Netanyahu offers 'no concrete action plan' on Iran: senior U.S. official

now that's funny.

 

ditto pal

 

thanks for the nostalgic reminder of good ol' days in the schoolyard.

 

you seem to like them

 

Since deny and demonize is pretty much all you have done... what else is one to think.

Do you want me to repost your comments to prove it to you ?

 

......what you do best.

 

Great irony in your post as it was Einstein and other Jewish scholars who equated Zionist imperialism and hate with fascism:



https://archive.org/details/AlbertEinsteinLetterToTheNewYorkTimes.December41948



New Palestine Party. Visit of Menachen Begin and Aims of Political Movement Discussed. A letter to The New York Times. Saturday December 4, 1948 by Albert Einstein, Hannah Arendt, Sidney Hook, et.al.



New Palestine Party. Visit of Menachen Begin and Aims of Political Movement Discussed. A letter to The New York Times, published in the "Books" section (Page 12) of Saturday December 4, 1948



by Albert Einstein, Hannah Arendt, Sidney Hook, et.al.



Source: Text from original microfilm



TO THE EDITORS OF NEW YORK TIMES:

Among the most disturbing political phenomena of our times is the emergence in the newly created state of Israel of the "Freedom Party" (Tnuat Haherut), a political party closely akin in its organization, methods, political philosophy and social appeal to the Nazi and Fascist parties. It was formed out of the membership and following of the former Irgun Zvai Leumi, a terrorist, right-wing, chauvinist organization in Palestine.

The current visit of Menachem Begin, leader of this party, to the United States is obviously calculated to give the impression of American support for his party in the coming Israeli elections, and to cement political ties with conservative Zionist elements in the United States. Several Americans of national repute have lent their names to welcome his visit. It is inconceivable that those who oppose fascism throughout the world, if correctly informed as to Mr. Begin's political record and perspectives, could add their names and support to the movement he represents.

Before irreparable damage is done by way of financial contributions, public manifestations in Begin's behalf, and the creation in Palestine of the impression that a large segment of America supports Fascist elements in Israel, the American public must be informed as to the record and objectives of Mr. Begin and his movement.

The public avowals of Begin's party are no guide whatever to its actual character. Today they speak of freedom, democracy and anti-imperialism, whereas until recently they openly preached the doctrine of the Fascist state. It is in its actions that the terrorist party betrays its real character; from its past actions we can judge what it may be expected to do in the future.



Attack on Arab Village

A shocking example was their behavior in the Arab village of Deir Yassin. This village, off the main roads and surrounded by Jewish lands, had taken no part in the war, and had even fought off Arab bands who wanted to use the village as their base. On April 9 (THE NEW YORK TIMES), terrorist bands attacked this peaceful village, which was not a military objective in the fighting, killed most of its inhabitants (240 men, women, and children) and kept a few of them alive to parade as captives through the streets of Jerusalem. Most of the Jewish community was horrified at the deed, and the Jewish Agency sent a telegram of apology to King Abdullah of Trans-Jordan. But the terrorists, far from being ashamed of their act, were proud of this massacre, publicized it widely, and invited all the foreign correspondents present in the country to view the heaped corpses and the general havoc at Deir Yassin.

The Deir Yassin incident exemplifies the character and actions of the Freedom Party.

Within the Jewish community they have preached an admixture of ultranationalism, religious mysticism, and racial superiority. Like other Fascist parties they have been used to break strikes, and have themselves pressed for the destruction of free trade unions. In their stead they have proposed corporate unions on the Italian Fascist model.

During the last years of sporadic anti-British violence, the IZL and Stern groups inaugurated a reign of terror in the Palestine Jewish community. Teachers were beaten up for speaking against them, adults were shot for not letting their children join them. By gangster methods, beatings, window-smashing, and wide-spread robberies, the terrorists intimidated the population and exacted a heavy tribute.

The people of the Freedom Party have had no part in the constructive achievements in Palestine. They have reclaimed no land, built no settlements, and only detracted from the Jewish defense activity. Their much-publicized immigration endeavors were minute, and devoted mainly to bringing in Fascist compatriots.



