by Dr. David Pence and A. Joseph Lynch
I. ISRAEL, ISLAM, AND THE MIDDLE EAST
INSIDE ISRAEL: The two Jewish communities underneath all the other stories about Israel.
ISRAEL MAY BE OUR ALLY, BUT HER STRATEGY IS NOT OURS: It does not help us that our ally in the Mideast, Israel, lists its five "real enemies” and we find that our allies Iraq and Afghanistan are on the list. Embattled Syria is also on their list. Not ISIS, not the Saudis, not Pakistan. Their three "real enemies" in the Mideast are led by Shiites or have significant Shia representation. This disparity of aims between the US and Israel must be resolved. This list is continued evidence that for now Israel is in de facto alliance with the Saudis against all manifestations of Shiite rule. The Saudi hatred toward Shiites stems from their Wahhabi distortion; the Israelis are more geopolitical in assessing the military threat from Hezbollah (a Shiite force) in Lebanon and the State of Iran. This troubling disparity between the US and Israel is mindful of a similar disparity in the Democratic Party. Hillary Clinton tilts to the Saudis and badmouths the Russians, while President Obama has opened to Iran and made a deal with Moscow. As President Obama concluded after a lengthy foreign policy interview about friends and foes in the Mideast: "It’s complicated."
SAUDI CROWN PRINCE MUHAMMED BIN NAYEF: He was an American favorite. Where has he gone? It may be the deputy crown prince who is truly the next in line.
CIA DIRECTOR BRENNAN - NO SKEPTICISM TOWARD SAUDIS: He has certainly been consistent.
SAUDI MOSQUES IN THE US: IS THE JIG UP? A bill to stop this travesty.
DO WE WORSHIP THE SAME GOD? A young priest and old cardinal go against the Vatican Council. Getting this right is essential. I cannot see how any of these arguments should not apply to the Jews/Christians as well. Do Catholics and Jews worship the same God? This reminds us that many evangelicals make the "different Jesus" statement about Catholics. Here is an audio of a good debate on Catholic radio between Robert Spencer and Monsignor Stuart Swetland.
PAT BUCHANAN ON SYRIA, TURKEY, THE KURDS, AND US: Limited goals.
A LEBANESE CHRISTIAN KILLED IN AMERICA AS FILTHY ARAB: Time to discriminate. This recalls nativist opposition to the Sikhs who have always been an ally in fighting Islamic violence.
THE FORCES THAT WARRED AGAINST IRAQ AND NOW ALLY AGAINST ASSAD ARE THE SAME: From War on Rocks article, "The Sunni myth...”:
It is often claimed that Assad “is a greater magnet for global jihad than U.S. forces were in Iraq at the height of the insurgency.” Assad inherited the same enemy the United States faced in Iraq. The primary recruiter for extremists is the war, the power vacuum created by war, the chaos and despair resulting from it, and the opportunity jihadists see to kill Shias, Alawites, secular apostate Sunnis, Christians, and Western armies gathering for what they view as the final battle before judgment day. Assad is barely mentioned in ISIL propaganda. He is too small for them. They want something much larger, as do the other Salafi jihadi groups operating in the region. It is naive to think that if Assad is simply replaced with somebody else the West finds suitable that the jihadis will be satisfied. Moreover, Assad (just like Maliki) is not in Yemen, Libya, the Sinai, or Afghanistan, and, yet, the Islamic State is growing in all those places.
II. GENDER, RACE, AND PROTECTION
LGBT - THE MIDDLE GROUND IS DISAPPEARING: The author thinks that's good. We agree that it is true - a sacred love or an abomination?
BORDERS ARE THE WORST IDEA EVER: So says the Danish head of the EU. One of the fundamental characteristics of living organisms is "interiority and homeostasis." Because of membranes in cells or integument in larger organisms, there is separation between the outside and inside which allows identity and life. Can any man of common sense be expected to treat these rootless intellectuals seriously?
BLACK ON WHITE - A FLANNERY O'CONNOR STORY IN REAL LIFE: The black male predator and the elderly white nuns.
III. PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS
HILLARY CLINTON - CAN SHE TURN AGAINST THE SAUDIS IF THAT IS WHAT HER COUNTRY NEEDS? For Mrs. Clinton, the Saudi and Gulf monarchies are major donors to the Clinton Foundation and her aide, Huma Abedin, has significant ties to the "Kingdom of Hate." From Wikipedia:
Abedin was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, to Syed Zainul and Saleha Mahmood Abedin. At the age of two, she moved with her family to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where she was raised and lived until returning to the United States for college. Both of her parents were educators. Her father, born in New Delhi, India, on April 2, 1928, was an Islamic and Middle Eastern scholar of Indian descent, who founded the Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs, an organization devoted to the study of Muslim communities in non-Muslim societies around the world. He published the 'Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs' (JMMA), a publication focusing on Muslim minorities living in diaspora. He graduated from Aligarh Muslim University in 1947 with a master's degree in English literature and joined the department's faculty as a lecturer. He later received his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. Her mother, born in Pakistan, received her Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania and is currently an associate professor of sociology at Dar Al-Hekma College in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
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