Karen Hughes, Enemy Combatant

I thought briefly about titling this "Karen Hughes, Girl Diplomat" but I liked the other one better.

Via Kos, The Guardian has a column by Sidney Blumenthal about our intrepid Girl Diplomat as she makes her way through the Middle East, winning friends and influencing people. Problem is, her efforts may be working against the country's best interests, according to Blumenthal.

Bin Laden's little helper
US administration lectures about God delivered to Muslims are a dangerous folly

Hughes's simple, sincere and unadorned language reveals the administration's inner mind. Her ideas on terrorism and its solution are straightforward. "Terrorists," she said, "their policies force young people, other people's daughters and sons, to strap on bombs and blow themselves up." That is: somehow, magically, these evil-doers coerce the young to commit suicide. If only they would understand us, the tensions would dissolve.

"Many people around the world do not understand the important role that faith plays in Americans' lives," she said. When an Egyptian opposition leader inquired why Mr Bush mentions God in his speeches, Hughes asked him whether he was aware that "previous American presidents have also cited God, and that our constitution cites 'one nation under God'."

"Well, never mind," he said.

I think the part about our constitution citing "one nation under God" is the part that's written in invisible ink. I bet the Freemasons thought it up.

Anyway, you go, girl. Robert Pape, a University of Chicago political scientist who has conducted extensive research into the motives of suicide terrorists says that if you wanted to help Bin Laden, you couldn't have done better than Karen Hughes.

Pape's research debunks the view that suicide terrorism is the natural byproduct of Islamic fundamentalism or some "Islamo-fascist" ideological strain, independent of certain highly specific circumstances.

"Of the key conditions that lead to suicide terrorism in particular, there first must be the presence of foreign combat forces on the territory that the terrorists prize. The second condition is a religious difference between the combat forces and the local community. The religious difference matters in that it enables terrorist leaders to paint foreign forces as being driven by religious goals.

Is this the part where we demand that Hughes be remanded to Gitmo for aiding and abetting the enemy?

Blumenthal also mentions that Hughes got her job because two undersecretaries of state for public diplomacy resigned this year in frustration, in the face of the precipitous loss of US prestige around the globe. Maybe it's because they understood that the nature of the task was unrealistic? I don't know.

However, it's interesting that Hughes mentions God because though the Turkish are religious (I've been there during Ramadan) their government is very secular. Ataturk was widely admired for westernizing the country (he resembles Geo. Washington) but he wasn't big on religion. He believed Islam was a major impediment to Turkish development. He also gave women equal rights and opportunities and encouraged educating both sexes.

Here's another perspective on our Soccer Mom/Girl Diplomat from BAGnewsNotes.