Friday News Roundup - International
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2012-02-24/friday-news-roundup-international
European zone finance ministers approved a $170 billion rescue package for Greece; Syrian government tanks continued their assault on Homs; and President Obama apologized to the Afghan people for the burning of Korans by American troops at a U.S. base. Moises Naim of El Pais, Courtney Kube of NBC News and Abderrahim Foukara of Al Jazeera join Diane for analysis of the week's top international news stories.
Guests
Moises Naim
chief international columnist, El Pais.
Courtney Kube
national security producer for NBC News.
Abderrahim Foukara
Washington bureau chief of Al Jazeera Arabic.
Comments
Please familiarize yourself with our Code of Conduct and Terms of Use before posting your comments.
Where's the Afghan apology for murdering two U.S. soldiers???????
Why hasn't President Obama expressed outrage for the needless killing of these two Americans??????
Why isn't NPR asking these questions of President Obama?????
Seems to me NPR and the Obama Administration are more concerned about "offending" muslims than about the murder of two innocent Americans. I'm fed up with how NPR and Obama refuse to recognize islam as the common denominator of terroism throughout the Middle East. Why don't you do a show on the poor Christians who have to live there among these so called "peace loving" islamists???? Oh, but that would mean you might actually have to criticize the Obama Administration and NPR could certainly not do that....
Maybe the Bush and Obama administrations would have to apologize how many innocent people have been killed in Afghanistan via drones and others who have been killed in that country by US soldiers. They also might need to apologize for being part of the killing of over 2000 Taliban members who surrenedered soon after the US invasion of Afghanistan who were allowed to suffocate in a convoy. Just sayin
Amy Goodman was the only US outlet who reported about this massacre. Way back when
Afghan Massacre - : Information Clearing House - ICHwww.informationclearinghouse.info/article20740.htmCached
Afghan Massacre : The Convoy of Death - Information Clearing Housewww.informationclearinghouse.info/article3267.htmCached - Similar
Maybe Syria would allow international observers into the conflict after Israel allows international observers in to the Israeli Palestinian conflict. And keep in mind Israel would not allow journalist into the Gaza when they went and slaughtered Palestinians. Maybe Syria took their lead from Israel blocking journalist and also blocking international observers at the UN
Israel would not allow international journalist into the Gaza when they attacked, killed and destroyed. Israel has never allowed international observers into the Israeli Palestinian conflict. Anyone think that Syria is following Israel's lead?
Last Sunday the new Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff General Dempsey was on CNN's Fareed Zakaria's Sunday news program GPS. In regard to Iran he said quote "the Iranian regime is a rational actor" he went onto say " a strike at this time would be destabilizing" What do your guest think about what General Dempsey had to say about US foreign policy particularly Iran. He basically drew the line between US national security and Israel's national security. Do you think his comments make those pushing for a military strike on Iran angry?
Hope the Rehm team will have General Dempsey on your program
I wish there were some respected Christian leader who would burn a stack of Bibles in response. I think this would indicate that the symbolism of burning a symbol is nothing to get upset about. Even if such an action were done maliciously, which I doubt it was, people who take violent offense to such insults show the weakness of their own character and the fragility of their own faith. I'm quite sure that if Allah is offended by the burning of Qurans, He is capable of His own retaliation.
There were reports the Bagram prison inmates were defacing Korans with messages, a blasphemy on Islam in itself, and the Korans, given to the inmates to study, were removed to prevent secret communications among the prisoners.
Obviously it was wrong to burn them, but where, Diane, did you note the hypocrisy of Afghans?
The people in the streets are the same religious fanatics who blew up and destroyed the 2,000 year old giant stone Buddhas of Bamiyan, sacred to hundreds of millions and a world heritage site. The Taliban also ransacked and destroyed priceless art and religious objects in their own national museum. Afghanistan is replete with hypocritical violent fanatics, and they seem to have the upper hand within the national psyche, the sooner we get out the better, tomorrow would be years too late.
I think you're right to recognize that the Muslim world is prone to the development of extremism and terrorism. It's truly infuriating to see what has gone on in the world in the name of religious glory and fervor. But it's really NOT Islam that is to blame; it is the culture of hatred and misinformation that is using Islam to promote itself, not unlike the evils of the Inquisition by medieval Christians. We should be careful not to offend all Muslims, because some of us Americans are both Muslim and good, and we should love and respect our fellow Americans. What I find more personally frustrating is that people in America, who have lived in security and privilege--who have had the opportunity to study and reflect upon their own country/government, and as a well-structured society for over 200 years--seem to have forgotten what has secured that privilege. They want to make laws to force their own beliefs upon other Americans and do so in the name of religious glory and fervor, and these people have anger misdirected at our President, who has done everything in his power to be fair, polite, and inclusive. Like the Muslim world, their flames are fanned by mischaracterization and outright lies. I trust you are not one of these.
These stupid demonstrations in Afghanistan are all staged by the barbaric talibans who are created on a daily basis by the corrupt and bloody Saudi-owned ruling class of Pakistan. There is no need for an apology whatsoever. A book can be replaced, a human life can not.
The bloody and corrupt islamic/mullah mafia of Iran is not made up of "rational' people. It is made up of a bunch of con artists and religious psychopaths, who are anti-Iranian, anti-women, and anti-democratic. The mullahs are a cowardly bunch and the moment they see that their interests are in danger, they will back off. No nukes for the bad mullahs.
How about all the good things America has done for the innocent girls and women of Afghanistan?
@Catamaran
You are 100% correct.
PaulInIndy wrote:
"I think you're right to recognize that the Muslim world is prone to the development of extremism and terrorism. It's truly infuriating to see what has gone on in the world in the name of religious glory and fervor. But it's really NOT Islam that is to blame; it is the culture of hatred and misinformation that is using Islam to promote itself."
Amen. Unfortunately, that kind of fanaticism is rearing its ugly head in the United States. Think about that, substituting "Christianity" for "Islam" in the above quote.
I believe that if anything is sacred in this world, human life is sacred. All the holy books were written by human beings trying to explain their experience. I was offended by the speaker who called the people who burned the (reportedly defaced) books calling those who did so "ignorant". What is the word for those who destroy human life over the burning of some stacks of paper?
What am I missing ? American weapons are pointed at these people. A soldier has a gun at your head,allowing a Christian missionary to replace your Koran with the Bible.We are there to impose OUR will upon them.Who can`t see this failure coming?
I wish there would be more outrage over the reaction to the Quran burning, as compared to the reaction over the burning of the books themselves. No one seems to be questioning whether murdering people is an appropriate response to being offended by the burning of a book.
The cognitive dissonance is troubling.
Afghanistan: GTFO
***FACTCHECK***
Mr. Hirsh was flat wrong when he stated the Assad regime is the last minority (controlled) regime in the Middle East. It's no wonder that he nor the Washington consensus doesn't want to bring the elephant in the room and our resultant hypocrisy into stark relief. That elephant (the other standing minority regime) is the barbaric, autocratic Bahraini regime (Sunni minority). Our inaction on Bahrain is no better than Russia's regarding Syria. Not surprisingly, like Russia in Syria, we have a massive naval base in Bahrain. Lecturing Russia and China on Syria, when we do nothing to restrain the excesses of Bahraini regime or the excesses of the apartheid regime in Israel, is blatantly absurd.