Tag Archives: Mid-east

THE KLAVAN PLAN TO BRING FREEDOM AND PROSPERITY TO THE MID-EAST

 Once in a while someone proposes an utterly absurd idea that is not utterly absurd at all.  The incomparable and highly entertaining Andrew Klavan has come up with just such an idea.  He calls it the “One State Solution” to the Mid-East problem.  In a twist on the debating technique known as reductio ad absurdum Klavan makes some cogent points by recommending a solution to a thousand year old problem that is at the same time perfectly logical and totally impossible.

It is a fun video that makes a serious point.

THE GREAT UNDECIDER

President Bush’s policy for the Mid-East was opposed by a lot of people. No one is opposed to Obama’s Mid-East policy because no one knows what it is. Now if John Kerry were president, we would know what America’s Mid-East policy would be. It would be exactly whatever the United Nations said it should be.

And on Libya, John Kerry again shows his leadership skill. Unlike Obama, who is still waiting for advice from his advisors, Kerry already has a plan. Kerry’s plan is to prepare to do something, but not to do it now. He says we must be ready to act, ready to do something in case Qaddafi does something really bad.

And then, there is Mrs. Clinton, our Secretary of State. She speaks as the voice of the most powerful nation on earth. Her stern message to all parties in the dispute is – ‘Stop It’! Nothing could be clearer than that. To show the U.S. really means it, rest assured the Secretary will continue to command all parties to Stop It, until the violence is finally over, however long that may take.

Meanwhile, the Saudi’s are getting over $100 for every barrel of oil pumped from under the sand. At least someone is benefitting from America’s foreign policy.

WHEN DEMOCRACY IS NOT WHAT YOU THINK

There is a lot of talk in both the liberal and conservative press about democracy coming to Egypt and other nations in the region. In some instances that may prove to be the case. But in large measure the demand is for self-determination, not for democracy. The two are not the same.

Democracy is a system of ongoing rule by the will of the people. Self-determination is the right to chose the form by which to be governed. The choice can be democracy or some other form of government. Following the revolution, the French exercise their newly won self-determination by choosing one man rule, Napoleon. In large measure, the choice in the Muslim world is to be ruled by God and not by man. It’s called shariah, and shariah is not democracy.