The glaring contradiction in anti-Iran policy
President Barack Obama, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have at least one thing in common when it comes to Iran. All are guilty of flagrant self-contradiction.Each says that a nuclear-armed Iran could not be effectively contained the way the U.S. government contained the...Weapons of Mass Distraction: The big, long lie about Iraq lingers still
The Iraq War remains with us as long as the lies continue and those responsible avoid accountabilityTen years ago, on October 10, 2002, the United States House of Representatives made one of the most calamitous mistakes of a generation. Congress, with willful blindness, voted to attack, invade and occupy a sovereign, oil-rich nation in...Did Romney ‘win’ the debate?
In the presidential debate that I watched on Wednesday night, Republican challenger Mitt Romney was shiftier than Dick Nixon in 1960 and less coherent than George W. Bush in 2000, but the TV pundits, including on MSNBC, overwhelmingly declared him the winner.When I tried to follow Romney’s logic, I couldn’t. Somehow the federal...
Government must join us in efforts to stop hate
September 22nd, 20120 There's a true disaster going on in this country today. It's a crisis of no conscience, a revolution over race, a dance with the devil, a handshake with hate. Nowhere is this culture of evil more evident than in the raging Islamophobia sweeping the country. Day after day, week after week, Muslims and Sikhs are being harrased,...
Misreading the Arab street’s anger
September 22nd, 20120 We begin by noting our sadness over the deaths of Ambassador Christopher Stevens and the others who were killed at the consulate in Benghazi. Hillary knew and worked with Chris Stevens during her service in the State Department; he was very highly regarded, professionally and personally, among his colleagues. People watch as they stand...We need the truth on 9/11
Another year has passed since the awful attacks on 9/11. As always, we send condolences to all those who lost loved ones on that day, and praise and gratitude to all those who so readily assisted in the rescue and recovery of survivors. What other Americans rarely think of are the millions of Arabs killed by us in wars in the Arab World...
Managing Mideast’s anti-Americanism
September 14th, 20120 Reactions to the deadly incident in Benghazi and the less lethal protest at the U.S. embassy in Cairo have been part of a swirl of grief, anger, bigotry, diplomacy, politics and much else. We should keep a few essentials in mind.What took place was not a single type of phenomenon, executed by a single type of perpetrator. We are seeing...
Reflecting on 9/11, faith and American ideals
September 14th, 20120 On September 13, 2001 our campus at the University of Michigan-Dearborn held a community event to reflect on the attacks of two days earlier. We were still reeling from the trauma of what had happened. I was one of three speakers (including Chancellor Little and Associate Dean Anderson-Levitt). These were my thoughts on that day. I...Labor Day tips from the U.S. Labor Secretary
On Labor Day 2012 and every day, one of my top priorities is to help those in Michigan and around the country looking for work get the training they need for good-paying jobs. By 2020, 17 of the 30 fastest-growing occupations will require a postsecondary certificate or degree. In fact, employers are actively looking to fill nearly 4...Due process under duress: Detaining citizens under NDAA
Activists retaliate against the U.S. government by suing them for signing a bill they say goes against the ConstitutionThe U.S. government seems determined to have the power to do away with due process and Americans' right to a trial.I am one of the lead plaintiffs in the civil lawsuit against the National Defense Authorization Act,...
Assessing the real risks in Syria
August 26th, 20120 For some time, Sen. John McCain and the Wilsonian neoconservatives have been beating the drum to escalate the U.S. intervention in Syria. Now, from the other side of the political spectrum, the Wilsonian progressives are calling for the same solution. The hawks on the left and right abhor each other on most policy issues, but in foreign...Lebanon needs a Spring of ideas
Lebanon and Syria are close and intertwined: demographically, geographically, culturally, politically and historically. Lebanon was carved partially out of Syria in 1920. Every other Lebanese person has a relative, a business partner or a friend in Syria.If the uprising in Syria is a process of genuine renewal, Lebanon is bound to...Moving closer to unnecessary war with Syria
Last week the House passed yet another bill placing sanctions on Iran and Syria, bringing us closer to another war in the Middle East. We are told that ever harsher sanctions finally will force the targeted nations to bend to our will. Yet the ineffectiveness of previous sanctions teaches us nothing; in truth sanctions lead to war more...Neo-cons vs. the Arab Spring: Back on the warpath
The neoconservatives are back with a vengeance. While popular uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and other Arab countries had briefly rendered them irrelevant in the region, Western intervention in Libya signaled a new opportunity. Now Syria promises to usher in a full return of neoconservatives into the Middle East fray."Washington must...
August 7: Cast your vote, protect your interests
August 6th, 20120 Do Michigan Arab Americans and Muslims really understand the threat posed to them and their families by ranting xenophobic, Islamophobic civic, religious and media leaders in America? Do they comprehend the rapidly expanding scope of the attacks against their faith, culture and intersets? Do they possess the knowledge and the......
Lurking danger: Palestinian refugees in Syria
"The flames are quickly approaching Yarmouk (as) someone is trying to drag the Palestinians into the fire,” commented Palestinian observer Rashad Abu Shawar (as cited in Israeli Jerusalem Post, July 20). Yarmouk is the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Syria. Its inhabitants make up nearly a quarter of Syria's entire refugee...Ellison challenges Bachmann: Put up or shut up
A few weeks back, the sensation-seeking Representative Michelle Bachmann did her best imitation of the late senator Joseph McCarthy. She and four of her Congressional colleagues released letters they had collectively sent to the inspectors general of the departments of state, justice, defense, and homeland security, and the Office of the...Backing horses in Syria: The Battle of Damascus
While the Russians are being painted as international law’s bogeymen, indifferent to choosing sides in a conflict when the only side to pick can only ever be that of peace, the Syrian opposition forces are nibbling, if not slaughtering their way, into view with their recent killings in Damascus. President Bashar al-Assad’s...
Ramadan: Time for caring, sharing and getting closer to Allah
July 21st, 20120 Millions of Muslims around the world begin the annual observance of Ramadan as we go to press today. It behooves a newspaper with a large, English-speaking, non-Muslim readership to review the practice and meaning of this holiest of observances on the Islamic calendar. Ramadan is considered to be the holiest month of the Islamic......
The Ahmad Al-Assir Distraction in Lebanon
Throughout my life, I have heard Lebanon referred to as a "Mafia State," "Banana Republic" and many other unflattering terms inferring that no central government power has the ability to control the fate of this country. These conjectures have recently been confirmed by the wild rampage of rhetoric, "protests," and specifically, the...What’s Next in Egypt?
For someone living miles away from Egypt (or even from the Middle East for that matter), this past week has been full of interesting observations, if nothing else. To begin with, Mohammad Morsi of Muslim Brotherhood was elected as the new President of Egypt and took the oath of office this past Saturday (June 30th, 2012). Morsi belongs......
A post “Arab Spring” Palestine
Will the Arab Spring serve the cause of Palestine?” is a question that has been repeatedly asked, in various ways, over the last year and a half. Many media discussions have been formulated around this very inquiry, although the answer is far from a simple "yes" or "no."Why should the question be asked in the first place? Hasn't the...Ford’s speech, comments focused on American interests
It was clear during his appearance before the Syrian-American community that Ambassador Ford was very focused on American interests. He was an American official explaining American policy. It was not a debate or an argument but a statement of policy. And the policy he described was real politic. He seemed sincere in his......