Subject: Heard a fantastic CBC interview this AM --about the mess we're in....
Message:
Tariq Ali from Britain described what people were thinking, and without reservation, said the public believes the London attacks were definitely "blowback" from Iraq. He really went into how the West is making things worse with their fear of "non-democratic regimes" winning elections, mentioning Egypt and Saudi Arabia in particular. He feels that even if fundies got in, they would be ousted in favor of govs. that would separate religion from politics. He cited Turkey as a prime example. What really struck me, however, is that much of his message is the message you expect Clark to be saying, unequivocally, if he weren't stuck at FAUX ....This is the message America really should be hearing, rather than the "Bush has a second wind" crap that we get from the Los Angeles Times.
Ali was asked if this would boost Bush and he said he wasn't so sure...that he might get a small bump on the right, but that America seems to be catching on, late, but still, catching on.
Let's hope he's right....
Unfortunately, there is no audio but Ali has a web site full of good pieces..
There is audio of him debating Christopher Hitchens on Democracy Now!
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Sunday Edition, CBC 7/10/05
Host Bob Carty in conversation with writer and historian Tariq Ali. Tariq Ali is a prolific novelist, playwright and historian, who's spent his entire life answering questions like these ... enraging everyone from Bush and Blair to his fellow Muslims along the way.
He was born in Lahore, Pakistan. His early childhood co-incided with the years when Britain carved up the sub-continent along religious lines, and some 2 million people lost their lives in the ensuing sectarian violence.
Tariq Ali has described himself as a non-Muslim Muslim ¿ someone born into Muslim culture, but who was raised without religion - declaring himself an atheist at the age of 12. Mr. Ali left Pakistan when his student radicalism made him a target of the military regime. He studied at Oxford where he became involved in student politics again - in particular in opposing the US war in Vietnam. It's not surprising that 4 decades later he is an outspoken opponent the British and American military involvement in Iraq. But he is also the author a a number of novels that explore the intersection of the Christian West and the world of Islam.
Mr. Ali is the editor of the New Left Review, and a regular contributor to the Guardian newspaper.
Ali's web site....lots of good articles
http://www.tariqali.org /