Sadly, we're in a downward spiral into an abyss of a military-intelligence led executive branch in all matters of security. What is lost in this process is our fundamental right to privacy. What is gained is a 4th branch of government, neither authorized, nor contemplated in the Constitution. This is what weak presidents with little to no knowledge of military and intelligence operations will get you...smh
It seems that Professor Cole sees world events as a "flash in the pan." He called Egypt's revolution and transition to democracy a "disaster," [actually Cole referred to Morsi's rule that way, not the revolution or democracy] while calling Qatar's slow trek to participatory government a detriment to progress. What is more the truth is that Egypt's revolution was inevitable and the result of decades of autocratic rule. Progress is slow and there is nothing inherently worse in leadership by an American educated scholar with a scientific background, who happens to see politics through the eyes of an evolving philosophy of the Muslim Brotherhood than in what has plagued Egypt for decades. Each time a Muslim nation elects a Muslim government, we hear the cries of those like Professor Cole lamenting that an Islamic based government is seen as more viable by the majority of the people vis-a-vis a secular one. This shows a shortsightedness in his views of history, particularly Islamic history and a clear indication of both prejudice and fear of governments that are Islamically based (except for Shia governments, which he seems quite fond of).
The fact of the matter is that one size does not fit all. There is no evidence or clear religious text that asserts that a monarchy is inherently bad or that democratic rule is prefer in all instances. If recent history in the region is any indication, when the majority of Qataris want change, they will ask for it; demand it if their requests go unanswered. It is not necessary for us to tell them they need to do this or that. I would say to him that the world is watching our own democracy intently and seeing that it doesn't work so well; being in serious need of tweaking.
There will be no winners or losers in Syria for Professor Cole to fret about and to think Qatar need fret about. Its wealth and status among nations is established and it is the Ass(ad) and those like him who need to fear alliance. He is the kind of leader the world is convulsing to get rid of and he wears not the crown of a monarch. He is simply a pig for power, ruthless and evil. Would Professor Cole have Qatar align itself with this piece of crap? Violence is the only call he will respond to. Our nation has repeatedly asked him to relinquish power. We've asked him to transition the power. Has he responded with anything other than murder? Nor will he. Qatar is on the side of justice, as is America, Britain, and so many other nations in the world. If Ass(ad) wins, we all lose. Not because we arms "radicals" as Professor Cole cries, but because we allowed a tyrant to live to see another day to brutalize and destroy his own people and land.
So, a poet is imprisoned for attaching the ruling family there. Not the best of what we see as being characteristic of a free nation. But, look at our own nation, as democratic as we think her to be. Pvt. Manning will likely be imprisoned for life. What was his crime really? He showed us how careless our military adviser are and how wanton they are in affairs of life. Now, we seek to quiet Snowden, who has shown us how far afield our government has traveled from the spirit of its own Constitution and the rights of the people to feel safe and secure in their own homes. We have an ever-growing 4th branch of government; a industrial military complex, that is supposed to be controlled by a commander-in-chief, most of whom have no training to so control and most of whom know nothing about either military or intelligence operations. They are, therefore, puppets, who dance to their puppeteers, their military and intelligence advisors. They cow to they, so easily jettisoning the moral and legal principles that make America great.
Advise Qatar? Please. It is our own democracy that is in jeopardy. We are despised world over for our military invasions and our inept foreign policy. Why should anyone choose in good faith to listen to us?
Well, there are definitely not 61 Surah or Chapters of Qur'an. That's what happens when people report on matters of which they have no knowledge. There has long been a difference of opinion or khilaaf as to whether the Fiqh or Jurisprudence derived from the Shari'ah (which includes Qur'an, but is not limited to it) should be based on literal interpretation of nusus (texts) found primarily in Qur'an and Hadeeth (narrations which depict the sayings, actions and acquiescence of Muhammad, AS). The Hanbali school of legal thought (madhab) has always been literal or what we call in America jurisprudence, black letter law. The other schools, particularly the Shafi'ee school, looks to Qiyas or legal analogy when the nusus or texts are unclear, cannot be explained by other texts or do not address new matters (an example is the prohibition against drinking khamir or wine and how it is extended to whiskey, beer, marijuana, narcotics, etc). The Salafis (Wahabbis is not really politically correct) are the primary proponents of the Hanbali Fiqh. Muhammad Abdul Wahab is the Saudi that called them back to the Hanbali teachings, but the strict interpretation given the Hanbali school's Fiqh is largely promoted by the Salafis. So, what is being called Wahabbi and Salafi is little more than Hanbali). But they have to say Salafi because they criticize legal schools (there are 4 primary Sunni and 1 Shia). So, they cannot call themselves Hanbali because that is a recognized legal school. It's nothing much more than a play on names or words. It would take a couple more paragraphs to explain it further, but this is what the piece is talking about when speaking of strict versus liberal interpretation. There are, of course, many sects, as predicted by the Prophet, AS, in Islaam. In fact, he said there would be more Muslim sects than either Christian or Judaic.
