Countdown

No Offense, But…

Vol. VII, No. 40
Posted on Wednesday November 22, 2006

AAI Statement on the Assassination of Pierre Gemayel
The Arab American Institute (AAI) unequivocally condemns the assassination of Lebanese cabinet minister Pierre Gemayel. Rising tension and continued violence today threaten to destabilize Lebanon’s already precarious internal political situation. AAI calls upon the Bush Administration—as well as the international community—to take strong action to both find and prosecute those who are working to kill Lebanon’s leaders and its democracy, and to help bring about national reconciliation, which is so sorely needed by the Lebanese people.

No Offense, But…
When a statement begins with “no offense,” what comes next is usually quite offensive. Such was the case with CNN’s Glenn Beck and his interview of Congressman-elect Keith Ellison (D-MN). “No offense, and I know Muslims. I like Muslims. I’ve been to mosques. I really don’t believe that Islam is a religion of evil. I—you know, I think it’s being hijacked, quite frankly,” said Beck. “With that being said, you are a Democrat. You are saying, ‘Let’s cut and run.’ And I have to tell you, I have been nervous about this interview with you, because what I feel like saying is, ‘Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies.’” Despite Beck’s ridiculous accusations, Ellison handled the interview with poise and class. “I have a deep love and affection for my country,” he said. “There’s no one who is more patriotic than I am. And so, you know, I don’t need to…prove my patriotic stripes.”

Neo-Cons or Just Cons?
It must be lonely being President George W. Bush these days. The Washington Post reports that many of the same advisers who had advocated for war in Iraq, including Kenneth Adelman and Richard Perle, have distanced themselves from the Commander-in-Chief. Other GOP leaders, such as former House speaker (and possible presidential candidate) Newt Gingrich, are blaming Bush for the Democratic sweep of Congress. “People expect a level of performance they are not getting,” said Gingrich. The American Enterprise Institute’s Joshua Muravchik, on the other hand, thinks his fellow neo-cons should give Bush a break…and blame outgoing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. “All of us who supported the war have to share some of the blame for that,” he said. “There’s a question to be sorted out: whether the war was a sound idea but very badly executed. And if that’s the case, it appears to me the person most responsible for the bad execution was Rumsfeld, and it means neo-cons should not get too angry at Bush about that.” With friends like these…

Heard Aroun (Chi)town…
Senator Barack Obama (D-IL), a member of the Foreign Relations Committee and possible ‘08 hopeful, gave a speech yesterday at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs outlining his vision for US strategy in Iraq. In addition, Obama spoke of “strategic lessons” to be learned: “The first is that we should be more modest in our belief that we can impose democracy on a country through military force. In the past, it has been movements for freedom from within tyrannical regimes that have led to flourishing democracies; movements that continue today…We should be clear that the institutions of democracy—free markets, a free press, a strong civil society—cannot be built overnight, and they cannot be built at the end of a barrel of a gun…The second lesson is that in any conflict, it is not enough to simply plan for war; you must also plan for success…If we commit our troops anywhere in the world, it is our solemn responsibility to define their mission and formulate a viable plan to fulfill that mission and bring our troops home. The final lesson is that in an interconnected world, the defeat of international terrorism—and most importantly, the prevention of these terrorist organizations from obtaining weapons of mass destruction—will require the cooperation of many nations…This means talking to our friends and, at times, even our enemies.”