Discrepancies Seen

The discrepancies between the bold claims now being made by Begin and his party, and their record of past performance in Palestine bear the imprint of no ordinary political party. This is the unmistakable stamp of a Fascist party for whom terrorism (against Jews, Arabs, and British alike), and misrepresentation are means, and a "Leader State" is the goal.

In the light of the foregoing considerations, it is imperative that the truth about Mr. Begin and his movement be made known in this country. It is all the more tragic that the top leadership of American Zionism has refused to campaign against Begin's efforts, or even to expose to its own constituents the dangers to Israel from support to Begin.



The undersigned therefore take this means of publicly presenting a few salient facts concerning Begin and his party; and of urging all concerned not to support this latest manifestation of fascism.



ISIDORE ABRAMOWITZ,

HANNAH ARENDT,

ABRAHAM BRICK,

RABBI JESSURUN CARDOZO,

ALBERT EINSTEIN,

HERMAN EISEN, M.D.,

HAYIM FINEMAN, M. GALLEN, M.D.,

H.H. HARRIS,

ZELIG S. HARRIS,

SIDNEY HOOK,

FRED KARUSH,

BRURIA KAUFMAN,

IRMA L. LINDHEIM,

NACHMAN MAISEL,

SEYMOUR MELMAN,

MYER D. MENDELSON, M.D.,

HARRY M. OSLINSKY,

SAMUEL PITLICK,

FRITZ ROHRLICH,

LOUIS P. ROCKER,

RUTH SAGIS,

ITZHAK SANKOWSKY,

I.J. SHOENBERG,

SAMUEL SHUMAN,

M. SINGER,

IRMA WOLFE,

STEFAN WOLFE.

New York, Dec. 2, 1948






Note that this record is PUBLIC DOMAIN.

 

Right, he needs to stand up and tell Iran exactly what will happen and give explicit details so they can be prepared to deal with the consequences.

 

You have little material other than fallacy and demonization.

Fact

Now you are crying the blues because your silly claim about Obama "threatening to shoot down Israeli planes" was shown to be twaddle.

Boo Hoo Hoo

 

Although Einstein's scientific contributions speak for themselves, his political views may be equated to these of Whoopy Goldberg. Who cares?

 

and yet, Israel offered him to be the first Prime Minister of Israel.

Looks like the Yishuv leadership thought Einstein was pretty politically qualified and astute.

 

Another point of view...

Bibi destroys Obama and Iran in one speech! by Wayne Root

2 for 1 Sale: Bibi Destroys Iran & Obama with One Masterful Speech!

~By Wayne Allyn Root

Wasn't that refreshing? Don't you wish we had Benjamin Netanyahu as president, instead of Obama? I took a sampling among my friends- all smart, educated business owners. Men of substance. Every one of them said if they had a choice, they'd choose Bibi over Obama for president...of the United States.

The media will concentrate on the substance of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu's speech. But let's first look at the style. I am a business and motivational speaker who speaks all over the globe, often to audiences in the thousands. I understand communication, charisma, chutzpah and salesmanship. Bibi gets an A+ in all four categories. He delivered the speech of a lifetime.

Americans and the world just got a lesson in CHUTZPAH. That's the Jewish word for "balls." No one else in the world could have pulled off what Bibi just did. Talk about a masterful speech. He walked into a joint session of the U.S. Congress like he owned it. Like he was the President of the United States. He received 29 standing ovations. If you just dropped in from another planet, you might have assumed you were watching U.S. President Netanyahu give his State of the Union.

Keep in mind Bibi is the leader of a tiny nation with the population of some anonymous, obscure African nation. Yet he held court over the U.S. Congress for almost an hour like he was the most powerful man in the world. Like he was the leader of America, Russia, China, UK or Germany. That takes chutzpah.

Can you imagine the look on the faces of Obama, Michelle and Valerie Jarrett. I'd have paid a million dollars to be a fly on that wall!

Can you imagine the looks on the faces of the leaders of every Muslim nation on earth? The anger, shock, jealousy. Why Bibi? Why is he presiding over the U.S. Congress? Why are they fawning over his every word? Oh to be a fly on the wall of the leaders of Iran or Qatar or Afghanistan.

