There’s more:

Of course, the real war to kill bin Laden and destroy al Qaeda is failing because the obsession with Iraq has stolen manpower, money and unity that is necessary to win this war, and this is the one television ad Democrats should run throughout America.

Budowsky’s piece seems intended to light a fire under the Democrats, but in fact, it should ignite the entire country in preparation for the coming presidential election. This is one op-ed that deserves to be read in its entirety.

Turkey: An Endangered Bridge Between East and West

Note to Readers: The following post was written by David Brunet, a good friend and a former Fulbright Scholar in Turkey.

I lived in Turkey in 1992-93 as a Fulbright scholar, teaching at Ege University in Izmir. I’m pretty good at learning languages, so I made it a goal to learn as much Turkish as possible before and during my stay there. I was glad I tried to learn the language and although I never got to be as fluent as I had hoped, I was able to have simple conversations with grocery store clerks, shopkeepers, policemen, and others, and they were so pleased that an American wanted to have a conversation in their language.

I found the Turks to be warm and friendly, and even though they mirrored the U.S. in having a strong military, they were intensely interested in sustaining peace and strengthening cultures across the world. They valued diversity, the arts, and dialogue with other cultures.

My experience in Turkey was very positive. Despite our religious differences, I found that we shared basic values, and that in fact we worshipped the same God.

Overlooking the similarities between Islam and Christianity, President Bush labels the terrorists Islamic extremists. He forgets our Christian culture has also spawned terror: the gangs in our cities qualify as terrorists, and our use of force abroad to solve every dispute is viewed in other countries as terrorism.

James Carroll’s essay on Turkey in yesterday’s Boston Globe is right on target. The Turks have always seen us as their best allies. Long a part of European culture, they have also seen themselves as a bridge between the West and the Middle East. But as Carroll said, Bush is now creating chaos in Turkey’s immediate neighborhood.

Are the Turks our enemies? No! In my experience, Turkey responds with enthusiasm and gratitude when the U.S. and Europe show that we value their culture and their people. But Bush’s wars demonstrate to the world that we don’t value other people’s cultures. His response to a terrorist strike in the U.S. has destroyed the culture of Afghanistan and Iraq, and now he threatens to do the same in Iran.

Keep in mind that Iran has an ancient role as the cultural center of the Middle East. If we destroy that culture, we’ll alienate even more of the world’s population.

Memo from Rumsfeld: “Link Iraq to Iran”

My friend David dropped by Katalusis yesterday and left a comment in response to my Oct. 23 post, “Wrapping the Earth in an Explosive Vest.”

The suicide bomber’s explosive vest was the ominous metaphor developed by James Carroll in his reflections on the recent Bush-Cheney mutterings about Iran and the possibility of World War III. Carroll concluded:

Iraqi civil war, conflict with Iran, Turkish-Kurdish violence, chaos throughout the Middle East - and now President Bush tells us that, if we don't defuse the regional body vest carefully, World War III will start. There it is. Bush himself acknowledging at last what, under his leadership, the United States has done. We have put an explosive vest on Earth itself.

David responded:

Because I have lived abroad in several countries, and because I speak several languages (French, German, Turkish), I have been able to have conversations with people around the world not in English but in their own languages. And they have told me in their own ways that they view the US as a "terrorist nation." We get our way by creating fear, by using force, and by sacrificing our young people. And they have noticed that the nations we don't bully are the ones that have nuclear weapons. Is it any surprise that Iran wants to have nuclear weapons? If Bush is willing to attack Iran with nuclear weapons, then he is the incarnation of Satan himself, and the whole world will suffer or
even come to an end through him. I love this world, and I love my country. Already he has caused havoc that may change our world forever. A hex on you, Bush.--David Brunet.

However, the fact that many people around the world view the US as a terrorist nation isn’t due to Bush-Cheney alone; those two had considerable help from Donald Rumsfeld. Check out Robin Wright’s article in today’s Washington Post that jarringly reminds us of the former secretary of defense’s legacy, effectively captured in Wright’s opening paragraph:

In a series of internal musings and memos to his staff, then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld argued that Muslims avoid "physical labor" and wrote of the need to "keep elevating the threat," "link Iraq to Iran" and develop "bumper sticker statements" to rally public support for an increasingly unpopular war.

What I can’t figure out is why more people aren't as concerned as my friend David about our country’s reputation in the world and the latest saber rattling in Washington.

Wrapping the Earth in an Explosive Vest

In his column in Monday’s Boston Globe, James Carroll develops an ominous metaphor tied to Bush’s recent statement to world leaders that if they were interested in avoiding World War III, they ought to be interested in preventing the Iranians from obtaining the knowledge to make a nuclear weapon.

Carroll calls attention to the deaths of two young suicide bombers whose plans went awry. The first changed his mind on the way to his target, but died when he accidentally detonated himself while reporting at a police station.

The second young man revealed his plans to family members. When his mother tried to remove the explosive vest from his body, the bomb went off and killed him, his mother, and three siblings.

The suicide bomber has been America’s nemesis in both Afghanistan and Iraq; Carroll says, “A seemingly endless supply of suicide bombers is what makes the American war the horror that it is.”

Carroll focuses on the extreme difficulty of removing the suicide bomber’s explosive vest without detonating it. And he compares the situation America has created in Iraq to wrapping that nation’s body in wires and plastic explosives, suggesting grim implications for a precipitous withdrawal.

Carroll concludes that Bush’s reference to World War III globalizes the explosive vest:

Iraqi civil war, conflict with Iran, Turkish-Kurdish violence, chaos throughout the Middle East - and now President Bush tells us that, if we don't defuse the regional body vest carefully, World War III will start. There it is. Bush himself acknowledging at last what, under his leadership, the United States has done. We have put an explosive vest on Earth itself.

And now our job is to get it off. The revelation here is that, in the new age, every bomber is a suicide bomber.

In my opinion, Carroll’s column is profoundly disturbing: a wake up call to the world.

What do you think? Please leave a comment.