Monthly Archives: February 2012

Ray Kelly attends CSP award lunch today, receives praise for controversial intelligence gathering

Today the Center for Security Policy held its Mightier Pen Award in midtown Manhattan and yours truly was in attendance. Will write more soon, but for now: one highlight was the appearance of NYPD Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, who has been taking heat from critics following an associated press report that the NYPD conducted …

Trial of pro-democracy workers set to begin tomorrow in Egypt

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Tomorrow the trial of 43 civil society workers–including 16 Americans–is set to begin in Egypt.

According to the Wall Street Journal, “[t]he 43 employees will be tried on charges of illegally operating unlicensed nongovernmental organizations and receiving foreign funds without notifying Egyptian authorities.”

The Journal goes on to characterize the Egyptian …

Egyptian dissident Cynthia Farahat: America, be the strong horse

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Today Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood announced it backs the country’s military government in its fight against the work of pro-democracy groups there.

Presumably the Brotherhood also supports the dictatorship’s detention and planned prosecution of pro-democracy workers–16 Americans and 27 others—in Egypt’s criminal court.

Recently I interviewed Cynthia Farahat (pictured above), a leader …

Mithal al Alusi survives assassination attempt last night in Iraq

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February 14–Human rights advocate and former Iraqi Parliamentarian Mithal al Alusi contacted me by phone today to say he survived an assassination attempt by two gunmen at his home outside Baghdad last night.

Israel Can’t Rely on President Obama for Support in Iran Strike

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From Algemeiner
by HEATHER ROBINSON

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By some accounts, most American Jews are planning to vote for President Barack Obama in 2012.  At the same time, Democrats are mounting a massive public relations effort to shore up Jewish support in advance of the election.

At town meetings, in editorials, and …

Americans’ support for Israel is grassroots

Just came across this excellent piece, written about a month and a half ago by Elliot Abrams.

How disturbing, and how illogical, are recent words by none other than eminent mideast affairs columnist Thomas Friedman discrediting AIPAC and the grassroots support of Israel that comes from Americans of all persuasions. Because I spent the past …

Congrats, Mitt, on another job well done

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Congrats to Mitt Romney, whose victory in Florida’s primary was hard earned. To me, it seems pretty clear that, for Republicans, Romney is the sensible choice. The man has been successful at virtually everything he has ever touched, and both this country and this world need a problem solver now …