Daniel Greenfield: One Hundred Broken Mirrors
The real message of the Brotherhood, the AKP in Turkey and Al-Nahda in Tunisia is that you don't have to choose. You can have the modern good life, a thriving economy, international respect and all the shiny things of Europe and America-- and you can have them through Islam. It's a seductive message, but a hollow one. The Faithful of Islam are just another mafia, even if it's one that claims to be chosen by Allah. What they do really well is enrich their own with gambits, tricks and juggling acts that eventually comes crashing down.
Americans have already gotten a taste of what that system looks like. A corrupt elite overseeing a broken economy being goosed for the benefit of the few. A lapdog media that is forever searching out enemies, bleating denunciations, exposing new threats and conspiracies, to distract everyone from the disaster up top. The Obama era is only a small taste of how people in Russia or Egypt live. In the wake of the Cold War, rather than them becoming more like us, we are becoming more like them.
FP: The cycle of peak and decay underlying the American era. (see next items)
Bill Katz: OBAMA NUMBERS UP
You kind of wonder why. Obama has had no great successes recently, but his numbers are up, according to Gallup.
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More precisely, buoyed by the media's interpretation of economic news. We could have a depression right now and the press would headline, "Look, people are resting more!".
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Obama won't lose much, if any, of the black vote. But the GOP can make inroads into Hispanic communities with an intelligent discussion on immigration and a demonstration that Republicans and Hispanics share many values. As far as the "youth" vote is concerned, the very subject nearly always puts me to sleep. We hear about it at every election. The youth will go for Obama. The only question is how many of them will see voting as more important than getting a pizza. With the kids, it's all about turnout.
FP: As I predicted, Obama will be re-elected by the same idiots who did it the first time. Forget the Republican party, it’s as much a failure as the Democratic party. America does not have a partisan problem, it has a systemic problem.
Bill Katz: IRAN PREPARES
More talks, probably useless, begin with Iran this week to try to bring its nuclear program to a halt, or at least end those elements of it that can be used to build nuclear weapons. Iran is already sending signals, in anticipation of the talks, but they are mixed.
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My fear, and I think it's reflected in many comments by political observers, is that Obama will grasp at any straw to keep the talks going until after he is safely re-elected. He clearly wants no international crisis to disrupt his campaign, another example of his pretty obvious "me first" style of governing.
As for Iran, it has thus far not been deterred from its nuclear program, even by stinging sanctions. The sanctions have hurt Iran's economy, but not its nuclear program. We have no reason to believe it will be different this time around. The Iranians, historically, have been excellent negotiators. They will hold us off, perhaps tantalize us with a minor concession or two, but do exactly what they want to do.
FP: The conjunction of self-centered Obama with the cunning of the Islamists are turning Israel into Czeckhoslovakia. If I were Iran, I would strive to complete the nuke program before the election.
Everybody is taking the West for a ride:
THIS CALLS FOR MORE TALKS! The name "North Korea" is practically synonymous with diplomatic failure. No mater how many years we negotiate with the North Koreans, no matter how many "plans" they agree to, they always wind up with greater nuclear-weapons and missile capacity.
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It's interesting that North Korea cannot feed its own people, and yet can spend vast resources on nuclear and missile weapons. This gives the lie to the line, gaining favor again on the ideological left, that we need not fear terror states like Iran or Pakistan because they have "weak" economies. It is an illusion. The Soviet Union fought World War II with a third-world economy, and yet made mincemeat of the German armies.
As Greenfield argues in his article above, it’s precisely those with failed economies that fight wars, not the content.
Barry Rubin: The Iraqi model: as good as it gets.
You can fantasize about moderate Muslim Brotherhood leaders pragmatically getting down to solving Egypt’s problems by creating jobs, building housing, and establishing new industries. You can pretend that various forces will be grateful to America and President Obama for demolishing several dictatorships.
But none of this is going to happen. It is vital to understand why and to comprehend what must be done in the face of this situation.
By pretending to soar to the heights of democracy, the Islamists are on the road to autocracy, and an anti-Western, regionally destabilizing autocracy at that. By being so gullible, the West is assisting at the domination of the region of a repressive, anti-Western force that will set the region back 60 years (to the origin of radical Arab nationalist hegemony) if not 600 years.
FP: The PostWest.
Egypt sends 7 battalions into Sinai with Israeli approval, sources say
Thousands of soldiers and hundreds of armored vehicles deployed in the Sinai Peninsula in bid to increase deteriorating security in the area • Forces instructed to protect gas pipeline, crack down on terrorists.
FP: It’s beginning to look like another prediction of mine will prove accurate: there won’t be an outright violation of the peace treaty. Rather, there will be gradual increases in the size of the Egyptian army in the Sinai to the point where Islamists in the MB and army will take over. What do you think will happen then?
Mofaz: 'Palestinians should get 100% of their territorial demands'
Kadima Chairman MK Shaul Mofaz gets flak from Right and his own party for interview given to The New York Times • Kadima MK Schneller: He who goes back to the warm embrace of the Left...cannot be prime minister.
FP: And another prediction coming true: Mofaz is as opportunist as Livni and as mediocre.
Concerns in France: Another Mohamed Merah?
String of murders involving same weapon and killing style as Toulouse shooter Mohammed Merah spark fears in France of another serial killer • Latest suspect already shot dead four victims in Paris suburb • 100 investigators working on the case.
FP: The future of Europe is here today.
Sheikh Raed Salah wins UK deportation appeal
UK tribunal: Islamic Movement leader's arrest unconstitutional, court issued deportation order without sufficient evidence.
FP: No to Israeli officials, yes to Islamist promoting terror and anti-Semitism. It’s UK so what else did you expect. Upside down and backwards.
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