Re Op-Ed Columnist: Bring the Real World Home by Roger Cohen in today's NY Times:
Mr. Cohen does a good job of helping our enemy. (He must have a lot in common with the late George Koval.) In his column, he advocates that Americans watch Al Jazeera’s English news channel. That is just like telling Americans in 1942-5 to listen to Joseph Goebbels. Have we gone completely mad? Is down now up? Is bad now good?
I left the following message on Cohen's blog:
"We are at war with the 'Islamist Nation'. They attacked us on 9/11. So, instead of watching the media outlet dedicated to our Islamist enemy, we should be killing them. We should bomb Qatar, the capital of the enemy's propaganda machine. That is what FDR, Churchill, Eisenhower and Marshall would have done. Too many of us are confused due to Bush's idiotic responses to 9/11. We are at war. The locus is not Iraq."
The time for understanding our enemy passed in 2001. This is the time for annihilating our enemy. The main thing we need to know about the enemy is that they want us dead. There is nothing else we need to learn about them, unless we want to appease them.
So, let's kill the enemy. After what is left of them surrender unconditionally, then we can go about and try to understand why so many people grew to hate us (in case anyone out there doesn't know by now). (Hint: it has something to do with religion. It also has something to do with at least the six points identified by Michael Scheuer and Osama bin Laden.)
9 comments:
If the US government did as you suggested it would be guilty of the potential murder of innocent citizens,(but its has had lots of practice). some would possibly be qatari but by far the majority of the population of this country consists of hundreds of thousands of US, UK and other expatriates who find Doha actually a peaceful place to live and work.
When people are killed during war, that is not murder.
Since Qatar is the host of the enemy's propaganda machine, it is a legitimate target of war.
I opposed all the wars after World War II, but this time we were attacked by a new entity, al Qaeda, which is a world-wide and powerful enemy. We need to annihilate this enemy before it attacks us with WMDs. Hitting Al Jezeera would be part of that counterattack.
Did you know that Qatar is also home to a huge American base, and that the Qataris allow the Americans to use this base for operations such as those against Iraq?
Did you realise that Qatar is one of the most liberal gulf states, and that one of the first Christian churches is being built on land donated by the Emir?
qatarguest, thanks for your comments. I was aware of all you wrote except about the church property. I like Qatar. But the archenemy of the US uses Al Jezeera to spread hateful propaganda and to recruit for al Qaeda. This completely negates the "goodwill" stuff. Since the American "war on terror" (misnomer) requires many tactics on many fronts to defeat a powerful enemy, taking out Al Jezeera is necessary but not sufficient. As in all wars, I feel deep sorrow for all "innocent" victims. As an American, I want the US to win this war, and as quickly as possible. The longer the war drags on, the more innocents on both sides will suffer.
The Emir is a filthy rich hypocrite and dictator. He will say and do anything to stay in power. His interest is his own welfare and that of Qatar. My interest is what is best for the US.
As for the American military base in Qatar, I am glad it is there, but Bush is wrong to use it for nation-building in Iraq.
As I live in Doha (capital city of Qatar) with my wife and two young children (one year old and three year old) you'll understand that I am grateful you are not in charge of America right now.
But putting aside personal issues, lets consider what bombing Qatar will achieve.
First let's consider the situation as it is now. The Emir, if you may let me correct you, is a fairly forward thinking individual. (British educated too - at Sandhurst :) ) Under his rule women have been first allowed and then encouraged to work, been given the vote, been allowed to drive and so on.
He has also improved human rights, and under his rule the first elections have taken place. Relationships have been established with Israel, and Israelis have been invited to debates and onto Qatar television to give their opinion.
His wife has championed education as a way to tackle extremism, inviting many prestigous American universities to open in Qatar. Together, they are attempting to define Islam in a way that respects human rights and democracy.
They have repeatedly said that democracy and education is the way to defeat extremism and terrorism.
Note that I am not saying this is a perfect country, but it is making huge progress.
Then let's look at the country itself. Besides proving a staunch ally of America over the past ten years or so, providing a huge base for American troops, leading the way in anti-terrorist initiatives and providing valuable anti-terrorist information to America (source: American State Department) the country is also home to the third largest gas reserves in the world.
