democracy
Moderates Stand Firm in Lebanon
June 9, 2009
Congratulations to the people of Lebanon who this week cast their votes against extremism and brutality.
The dynamic of extremists and elites who refuse compromise, and are inclined to seize power, imposing their will on a pliant, intimidated...
Dissident Watch: Mithal al-Alusi
May 30, 2009
Spring 2009
Amid growing conservatism and ethnic and sectarian populism in Iraq, parliamentarian Mithal al-Alusi, a Sunni Arab, has become the country’s chief advocate for liberal values including a free market, free press, religious...
Long Live Democracy and the Courage of Ordinary Iraqis
February 3, 2009
Saturday’s provincial elections in Iraq were a great triumph for democracy worldwide and especially for the Iraqi people. William Shawcross in The Guardian has written an excellent column on the subject.
For the first time in...
Iraqi Parliamentarian Acquitted for “Crime” of Visiting Israel
November 24, 2008
Hopeful news out of Iraq this morning as an Iraqi court has voted to acquit Mithal al-Alusi, a great Iraqi champion of human rights, of prosecution for visiting Israel.
Alusi is a member of the Iraqi Parliament and founder of the Democratic...
Geert Wilders Screens “Fitna” and Exposes the Problem of Radical Islam in Europe Today
October 18, 2008
Last Friday I attended a talk organized by the Legal Project of Daniel Pipes’ Middle East Forum. The speaker was Geert Wilders, the Dutch Parliamentarian known for his controversial statements about Islam and Muslim immigrants to...
Reconsidering Jesse Jackson’s Words Regarding Obama and Israel
October 17, 2008
Rereading Amir Taheri’s interview of Jesse Jackson that ran in Tuesday’s New York Post, I realize I may have fallen into a trap.
Yesterday I noted here on my blog that, while Jackson is not an official spokesperson for the Obama campaign, his...
Patriotic Americans, Supporters of Israel, and of Peace Through Strength Should Not Kid Ourselves That Obama’s Brand of Change Will Be Good
October 15, 2008
Granted, Jesse Jackson is not an official spokesman for the Obama campaign. But I don’t hear Obama repudiating the alarming statements Jackson has made in recent days concerning Barack Obama’s plans for U.S. foreign policy generally,...
An Iraqi Hero
September 16, 2008
In today’s American Spectator online, I have a piece about the Iraqi Parliamentarian Mithal al-Alusi, whose sons were murdered in February 2005 following his visit to Israel to attend a counterterrorism conference there. Over the...
Muslim Freedom Fighter Arrested
March 20, 2008
On Tuesday, members of Bangladesh’s Rapid Action Battalion, a paramilitary wing of the government, stormed the offices of Bangladeshi journalist Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, arrested and interrogated him. In 2003, Mr. Choudhury, editor of the...
The Times They are a-Changin’
March 4, 2008
In today’s New York Times Sabrina Tavernise reports that young people in Iraq have begun to turn against extremist Islam.
“The religion men are liars. Young people don’t believe them. Guys my age are not interested in religion...