From the WSJ Opinion Archives
He
Has a Great Sense of Ummah
Back in September, Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi raised hackles in
the European Union when he made the perfectly obvious statement that contemporary
Western civilization is superior to contemporary Islamic civilization. As we
noted
at the time, the euro-hypocrites didn't hesitate to charge Berlusconi with
bigotry, notwithstanding their own refusal to admit Turkey into the EU's Christian
club.
Now, though, another leader has stepped forward to echo Berlusconi's sentiments, saying that the ummah--the Islamic world--is "the poorest, the most illiterate, the most backward, the most unhealthy, the most unenlightened, the most deprived and the weakest of all the human race." Who spoke these uncomfortable truths? No, it wasn't Ariel Sharon or John Ashcroft. It was Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's military ruler, at a Muslim conference on science and technology in Islamabad, the Pakistani capital.
Prince
Charming
OK, maybe we were
too kind to the New York Times' Tom Friedman. Over the weekend, Friedman
penned one of the more naive columns we've read of late (link requires registration).
Reporting from Riyadh, Friedman describes Crown Prince Abdullah's response when
the columnist floated his own Mideast peace proposal, under which Israel would
withdraw to its 1967 boundaries and all Arab nations would extend full diplomatic
relations to the Jewish state:
After I laid out this idea, the crown prince looked at me with mock astonishment and said, "Have you broken into my desk?"
"No," I said, wondering what he was talking about.
"The reason I ask is that this is exactly the idea I had in mind--full withdrawal from all the occupied territories, in accord with U.N. resolutions, including in Jerusalem, for full normalization of relations," he said. "I have drafted a speech along those lines. My thinking was to deliver it before the Arab summit and try to mobilize the entire Arab world behind it. The speech is written, and it is in my desk. But I changed my mind about delivering it when Sharon took the violence, and the oppression, to an unprecedented level.
"But I tell you," the crown prince added, "if I were to pick up the phone now and ask someone to read you the speech, you will find it virtually identical to what you are talking about. I wanted to find a way to make clear to the Israeli people that the Arabs don't reject or despise them. But the Arab people do reject what their leadership is now doing to the Palestinians, which is inhumane and oppressive. And I thought of this as a possible signal to the Israeli people."
Well, I said, I'm glad to know that Saudi Arabia was thinking along these lines . . .
C'mon, Tom, can't you show a little skepticism in the face of such bald flattery? As for Abdullah's claim that the Arabs don't despise the Israelis, check out this Reuters report on the hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca:
A sea of hajj pilgrims thronged the Grand Mosque, Islam's holiest shrine, on the last weekly prayer before the five-day pilgrimage that starts next Wednesday, to hear a sermon by the imam, Sheikh Osama Abdullah Khayyat. Sheikh Khayyat steered clear of politics in his speech but closed it with what have become traditional prayers for the triumph of Islam and defeat of Israel.
"God give your glory to Islam and Muslims," he repeatedly said to which hundreds of thousands of people responded by roaring "Amen" in a single voice.
"Lord . . . defeat those tyrant Jews," the preacher added.
A
Religion of Peace
"British Islamic extremists have been involved in weapons training with
assault rifles at a mosque in London," the Observer reports. "The
disclosures that hardline Islamists practised with Kalashnikov AK-47s at the
Finsbury Park mosque in north London underline the pivotal role that Britain
has played in the recruitment of volunteers to fight alongside Osama bin Laden's
al-Qaeda group all over the world."
Ayman
in Iran?
Tehran is denying reports that Ayman al-Zawahiri, believed to have become Osama
bin Laden's No. 2 man when Mohammad Atef died, is in Iranian custody. An Iranian
newspaper run by Hadi Khamenei, brother of "supreme leader" Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei, had reported that Zawahiri was being held in an Iranian political
prison.
Turkey
Foils Anti-Jewish Bombing
Three al Qaeda suspects have been arrested in the eastern Turkish city of Van.
Turkish officials say the men, who had entered the country illegally, were on
their way to Istanbul. From there they planned to head to Israel, where they
would blow themselves up in a "crowded area." Turkish police say the
men belong to Beyyiat al-Imam, an al Qaeda-linked group. The cops caught them
when they failed to stop at a roadside checkpoint.
The
War for Zhawar
The Washington Post reports that U.S. Navy SEALS found "by far the largest--and
perhaps the most important--al Qaeda compound uncovered in the war" in
Zhawar, site of this month's disputed Hellfire missile strike:
Exploring the tunnels with flashlights, they found that many of the more than 70 tunnels were interconnected and stretched hundreds of yards into the side of a steep valley, reinforced by steel I-beams and bricks, the SEAL unit's commander said. Inside they discovered huge arsenals, including tanks, artillery, antiaircraft guns, explosives and ammunition.