How about the looks on the faces of the leaders of ISIS. Can't you picture them saying, "Israel's leader gets the attention of the world by addressing a joint session of Congress...we have to set fire to prisoners in cages to get anyone's attention!"

And that vibe. Bibi gave off the vibe that he alone holds the key to saving the world. And just maybe...he does.

Now to the substance of Bibi's speech. Bibi walked onto the biggest stage in America and embarrassed Obama. He schooled him. He took him to the woodshed. And here's the masterful part- he killed him with kindness! Bibi pulled off a speech ripping America's president to shreds, in front of the political leadership of America...in front of Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi...in front of the American people...and he did like only a master of communication, chutzpah and salesmanship could- by first praising him. By thanking Obama. By showering him with compliments. Then he proceeded to strip him naked and pummel him into submission.

What was the main takeaway of the speech? That you can't reward bad behavior. That you must punish bad behavior. That you can't agree to deals with tyrants, terrorists, liars, thieves and murderers whose word cannot be trusted.

That the only deal worth doing punishes Iran and takes away their nuclear capabilities until they change their behavior...until they stop supporting and funding terrorism...until they stop vowing to annihilate their neighbor Israel and kill all the Jewish people...until they check their aggressive support of militant, radical Islam all over the world. That to allow any nuclear capability for a militant Muslim nation is suicide for the entire world.

Do you understand the chutzpah of Bibi. The leader of tiny Israel was giving Obama lessons in negotiation. This was more entertaining to conservatives like me than watching "American Sniper." I asked my family to pass the popcorn.

Bibi made three great points that emasculated Obama:

#1) The art of negotiating. Bibi compared negotiating with Iran to negotiating at a Persian bazaar. Hilarious, and so true. "If they threaten to walk away, let them." Bibi said. "Because they'll be back." It takes an Israeli to understand the human nature of Persians. That threat of walking away is just part of a negotiation. Bibi understands that.

Can Obama be that stupid? Bibi sure made him seem that stupid. But I know Bibi knows what I know. He just can't say it in public. Obama is not stupid. He knows exactly what he's doing. He's not on Israel's side. So Bibi had to play a masterful game of chess with Obama. So he painted him as naïve and stupid. He embarrassed him in front of the world. He made it clear the deal Obama has negotiated is Neville Chamberlain all over again. It's a repeat of the worst deal ever agreed to- Chamberlain's deal with Hitler.

#2) Secondly, Bibi made it clear that Iran is not a normal country. It shouldn't be treated like a normal country. It is a militant Islamic country. Obama can't even use those words. He thinks "Islamic" is some kind of compliment. Remember we're dealing with a man who claims Islam was a founding religion of America. Bibi understands who he is dealing with.

Bibi pointed out that Iran is a rogue terrorist state no different than ISIS. Iran is the enemy of ISIS, so Bibi had to make a very interesting point. Iran and ISIS are the same people. They want the same thing. They say it. They tweet it. Iran wrote it in their constitution. They are dedicated to killing, conquering, converting and enslavng first the entire region, then the world. Iran is only fighting ISIS to determine who gets to do it in the name of Allah. Bibi then drove the nail home, "The enemy of your enemy...is your enemy." Great line! I hope Obama was wearing a cup. If not, he may be down for a while.

#3) Thirdly, Bibi made a simple clear point that the American people can understand. Forget intellectual arguments. Forget the fancy words of lawyers and Ivy Leaguers like Obama, meant to obscure, confuse, distract and deceive the people. Bibi spoke from the heart. He painted a picture of militant radical Muslims like ISIS and how they act- they cut off heads...they torture...they throw gays off buildings...they parade prisoners in cages...they set people on fire...they kill women and children...even babies are cut in half and mutilated at the hands of militant radical Muslims. And Obama wants to allow them to possess NUCLEAR WEAPONS? And he thinks that's okay? He thinks they'll change? He thinks they'll stop being angry and aggressive with a nuclear weapon now in their hands?

No wonder Obama didn't show up at the speech. At this point the whole world could see our emperor has no clothes.



