Friedman's Latest Ostrich Routine

by Steve

Regarding Tom Friedman's latest column, wherein he once again blames the Muslims themselves for the wave of bombings in Iraq:

-Number of times Friedman shows his ignorance about previous documented Koran desecration reports: one;

-Number of times Friedman mentions Abu Ghraib within the larger context of Iraqi discontent: zero;

-Number of times Friedman mentions the presence of 150,000 American occupation forces within Iraq in the larger context of Iraqi discontent: zero;

-Number of times Friedman mentions the lack of security, lack of basic services like electricity, water, and sewage services; and lack of reconstruction in the larger context of Iraqi discontent: zero;

-Number of times Friedman mentions that Afghans learned last week that the United States planned to build permanent bases in their country, as a contributor to the violence there: zero;

-Number of times Friedman naively expects the Bush Administration to take a firm line with the Saudis to stop their support for the violence: one;

-Number of people who listen to Friedman as an authority on what will work in the Arab or Islamic world and accept what he says as credible: too many to calculate.