Matte--Sorry, but forced conversions were common. Maybe not in North America, but they were in South America. The Pope just got into hot water in Brazil on this point. His own people had to correct him when he claimed there were no forced conversions. The Romans after Constantine certainly did force conversions. True, many, if not most converted of their own accord, but many were forced. Later, forced conversions were the whole point of the Inquisition. And what became of the Cathars in southern France during the Middle Ages? Not only does Christianity have a long history of forced conversions of pagans, but also of the wrong kind of other Christians.

Ms. Adoni's arguments are not 4th grade, not at all. Should she be grateful that the US has protected Qatar? Yes, but no one is so naive to think we have done this out of generosity. We did it first for oil (and natural gas), and second for Israel. Qatar should be as thankful of US protection as we are of Qatarian oil and natural gas. Qatar has developed its own economy, and the US has benefitted greatly. We should be estatic that Qatar and the other Gulf States sell us their pertro-chemicals and be grateful they don't cut us off. Or...should Qatar be grateful we don't impose a puppet gov't that bows to our will...say, like we did in Iran in the 1950s?

I agree that Adoni is wrong, but on this point: The Arabs understand fully the American message. They're just smart enough to know it's total hypocrisy. Human rights? We define that as being pro-Israel. We reject democratically-elected governments, such as Hamas, when the people choose the wrong party (Mossadegh redux). We support military dictatorships that routinely torture political opponents while preaching about human rights. We allow Israel to impose collective punishment on the whole of Lebanon for the sins of Hezbollah even as Israel wantonly kills thousands of innocent civilians and deliberately sends guided missiles into ambulances full of refugees, all while preaching political solutions. We even allow Israel to attack US military forces with impunity! (This June is the 40th anniversary of the deliberate Israeli attack on the USS Liberty.) The Arabs are smart enough to see through this garbage. As long as the Arabs know what's really going on, they--and any intelligent person--will take offense at our hypocrisy. We deny them what we preach. It's as simple as that.

Were you truly familiar with US history, especially of our history in Latin America and the Middle East, you'd recognize this.

Garak, number one, the Native Americans were not forced to convert, just move off their land.. some tribes were forced to convert but not all, also, Christianity forced NO Romans to convert the emperor Constantine began that process and leaders continued it for generations to come, NOT the religion. Ms. Adoni's issues are somewhat slighted and dont really seem to jive with reality. The ambassador makes a point that the Islamic world does not seem to get the message of the American policy...what he seems to be trying to say is that it is a message polluted by anti-US propoganda, and it would not matter what the policy is. Ms. Adoni is speaking from Qatar, and i will assume she is from that nation. she claims to be on the receiving end of that policy, and if that is the case, she shoudl be nothing less than ecstatic as the US has fostered Qatar as it developed into a strong regional and world economy and has provided military protection from larger regional powers for years. She and her countrymen are not on the receiving end of any war led by the US. She makes fourth grade arguments with no understanding of global politics, her claim is that the US is a bully and bullies the rest of the world. I would ask her what the state of her union would be without US support.

Frank Collins--You left out the parts about how Christianity forced Romans to convert after Constantine converted, the Inquisition, the forced conversion of Native Americans (at least the ones not killed in the name of Christ), and the Holocaust.

More to the point, your post is not on point. Your reasoning is that Islam is bad, so Muslims can't complain about what others do to them. What Islam did or did not do in India is logically irrelevant to the merits of what the West has done to Muslims in the last 100 years. Unless you consider this revenge for acts done in India hundreds of years ago. If so, what would you consider the appropriate revenge on Christendom for what it did to the Native Americans? A couple hundred more 9/11s?

You have failed to address the issue Ms. Adoni raises, and instead have dragged a huge red herring into the discussion. The topic is not the punishment Islam may deserve for past acts, but the actions of the US and the West in the Middle East and the larger Muslim world.

Attack the messanger. A proven conservative practice. Related to argumentum ad hominem.

Mohamed Malleck,

Frank Collins has supported his argument with way more documentation than I have ever seen. Thanks Frank! Okay, so it is a long rant, but here is the problem: Militant Islam wants to eliminate all opposing religions and install Sharia law. I don't want to follow that law. Unfortunately, Militant Islam wants to do this so bad that they make war in every direction. The liberals in this country are so bent on everyone living together in harmony with big hugs to boot, that they are blinded to the real threat. Just because you know a nice westernized muslim in a sheik metropolitan area does not mean that there is no threat from the true believers of their religion. Nor does it mean the opposite, but if 9/11 didn't prove that to you, then nothing will. So, when the Dems take power in the next election, I will sit staring in horror as they fall all over each other trying to appease al-qaeda & gangs. I'll watch as they force us to capitulate in yet another war, nailing the final nail in the coffin of US global power. But that's what they want, after all, isn't it? To take us down a notch or two so that we aren't any better than anyone else? Well, maybe the rise of the Chinese will put it all into perspective for us one day...

Frank Collins,

I see another surge in your irrationality, my friend, and this compulsiveness to repeat, over and over and over, your babble, as if if you don't repeat it, you will yourself stop beleiving in it, and that will mean the sky falling on your head.

