Abu Muqawama: Post
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Dan Brown? Really?
November 3, 2009 | Posted by Abu Muqawama - 5:19pm | 31 Comments
No wonder we have no peace in the Middle East. George Mitchell spends all his time with Hillary Clinton discussing the plotlines of Dan Brown novels while Jeff Feltman stares off into the distance, bored and wishing he were back in Lebanon. Shouldn't they instead be reading books like this one
Recommend others in the comments section, please. (h/t Laura.)
If you want to read a novel, try Ignatius, "Agents of Innocence" ("The Quiet American" adapted for Lebanon circa the early 1970s).
ADTS
I'm no expert, as evidenced by my earlier choice of books, but any of Rashid Khalidi's books that deal more with Palestine than with American foreign policy and empire writ large?
ADTS
Off topic, but I have found the fabled third way between COIN and CT: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/8339549.stm
"The militants had assault rifles but were taken by surprise - police found the remains of pudding they had made to eat when the bear attacked."
Read Lynch and Walt for an eloquent expression of my take on the current fact that Hillary gave Benjamin a small bj just recently. Read Jerusalem Post to get a whiff of the crazy that Hillary just applauded. Especially, read the comment section of the moderated replies to the articles. Glick and her crew of crazies. Its a weird scene in an otherwise rational world of policy, how they managed to crush Barack Obama in public until he apologizes for it.
Sorry, Abu M. It needs to be said. He would be low on the prison pecking chain . Bibi would own his arse.
You should be in prison, Exum, not writing a blog. Your anti-Semitism is worse thant hat of General Order No. 11.
Reading and discussing Dan Brown (fiction) would seem not at all odd but, rather, consistent with a foreign policy direction based on idealism (development, diplomacy, and defense-in-support of development).
You are deliberately committing a hate crime, Exum. Do not attempt to laugh it off.
How about this novel as a counterpoint to yours, Ex? This one, too. Here is another.
i always wonder that myself, ex. like this visitor is either really funny or totally nuts.
Slate had a great Dan Brown plot generator fairly recently. I'm kinda scared that Clinton or Mitchell have time to read that crap, ignoring the question of whether it shows poor judgment.
I suppose it's better than Twilight.
You and Exum will pay the price of your crimes, Schindler, however hard you may attempt to deny them. Remember the fate of Joachim Peiper.
@ Visitor 6.48pm - easy Tiger. I don't think there is any call for firebombing here. Calling these guys criminals is like accusing me of the same thing because I'm English but have a number of books about the IRA and their struggle/formation/history.
Anti-Semitic or just well read.
Fortunately for Ex, he never ran out of gasoline in the middle of winter while leading an armored column in a frozen forest with no air cover while surrounded on three sides. So somehow he avoided Peiper's fate (I'm ASSUMING that's the fate you refer to).
Oh... and he also didn't murder a field full of EPW's. But let's not let facts get in the way.
And for reading.... IS THERE ANY DOUBT? I'm sure someone can dig up an advance copy.
http://www.amazon.com/Going-Rogue-American-Sarah-Palin/dp/0061939897/ref...
If the Obama administration is taking on settlements: Lustick's For the Land and the Lord is by far the best explanation of the Israeli far right. It is 20 years old and stands the test of time.
"Sorry, Abu M. It needs to be said."
Fnord's remarks in full.
Good Christ, I can't even bring myself to click on the link. How I want that not to b true.
oh look this is so silly I refuse to participate.
According to these guys Petraeus DID go Roman in Iraq.
http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/20091102_obama_and_us_strategy_buying_tim...
If this is true I agree. Change the rules of engagement so that you occupy the moral high ground, and put your best killers in charge.
then wait for the world to do its random thing.
If a high profile public figure is EVER pictured reading a James Patterson 'novel' it shall be time for the revolution.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=5&article_...
'Beaufort' the film was atrociously bad. Havent read the book yet.
Wow....
I think that Visitor might be like the one on TV, last night...
http://abc.go.com/shows/v/
Bill Quandt's "Peace Process"
Since the whole peace process is yet another of periodic charades the US goes through to placate the Arab street and give cover to our brave allies in the area (who are equally as interested in peace), Dan Brown's book is a very good choice, indeed.
Dan sells a lot of poorly written fiction - very successfully. And if you look closely, you will see each of his books repeats the same tired plot with a few slight changes.
Because the US Middle East peace policy is also largely fictional, what better place to look for advice?
i can't wait to tell my bubbe and jiddoh that i'm an anti-semite! they'll be so proud of me, picking up the culture of their gentile neighbors in poland and syria, respectively.
V.S. Niapaul's travelogoues among Muslim countries (especially the portions regarding Pakistan, as well as Iran) would be invaluable.
His first is "Among the Believers" in 1981:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Among_the_Believers:_An_Islamic_Journey
And then he repeated the trip in 1998 to see what had changed:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beyond_Belief:_Islamic_Excursions_among_the...
I'm pretty sure that photo from inside Air Force #2 wasn't authorized and you should probably consider taking it down off your website, before you're told to by some visitors to your offices.
But, don't listen to me...what the fuck do I know?
What we're missing with the photo is the Beyonce playing in the background. This must have been before they dimmed the cabin lighting for the in-flight presentation of Couples Retreat.
I didn't realize we were moving beyond the realm of security sector reform. But if so: How about work by Stacie Goddard on indivisible issues?
ADTS
'Beaufort' the film was atrociously bad. Havent read the book yet.
Velcro,
Don't let the movie discourage you (yes it was baaaaad), the book was quite good.
Just read Juan Cole's "Engaging the Muslim World", but cannot recommend it. Good reading for the naive fans of Nick Kristof, however. I mean, hey, Nick writes his own Wikipedia Entry, so you know he must be right.
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