No one watching can forget Bibi's lesson: No militant Islamic state can ever be allowed to possess nuclear weapons...or they will certainly use them. No one in the world will be ever again sleep soundly. No one's children will ever again be safe. Bibi made it clear Obama's deal with Iran allows them to possess nuclear weapons. It's only a matter of when. That cannot be allowed to pass.



I think I could hear Obama and Valerie Jarrett screaming at the TV set inside the White House "war room." Bibi embarrassed them. Thrashed them. Emasculated them. By the way, not only is it clear Obama does not like Israel...that Obama is a Muslim sympathizer...that Obama is trying to weaken Israel and put her people in danger...but the ruler of Obama's White House is Valerie Jarrett. Where was Valerie born? Iran.



Obama's actions and negotiations are no mistake...fluke...coincidence...not done out of naivete. Bibi knows that as well as I do. So he had to deconstruct this president and his Iranian-born svengali in a nice way...in front of the Congress...in Obama's own house.



Bibi had to kill Obama with kindness. He could not win over the American people by ripping our president in our own home stadium. So he never once named Obama as the bad guy. He never once blamed Obama for a bad deal, or bad negotiations. He never said out loud "Your president is trying to hurt Israel." But he didn't have to. We all know.



Bravo Bibi. You just showed us all what a real leader looks like- someone who stands up to evil, instead of negotiating and compromising in the face of another Hitler. Bibi made his point subtly...as subtly as a jackhammer and blowtorch. Congrats Bibi, you made a lot of smart Americans wish you were our president instead of Obama.



And the bonus is...we all got a 2 for the price of 1. Bibi's speech destroyed both Iran and Obama. A 2 for 1 sale on the floor of the U.S. Congress? It's kind of like a Persian bazaar.

 

Actually, the opposite is true. That would have mellowed Einstein's criticism of Israel and even if not, Israel would have derived other benefits of having someone of Einstein's statute in its Government. Simple, really.

 

And from what I've read, for as much golf as he plays, he's not very good. I read that he's something like a 15 handicap.

 

All he knows is negotiations = bad.

 

Well then I guess that makes our president a slobbering vegetable. Netanyahu is a serious man and Obama is a rank amateur in comparison.

 

I know what he means. He means he will defend Israel to the last American GI and the last American dollar.

 

So, really, Boehner offered him one of his own personal (*)(*)(*)(*)(*)-fests.

 

Most likely, Boehner, and others, were worried about Obama's deal with Iran so they invited Bibi to offer counterpoint.

It's a moot point now, anyway, since Iran rejected the deal before Bibi even spoke.

 

Wow - that was quite a speech you just gave. Never mind Bibi. I will do my best to respond.

First off it is important to remember that Bibi is Jewish. The difference between being raised a Jew and say raised as a Christian or Muslim is that Jews do not believe in "faith". Jews from birth are taught to question everything, even God.

Christians and Muslims on the other hand are taught "don't question certain things" if you do you will roast in hell for eternity.

There is a reason why Jews are some of the smartest people on the planet. Its called "Socialization". When you are raised to question things you get smart. You mentioned chess ! Great analogy. Why is it that so many Jews have gained the title of world chess champion ? It is like 50% Bronstien, Fisher, Rubenstein, Kasparov, Larson ... the list goes on and on. Brilliant thinkers. We have a population of billions... only a few million are Jewish and 50% ? Think about it. Something is going on there.

Then we have the leader of the Jews. How smart does that guy have to be. Bibi for sure is a better player than Obama but he is even further ahead of any of the GOP so this is kind of an embarrassment to the US rather than something to be proud of. He could have just as easily done the same to Reagan or the Bush's. Clinton ? not so much.

Bibi new his audience and in particular the abject ignorance of his audience and he played them like a fiddle.

Bibi played fast and loose with the facts but he knows his audience is far to stupid in general to know the difference.

Any study of Philosophy teaches to assess the best arguments from both sides of an issue. We got Bibi's side but we also know that Bibi has an agenda. He is moving pieces on the chessboard and as such has an inherent conflict of interest. It is foolish to take Obama's word, Bibi's word, or any other politicians word as "The word of God".