The first and second largest gas reserves belong to Iran and Russia - hardly America's best friends, and neither of them stable political entities.
Developments currently under way will see Qatar single handedly turning America into the biggest importer of natural gas in the world. Qatar is vital to America's future energy plans.
Then there are the people who make up this country. I work a lot with Qataris and while many of them are conservative Muslims I have met very few fanatics. In Qatar Christians, Muslims and other religions mix freely. Unlike many other countries in the area, the worst hassle you get tends to come in the form of leaflets and booklets handed out by earnest Muslims hoping to save your soul.
I can guarantee you that this tolerance and acceptance of other religions would not continue if this country were bombed. America would gain a small, newly fanatic but immensely rich enemy. Does American really need another enemy?
Now let’s look at Al Jazeera. It is true that they have immensely annoyed America and the West. They have also annoyed every other country in the region by launching attacks on their undemocratic regimes. Al Qaeda is one of the parties who have attacked Al Jazeera, accusing it of misrepresenting Bin Laden’s videos.
I think it is telling that the only country in the Gulf that Al Jazeera has not been thrown out of at some time or other is Israel.
The Emir has steadfastly refused to censor Al Jazeera citing freedom of speech. I think he is right. I often don’t agree with what Al Jazeera, but then Al Jazeera represents an Arab’s point of view, not a Brit's.
After all, freedom of speech means allowing people to say what they say even if we don’t like it. As Voltaire said "I may disagree with what you have to say, but I shall defend, to the death, your right to say it."
I apologise for such a long comment, but I am fed up of people who know very little about the country lumping Qatar together with the prejudiced, extremist, repressive countries that do undoubtedly exist in this area of the world.
If you want to get more of an idea of what Qatar is like before you bomb it have a look at my website Qatar Visitor or blog Qatar Visitor Blog
qatarguest, again I thank you for your detailed comments.
Everything you wrote makes a lot of sense, if one accepts the hidden premise that we are not in a state of war. The dangers to the US have only increased following Bush's insane and destructive foreign policies. I see very real dangers to my own loved ones, based on where they work (a city that has already been "bombed".)
Since you are a Brit, I wonder what your parents or grandparents would have thought of a Brit working in the heartland of the Nazi enemy. I think the WWII generation had a different take on making money versus patriotism.
So, the real question is whether we are at war. Since the United States has been attacked several times (the WTC in 1993, two African embasies in 1998, the USS Cole in 2000, and then 9/11), and al Qaeda's stated goal of a WMD attack in the future, the answer is crystal clear.
Another question is about the strength of the enemy. Some think they are a tiny group of terrorists. Others see them as an undefeatable and overwhelming force. I see them in the middle, but more powerful than most think.
Qatar is not on my list of places to be flattened, but Al Jazeera should certainly be on the target list of precision bombing.
I hate war. I hate even more the religious fanatics and their enablers who want to kill my loved ones. I see no turning back. It may take several years, perhaps even a decade or longer, but the day is coming when the US will annihilate its enemy. The Age of Political Correctness will be trumped by a nation fighting for its own survival.
qatarguest, I followed up on your suggestion that I take a look at your blog. I came across this: "If we do take the view that doing business with Qatar is wrong, then I think business people should also think twice about doing business with countries that start illegal wars, whose secret services kidnap and torture suspects in foreign countries and who hold prisoners in detention for years without trial – i.e. with America." To paraphrase you, I am grateful that you are not in charge of Great Britain right now.
Your comment in the blog really stings, since the United States saved Britain's bacon in two world wars.
Did I also mention that Qatar donated money to America to help rebuild New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina?
But hey, I forgot, we are in a war.
By the way, in what sort of war do you bomb your allies?
qatarguest, Qatar donating a few crumbs to New Orleans is like a Mafia boss giving a few bucks to a charity on Sunday and then going about his dirty business the rest of the week.
I don't consider Qatar an ally. We do business with them. Allies don't fund terrorism, and allies don't spread enemy propaganda. The Qataris may want to have it both ways.
We have an expression: you can fool all the people some of the time, and some people all the time, but not all the people all the time. I think they are fooling you, but not me.
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