Wednesday, August 19, 2009

from NY to Israel Sultan Reveals The Stories Behind the News










from NY to Israel Sultan Reveals
The Stories Behind the News


Link to Sultan Knish








Robert Novak, Islamic Apologist, Terrorist Supporter, Was No Role
Model for Conservatives


Posted: 18 Aug 2009 08:04 PM PDT



It was only two days after 9/11 when "respected columnist"
Robert Novak began by promoting Trutherism, writing in his column, titled,
"
This
is No Pearl Harbor
", "Security experts and airline officials agree
privately that the simultaneous hijacking of four jetliners was an "inside
job," probably indicating complicity beyond malfeasance. This makes all
the more ominous Tuesday's national consequences
."

Novak of
course was wrong, but like most Truther propaganda, its larger purpose was
to serve as an excuse for the actual Islamic terrorists. The column went
on to suggest that Bin Laden wasn't even responsible for the attacks,
"
Unlike Pearl Harbor, however, there is no clear foe... Private sources
indicate that the terrorists could be a splinter group of Osama, its
identity and whereabouts as yet unknown
." The idea being that the
terrorists were an "extremist wing" of Al Queda, and not the "moderate" Al
Queda itself.

While the rubble at Ground Zero was still
smoldering, Novak went on to worry that the United States would launch an
assault on Al Queda in Afghanistan, which would only upset the Muslim
world.



"An attack on Afghanistan for sheltering Osama's
terrorists will put the United States in danger of being perceived,
however incorrectly, as launching a holy war against Islam. There is
strong sentiment in Congress for hitting somebody, somewhere who has
unsavory terrorist credentials even if not connected with Tuesday's
attack."


Having spun his rope of lies this far, Novak then went on
to argue that the real problem were not Muslim terrorists, who didn't want
world domination (perish the thought), no the real problem was Israel.
"Unlike Nazi Germany's and Imperial Japan's drive for a new world
order, however, the hatred toward the U.S. by the terrorists is an
extension of its hatred of Israel rather than world domination."



Four days later Novak continued his theme of a Washington D.C.
churning with
"Frustrated
War Fever
", painting Republicans as desperate to irrationally bomb
Afghanistan into a "parking lot". Novak instead treated any attempt to go
after the terrorists as recklessly dangerous and likely to offend Muslims.
Novak even made sure to repeat Mullah Omar's warning against the idea of
sending US troops to Afghanistan, thereby turning himself into a
propaganda outlet for the Taliban, writing;



"Usually level-headed members of Congress have told me
that American citizens should be prepared for sending a U.S.
expeditionary force to fight in Afghanistan. Mullah Omar, the supreme
Taliban ruler, on Friday warned Americans of the dire fate of British
and more recently Soviet troops at the hands of Afghan guerrillas."

11 days after 9/11 found Novak busy worrying
about Arafat's anxiety
, telling readers that Arafat had joined the War
on Terror coalition and gave orders to his men not to shoot at Israelis,
even if they shot first. Novak's columns on the War on Terror quickly
became a barrage of gloomy predictions. Early in the war he suggested that

General
Tommy Franks was incompetent
and should be removed. He quoted Human
Rights Watch to
damn
the Northern Alliance
for supposedly committing atrocities against
Taliban supporters.






By early 2002 Novak was already castigating the Bush
Administration for its "
Arrogance
of Power
". A year before the invasion of Iraq, Novak was already
claiming that; "
The U.S. military today is in no condition to attack
anybody
". Novak of course went on to
repeatedly
champion Chuck Hagel's
position on Iraq. He quickly dragged
out his "War Fever" innuendo
, depicting Bush as isolated among
Republicans in his desire to remove Saddam Hussein. This would follow his
usual pattern of championing Powell over Rumsfeld and Cheney, pushing for
coalition backing and UN support. His opposition never wavered, as
he
mocked the Surge
, once again treating Chuck Hagel as an oracle on the
Iraq War.

His post 9/11 column was a startlingly ugly performance
from Novak, but neither a random occurrence or
a departure from
the norm. Novak had spent a good deal of the latter part of his career
playing defense on
the Islamic team
. Whether it was the
Turkish push
for EU membership, "the European Union on Dec. 12
rebuffed both the Turkish and the U.S. governments by rejecting Turkey's
application for membership. Abdullah Gul, the new prime minister, accused
European leaders of "discrimination" and "prejudice" -- reflecting Islam's
current view of the West
",
bemoaning
Republican support
for Israel while claiming that conservatives used
to be Pro-Arab not Pro-Israel,and
defending
the Saudis
against being being "trashed", noting critically that;
"
Ever since the Sept. 11 attacks, conservative journalists and
politicians have pounded on Saudi customs and mores that had not seriously
disturbed a relationship between the two dissimilar countries over the
past 60 years
", (those "customs" of course being such trivial cultural
matters as enslaving women, promoting Islamic extremism abroad and
treating non-Muslims as inferior), Novak had repeatedly taken the Islamic
side of things.

