Turkey’s cautionary tale (Islamist State Points to Future of ME)

Jerusalem Post ^ | 4/15/2011 | Caroline Glick

[mojito]

...TURKEY IS a cautionary tale for the West, which is now faced with the prospect of AKP-like regimes from Egypt to Tunisia to Jordan to the Persian Gulf. And the real issue that Western leaders must address is how things in Turkey were permitted to deteriorate to the point they have without any US or European official lifting a finger to stem the Islamist tide? The answer, it would seem, is a combination of professional laziness and cultural weakness. This mix of factors is also on display in the US’s behavior toward the revolutionary forces active throughout much of the Arab world.

Professional laziness stands at the root of the West’s decision not to contend with the unpleasant truth that the AKP is an Islamist party whose basic ideology has more in common with Osama bin Laden’s values than with George Washington’s. This truth was always available. Erdogan and his colleagues did not make any special efforts to hide what they stand for.

The West chose not to pay attention because its senior officials knew if they did, they would have to do something. They would have had to distance themselves from Turkey, remove Turkey from NATO and seek to contain the power of the Erdogan regime. And this would have been hard and unpleasant.

[....]

Likewise, in post-Mubarak Egypt, it is easier to believe fairy tales about Facebook revolutions and Westernized student leaders than face the harsh truth that from Amr Moussa to Mohamed ElBaradei to Yousef Qaradawi there are no leaders in post-Mubarak Egypt who support the peace with Israel or believe that Egypt has common interests with Israel and the US. There are no potential leaders in Egypt who share Western values of individual liberty and human rights.

[mojito]

Another timely column by Caroline Glick, worth reading in full.

[Buckeye McFrog]

Maine is going to become an Islamic State?

Well, on the upside I guess it means Olympia Snowe will be forced to wear a burqua...

[GladesGuru]

An opportunity, I say!

Now, we can nuke them all, the sunni, the shi’s, and all.

[mojito]

The minarets of Portland are lovely this time of year.

[Oldyungun]

http://www.sanghparivar.org/whats-turkeys-islamist-akp-regime-playing-at
Check out this article from 2010, about the so-called “Israeli
massacre” of 9 ‘peace activists’ including 4 young turks. Speaks to
precisely what you’re talking about here, in fact, this writer (from
India) seems prescient:

” ...because the purpose behind the ‘Freedom Flotilla’ was not to help
the poor and the famished of Gaza Strip, but make a political
statement that would find a resonance around the world, forcing
Governments and people to lend their voice to a ‘moral crusade’ while
ignoring Israel’s national security imperatives. The media chose to
romanticise the ‘Freedom Flotilla’, sensing a soft story that would
tug at the heartstrings of newspaper readers and television viewers,
instead of raising relevant questions about the entire dubious
exercise and exposing the real organiser of the flotilla, the Turkish
Insani Yardim Vakfi, or IHH, an Islamic charity with a radical
anti-Western orientation.”

And yet, Obama and the rest of them, just pretend it isn’t happening.
Or worse, know exactly what’s happening, and are cheering them on?

Damn. I just reminded myself of that blathering idiot my roommate
blasts from the kitchen in the morning - I don’t know the guys name,
but the show is Young Turks? You ever catch this moron? Not just
that he’s a moron, but he kind of sucks at his job, too.

I emailed this article to my roommate a couple of weeks ago -
http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/mark-finkelstein/2011/03/24/cenk-dem-congressman-dissent-unpatriotic

He hasn’t mentioned it.

[Moltke]

Good posts. And yes, it states what has been there for all to see for a long time.

The past and continuing US pressure on Europe to accept Turkey into the EU is nothing less than disgusting.

[SunkenCiv]

Caroline Glick:

...the West, which is now faced with the prospect of AKP-like regimes from Egypt to Tunisia to Jordan to the Persian Gulf. And the real issue that Western leaders must address is how things in Turkey were permitted to deteriorate to the point they have without any US or European official lifting a finger to stem the Islamist tide? The answer, it would seem, is a combination of professional laziness and cultural weakness.

Thanks mojito.

"Now let's be clear -- I get a lot of the credit for this. Crackers."