(Note to literalists: the Watched column presently contains only a smattering of 'warblogs' because the facilitator of the template-change--Dr. Menlo--is not very familiar with them, and will be adding more as they are sent to him. Also, this blog may contain areas of allusion, satire, subtext, context and possibly even a dash of the surreal: wannabe lit-crits beware.)
Control
[Watch this space for: Pentagon and Petroleum, The Media is only as Liberal as the Corporations Who Own Them, Wash Down With, and Recalcify]
WARBLOGGER WATCH
Wednesday, July 24, 2002
INTERNAL MUTTERINGS,
INTELLECTUAL PONDERING
Encouraging Dissent and New Ideas
John Hughes, writing in today’s edition of the Christian Science Monitor (“Who Will Lead an Arab Renaissance?”), has some words that will no doubt surprise a large proportion of the punditocracy:
“Nor should we assume that the Arab lands living in economic backwardness and democratic darkness are without their own internal mutterings for reform. There is intellectual pondering in Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The [U.N. Development Program’s] report found that 51 percent of older Arab adolescents, and 45 percent of younger ones, in the 22 countries surveyed, expressed a desire to emigrate, ‘clearly indicating dissatisfaction with current conditions and future prospects in their home countries.’” [Emphasis added.]
Now, how about some proactive diplomacy to encourage those “internal mutterings” and “intellectual pondering”? We understand the Bush administration has expressed an interest in this strategy, but what is being done? How aggressively can we expect this policy to be pursued? posted by The Rittenhouse Review9:00 PM
The Watchers
WBW: Keeping track of the war exhortations of the warbloggers.