When the UAE was set to take over many key American
ports, Novak damned it as xenophobia and
lambasted
Bush for surrendering
to prejudice.



deeper problems are reflected by overwhelming public
opposition to a company owned by the government of a close Arab ally
operating U.S. ports. Polls suggest the darker side of the American
mind: isolationist, protectionist, nativist and xenophobic. Bush's
ceaseless efforts to rouse his countrymen to support the war against
terrorism may have unleashed the dogs of anti-Arab
prejudice.


Novak would urge Bush to overcome
his "phobia"
against talking to the enemy...



Amid Tehran's noisy celebration over the outcome of
hostilities in Lebanon, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki was
overlooked last Wednesday when he announced that Iran is ready for
negotiations about suspending uranium enrichment... pressure is building
on President George W. Bush to overcome his phobia against talking with
the enemy.


His columns were replete with constant worries
over how Muslims would see things, with typical Dhimmi interjections such
as, "Meanwhile, U.S. prestige is in a free fall throughout Islam".






Novak's Islamist backing was so
extreme, that he was even willing to support Hamas,
penning
propaganda columns
claiming that Hamas only wanted peace, penning this
final bizarre paragraph about his meeting with Hamas' Deputy Prime
Minister;



While avoiding Israel-bashing, Shaer conjectured: "I
don't think the Israeli government wants a two-state solution. Without
pressure from the president of the United States, nothing is going to
happen." That sounded like a plea for help from George W. Bush. But will
he hear it if Elliott Abrams does not listen?


Yes that was Robert Novak calling on Bush to help
Hamas.

Debbie Schlussel
meanwhile
cites Novak's
statement on Crossfire, "There are many Americans who
support HAMAS, and I am one of them
." And another of Novak describing
Hamas terrorists as "Freedom
Fighte
rs."

Little wonder then that when Israel was hit by a
suicide bombing that killed 20 people and took out a Hamas leader, Novak
naturally blamed Israel; “
word was discreetly passed from Washington to
Israel, expressing hope that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon would not
overreact. To no avail. The targeted killing of a Hamas leader the next
day by Israel fulfilled the State Department's worst
fears
.”

Novak sunk even so low as to try and
promote Nation of
Islam leader
, Louis
Farrakhan
.

Novak's appeasement policy though wasn't just
limited to Islam. He was equally willing to bash critics of appeasing Kim
Jong Il
as
"hard liners" getting
in the way of negotiations, he also took China's
side in the Hainan Island Incident which featured the seizure of Americans
and
warned against any "China Bashing".

But Novak wasn't just
pro-appeasement abroad, he was rotten on immigration, backing amnesty and
castigating conservatives who disagreed
with
him as "right wingers" and "Nativists
".



Pence, a rising star in the conservative movement, has
faced a torrent of right-wing abuse for advocating a guest worker
program that is condemned as amnesty for illegal aliens. Rep. Tom
Tancredo, leader of the congressional hard-liners on immigration, has
viciously branded Pence as an apostate... In trouble on Iraq and federal
spending, Republicans are being lured into a nativist posture that is
political fool's gold. George W. Bush, John McCain and Mike Pence dread
a Republican descent into nativism. In my half century of political
reporting, I never have seen a candidate or party succeed in playing the
economic nationalist card.


Further in his column "Republican
Immigrant Rage
Novak repeated the suggestion that an anti-amnesty
Republican party would be comparable to Apartheid South Africa,




In a recent closed-door meeting of the House's
conservative Republican Study Committee, Rep. Bob Inglis of South
Carolina raised the danger of resembling South Africa's National Party
advocating apartheid.


In that same column, Novak slammed many of the same
bloggers and talk show hosts who are now busy mourning his
passing.



This nation of immigrants has greeted successive waves
of newcomers with apprehension stoked by demagogues. It has overcome
such past xenophobic impulses. But that will be more difficult in an era
of Internet bloggers and radio talkers, with the Republican Party in
trouble and seeking a unifying issue at the grass root


Fr all of Novak's willingness to call others RINO's, he was
soft on terrorism, soft on immigration, soft on American defense, and all
too willing to treat the likes of Chuck Hagel as voices of wisdom. He was
no role model for conservatives and should not be treated as
one.

That is why I have written this column. There would ordinarily
be no reason to pen a condemnation of a dead pundit. But there are too
many conservative bloggers and pundits who have rushed in not simply to
bury Novak, but to honor him as a role model and a guiding light. And the
only place Novak was a guide to, was to a Dhimmi's den of appeasement.




It would be entirely legitimate had they remembered Novak's
memory, while admitting that there were basic political differences,
especially later in life. Instead they've chosen to present Novak as an
ideal, while ignoring the man who embraced everyone from Farrakhan to
Hamas, who championed Shamnesty and slimed numerous Republican politicians
when they departed from his agenda.

Novak played the same cynical
game played by numerous Washington Post and New York Times columnists, of
putting his own ideas into someone else's cherry picked quote, of hiding
behind rationalizations and statements attributed to private sources. But
behind all that was a man who chose to defend Islam and Islamic terrorism.
And post 9/11, it is impossible to place such a man on a pedestal as a
role model for conservatives. Robert Novak had a complicated legacy and he
was many things-- but mainly he was part of the media and political
establishment that brought us where we are now. And too many of those
remembering him, only remember the glamor of that inner circle, rather
than honestly evaluating the things he really stood for.










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