"We found tons of ammunition, literally millions of pounds of ammunition," the SEAL officer said. One cache was so large that when it was destroyed, the mountainside kept rumbling with secondary explosions for two full days, he said.
Air
Rage or Assassination?
Last week's killing of Abdul Rahman, Afghanistan's minister of air transport
and tourism appears to have been an assassination rather than a spur-of-the-moment
attacks by frustrated Muslim pilgrims. London's Telegraph quotes Aman Ullah
Khan as saying that Gen. Juraat Khan Panjshiri, Afghanistan's national security
chief, was among the mob that stormed Rahman's plane. Ullah Khan also tells
the paper that intelligence chief Abdul Ajan Tawhidi was among the hajis
heading to Mecca, but he did nothing to prevent the attacks.
Saddam
and the Allies
"President Bush has vowed to topple Saddam Hussein within a year and is
seeking ideas on how to achieve this," London's Daily Telegraph reports.
The Washington
Post reports that Europe is "adamantly opposed to any attack on Iraq."
But Secretary of State Colin Powell tells CNN's "Late
Edition" that "once they settle down," the Europeans will
get on board President Bush's "prudent, disciplined, determined" approach.
Actually, if the Germans are representative, the Europeans aren't really all that unsettled, just whiny. The Post piece quotes Josef Joffe, "a German foreign policy analyst and editor of the weekly Die Zeit," as voicing the following threat: "Will Europe do anything to hinder it if the U.S. goes ahead? No. Will they deny things like overflight rights? No. . . . But active political support? None."
In a New York Times op-ed (link requires registration), Michael Naumann, Joffe's boss at Die Zeit, is downright plaintive:
Ultimately, Washington should return to the fold of its once strong Atlantic partnership, even if it means wasting time and losing military momentum. A fragmented alliance in Europe is much more difficult to repair than a broken pipeline. A truly enforced policy of serious sanctions against Iraq--and persuading Turkey to stop breaking them--would be more useful. Asking French, English, Russian and German businesses to suspend their lucrative dealings with Saddam Hussein's corrupt cronies, having governments freeze their bank accounts, and rekindling negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians would be less spectacular than cruise missiles and Navy Seals televised in green night vision. But it could dislodge the enemy without damaging valued friendships.
Isn't that sweet? They just want to be our friends. But it's worth remembering why the Europeans are our allies to begin with. It's not because we need them, but because they need us. America saved Europe from the Nazis, then from the communists. Now America may save Europe (and itself) from the terrorist threat. Why should we care if Europe objects to being saved?
Great
Moments in European Warfare
Britain has invaded Spain. But it didn't mean to. The Royal Marines were conducting
a training exercise that involved an amphibious assault on the British territory
of Gibraltar--but they missed their target by a few hundred yards. The Telegraph
report:
Instead of being met by a mock enemy they were greeted by two Spanish policemen who stopped the "invasion" with the international "halt" signal of the raised arm.
"Buenos dias, senores. Que hacen aqui?" ("Good morning, gentlemen. What are you doing here?") said one of the bemused officers when he saw the Marines, in full combat gear, fanning out and adopting firing positions on the beach.
After a brief exchange of words and a glance at the most obvious point of orientation, the Rock, the young officer in charge realised his map reading had gone awry and ordered the men of 45 Commando to withdraw.
"It was a much regrettable and embarrassing mistake. Hopefully nothing of this kind will happen again," said an MoD spokesman, who blamed the mistake on bad weather. He added: "We were not trying to take Spain and have no plans to do so."
The
Benefits of Communism
Not all European leaders are soft on terrorism--but the ones who aren't seem
to be those who have recent memories of suffering under communism. The Jerusalem
Post reports Czech prime minister Milos Zeman visited Israel, where he was blunt:
"You cannot negotiate with terrorists because the single response of terrorists
for fulfilling their demands is blackmail--new demands, nothing more."
Asked if Yasser Arafat is a terrorist, Zeman said: "Any political leader who
tolerates political terrorism as a legitimate tool for his political campaign
. . . is a terrorist."
The European Union, not surprisingly, condemned Zeman, saying his comments are "unhelpful" and demanding that the Czechs, who are expected to join the EU in 2004, demonstrate a "commitment to EU foreign policy." Let's hope the Czechs aren't cowed by the EU's arrogant, bully-boy attitude.
What
Do Women Want?
Ever since the first Arab suicide bombing in Israel, we've been wondering what
female "martyrs" get when they arrive in paradise. Men, of course,
get 72 virgins (not Virginians, contrary to an urban legend making the rounds
on the Internet). U.S. News & World Report has the answer (ninth item):
What do radical clerics promise [male terrorists'] female counterparts? Not much, say Israeli counterterror experts. If a woman is single, her family waits for her up above to be by her side for all eternity. If she's a widow, her dead husband joins her in the afterlife. "No wonder so few volunteer," quips one U.S. official.
The Des Moines Register offers a revealing view on the militant Muslim mind from David Baugh, a civil-liberties lawyer who's represented al Qaeda members in court: "When the American press talks about suicide bombers, Muslims become upset for the same reason you would be upset if your son died trying to save a drowning child. Your son sacrificed his life for another. If someone walked up to you and said, 'I'm sorry about your son committing suicide,' you'd probably want to punch them." Murdering Jews, saving a drowning child--what's the difference, really?
Great Moments in Airport Security
On Sunday the federal government took over the job of airport security screening.
How's it going so far? Flying out of Las Vegas last night, we were selected
for a high-intensity search (must've been our Middle Eastern heritage), and
the sleepy old man who rummaged through our checked baggage missed a compartment
in one of our bags. Being a conscientious citizen, we pointed it out to him,
so he was able to ascertain that it contained only shaving cream, toothpaste
and the like.
They're even sleepier in Louisville, Ky. "Passengers at Louisville International Airport had to be re-screened Tuesday after it was discovered at 6:45 a.m. that a security screener had fallen asleep," reports WHAS-TV. Some 1,000 passengers had to go through the X-ray-magnetometer-wand routine again.
CNN reports on another incident, which happened yesterday. Because of what officials say was a "total misunderstanding," a man who'd been ordered to submit to a search of his carry-on bags boarded an American Eagle flight from New York's LaGuardia airport to Cleveland. Because of this "security breach," the LaGuardia terminal was shut down--and the flight, which was already about 100 miles out, was ordered to return to LaGuardia--even though there was no evidence that the passenger actually was a terrorist, and presumably his bags had been X-rayed.
Here's a Best of the Web travel tip: If you are singled out to have your bags searched--you'll know because your checked bags will be subjected to special scrutiny, and your ticket will have one or more prominent S's (or maybe X's) on it--take advantage of it. When you get to the gate, volunteer to have your bags searched at the earliest available opportunity. Once you've been searched, you get to cut in line, giving you a chance to seize all that prime overhead-compartment real estate.
Great
Moments in Non-Western Civilization
A Saudi man who had sex with his sister-in-law has been sentenced to six years
in prison and 4,750 lashes. The sister-in-law, who says she was raped, gets
only six months in jail and 65 lashes--still an awfully stiff sentence, given
that, as the Associated Press puts it, "the court found she had not consented
to the relationship."
Stupidity Watch
One Rob
Miller of National Journal's Hotline weighs in with a defense of Ted Turner's
recent obnoxious remarks about Sept. 11. What we like best about the column,
though, is this passage:
The New York Daily News reported that when White House spokesperson Claire Buchan heard about Turner's remarks she "snapped": "The President believes the people who flew the planes were terrorists who committed acts of evil."
Ahh, yes, "evil." Of course, "evil" being the latest catchword in the Bush White House, it's no surprise she used that term to describe the Sept. 11 hijackers. But is it that simple? Do we just blindly accept that these acts are evil and move on without a debate about their motivations?
Isn't this adorable? Miller puts forth the idea that hey, who's to say what's evil, as if it were the most original thought in the world. He doesn't seem to realize it's a cliché, and one that doesn't even have the advantage of being true. But still, give the kid a break. We remember when we were 15 or so and would make pronouncements like this as if they were the most penetrating and original insights anyone had ever heard. We grew up in due course, and we're sure Rob will too.
Edward Said, the stone-throwing Egyptian Columbia professor of literature, offers the following contribution to an online discussion group:
The slogan "NYC, Terror Free" worries me. To throw anyone out of New York would be unjust. The cycle of hostilities since September 11th have [sic] spun out of control. My answer to PLO out of NYC is that the moment we start kicking terrorists out of New York City--I leave also. A terror-free city is no place for me.
For what it's worth, we're willing to contribute $5 toward a one-way bus ticket for the professor.
Louis Farrakhan gave a 2 1/2-hour speech denouncing America's war on terrorism. The highlight was Farrakhan's declaration that "I'm a Jew, I'm a Christian, and I'm a Muslim." The Jews must be just delighted to hear that. So, for that matter, must the Christians and the Muslims.
