As diplomats continue to discuss the issue of Iran's nuclear program, it seems clear to me that sanctions are not going to happen. The Russian Foreign Minister spoke out against sanctions after a meeting with Kofi Annan, which seems to make it pretty clear that they will veto any sanctions proposal at the Security Council. The realization that Iran will eventually become a nuclear power seems to be the prevailing wisdom now in the State Department, as they are now creating the infrastructure to wage a 'long struggle' with Iran along the lines of the policy of deterrence and containment that was used against the Soviet Union. Where does this leave us? With a President and Vice-President speaking loudly and carrying no stick at all, draining away what little credibility they have left. It also leaves us with the Israelis, who once again are asserting their right to self defense. It will be the worst of all possible worlds. We will suffer the consequences of a military strike not of our own making, which will probably only retard temporarily the Iranian nuclear program. Our position in Iraq will be made even more difficult by the explosion of anti-Israeli fervor that will break out following the strike, and our President will be too politically weak to respond effectively. The only hope I have is that the Iranians will be stupid enough to strike first.
A new Washington Post/ABC News poll shows Americans have an increasingly negative view of Arabs and Muslims. This is no surprise as the American people are bombarded daily with images of violence perpetrated by Arabs or Muslims (that generally result in the deaths of other Arabs or Muslims). Since there are no Christian, Jewish, Buddhist or Hindu suicide bombers, and there are nor Christian, Jewish, Buddhist or Hindu riots about blasphemous cartoons, or Christian, Jewish, Buddhist or Hindu death threats against authors, it stands to reason to most Americans that it must be something about Islam that makes its people so violent. That may be an incorrect interpretation, but one can see why it is held.
Domestically, the hot speculation in political circles is about whether or not the Democrats can match the GOP's sweeping victories of 1994 in the upcoming elections. Here is an article that ponders the differences between then and now. It doesn't look good for a repeat.
posted by Dan Pierce @ 8:48 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
You touch on the exact problem, though I'm not sure you meant to. The problem is Americans judge the entirity of Islam as it spans from Western Europe to Indonesia, based soley upon the acts of violent Muslims in the Middle East. And unfortunately, Americans are also far too willing too ignorant or willing to dismiss acts of violence committed by Christians/Jews/Hindus the world over (not in our country alone), which they should consider in measuring the inherent "violence" of Islam.
I did mean to touch on that point. The perceptions of the American people are still primarily shaped by the mainstream media, which is bombarding the viewers, listeners and readers with news and images about violence ostensibly in the name of Islam (or some perverted image of Islam). On the other hand, one has to dig deep to find news of Christian violence against Muslims in Nigeria, or Hindu violence against Muslims in India (Israeli strikes against Palestinians tend to get more coverage, of course). Finally, Osama bin Laden and his people are Muslims, and they (back in 1998) declared war against America and attacked us here at home in 2001. They make a big deal of the Islamic nature of their identity, which further makes Americans wonder what it is about Islam that can be used to justify such violence (it has been a long time in the American experience since it was normal to use Christianity to justify morally abysmal activies, like slavery or colonization).
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