In this mailing:
- Judith Bergman: A Two State
Solution for Europe?
- Burak Bekdil: Turkey: Laundering
Billions for Iran
- Peter Huessy: Is Saudi Arabia Key
to America's Mideast Strategy?
by Judith Bergman • December 6,
2017 at 5:00 am
- A poll conducted this
summer found that 29% of French Muslims found Sharia to be more
important to them than French laws. It also found that 67% of
Muslims want their children to study Arabic, and 56% think it
should be taught in public schools.
- A 2016 UK poll showed
that 43% of British Muslims "believed that parts of the
Islamic legal system should replace British law while only 22
per cent opposed the idea". Another poll from 2016 found
that 23% of all Muslims supported the introduction of sharia law
in some areas of Britain, 39% agreed that "wives should
always obey their husbands," and 52% of all British Muslims
believe that homosexuality should be illegal.
- French President
Emmanuel Macron blamed France, not Islam, for the increased
radicalization, which he said should lead France to "question
itself." According to Macron, then, the parallel Islamic
societies of France, have nothing to do with Islam. They are the
fault of the French republic. Did the French republic impose
sharia and the subjugation of women in the suburbs, described by
one female survivor as "hell"? Was the French republic
behind the recent distribution of leaflets stipulating "if
you meet a Jew, kill him"?
Riot police
muster in the northern Paris suburb of Villiers-le-Bel, France.
(Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)
A French intellectual, Christian Moliner, recently
suggested that France should establish a Muslim state-within-a-state
that adheres to sharia law, inside the borders of France, to avoid a
civil war. Warning against refusing to deal with the problems of
Islamism in Europe because of political correctness, he stated:
"Out of the fear of appearing Islamophobic, to
satisfy this bustling fringe of Muslims, governments are ready to
accept the spread of radical practices throughout the country....
[some] territories are outside the control of the Republic. The
police can come only in force and for limited durations... We can
never convert the 30% of Muslims who demand the introduction of
sharia law to the merits of our democracy and secularism. We are now
allowing segregation to take place that does not say its name."
Moliner's solution?
by Burak Bekdil • December 6, 2017
at 4:30 am
- In one audio
recording, Erdogan was heard ordering his son to get rid of all
the cash he kept at home; and his son, after trying for several
hours, tells him there are still millions left. Erdogan denied
the authenticity of the evidence and claimed this was a coup
d'état against his elected administration. He then purged all
prosecutors and police officers investigating the charges.
- Zarrab's testimony as
a witness, as well as documents displayed at trial "would
show that this conspiracy to launder money for Iran was not a
rogue operation. It would show the Turkish government at its
very highest level understood what was going on -- and approved
of it." — Nate Schenkkan, Freedom House, USA.
- "Former and
current opposition figures already face prosecution and threats
should they help publicize corruption allegations against
Erdogan. The potential conviction of Turkish government
officials plays to Erdogan's growing anti-Western rhetoric. It
serves as further evidence, for Erdogan and his supporters, that
the West will not tolerate promising, strong leaders who pursue
independent foreign policies. This perception feeds popular
narratives that Islamists in Turkey and elsewhere hold about
Western or American policies in the region. It also resonates
well with extremely high levels of popular anti-Americanism in
Turkey." — A. Kadir Yildirim, research scholar, Rice
University's Baker Institute for Public Policy.
A number of
high-profile investigations developing on American soil are
threatening Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's legitimacy while
he resorts to the tactic he knows best: spin global conspiracy
theories to influence voter behavior in a country the where average
schooling is a mere 6.5 years. (Photo by Elif Sogut/Getty Images)
"He has a strong paranoid orientation. He is
ready for retaliation and, not without reason, sees himself as
surrounded by enemies. But he ignores his role in creating those
enemies, and righteously threatens his targets. The conspiracy
theories he spins are not merely for popular consumption in the Arab
world, but genuinely reflect his paranoid mindset. He is convinced
that the United States, Israel and Iran have been in league for the
purpose of eliminating him, and finds a persuasive chain of evidence
for this conclusion."
— Explaining
Saddam Hussein: A Psychological Profile, by Dr. Jerrold M. Post,
presented to the House Armed Services Committee, December 1990.
by Peter Huessy • December 6, 2017
at 4:00 am
- "Message: The
appeasement of Iran is over." — Charles Krauthammer.
- "If Saudi Arabia
is genuine in its declared desire to become an active member of
the global system, the first thing it has to do is to offer the
rule of law in the sense understood by most people around the
world." — Amir Taheri, journalist.
- "Here's my
strategy... we win, they lose." — U.S. President Ronald
Reagan. Let us hope that Saudi Arabia will be part of that
strategy, and not an obstacle to it.
U.S.
President Donald Trump talks with Saudi Arabia's King Salman in
Riyadh, May 20, 2017. (Image source: White House/Shealah Craighead)
In early November, Houthi rebels in Yemen, backed by
the Islamic Republic of Iran, launched a missile strike targeting the
King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Although
the missile, like more than 100 others launched at Saudi Arabia from
Yemen over the past two years, was intercepted, and no casualties
were incurred, the incident served as yet another reminder of
Tehran's aggression and hegemonic ambitions in the Middle East,
through proxy terrorist organizations. The Houthis are but one
example; al Qaeda, Hamas and Hezbollah are others.
In the immediate aftermath of the attack, U.S.
President Donald Trump telephoned Saudi King Salman to repeat the
importance of fighting terrorism in the region and the world -- the
stated purpose of the joint American-Saudi Global Center for
Combating Extremist Ideology, which the two leaders inaugurated in
Riyadh in May, at a gathering of representatives from 50 Islamic
nations.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment