At war with radicals
One can readily agree with Gilbert Kahn’s assessment but for one or possibly two items (“Egypt’s coup: a respite for Israel (for now),” July 11).
He refers to Morsi as “a democratically elected leader in the Arab world.” This has been openly challenged given the norms of that world. Kahn further states that “Turkey’s religious posture is also being threatened by more militant Islamic forces.” If he is referring to Prime Minister Recep Erdogan and his Islamist cohorts, it is a correct assertion; otherwise it is greatly flawed. Since the time of Ataturk, Turkey has enjoyed a somewhat open democracy. Erdogan has dramatically moved away from this environment as he moves toward incorporating a theologically radical Muslim agenda.
“For the Obama administration, the ouster of the Morsi government was troubling,” writes Kahn, and indeed it was. Given that Obama’s obsession with pursuing appeasement, his foreign policy, somewhat modeled on that of Jimmy Carter, can only be described as an outright failure. The present day chaos termed the “Arab Spring” follows very closely on Carter’s bringing down the Shah of Iran, confusing enemies for friends.
In the words of Dr. Laurie Roth, “Obama has never been happy with the obvious, that we are at war with Islamic radicals throughout the world.”
Alex Rose
Ashkelon, Israel
(formerly of West Orange)
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