A secular perspective entirely; there's been war in that region between Shia and Sunni for a very long time. And while there is clear hatred and rancor between the clerics of Saudi Arabia and Iran, it is a bit biased to suggest that it all emanates from the Saudi side. In the early 1980s, Iranian jets used to land in Saudi Arabia and rev their engines watching the Saudis try to man planes to chase them back across the Arabian/Persia Sea. This prompted the sale of Awacs and an air defense system to the Saudis by America. There's been enough provocation and blame to go around and any suggestion that the Wahabis are to blame is a bit misleading. The overwhelming majority of Sunni Muslims from around the world support the removal of the Ass(ad). Most would prefer he leave and transition leadership peacefully, but he has no intention of doing so and never has. His overtures and ultimate solicitation of Hezbollah is proof positive. He will do anything to retain his power, so he can hand it down to the next generation of screwed-up Ass(ad)es. Instead of focusing your ire on Morsi, you would get far more traction in truth if you focused on the real problem in Syria...a tyrannical leader who would see his people covered in blood and their land obliterated than to yield power. And it is not just any kind of power. It is the kind of power that gave rise to nations like America. It is absolute power and absolute power corrupts absolutely...
Doesn't sound like much isolation. Sounds like Russia is the one isolated; and rightly so. They've been sending weapons, both heavy and light, from the very start of the conflict. Brazil will not be included in G8. Better check their very unremarkable GDP. That, coupled with its persistent crime and poverty will effectively, if not impeded, lead to BRIC becoming RIC.
Lots of fairly biased rationalization. So, we sit and twiddle our proverbial thumbs (which by now look to be more up our butts than on the table), while Russia, China, Iran and Hezbollah arm and assist the Ass(ad) regime; an evil regime with evil hereditary roots. Hezbollah exists because of creeps like the Ass(ad). Terrorism was supported by creeps like Ghadafi and Sadaam. Injustice and oppression are their hallmarks.
You have conveniently forgotten one of the more salient legal maxims of democracy: "Injustice anywhere threatens justice everywhere." Great geo-political thinking.
We did the right thing in Libya, conspicuously left out of your rather one-sided analysis; and while we did it for all the wrong reasons, the result in Iraq and Afghanistan (the demise of Sadaam and UBL), makes the world a better place.
We cannot cure all the ills of the world; nor need we try. But, we can provide military support to just causes, wherein people struggle for freedom and a more democratic form of government. If France and the Cossacks had believed as you do, we would still be a colony of England, though no worse the wear for Native Americans. In short, we can rationalize all we wish as to an isolationist policy, but the game is too far a foot for that to be a realistic approach in today's world of terrorist "cat and mouse." We cannot and should not turn a "blind eye" to 93,000 good reasons for removing another tyrant from the ranks of the world's so-called rulers.
And please, don't take that myopic view that Libya and Egypt are in turmoil. Look around, the world is in turmoil and the way to see clear from most of it is to have governments that are more responsive it their citizenry, who when deprived of liberty and opportunity, become the breeding ground for political unrest and terrorism. We will see if democracy is all we crank it up to be in Egypt and Libya and God willing, in Syria.
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated; and no Warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
Do you feel secure in your papers and effects? Is there probably cause for the NSA to tap your phones, to read your emails and to otherwise pry into your personal matters. Who signs the affidavit saying you, or I, or any other American, who has done nothing to violate the laws of the land and who love and respect the Constitution, do not have this fundamental right? Is there particularity as to what the NSA wants to hear in your phone calls? Is there particularly in what they seek in your emails? In your FB posts? In your Tweets? Next they will put a mike in your bedroom to see if your wife or lover is a terrorist...get real...this is a defining moment in American history. I voted for Obama, but as a Constitutional lawyer, he knows better than this and there is no way the Congress should let this mess proceed without concrete evidence that these broadly construed searches do anything other than invade the privacy of Americans.
Turkey may be ahead of the curve on these issues in the Muslim world. Egypt is seeing some of the same. We'll see what Algerian and Libyan society faces soon enough. But, from an American perspective, we may have missed the curve altogether, as our young people may have to protest having sex in public vis-a-vis merely kissing. The question, whether or not the two are cointegrated behavioral characteristics?
