dagblog - Comments for "Fareed Zakaria: The fantasy of Middle Eastern moderates"

Moderate is as moderate does?

Bruce Levine — Sat, 16 Aug 2014 01:22:32 +0000

In reply to I take Zakaria's point that

Moderate is as moderate does?

Moderate secular Muslim

NCD — Sat, 16 Aug 2014 01:07:20 +0000

In reply to I resemble that remark.

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.

I resemble that remark.

moat — Sat, 16 Aug 2014 00:20:27 +0000

In reply to (No subject)

I resemble that remark.

(No subject)

Verified Atheist — Sat, 16 Aug 2014 00:12:32 +0000

In reply to I take Zakaria's point that

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.

I take Zakaria's point that

moat — Fri, 15 Aug 2014 23:52:19 +0000

In reply to Fareed Zakaria: The fantasy of Middle Eastern moderates

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?