Friday, September 30, 2011

Coverage of Bahrain

Angry Arab chief Bahraini correspondent (her identity shall not be revealed for her protection):  "This article on Bahrain is terrible on so many different levels, but this sentence really stood out for me:
All Shiites, one was a turbaned cleric who could have been out of central casting for the part of an Iranian mullah. The second was a Moscow-trained engineer in a jacket and tie who runs a successful local contracting company. The third was a woman wearing a headscarf, though more loosely worn than the head coverings of many of the Sunni women at the event; she had formerly been a physical-fitness teacher.
Apparently the west views us only through the prism of whether we are sunni or shia, so even one woman's decision to wear the hijab more loosely than her peers is viewed through this prism. Being sunni or shia is the only part of our identity that matters to them.
The author is apparently a "Baker fellow and director of the Gulf and Energy Policy Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy." No wonder American foreign policy is so messed up - you have idiots sitting in think tanks advising them and claiming to be middle east experts. Maybe I should start calling myself a middle east expert. Apparently the bar for that is really low."