You really need to take Bibi off the pedestal and try to be a bit more objective whether you agree with him or not.

Bibi tried to connect support of terrorism to sanctions. Iran has not been supporting Hezbollah much over the last couple of decades. By this I mean state support is pretty much zero and this went into decline with a change in government around 1996. That said there are still religious groups in Iran giving money to Hezbollah under the guise of humanitarian assistance.

Bibi's claim about Iran having some kind of control over Syria was a joke. Iran and Syria are the closest of allies and it was Syria that was giving missile technology to Iran and not the reverse.

The main point here though was that Bibi knew that the WH has no good response and this was a GM move by Bibi.

The reason the WH has no response is because it is the US that has been sponsoring terrorism in Syria. Israel was recently considered for economic sanctions by Europe for its human rights abuses. Not sure if terrorist acts were also considered but that would not surprise.

As for our involvement in "supporting terrorism" holy doodle. The protest movement in Syria back in 2011 had moderate elements for sure. Once armed insurrection started it was the Islamic Extremists who's goal was strict sharia.

Just prior to the conflict a friend of mine was over in Syria visiting his family and when I asked him what was going on he told me that the people generally dislike Assad but they are terrified of the rebels. He added especially the Christians as the rebels are extremists who are all about strict sharia.

Just a few months after the conflict broke out and sure enough, the rebels started persecuting Christians .. cutting off heads and so on. I watched the situation closely as Al Qaeda fighters from all over the world started pouring in.

The rebels in Syria were extremist including Al Qaeda and Al Nusra right from the get go. The CIA and allies such as Saudi Arabia were arming them shortly after the conflict started "at least" early as 2012.

Not only were we arming them but we knew that these rebels included Al Qaeda and Al Nusra.

This is a subject the media, neither left or right, will touch with a 10 foot pole and Bibi knows this.

We have been giving, in conjunction with Saudi Arabia, more support to terrorists (including Al Qaeda and Al Nusra) than anyone over the last couple of years.

Giving these whack jobs arms and support fanned the flames causing the largest humanitarian crisis of this decade and led to the creation of ISIS. Where do you think these whack jobs came from ? Al Qaeda and Al Nusra have distanced themselves from ISIS. Perhaps some members of AQ and AN defected to the ISIS but the rest were the Syrian extremist rebels initially. More for sure joined from Iraq later on when ISIS moved in there but ... there never was a "moderate" group of rebels initially.

Years later when it came to light that the US was funding this group... all of a sudden there were groups with new names popping up claiming to be moderates. Go figure. That was years after the fact and you can trace the lineage of the leaders of these new groups to their previously extremist roots. Its all there for anyone with google and eyes.

Not for the ignorant raging masses who are blissfully ignorant though and Bibi knows this. He also knows the Administration is in a bind as they do not want to touch this one.

Funding terrorism is a separate issue from creating nukes. Bibi did a great job in trying to link the two but in reality this is disingenuous twaddle for the consumption of the ignorant raging masses that happens to fit in nicely with the image the Administration is trying to create.

Brilliant move for sure but definitely deceitful. Bibi does not want any resolution of the angst between Iran and the US and I do not blame him. The current situation benefits Bibi, but does it benefit the US ?

There are other players involved in this game. Europe is a wildcard and Russia is another. ISIS got way out of control and is creating problems. The obvious solution, and everyone knows it, is to work with both Iran and Syria, who are staunch allies to get rid of ISIS. These two countries have the desire and the capability to get rid of ISIS and both have expressed to the US to put differences aside for a moment to tackle the ISIS issue.

Pakistan is a militant Islamic state, far more so than Iran and they have nukes. I am not suggesting by any stretch that we allow Iran to have them but ... just sayin.

Further, we allowed NK to have them so obviously they were not that big of a deal according to Bush. He was too worried about making stuff up about Iraq to care about NK.

Bibi's offered no solutions other than keep the sanctions on or war. The US and Israel are not the only players in this game. This is what you folks are forgetting.

Europe is obviously not for attacking Iraq immediately and neither is Russia (an ally of Iraq) or China.

It is not just the US in this game. Russia at any time can give all of us the finger and just give Iran nukes. That's pretty much what the US did in Israel. Why the heck were they allowed to have them ?