Sadly, we're in a downward spiral into an abyss of a military-intelligence led executive branch in all matters of security. What is lost in this process is our fundamental right to privacy. What is gained is a 4th branch of government, neither authorized, nor contemplated in the Constitution. This is what weak presidents with little to no knowledge of military and intelligence operations will get you...smh
It seems that Professor Cole sees world events as a "flash in the pan." He called Egypt's revolution and transition to democracy a "disaster," [actually Cole referred to Morsi's rule that way, not the revolution or democracy] while calling Qatar's slow trek to participatory government a detriment to progress. What is more the truth is that Egypt's revolution was inevitable and the result of decades of autocratic rule. Progress is slow and there is nothing inherently worse in leadership by an American educated scholar with a scientific background, who happens to see politics through the eyes of an evolving philosophy of the Muslim Brotherhood than in what has plagued Egypt for decades. Each time a Muslim nation elects a Muslim government, we hear the cries of those like Professor Cole lamenting that an Islamic based government is seen as more viable by the majority of the people vis-a-vis a secular one. This shows a shortsightedness in his views of history, particularly Islamic history and a clear indication of both prejudice and fear of governments that are Islamically based (except for Shia governments, which he seems quite fond of).
The fact of the matter is that one size does not fit all. There is no evidence or clear religious text that asserts that a monarchy is inherently bad or that democratic rule is prefer in all instances. If recent history in the region is any indication, when the majority of Qataris want change, they will ask for it; demand it if their requests go unanswered. It is not necessary for us to tell them they need to do this or that. I would say to him that the world is watching our own democracy intently and seeing that it doesn't work so well; being in serious need of tweaking.
There will be no winners or losers in Syria for Professor Cole to fret about and to think Qatar need fret about. Its wealth and status among nations is established and it is the Ass(ad) and those like him who need to fear alliance. He is the kind of leader the world is convulsing to get rid of and he wears not the crown of a monarch. He is simply a pig for power, ruthless and evil. Would Professor Cole have Qatar align itself with this piece of crap? Violence is the only call he will respond to. Our nation has repeatedly asked him to relinquish power. We've asked him to transition the power. Has he responded with anything other than murder? Nor will he. Qatar is on the side of justice, as is America, Britain, and so many other nations in the world. If Ass(ad) wins, we all lose. Not because we arms "radicals" as Professor Cole cries, but because we allowed a tyrant to live to see another day to brutalize and destroy his own people and land.
So, a poet is imprisoned for attaching the ruling family there. Not the best of what we see as being characteristic of a free nation. But, look at our own nation, as democratic as we think her to be. Pvt. Manning will likely be imprisoned for life. What was his crime really? He showed us how careless our military adviser are and how wanton they are in affairs of life. Now, we seek to quiet Snowden, who has shown us how far afield our government has traveled from the spirit of its own Constitution and the rights of the people to feel safe and secure in their own homes. We have an ever-growing 4th branch of government; a industrial military complex, that is supposed to be controlled by a commander-in-chief, most of whom have no training to so control and most of whom know nothing about either military or intelligence operations. They are, therefore, puppets, who dance to their puppeteers, their military and intelligence advisors. They cow to they, so easily jettisoning the moral and legal principles that make America great.
Advise Qatar? Please. It is our own democracy that is in jeopardy. We are despised world over for our military invasions and our inept foreign policy. Why should anyone choose in good faith to listen to us?
Well, there are definitely not 61 Surah or Chapters of Qur'an. That's what happens when people report on matters of which they have no knowledge. There has long been a difference of opinion or khilaaf as to whether the Fiqh or Jurisprudence derived from the Shari'ah (which includes Qur'an, but is not limited to it) should be based on literal interpretation of nusus (texts) found primarily in Qur'an and Hadeeth (narrations which depict the sayings, actions and acquiescence of Muhammad, AS). The Hanbali school of legal thought (madhab) has always been literal or what we call in America jurisprudence, black letter law. The other schools, particularly the Shafi'ee school, looks to Qiyas or legal analogy when the nusus or texts are unclear, cannot be explained by other texts or do not address new matters (an example is the prohibition against drinking khamir or wine and how it is extended to whiskey, beer, marijuana, narcotics, etc). The Salafis (Wahabbis is not really politically correct) are the primary proponents of the Hanbali Fiqh. Muhammad Abdul Wahab is the Saudi that called them back to the Hanbali teachings, but the strict interpretation given the Hanbali school's Fiqh is largely promoted by the Salafis. So, what is being called Wahabbi and Salafi is little more than Hanbali). But they have to say Salafi because they criticize legal schools (there are 4 primary Sunni and 1 Shia). So, they cannot call themselves Hanbali because that is a recognized legal school. It's nothing much more than a play on names or words. It would take a couple more paragraphs to explain it further, but this is what the piece is talking about when speaking of strict versus liberal interpretation. There are, of course, many sects, as predicted by the Prophet, AS, in Islaam. In fact, he said there would be more Muslim sects than either Christian or Judaic.
