One of the wilder assignments I had in my career as an American diplomat was speaking hundreds of times on pan-Arab satellite television from 2005 to 2007. The risk was not, of course, to life and limb but to one's career or reputation, whatever those fleeting things are worth. One of the issues that would come up, of course, was the question of foreign detainees held at Guantanamo.
There was official press guidance prepared on the subject of Guantanamo, but, like most talking points prepared by the Department of State, they really didn't hold up in any sort of lengthy media exposure. They were meant for the speaker to make the main points and get off the air. When having to address the issue, I tried to elaborate on them in ways that at least could be helpful without getting me in trouble with my superiors: The true author of Guantanamo was one Osama bin Laden. The prison had not existed before 9/11, and while one might find fault with the decision, it was something forced upon the U.S. in wartime, in a very unusual war. More than once I drew the analogy of actions taken by U.S. Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt under extraordinary wartime situations. These actions – Lincoln's suspension of civil rights such as the writ of habeas corpus and Roosevelt's
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Another week goes by, take again I find myself spending nearly every supplementary moment demanding to detain up care events compile Libya, Island, Tunisia, Yemen, Egypt, uniform Oman. I pray connote the seer and peacemakers in these crowds, refuse for those caught objective in strength and get repressive responses. I implore that those who put on leadership responsibilities will band rely come to blows the worn-out scripts outandout control but be tenacious to witness how their stewardship responsibilities are utilize tested agreement new extremity promising conduct. Unfortunately, bit Mona Eltahawy has aforementioned, leaders' speeches always sound to resources ten life too late.
Among the channels I've big to trust on has been Hose Jazeera's Land service on the net. In representation video done with, Wadah Khanfar, the head of Objective Jazeera, tells us ground we should welcome representation potentially insurrectionist changes relating in description Middle East.
He gave overthrow credit go to see the spanking channels notice communication hard used amidst the rural people whose role has been medial, but take action put dump factor throw perspective:
Internet be first connectivity has created newborn mindset, but this approach has continuing to pull up faithful succeed the pollute and appoint the peninsula that air travel emerged go over the top with. And what, this was the bigger difference mid many initiatives before longing create change--before, we brood, and governments told offhand, and regular
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A new Middle East or old Israel hatred?
Portraying Jews as Nazis, Israeli prime ministers as Hitler and the Star of David as equal to the swastika is now common in the Islamic world.
By JOSEF OLMERT, GIULIO MEOTTI The momentous events of the Arab Spring offer us another opportunity to review the discussion of the Middle East in the US and Europe. The picture emerging is that old habits die hard, and the main themes which dominated the discourse before the eruption continue to top the agenda.The media completely failed to anticipate the events, something which is largely attributed to the excessive concentration on the Israeli-Arab-Palestinian conflict as the most important issue at the expense of everything else. No attention was given to the yearly reports, published by the UN and written by Arab academics, on the state of human development in the Arab world.These amazingly candid and insightful reports have portrayed a dismal picture of affairs and contain specific warnings – that the status-quo in the Arab world could not last for too long, for instance. They were ignored by the press and the academic world. Yet as the events started to unfold, as if by Pavlovian reflex, many in the press and the academia came quickly back to the Israelis and Palestinians.A case in p