Fareed Zakaria: The fantasy of Middle Eastern moderates

Fareed Zakaria: The fantasy of Middle Eastern moderates

By Bruce Levine on Fri, 08/15/2014 - 9:46am |

For decades, U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East has been to support “moderates.” The problem is that there are actually very few of them. The Arab world is going through a bitter, sectarian struggle that is “carrying the Islamic world back to the Dark Ages,” said Turkish President Abdullah Gul. In these circumstances, moderates either become extremists or they lose out in the brutal power struggles of the day. Look at Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Libya and the Palestinian territories.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/fareed-zakaria-the-fantasy-of-middle-eastern-moderates/2014/08/14/1e8807a8-23e6-11e4-86ca-6f03cbd15c1a_story.html

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I take Zakaria's point that civil wars are a tough time for anyone who just wants to get along. But it is hard to read a sentence like: "For decades, U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East has been to support “moderates” and not fall into a swoon.

Was the Shah a moderate? Were the Mujahadeen who carried our weapons in Afghanistan moderates? Was Saddam Hussein a "moderate"? Are our allies and close financial partners, Saudi Arabia, to be called moderate when they have a regular summer program where the True Believers of the Wahhabi ideology are exported like cheap wine to other countries so they don't blow their own up? Is Israel a "moderate" country? Was Pinochet a "moderate"? Am I a very small turtle?

by moat on Fri, 08/15/2014 - 7:52pm

Very small turtle

Edit to add: I've never heard the expression "am I a very small turtle?" before, but I love the image it conjures up of a small turtle tapping at his keyboard.

by Verified Atheist on Fri, 08/15/2014 - 8:12pm

I resemble that remark.

by moat on Fri, 08/15/2014 - 8:20pm

Moderate secular Muslim leaders resemble this:

About as common as hen's teeth.

Lots of Iraqi's today probably wish we still 'supported' Saddam.

Like before GW Bush gave them God's Gift of Freedom.

Times of Israel on Obama's 'no victors, no vanquished'

The problem is, you give up on the moral high ground when you say “no victor and no vanquished.” You give up on the idea of good and evil. And you might even be setting the stage for WWIII.

by NCD on Fri, 08/15/2014 - 9:07pm

Moderate is as moderate does?

by Bruce Levine on Fri, 08/15/2014 - 9:22pm

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