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The Types of Articles I Hate to Love

I’m a Muslim. Surprise. Quite happy to be one. Like my islam. So, whenever I see a positive article on Islam or Muslims, especially in these times, I feel the requite rush of pleasure. Then I think about the article, and realize that more often than not it attempts to divide “good” Muslims – the subject of the article – from “bad” Muslims – the ones you normally read about. In many ways, it is a failure on our parts, as Muslims, to take responsibility for the acts of our brethren. Some acts are reprehensible, but to deny the fact…

Time to heed the call up

I was watching CNN last night and came across a Lou Dobbs interview with Fouad Ajami, Director, Middle East Studies Program, John Hopkins University. Dr. Ajami made a lot of sense to me. To get a sense of where he is coming from, here is a list of articles by or about Dr. Ajami: Iraq and the Arabs Future Rude Arab Awakening What the Arab World Is Watching [critique of Al-Jezeera] Lebanon Star [critique of Ajami’s attack on Al-Jezerra] During the interview, in which he was speaking about the Abu Ghuraib scandal and the brutal beheading of Nick Berg, Ajami…

Torture and Cowardice, Pt.2

JMM hits it out of the park with this piece. Being bold means taking responsibility for being bold. As I’ve argued before, I think the answer to the ticking time bomb rationale for torture is this: that in the extremely unlikely circumstance that government officials ever found themselves in that position of having a ticking time bomb ticking away, they might have to make the decision to break the law. Not fudge it or keep their actions hidden, but take the decision on their own responsibility that it was the best thing to do in the situation — despite it…