The misplaced faith in Pakistan exhibited by many in Washington is not new; it has been going on for fifty years, ever since the first early infatuation, by various Dulles brothers and American generals, with fly-whisking ramrod-straight terry-thomas-moustachioed generals who kept assuring the Americans that “Islam is a barrier to…
Salam Fayad, with his suit and his tie and his reputation for being an apolitical “technocrat,” and with his American experience, is useful for the “Palestinian” Arabs as they downplay their never-ending ferocity. They do this purely for Western audiences of those whose goodwill they need, that is, those whom…
On September 13, 2009, The Sunday New York Times carried a short editorial (“A Clear Assault on the Press”) about recent events in Turkey. It managed to scold the Erdogan government: Now Turkey has provided a particularly chilling example of another way to shut down independent voices — a fine…
