Media-Whore D'Oeuvres



"President Obama is on his way today to the only part of the world where vast numbers of Muslims actually want Americans to join them in the struggle against the forces behind terrorism. Unlike their co-religionists in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq, the quarter-billion Muslims of Southeast Asia—as many as in the entire Middle East—are appealing for Americans to work alongside them to drain the swamps of poverty and ignorance that give rise to the soldiers of jihad. Their only qualification is that these Americans come in sandals and sneakers, not combat boots. This is what they say when you meet them: Help us with education—science and mathematics—with agriculture, sanitation, roads, and drinking water, in developing small businesses and manufacturing. In short, they want us to help them develop and to improve their fledgling attempts at building democracies. This is the very definition of 'Smart Power,' the policy approach to which Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates have given voice since the Bush administration swaggered out of town." (TheDailyBeast)