This week the US, UK, France, Germany, China and Russia were sitting in a room with Iran trying to sort this mess out.

Bibi didn't like it and he said his piece, eloquently so I might add, but that is only one side of the story given by a leader with his own agenda and a serious conflict of interest.

You had your mind made up before Bibi even took the stage and so did most, if not all of the GOP and much of the ignorant raging GOP masses.

I want to hear the other side of the story.

 

Israel has also been sponsoring terrorism in Syria too. Just for the record.

Russia has now put a spanner in the works so far as Netanyahu is concerned, by offering Iran their latest anti-aircraft missiles, a far more advanced variant than the missiles they contracted to deliver to Iran back in 2010 - but withheld at the request of the US and Europe. That's what comes from US neocons meddling in Ukraine.

 

Saudis, Egypt, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and more... they all say the same things that Netanyahu said in the Congress - Iran must be stopped from obtaining a nuke.

When Jews and Arabs say the same thing, you better listen.

Oh, and morons are Obama, Kerry and the rest of Libs. A scientific fact.

 

EXACTAMENTE!! I got hold of the <Weekly Standard> and what do I read
What Obama Can Learn about Radical Islam from New Saudi King

~by Irfan Al-Alawi and Stephen Schwartz
The Weekly Standard
March 5, 2015

http://www.meforum.org/5073/obama-saudi-radical-islam

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Originally published under the title, "New Saudi King Displays Candor on Radical Islam."


King Salman's attack on "Islamized terrorism" is less euphemistic than President Obama's war on "violent extremism."


Following the death of Saudi King Abdullah at the end of January, and the succession of his half-brother, now King Salman, 79, many observers of the desert monarchy have speculated on its future.

Almost immediately, King Salman has commenced an effort to clear the air regarding Islamist ideology and its association with terrorism. That's rather unlike President Obama. While he and some other Western leaders claim they are combating radical Islam, they habitually refuse to call it by its correct name. Instead, they employ euphemisms.

American Counter-'Extremism'
On February 18, Obama summoned a three-day conclave titled "Countering Violent Extremism." Such terminology suggests that the atrocities of the Islamic State or ISIS, al Qaeda, the Taliban and other South Asian jihadists, and Iranian operatives in various countries, are mere aspects of a general planetary wave of ethnic and political turmoil.

They are not. Radical Islamist terrorism reflects a feature of Islam that has erupted and then subsided repeatedly over the centuries of Muslim history. It has its own specific content and dynamics. But the merest recognition of this reality was absent from a fact sheet on the "White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism" issued by the presidential press office. In nearly 1,700 words of bureaucratic boilerplate, references to "Muslims," "Islam," "Wahhabism," "Taliban," or "Iran," did not appear even once.

Obama sees Islamist terror as a sociological conundrum, involving "underlying grievances and conflicts that feed extremism."

Instead, the fact sheet was replete with the suffocating esoterism of the Beltway vocabulary, referring to "drivers and indicators of radicalization," "stakeholders and practitioners," and "extremist messaging and narratives." Nothing that transpired at the "summit" indicated any better reasoning in the current administration. Indeed, according to a February 13 report entitled, grotesquely, "Obama Summit Targets American Extremism," on Voice of America News, the meeting was concentrated as much on social pathologies like urban gangs in our country as on Islamist fanaticism.

"Countering Violent Extremism" was provided with its own acronym &#8211; "CVE" &#8211; which will probably be forgotten quickly, just as the approach itself is likely to fail. Before September 11, 2001, Islamist terror was treated as a criminal problem. Now it is viewed by Western elites as a sociological conundrum, involving, as stated by Obama in his address to the United Nations in September 2014, "underlying grievances and conflicts that feed extremism."

While obstacles to Muslim integration in some Western countries, and youthful alienation, feed radical recruitment, little progress has been made, in 13 years since 9/11, to broaden Western comprehension of the more basic role of Islamist ideology. In this context, the responsibility of Iran for encouragement of the hideous bloodbath by the Syrian regime should not be overlooked.

