...and Allah thanks him.
'Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim'
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Bowe Bergdahl and the resurgence of conservative Islamophobia
What was the father thinking--to turn up looking like this? He certainly has no judgment.I have some sympathy for critics of President Obama’s decision to trade five Guantanamo prisoners for Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl. At the very least, the White House should have informed Congress beforehand, as required by law...
Still, it’s disheartening to see that some prominent conservatives are unable to critique the Bergdahl deal without resorting to anti-Muslim bigotry.
Bergdahl’s father, an outraged Bill O’Reilly said earlier this week, “looks like a Muslim. He is also somewhat sympathetic to Islam.” Actually, Bob Bergdahl’s untrimmed beard would fit in well in Amish and ultra-Orthodox Jewish circles as well. But it’s revealing that for O’Reilly, sympathy for “Islam,”—not “Taliban-style Islam” or “radical Islam” but merely “Islam”—is a character flaw.
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The pony-tail doesn’t look particularly Islamic. The guy just looks like a garden variety idiot.
Bergdahl Starring in Taliban’s PR Blockbuster
A lot has changed in warfare since the days of hand-to-hand combat
with swords and spears in ancient Mesopotamia 5,000 years. One thing
hasn’t changed, however: War remains a test of wills. If you break the
enemy’s will, you win. If he breaks your will, you lose. If neither of
your wills is broken, and assuming you have sufficient material
resources to continue fighting, the war becomes a stalemate. This is a
fundamental truth and yet one that President Obama seems to miss time
after time.
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