James Goldsborough of the San Diego Union-Tribune warns that "Osama bin Laden, who may be dead, is getting closer to success." Why? Because America may soon overthrow Saddam Hussein. This would alienate the all-important "moderate Muslim regimes," such as--yes--our friends the Saudis--who are apparently more important than our true allies. Referring to the State of the Union address, Goldsborough darkly says: "Observers saw the hand of Israel in Bush's speech." Ah yes, those wily Jews! His conclusion: "If Bush wants war with Iraq to finish what his dad (and Colin Powell) didn't finish 11 years ago, there is one Muslim who would agree with him. Osama bin Laden." That's right, if Saddam loses, the terrorists win.
Newsday columnist Sheryl McCarthy sounds a similar note:
"This war on terrorism is very important both in reality and in politics," says Richard Bulliet, a history professor at Columbia University. "If you don't have the terrorists, then you can focus on Saddam, who is a very good placeholder. Everybody accepts that he's a terrorist, whether he's done any terrorism or not."
Frankly, I'm not sure Hussein is a danger to anybody--maybe if he were to get his hands on some nuclear weapons. But, as Bulliet points out, at most he could only get a handful, and it would be suicide to use even one of them. For the moment, he is George W. Bush's version of the evil empire. And just as the Cold War was used as the pretext for doing things the government wanted to do anyway, the war on terrorism is being used as a pretext now. Hussein isn't a mayor (sic) player in it. He's just the wolf, lurking in the forest.
McCarthy sounds like nothing so much as one of those Confederacy buffs who insist to this day that the Civil War (sorry, "the war between the states") had nothing to do with slavery.
Finally, check out the bottom photo accompanying this piece in The Economist. It shows a picture of two little Iraqi girls, with the caption "America's target."
Picking
on Pickering?
The New York Times (link requires registration) visits Laurel, Miss., home town
of Judge Thomas Pickering, whom the misnamed liberal-left group People for the
American Way is trying to smear as a racist. Almost every black resident reporter
David Firestone talks to is in favor of Pickering's confirmation to the Fifth
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The one exception? A city councilman named Manuel
Jones, who "said he opposed the nomination, largely because he differed
with Judge Pickering's efforts in the late 1980's to integrate the largely black
city schools with the largely white county schools."
The
Opposite of Progress
Remember Carol
Roberts, the most partisan member of the Palm Beach County election board?
The Palm Beach Post reports she's running for Congress.
Grievance
Mongers Get Desperate
The National Organization for Women is jealous of Jell-O. Seriously. A press
release from the fringe-feminist organization complains:
There was one event in Salt Lake City that the media basically ignored. The Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign organized the "March For Our Lives," which took place the day of the Olympic Opening Ceremonies to bring attention to the thousands of poor women, men and children in the U.S. The March drew 400 participants, including poor and homeless families from Utah, across the U.S., and other countries around the world, as well as other activists for economic justice. Terry O'Neill, NOW's membership vice president, traveled to Salt Lake City to speak and march on behalf of NOW.
Human-interest features about Jell-O (Utah's official snack food) and the Mormon church are fine, but it's a shame the media are ignoring the real story of starving people in our own country.
Oh, c'mon. If people were starving in America, it would be a story, but they aren't. Besides, what does any of this have to do with the Olympics?
A
Spontaneous Moo-vement
The Lakeland (Fla.) Ledger reports on the People for the Ethical Treatment
of Animals' latest campaign--against "cow bingo." It seems Florida
Southern College had a fund-raising event at which this game was played. Here's
how it works: Participants bought squares on the grid that organizers had set
up on a field. "The winner was chosen by the square on which the cow deposited
a cow patty." After PETA complained, the university issued a statement:
"To our knowledge, no laxatives were used on the cow."
(Elizabeth Crowley helps compile Best of the Web Today. Thanks to S.E. Brenner, Eric Timmons, Frank Natoli, C.E. Dobkin, Michael Segal, Raghu Desikan, Asla Aydintasbas, Jerome Marcus, Damian Bennett, Steven Platzer, Shelley Taylor, Lisa Schell, Michiel Visser, Daniel Foty, Janice Lyons, Jane Weidman, Jose Guardia, Steve Baus, Scott Criss, Judith Weiss, Napoleon Cole, Jim Orheim, Jay Brinker, Anthony Brunsvold, Darrell Nolan, David Merrill, John Hartness, Robert McCarthy, Ronnie Morgan, Don Friedman, Dave Anderson and Christian Peck. If you have a tip, write us at opinionjournal@wsj.com, and please include the URL.)
Today on OpinionJournal:
- William McGurn: The ACLU and the NAACP try to deny 11-year-old Toshika Bacon an education (link requires registration)
- Tom Bray: Meet Bjorn Lomborg, the man who gives greens the blues.
- Vermont Royster: Remembering the 20th century's most aristocratic president.
