Larry Johnson Almost Gets It
Larry Johnson rips into Condi for her inability to recognize the Hamas victory in Palestine (quite rightly as I wrote about earlier) but then he engages in a bizarre discussion about Islamists prevailing over secularists as a rule in the Middle East.
Apparently Maslow doesn’t apply to the region.
60% of Palestinians are below the poverty line; a majority are secular. They are voting for food, water, and electricity. Not grandstanding bullshit.
This aside Mr. Johnson is a great voice to listen to though. He is an expert in terrorism with field time with both the CIA and the State’s Office of Counter Terrorism and currently heads up Berg Associates – a threat management business consultancy.
I have asked him for a response to this argument and will post if he gets a chance to respond.
-Shlok
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Jan 31, 2006
“They are voting for food, water, and electricity”? Nationalism, clan loyalty, religion, and anti-imperialism have nothing to do with the way people vote in the Middle East?
Jan 31, 2006
Barry,
I don’t think Schloky is arguing that these things don’t have anything to do with the way people vote, rather he is pointing out, that at least in this instance, there are other issues that we need to consider. Judging by how Palestinian’s view Fatah (as corrupt and innefficient), it is safe to assume that that is part of what drove them to vote for Hamas, who even moderate, secular and christian Palestinians admit has more credibility with regard to these two issues. Further, Hamas made corruption and inefficiency the main issues in its campaign because it knew that Fatah was vulnerable on these fronts.
Jan 31, 2006
Schloky,
I agree with you on Larry. My belief is that at times he allows his partisanship (err ideology) to cloud his arguments. I also agree that due to his knowledge and experience he is someone we should all read.
Also, thanks for the add.
Jan 31, 2006
Nykrindc nailed it. Everyone on the ground is hearing Hamas was voted in (oxblog is a good one) because of its subsistance level efforts. Not it’s grand standing.
I think that’s the correct read on Larry. My pleasure on the add.
Feb 1, 2006
Here’s one way to look at it:
http://globalguerrillas.typepad.com/globalguerrillas/2004/12/legitimacy_101.html
Feb 3, 2006
Robb’s brief manages to apply itself to yet another situation.
Palestinians are focusing on basic needs while the rest of the world misguidedly searches for meaning at the more idealistic/esoteric levels.