Did Thomas Friedman Flunk History?

[AlamoDemoc]

A Muslim Problem

By M. SHAHID ALAM

It appears that Mr. Thomas Friedman has a Muslim problem. He has a great deal of trouble thinking straight when writing about Muslims; and, as the New York Times' resident expert on Islam, he displays this malaise frequently, often twice a week.

In the wake of the recent bombings in London ­ as atrocious as bombings get anywhere ­ Mr. Friedman sums up his thoughts on this terrible tragedy in the title of his column of July 8, 2005, "If it's a Muslim Problem, It Needs a Muslim Solution." The conditional 'If' is merely a distraction. I could say that it is a deceptive ploy, but I will be more charitable. It is perhaps the last gasp of Mr. Friedman's conscience, mortified by his own mendacity.


http://www.counterpunch.com/shahid07182005.html

[Spider Jerusalem]

1. And international relations and political science.

Or at least, that's what I often think, reading the drivel he turns out. How he got a Pulitzer, and how anyone takes him seriously as an "expert" on the Middle East, I can't figure out.

[hadrons]

2. I agree, I can't why so many people are fooled by this hack ....

a broken clock is right twice a day and since he's right twice for every 24 articles he writes, he's can claim to be like clockwork (sort of)

[Spider Jerusalem]

6. He tells people what they want to hear.

He's basically a propagandist for corporate imperialism and the superiority of the American/Western way of life; there are quite a few people (some of them quite powerful...CEOs, government figures, etc) who really ought to know better who feel vindicated by reading this nonsense from a supposed "expert".

[rurallib]

3. Heard a the end of a good debate on NPR (Odessy, I think)

Prof from Chicago U. said most of the suicide bombers are not religious but had one thing in common. THEIR COUNTRY WAS BEING OCCUPIED.
Prof from U of Cincy said that they are Muslims and it's up to Muslim leaders to stop them.
Prof from Chicago said that would be like asking the Pope to stop Christian fundamentalists. U of Cincy disagreed.
Guess which one acts as an advisor to the W administration? ding,ding,ding that's right! Prof from U of Cincy.

[joemurphy]

4. He lost me when he wrote a column endorsing the Iraq War.

His rationale was that, although there was no proven connection between Saddam and the 911 terrorists, we had to do something!

[bpilgrim]

5. He is our modern day CICERO

see Michael Parenti's a peoples history of rome...

http://www.michaelparenti.org/Caesar.html

peace

[K-W]

7. My cat can give a better foreign policy opinion than Thomas Friedman,

I can only imagine how perceptive he thinks he is too.

[SmokingJacket]

8. He's just not too bright.

Over and over, he proves it: not the sharp knife in the block.

Hate to be simplistic about a potentially complex matter, but I think Friedman's problem really does come down to lack of critical thinking skills.

Dude: it's NOT a muslim problem. Murder is a human problem. Quit drinking the koolaid.