And in this country...The Arab American News...

With so much going on between the Arab world and the United States outside of our boarders, it's easy to forget that we have a young and growing Arab population within the United States. As the demographic grows, they are integrating and developing their own arteries for expression.

Below is a recent article from one such newspaper, The Arab American News. The attached article describes how many young American Arabs interpreted President Bush's speech last week on raising troop levels to Iraq. While I welcome the reporter's opinions, I am a bit concerned to see that many American Muslims see the debate as one sided as do their Middle Eastern counterparts.

There is no criticism of Iran's involvement and no criticism of the fact that Saddam killed millions of Muslims. It appears to me to be simply a toned down version of the same victim-driven mentality. While they certainly are welcome to their opinion and to express it, I still have yet to see any significant portion of the Muslim population stand up and commend the administration for a noble if flawed effort.

It is truly a world where no one appreciates the effort, only the achievement.

Young Arab Americans react to Bush speech
By: Aatif Ali Bokhari / The Arab American News

DEARBORN — If Bush's speech was supposed to convince young Arab Americans that he's got a plan for bringing peace to Iraq, it failed.

Two local activists with their finger on the pulse of the community, Zeinab Chami and Bilal Dabaja, spoke to "The Arab American News." Chami is an office manager for the Michigan chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations, while Dabaja is a senior studying political science at the University of Michigan-Dearborn.

http://www.arabamericannews.com/newsarticle.php?articleid=7262

Words from our Allies in Eqypt

In the potential upcoming confrontation with Iran, I constantly read of countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan referred to as our "allies." It is interesting to hear what our allies in the region have to say about us. This one is a beauty, written by Ayman El-Amir of Egypt's state sponsored Al-Ahram. Despite the hundreds of millions our government has given Egypt to keep their longtime dictator propped up, Mr. El-Amir has no problem blasting America as a failed nation guilty for all the world's miseries.

I wonder how much Mr. El-Amir is paid by the Egyptian government to focus on American issues and not the poverty and despair most young Egyptians live in. Somehow I'm sure his decision is a no brainer; write state- sponsored propaganda or nothing. Challenging the government would result in Mid-Eastern style justice, something I am sure Mr. El-Amir wants no part of.

The decline of empire
Arrogant and deaf to history, the American imperial moment already appears short-lived
writes Ayman El-Amir

Few empires in history have recognised the limits of their power and in good time saved themselves from the consequences of over-ambition. While historians point to the Roman Empire as the most classical example of the decline of overstretched empires, there are equally disastrous models in modern history. The Romanov's imperial Russia, the Austro-Hungarian Empire of the Habsburg and the Ottomans who ruled the Islamic State all collapsed under circumstances of revolution or global conflict. The British Empire learned the lesson of the limits of imperial power after it was battered by Germany in World War II and pressured by national liberation movements. London chose to relinquish the empire on which "the sun never sets" because it was unsustainable. The Soviet Empire, on the other hand, imploded. Contrary to claims by some US analysts, it was not Ronald Reagan's confrontational policies that brought it down.

http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2007/827/op23.htm

Spoiled Children - Childlike Expectations

Below is a fascinating article by Victor Davis Hanson that accurately details the dependency and expectations demanded by the rest of the world on the United States. How we assumed this degree of responsibility is a long and complicated story, but its time paramaters are set. No one can carry the ball for the entire planet. There will always be extremely difficult decisions to be made resulting in bitterness from those not in on the winning hand.

January 15, 2007

Global Schizophrenia
by Victor Davis Hanson - Tribune Media Services

When it comes to intervening in international affairs, the United States is damned when it does and damned when it doesn't. Critics of U.S. policy are always quick to pounce — and in this age of globalization, they're only getting more impatient.

http://www.victorhanson.com/articles/hanson011507.html

BRAVO for The New York Times !!!!!

Yes, yes, yes. Instead of partisan politics or ridiculous, half-baked Monday morning quarterback attacks on the Bush Administration, The New York Times is doing something Constructive. They are coming out strong for a new energy policy. I hope they consistently utilize their still considerable influence campaigning for this issue.

It can save the world from itself.


Editorial - The New York Times - 01/15/07
Energy Time

Al Hubbard, the economic adviser who’s coordinating the administration’s energy strategy, recently promised that President Bush would produce “headlines above the fold that will knock your socks off in terms of our commitment to energy independence.”

Every president since Richard Nixon has talked this way, while every year the country slides further into dependency. Mr. Bush’s overpromising has included a forecast that we would all be buying hydrogen-fueled cars in 20 years and his pledge a year ago to rid the country of its addiction to oil.

Still, we must hope that Mr. Bush is serious this time, because we simply cannot continue to hold our national security and the health of the planet hostage to our appetite for fossil fuels.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/16/opinion/16tue1.html?_r=1&oref=slogin