Charlie Rose

ShalomFreedman  05/18/2011 02:57 AM Report

Steven Cook seems to be the major realist in this particular discussion. It points to Turkey's having increasingly taken an anti- American and anti- Israeli line. Smarmy Ian Bremmer came up with the most disgusting line and expression as NeilMacCallister pointed out in a previous comment. Bremer seemed delighted at the fact that quasi- democratic Turkey was turning its back on the only true democracy in the Middle East, Israel. Charlie Rose for his part did mention the imprisoned journalists, and someone else mentioned the Kurdish insurrection. But there was no real discussion of Turkish's system of repression and human rights violations. Nor was their mention about the fact that Turkish President Erdogan has increasingly played the Islamist card, and is supported by those sectors of the population who would do away with the secular heritage of Ataturk's revolution. Turkish confusion over what to do about the so- called 'Arab spring' especially in relation to Syria was discussed. And the possible shift in Egypt away from a pro- American line might in fact mean hindrance of the Turkish plan to vie with Iran as Mideast leader. There was also too little made of how Erdogan seems to be increasingly moving toward contracting aspects of Democracy in Turkey.

robdverity  05/15/2011 06:53 PM Report

If your tribe wouldn't murder prolifically, perhaps they wouldn't.

NeilMacCallister  05/15/2011 02:22 AM Report

The most inspiring and "progressive" line of the night:

"..a constitution, a LIBERAL one, which protects the individual, not the state." (Henri Barkey)

(..Oh, if President Obama could only understand THAT!)

***

The evening's most pedestrian remark:

"The most exciting investment opportunity in the region is in Iraq." ( Steven Cook)

***

The most disgustingly sophomoric and malicious:

"The Turks are so smart for leading the modern trend in hating Israel." (Ian Bremmer)

(I say Turkey gets admitted to European Union only as Israel is also offered admittance to both the European Union and to NATO.)

..Hah!

charlizecourriers  05/13/2011 02:44 PM Report

Which ring do the Zionists have to throw in the fire?

REMant  05/13/2011 11:15 AM Report

If the intent of the last two days was to bash Turkey and stir up more trouble in the Middle East, why bother to interview Erdogan again, and his foreign minister?

Since I believe we've heard it before, it's not a great surprise to find that Cook's position on this comes down to "he that is not with me is against me." He would like to turn them into just another bunch of fascists, like all the rest of Israel's neighbors. But he should perhaps write a book about its army next. Leaving aside the very real question of just who is the fascist here, if they were magically converted into perfect democrats, they would, I think, still rouse his ire because they were still Muslims. Should the US have never invested in China because of Tiananmen Square? Does it make sense for any government to declare itself against the established rulers of its neighbors? No, I think his intent here has to be simple malice. Not surprisingly, he is with the Council on Foreign Relations, an oxymoron if there ever was one. Cook expiates extensively and his opinions are not hard to find.

For his part, Barkey, who worked in the Clinton admin and is Cohen professor at Lehigh actually, more diplomatically believes Erdogan is an incipient dictator, with an unhealthy interest, like Qaddafi in leading Arabs away from the good offices of Israel and the US, if not resurrect the Ottoman Empire, hence will never meet EU requirements. For good measure he throws in the "oppression" of the Kurds, whose interest in statehood, like Libya, is, however, I think, better seen as an oil grab. In any case, how does self-determination comport with cosmopolitanism? Multiculturalism is a sentimental sham. And, he implies, Turkey operates under the next thing to an emergency decree, hence does not have the "rule of law." But does the "rule of law" obtain in this country, or in Israel, or is it rather disrespect for any idea of law and complete willfulness? All of this he has said before, see: http://cas.lehigh.edu/CASWeb/resource.aspx?id=1216 and http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/08/31/turkey_s_silent_crisis

If I were a suspicious person I would have to suppose that with their backs to the wailing wall the Zionists have decided to try to get the US and NATO involved in as many places as possible in an attempt to contain what will surely go against them, rather than support stability. But then they have always been gamblers, with a tendency to self-destructiveness. Nor are they much disposed to making apologies. Love, I suppose, means never having to say you're sorry. Are we to believe that whenever Jews have got themselves into trouble it has always been due to prejudice? And, of course, they have never oppressed anyone.

To our man in Istanbul, Mr Finkel: Since when have American journalists been a model of independence and objectivity? Who has the most people in jail of any developed nation, or any nation period? According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice 7,225,800 people at the end of 2009 were on probation, in jail or prison, or on parole, about 3.1% of adults in the U.S. 2,292,133 of them in prison or jail. And it is not getting better; it is getting worse. Anyone who thinks this has nothing at all to do with politics should have HIS head examined.

And then there's the question of who started all this thru their crazy financial policies, because the "oppression" is no more the entire fault of autocratic govt then was the "iron curtain." It takes two to tango.