A secular perspective entirely; there's been war in that region between Shia and Sunni for a very long time. And while there is clear hatred and rancor between the clerics of Saudi Arabia and Iran, it is a bit biased to suggest that it all emanates from the Saudi side. In the early 1980s, Iranian jets used to land in Saudi Arabia and rev their engines watching the Saudis try to man planes to chase them back across the Arabian/Persia Sea. This prompted the sale of Awacs and an air defense system to the Saudis by America. There's been enough provocation and blame to go around and any suggestion that the Wahabis are to blame is a bit misleading. The overwhelming majority of Sunni Muslims from around the world support the removal of the Ass(ad). Most would prefer he leave and transition leadership peacefully, but he has no intention of doing so and never has. His overtures and ultimate solicitation of Hezbollah is proof positive. He will do anything to retain his power, so he can hand it down to the next generation of screwed-up Ass(ad)es. Instead of focusing your ire on Morsi, you would get far more traction in truth if you focused on the real problem in Syria...a tyrannical leader who would see his people covered in blood and their land obliterated than to yield power. And it is not just any kind of power. It is the kind of power that gave rise to nations like America. It is absolute power and absolute power corrupts absolutely...
Doesn't sound like much isolation. Sounds like Russia is the one isolated; and rightly so. They've been sending weapons, both heavy and light, from the very start of the conflict. Brazil will not be included in G8. Better check their very unremarkable GDP. That, coupled with its persistent crime and poverty will effectively, if not impeded, lead to BRIC becoming RIC.
Lots of fairly biased rationalization. So, we sit and twiddle our proverbial thumbs (which by now look to be more up our butts than on the table), while Russia, China, Iran and Hezbollah arm and assist the Ass(ad) regime; an evil regime with evil hereditary roots. Hezbollah exists because of creeps like the Ass(ad). Terrorism was supported by creeps like Ghadafi and Sadaam. Injustice and oppression are their hallmarks.
You have conveniently forgotten one of the more salient legal maxims of democracy: "Injustice anywhere threatens justice everywhere." Great geo-political thinking.
We did the right thing in Libya, conspicuously left out of your rather one-sided analysis; and while we did it for all the wrong reasons, the result in Iraq and Afghanistan (the demise of Sadaam and UBL), makes the world a better place.
We cannot cure all the ills of the world; nor need we try. But, we can provide military support to just causes, wherein people struggle for freedom and a more democratic form of government. If France and the Cossacks had believed as you do, we would still be a colony of England, though no worse the wear for Native Americans. In short, we can rationalize all we wish as to an isolationist policy, but the game is too far a foot for that to be a realistic approach in today's world of terrorist "cat and mouse." We cannot and should not turn a "blind eye" to 93,000 good reasons for removing another tyrant from the ranks of the world's so-called rulers.
And please, don't take that myopic view that Libya and Egypt are in turmoil. Look around, the world is in turmoil and the way to see clear from most of it is to have governments that are more responsive it their citizenry, who when deprived of liberty and opportunity, become the breeding ground for political unrest and terrorism. We will see if democracy is all we crank it up to be in Egypt and Libya and God willing, in Syria.
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated; and no Warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
Do you feel secure in your papers and effects? Is there probably cause for the NSA to tap your phones, to read your emails and to otherwise pry into your personal matters. Who signs the affidavit saying you, or I, or any other American, who has done nothing to violate the laws of the land and who love and respect the Constitution, do not have this fundamental right? Is there particularity as to what the NSA wants to hear in your phone calls? Is there particularly in what they seek in your emails? In your FB posts? In your Tweets? Next they will put a mike in your bedroom to see if your wife or lover is a terrorist...get real...this is a defining moment in American history. I voted for Obama, but as a Constitutional lawyer, he knows better than this and there is no way the Congress should let this mess proceed without concrete evidence that these broadly construed searches do anything other than invade the privacy of Americans.
Yeah, but I thought Sen. Feingold warned us about this mess in 2001; as the only Senator to vote against the Patriot Act?
Turkey may be ahead of the curve on these issues in the Muslim world. Egypt is seeing some of the same. We'll see what Algerian and Libyan society faces soon enough. But, from an American perspective, we may have missed the curve altogether, as our young people may have to protest having sex in public vis-a-vis merely kissing. The question, whether or not the two are cointegrated behavioral characteristics?