Free Republic

The de facto Arab Foreign Minister, New York Times columnist Tom Friedman, who has long courted the Arab world and counts among his hosts Arab dictators across the region, now may be tinged by an unfolding scandal involving Saudi Arabia. Over two years ago, Tom Friedman introduced to American audiences a Saudi peace plan which consisted of Israel basically relinquishing control of lands captured in the defensive 1967 War, in return for vague promises of diplomatic recognition by the Arab world. This "peace plan" was created by Saudi Arabia to deflect attention from its role over the years of fomenting...

Many liberals are beside themselves. Things were bearable when they could delude themselves into blaming their loss of power on a "stolen" election. But with this decisive defeat, they're thinking, "It's not our America anymore." As New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman wrote, "But what troubled me yesterday was my feeling that this election was tipped because of an outpouring of support for George Bush by people who don't just favor different policies than I do -- they favor a whole different kind of America. We don't just disagree on what America should be doing; we disagree on what America...

...There is no doubt that John Kerry showed great skill at embracing deeply contradictory positions, but that does not make him unusual; all politicians have mastered the art of self-contradiction. What was remarkable in this election is that one candidate, President Bush, never changed: He said what he meant and meant what he said. If the Democrats could not appeal to the moral values of people, that fact must have been lost on the 48% of the voters who supported Sen. Kerry.... I am just as mystified by Mr. Friedman's lament that "Christian fundamentalists" are ruining his America by fostering...

New York Times Urges: Forget 9/11 By Isaiah Z. Sterrett Oct 21, 2004 Forget about 9/11. It’s no longer important. In fact, it never even happened. Just ask Tom Friedman. In a truly revolting column entitled “Addicted to 9/11,” Friedman recently argued that Americans should forget about the slaughter of 3,000 of our fellow countrymen. “[M]any Americans,” he wrote, “are worried…that terrorism is transforming us and our society, when it was supposed to be about uprooting the terrorists and transforming their societies.” (By “many Americans” Friedman means “me and Al Gore.”) Yes, terrorism is transforming our society. Whereas four years...

While visiting Istanbul the other day, I took a long walk along the Bosporus near Topkapi Palace. There is nothing like standing at this stunning intersection of Europe and Asia to think about the clash of civilizations — and how we might avoid it. Make no mistake: we are living at a remarkable hinge of history and it's not clear how it's going to swing. What is clear is that Osama bin Laden achieved his aim: 9/11 sparked real tensions between the Judeo-Christian West and the Muslim East. Preachers on both sides now openly denounce each other's faith. Whether these...

Airline flights into the U.S. are canceled from France, Mexico and London. Armed guards are put onto other flights coming to America. Westerners are warned to avoid Saudi Arabia, and synagogues are bombed in Turkey and France. A package left on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art forces the evacuation of 5,000 museumgoers. (It turns out to contain a stuffed snowman.) National Guardsmen are posted at key bridges and tunnels. Happy New Year. What you are witnessing is why Sept. 11 amounts to World War III — the third great totalitarian challenge to open societies in the last...

If anyone doubts the power of the media to transform the policies of democratic governments, one need only to look to The New York Times' columnist Thomas Friedman for proof. It was Friedman, after all, who a year ago invented the so-called Saudi plan for peace in the Middle East. Last February, reacting to the precipitous drop in American public support for the kingdom in the wake of mounting evidence of Saudi sponsorship of al-Qaida and hatred for the US generally, the House of Saud invited Friedman to Riyadh as part of a PR campaign. Over dinner in a gilded...

What loopiness masquerading as hard truths in Tom Friedman's column today. How on earth does rescinding future tax cuts help us win the war against Islamism, Saddam and al Qaeda? How on earth does firing Karl Rove help that either? Or cutting farm subsidies? Friedman has largely managed to absorb the idea that we are at war and that we need to win. good for him. But because there's not a Democratic president, he's conflicted. So he's telling Bush to adopt Democratic policies at home in order to win abroad. Run that by me again, would you? It's not that...