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Dear Mayor Bloomberg

July 29, 2010  •  Scripps Howard News Service

Your Honor:

In regard to the proposal to build an Islamic center at the site of the 9/11 terrorist attack in Manhattan, I commend you for saying: "Everything the United States stands for and New York stands for is tolerance and openness, and I think it's a great message for the world. . . . " But I would urge you to question whether this project truly represents that idea — or whether it undermines it.

Start with this: Before this project is approved, surely New Yorkers and other Americans should know who will be picking up the more than $100 million tab. Would you not be distressed were it later to be revealed that funds had been contributed by people who also finance terrorism?

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Imagine a Nuclear Iran

July 22, 2010  •  Scripps Howard News Service

It's been said that a diplomat is a gentleman paid to go abroad and lie for his country. Sometimes, however, diplomats slip up and tell the truth. In response to a question at the hopefully named Aspen Ideas Festival this month, Yousef al-Otaiba, the ambassador from the United Arab Emirates, said bluntly: "We cannot live with a nuclear Iran."

Al-Otaiba went on to add that, if sanctions fail to stop Iran's drive for nuclear weapons, military force will be the only option left and it should not be ruled out. "A military attack on Iran by whomever would be a disaster," he said. "But Iran with a nuclear weapon would be a bigger disaster."

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From Berlin to Jerusalem

July 15, 2010  •  Scripps Howard News Service

Last month, Sheikh Muhammad Hussein, the mufti of Jerusalem, called on Palestinians to defend the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which he said was "threatened by the plans of the enemies of God," by which he meant Israelis.

It should go without saying that this is a lie. Israel poses no threat to Al-Aqsa, now or ever. On the contrary, Israelis have always recognized and respected Islamic sovereignty over Islamic religious sites within Israel — despite the fact that Jewish holy places have been desecrated by Palestinians, Jordanians, and others. The notion that the Israelis would raze Al-Aqsa to build a temple on its ruins — as the mufti has also claimed — is a ludicrous slander.

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Our Friends, the Saudis?

July 8, 2010  •  Scripps Howard News Service

Last week, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah was welcomed to the White House by President Obama. According to the Washington Post, their meeting provided an opportunity "to demonstrate the friendship between their countries, a point the king was particularly keen on highlighting. 'I would like to say to the friendly American people that the American people are friends of Saudi Arabia and its people, and they are friends of the Arab and Muslim people, and they are also friends of humanity,' Abdullah said."

Did you, friendly American person, happen to notice that while His Highness confirmed that Americans are friends of Saudis, Arabs, and Muslims, he did not say that Saudis, Arabs, and Muslims are friends of Americans?

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A Bipartisan Moment

July 1, 2010  •  Scripps Howard News Service

In the film Charlie Wilson's War, the rich and sexy political activist Joanne Herring asks the eponymous representative from Texas: "Why is Congress saying one thing and doing nothing?" Wilson deadpans: "Well, tradition mostly."

So when Congress breaks with tradition and actually says something and then goes on to do something both bold and consistent — that should not go unremarked.

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