The West should be dragging this barbaric culture kicking and screaming into the twenty-first century. Instead, we expend blood and billions in treasure in Muslim countries to enforce the sharia and build mosques.
And here in DC, the Obama administration hosts black tie galas and State department forums celebrating the most radical and extreme ideology on the face of the earth. Wild. Where is the Gala Dinner celebrating the U.S.-Christian World Forum or the Gala Dinner celebrating the U.S.-Jewish World Forum?
Photo: Aziz Poonawalla
Note Qatar, home to the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Sheik Qaradawi, after being banned from Egypt (and before his recent return after the overthrow of American ally, Mubarak).
Al Jazeera and Qatar: The Muslim Brothers' Dark Empire?
Gala Dinner Celebrating the U.S.-Islamic World Forum
RemarksHillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of StateHosted by the Brookings Institution and the State of QatarAndrew W. Mellon AuditoriumWashington, DCApril 12, 2011
Good evening, everyone. And let me thank you, Strobe, for that introduction and for your many years of friendship. It is such a pleasure for me to join you at this first U.S.-Islamic World Forum held in America. His Highness the Amir and the people of Qatar have generously hosted the Forum for years. And as Strobe said, I was honored to be a guest in Doha last year. And now I am delighted to welcome you to Washington. I want to thank Martin Indyk, Ken Pollack and the Saban Center at the Brookings Institution for keeping this event going and growing. And I want to acknowledge all my colleagues in the diplomatic corps who are here tonight, including the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Qatar, the Foreign Minister of Jordan, and the Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference.
Over the years, the U.S.-Islamic World Forum has offered the chance to celebrate the diverse achievements of Muslims around the world.
[Indeed -- Global Jihad 2007, Global Jihad 2008, 2009, Global Jihad 2010, Global Jihad 2011 -- ed.]
From Qatar – which is pioneering innovative energy solutions and preparing to host the World Cup – to countries as varied as Turkey, Senegal, Indonesia, and Malaysia, each offering its own model for prosperity and progress.
This Forum also offers a chance to discuss the equally diverse set of challenges we face together – the need to confront violent extremism, the urgency of achieving a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians, the importance of embracing tolerance and universal human rights in all of our communities.
And I am especially proud that this year the Forum is recognizing the contributions of the millions of American Muslims who do so much to make our country strong. As President Obama said in Cairo, “Islam has always been a part of American history,” and every day Americans Muslims are helping to write our story.
I do not need to tell this distinguished audience that we are meeting at an historic time for one region in particular: the Middle East and North Africa. Today, the long Arab winter has begun to thaw. For the first time in decades, there is a real opportunity for lasting change, a real opportunity for people to have their voices heard and their priorities addressed.
Will the people and leaders of the Middle East and North Africa pursue a new, more inclusive approach to solving the region’s persistent political, economic, and social challenges? Will they consolidate the progress of recent weeks and address long-denied aspirations for dignity and opportunity? Or, when we meet again at this Forum in one year or five years or ten, will we have seen the prospects for reform fade and remember this moment as just a mirage in the desert?
Now, these questions can only be answered by the people and leaders of the Middle East and North Africa themselves. The United States certainly does not have all the answers. In fact, here in Washington we’re struggling to thrash out answers to our own difficult political and economic questions. But America is committed to working as a partner to help unlock the region’s potential and to help realize its hopes for change.
Yes, insane.
UPDATE: From Cliff Kincaid:
The Boss of Al-Jazeera is in town, meeting with Obama. The Emir of Qatar is dressed in a suit and tie, dropping his robes of royalty for the visit. His trip coincides with the U.S.-Islamic World Forum, which I write about in this article entitled, “American Journalists Rub Elbows with Terror-Friendly Middle East Dictatorship.”
Among other things, Kincaid reports
“…the 9/11 commission demonstrated (page 90) that Qatar has been protecting terrorists, including the mastermind of 9/11, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. A recently released cable from WikiLeaks goes further, saying that Qatari nationals were involved in 9/11 and may still be on the loose. Meantime, Sultan al-Khalaifi, who is a Qatari blogger and the founder of a human rights organization, was apprehended on March 1 by Qatar’s dreaded security forces and has not been heard of since. Human rights organizations fear that he is being tortured for speaking out against the dictatorship in Qatar.”
No wonder the Emir wants the U.S. to support the rebels in Libya, including members of al-Qaeda.
Our “Al-Jazeera and Global Jihad” conference includes a lot of great material on Qatar’s terrorist ties. It is a disgrace he is being praised by Obama. Qatar ought to be on the list of state sponsors of terrorism.
Click here to see the YouTube videos of all of our speakers.
All of the conference documents are there too.