Saudi Counter-Terrorism
The anti-terror strategy adopted by King Salman appears predicated on impressive clarity and frankness.

Saudi King Salman, by contrast, has put forward a very different attitude in remarks to a conference of Islamic scholars in Mecca in February, under the rubric of "Islam and Counter Terrorism." As reported by the Jidda-based Saudi Gazette, "the King said the entire world is threatened by the 'Islamized terrorism' which kills, destroys and commits all kinds of vices under the name of Islam." In addition, "he said the detestable crimes of terrorists were the root cause of the hostile campaigns against Islam and Muslims," according to the paper. King Salman added that many people fear Islam and "are skeptical of us and our religion."

Aside from Saudi Arabia, the Mecca conference drew participants from Lebanon, Sudan, Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Senegal, India, France, Thailand, and other countries. The meeting was held by the Muslim World League (MWL), created in 1962 as a trans-national coalition of Wahhabi and other fundamentalist entities. MWL came under widespread suspicion in the aftermath of September 11, 2001. MWL currently has offices in 34 Muslim and non-Muslim lands, and operates 21 expansive mosques or "Islamic cultural centers" on six continents.

But MWL has not returned to the area of Washington, DC, where its office in Herndon, Virginia, was raided by U.S. authorities in 2002. Its past establishment of grandiose mosques and distribution of cash across the globe were, it seems, curtailed under King Abdullah, whose reign began in 2005. MWL has not, however, increased the sophistication of its image. Its website is poorly edited and confuses, currently, South Korea, where MWL operates a mosque and office, with North Korea.

Nevertheless, the anti-terror strategy adopted by King Salman since he assumed the throne appears predicated on an impressive clarity and frankness. The February Mecca conference declared in its English-language program,

These juveniles and fool dreamers&#8230; [w]ith their reckless actions and careless audacity to spill innocent people's blood&#8230; have horrified honest people and terrorized Muslims and others&#8230; they shout 'there is no god but Allah,' and 'Allah is great.' To these zealots, these are empty slogans without any substance&#8230; this distorted campaign has committed horrible sins under the cover of Islam... The time has come for scholars, preachers and people of conscience to warn people against this scourge, and disavow it.

In its final communiqué, the conference condemned "the ideological deviation ... based on irrational concepts that govern the Muslims' relationship with others. These include jihad." The summary document stated that terrorism "has tarnished the image of Islam throughout the world," with "an unfounded wave of accusing people of apostasy, depravity and [unacceptable theological] innovation&#8230; atrocities have been committed [based on] erroneous and unfounded interpretations&#8230; the stigma of terrorism [is] attached to [Muslims].

The conference observed that,

sectarian strife, and mounting animosity among Muslims, have drawn them into conflicts, and driven them into warring factions. Their communities and their countries are on the verge of crumbling into small factional and ethnic feuding entities; distracted away from working for the best interests of their nation and civilization by these conflicts. Muslim minorities have been denuded of their potential. A wedge of enmity has been driven between them and their fellow citizens and communities. The relationship soured among compatriots of one single country, and has spoiled any chance of rapprochement... Thus, Muslims faced isolation and marginalization in their own homelands.

The idiom of the Mecca conference represents a difference from past rhetoric by Muslim leaders aimed only at dissociating radical Islam from the religion as a whole, or blaming the West for the problems within the faith. Much more is required to make a new commitment to self-examination among Muslims real. But as his predecessor, King Abdullah, adopted small but meaningful internal reforms, King Salman has begun a significant, more ambitious process, and we may hope he has the courage and stamina to carry it through.

Irfan Al-Alawi is executive director of the London-based Islamic Heritage Research Foundation. Stephen Schwartz, a fellow at the Middle East Forum, is executive director of the Center for Islamic Pluralism in Washington, DC.

Related Topics: Radical Islam, Saudi Arabia, Terrorism | Irfan Al-Alawi | Stephen Schwartz

 

Obama believes that he can't learn anything from anyone. He's an ego maniac.

 

Did you notice that with any world leaders he bends forward to listen and exchange words... Each and every time the P.M. of Israel B. Netanyahu is in the white house... Mr Obama crosses his leg and looks away to the ceiling or sideways.