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Written Testimony to House Armed Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations November 5, 2009 INTRODUCTION: THE IRAQ WAR UNDERMINED US  EFFORTS  IN  AFGHANISTAN I want to begin by thanking Chairman Vic Snyder and other members of the committee for inviting me to testify...

The US is reviewing its Afghan policy after the US commander in Afghanistan General McChrystal lobbied for 40,000 additional troops arguing that US was facing failure without them in Afghanistan. This is the second review of Afghan policy by this administration and if t...

How has the Islamic community reacted to President Obama’s landmark Cairo speech? This new perfume sir, its name Obama,” said the old Cairo perfumer. His marketing gimmick was no surprise. Egypt is suffering from a strong case of Obamania. Intellectuals and ordinary people...

The globalization of the Arab-Israeli conflict has made Muslim-Jewish relations, let us say, very complicated. This was never the case in the past. Muslim anger toward Jews, and Jewish fear of Muslims, is one of the major consequences of the Arab-Israeli conflict. There is, in...

President Obama’s address to the Muslim World on June 4th from Cairo was truly transformative in intent and effect. It was not a policy speech and did not seek to outline policy initiatives. It was a philosophical attempt to diffuse the mutual distrust and animus that undergirds...

Lieberman’s ascent to power is not only a dilemma for Arabs and the US, but also for the Jewish lobby “American Jews… are dismayed by Lieberman, mostly because he represents values that we abhor” — Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the Union for Reform...

What are the repercussions of the Pakistani President’s recent peace deal with the Taliban? The Pakistani government has now made a deal with a Taliban franchise called Tahrik-e-Nafiz Shariat Muhammadi (Movement for the Establishment of Muhammad’s Shariah) that ends...

The best among you is the one who is the best towards his wife” – Prophet Muhammad If yesterday was a normal day in America then it would be safe to assume that several women were killed and hundreds were raped. But very few if any of them will garner much media attention. Why do...

The Pakistani government has now made a deal with a Taliban group called Tahrik-e- Nafiz Shariat Mohamedi (Movement for the Establishment of Mohamed’s Sharia) that ends military conflict between them and the Pakistani army and brings “Islamic law” to the region...

Last Saturday, about 100 Delawareans shared a unique spiritual and cultural experience. They participated in a dialogue on the role of faith in Middle Eastern and American communities. A delegation of Islamic and social science scholars from Saudi Arabia and Egypt, joined with...