Read through the most famous quotes by topic #err
the bombers of Manhattan represent fascism with an Islamic face. . . . What they abominate about ‘the West,’ to put it in a phrase, is not what Western liberals don’t like and can’t defend about their own system, but what they do like about it and must defend: its emancipated women, its scientific inquiry, its separation of religion from the state. Loose talk about chickens coming home to roost is the moral equivalent of the hateful garbage emitted by Falwell and Robertson. ↗
During an hour-long conversation mid-flight, he laid out his theory of the war. First, Jones said, the United States could not lose the war or be seen as losing the war. 'If we're not successful here,' Jones said, 'you'll have a staging base for global terrorism all over the world. People will say the terrorists won. And you'll see expressions of these kinds of things in Africa, South America, you name it. Any developing country is going to say, this is the way we beat [the United States], and we're going to have a bigger problem.' A setback or loss for the United States would be 'a tremendous boost for jihadist extremists, fundamentalists all over the world' and provide 'a global infusion of morale and energy, and these people don't need much.' Jones went on, using the kind of rhetoric that Obama had shied away from, 'It's certainly a clash of civilizations. It's a clash of religions. It's a clash of almost concepts of how to live.' The conflict is that deep, he said. 'So I think if you don't succeed in Afghanistan, you will be fighting in more places. 'Second, if we don't succeed here, organizations like NATO, by association the European Union, and the United Nations might be relegated to the dustbin of history.' Third, 'I say, be careful you don't over-Americanize the war. I know that we're going to do a large part of it,' but it was essential to get active, increased participation by the other 41 nations, get their buy-in and make them feel they have ownership in the outcome. Fourth, he said that there had been way too much emphasis on the military, almost an overmilitarization of the war. The key to leaving a somewhat stable Afghanistan in a reasonable time frame was improving governance and the rule of law, in order to reduce corruption. There also needed to be economic development and more participation by the Afghan security forces. It sounded like a good case, but I wondered if everyone on the American side had the same understanding of our goals. What was meant by victory? For that matter, what constituted not losing? And when might that happen? Could there be a deadline? ↗
#bob-woodward #foreign-policy #obama-s-wars #terrorism #united-states
Taj Mahal adalah bangunan yang menjadi bagian dari salah satu tujuh keajaiban dunia. Dibangun oleh Shah Jahan sebagai pusara bagi istrinya Mumtaz Mahal yang meninggal karena melahirkan sungsang ketika peperangan sedang berlangsung. Bagi Shah Jahan Taj Mahal adalah gambaran kecantikan dan keanggunan isterinya yang akan selalu dikenang oleh dirinya dan rakyatnya. Shah Jahan mengutus arsitek berdarah Persia untuk membangun Taj Mahal, Isa namanya. Yang akhirnya jatuh cinta pada Jahanara, puteri Shah Jahan yang bersuamikan Khondamir. Isa sangat mengagumi kecantikan Jahanara yang sangat mirip dengan ibunya, Mumtaz Mahal. Jahanara pun selingkuh dengan Isa yang juga sangat ia cintai, karena sejatinya Jahanara tidak pernah mencintai khondamir. Mereka menikah hanya karena alasan politik. Dibalik bangunan indah dan berdiri megah itu terdapat kisah yang haru, kejam, indah sekaligus membawa pembaca pada zaman kerajaan Hindustan. ↗
The Holy Spirit did not go into such detail about the Pharisees in the New Testament just so we could understand a group unique to the first century. Pharisaism is a poisonous weed that grows in every garden of orthodox religion. Pharisaism is every bit the threat to the orthodox today that it was then. ↗
Nobody ever wanted to go to war, but if a war came your way, it might as well be the right war, about the most important things in the world, and you might as well, if you were going to fight it, be called "Rushdie," and stand where your father had placed you, in the tradition of the grand Aristotelian, Averroës, Abul Walid Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Rushd. ↗
Siempre he creído que una persona es inteligente. Son las multitudes las que son estúpidas. Y pocas cosas confirman esto mejor que la guerra, la religion organizada, la burocracia y la preparatoria, donde la mayoria reina sin piedad. Cuando recordé mis primeros dias ahí, todo lo que ví fue una inseguridade y una duda tan agobiantes que un simple grano era capaz de sacar mi vida de balance. Sólo hasta mis últimos dias tuve confianza y respeto por mi mísmo, incluso un poco de individualid. ↗
Respectable opinion would never consider an assessment of the Reagan Doctrine or earlier exercises in terms of their actual human costs, and could not comprehend that such an assessment—which would yield a monstrous toll if accurately conducted on a global scale—might perhaps be a proper task in the United States. At the same level of integrity, disciplined Soviet intellectuals are horrified over real or alleged American crimes, but perceive their own only as benevolent intent gone awry, or errors of an earlier day, now overcome; the comparison is inexact and unfair, since Soviet intellectuals can plead fear as an excuse for their services to state violence. ↗
#consensus #fear #hypocrisy #intellectuals #international-law
what a sad pair we are," she said. "Surely we can manage a conversation on a topic other than our respective terrible evenings. ↗
If you want. It’s not really your kind of thing,” Perry said. “It’s a snow globe. You know, a big old house and lots of Vermont snow. I thought it might remind you of me.” “I don’t need a snow globe to remind me of you,” Nick said, which was probably the most romantic thing he had ever heard himself say. It made him blush. ↗