Did you take your pills sthis morning?

yes islam is a bad product but you keep trying to market it.

here is a outline of the love and peace showered on india by their peace loving islamic brothers.
this is the peace islam wants to give the rest of the world. we can see the love the bestow on their own islamic brothers and sisters - we can use what they did in the past to know how their love will effect there rest of the world. but they are already trying to spread it, here is what an islamic teacher says:
We know that for the first time in history, due to a unique geopolitical conjunction of factors, Islam is in confrontation with all of the major world religions: Judaism in the Middle East, Christianity in the Balkans, Chechnya, Nigeria, Sudan, the Philippines and Indonesia; Hinduism in South Asia, and, Buddhism—after the Taliban blew up their statues—in Bamiyan. And, Islam is on a collision course in the western province of China, where culture represents an amalgam of the philosophy of Confucius, Tao, and Communist ideology.
It is this historic conjunction that both singles out Islam and creates the global argument that the 21st century will be a time of war between Islam and the other world civilizations. Of course, this neat concept is challenged because so many Muslim countries are clearly allied to non-Muslim ones. Besides, so many Muslims now live in non-Muslim nations. But it is true to say that the major world civilizations are experiencing problems in accommodating or even understanding Islam, both within their borders and outside them.

If we are to prevent the world from lurching toward one crisis after another, one flashpoint to another, then we all need to radically rethink the relationship between our religion and other religions; a radical reassessment of one another. The West must send serious signals to the ordinary Muslim people - via the media, through seminars, conferences, meetings - that it does not consider Islam to be the enemy, however much it may disagree with certain aspects of Muslim behavior.

http://www.akbarahmed.org/id67.html

notice how its just a freek accident that islam is at war with every land and culture they border. it could not possible have anything to do with the koran commanding hate, kidnapping, torture, rape, cutting off body aprty, ransmoing, murder and forced conversions that are commanded by the koran.
naw, its just an accident.
but here is what they did and are doing in india.
a good number of these accounts have come from the writings of ISLAMIC writers extoling the victory [?] over the lowly hindus:

the Islamic invasion actually attempted to decimate the Indian religions of Dharma and the Culture of Bhaaratvarsha, but they did not succeed.

(From the accounts of arikh-i-Yamini of Utbi the secretary of Mahmud of Gaznavi) talking about killing indians and battles.
At Thaneshwar.
"The blood of the infidels flowed so copiously at Thanesar that the stream was discolored, not withstanding its purity, and people were unable to drink it. The Sultan returned with plunder which is impossible to count. Praise be to Allah for the honor he bestows on Islam and Muslims."
At Somnath
"The Muslims paid no regard to the booty till they had satiated themselves with the slaughter of the infidels and worshipers of sun and fire.... The number of infidels killed exceeded 50,000"
At Mathura
"The infidels...deserted the fort and tried to cross the foaming river...but many of them were slain, taken or drowned... Nearly fifty thousand men were killed."
Mahmud of Ghori
(from Hasan Nizami's Taj-ul-Maasir) Kol (Modern Aligarh)
"Those of the horizon who were wise and acute were converted to Islam, but those who stood by their ancestoral faith were slain with the sword"
Kol (Modern Aligarh) 20,000 prisoners were taken and made slaves
'Three bastions were raised as high as heaven with their heads and their carcases became food for the beasts of prey
Kalinjar - 50,000 prisoners were taken as slaves
Varnasi or Kasi (Benaras) : Kamil-ut-Tawarikh of Ibn Asir records,
"The slaughter of Hindus (at Varanasi) was immense; none were spared except women and children,(who were taken into slavery) and the carnage of men went on until the earth was weary."
Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq
(from Insha-i-Mahry by Amud Din Abdullah bin Mahru)
Delhi: -a punishment in detail (from Tarikh-i-Firuz Shahi)
"A report was brought to the Sultan than there was in Delhi an old Brahman who persisted in publicly performing the worship of idols in his house and that people of the city, both Muslims and Hindus used to resort to his house to worship the idol. The Brahman had constructed a wooden tablet which was covered within and without with paintings of demons and other objects. An order was accordingly given to the Brahman and was brought before Sultan.The true faith was declared to the Brahman and the right course pointed out. but he refused to accept it. A pile was risen on which the Kaffir with his hands and legs tied was thrown into and the wooden tablet on the top. The pile was lit at two places his head and his feet. The fire first reached him in the feet and drew from him a cry and then fire completley enveloped him. Behold Sultan for his strict adherence to law and rectitude."
Delhi : (after Hindus paid the toleration tax (zar-i zimmiya) and poll-tax(jizya) they were foolish enough to build their temples.so...) "Under divine guidance I (Sultan) destroyed these temples and I killed the leaders of these infedility and others I subjected to stripes and chastisement "
Gohana (Haryana):
"Some Hindus had erected a new idol-temple in the village of Kohana and the idolaters used to assemble there and perform their idolatrous rites. These people were seized and brought before me. I ordered that the perverse conduct of these leaders of this wickedness be punished by publicly abd that they should be put to deathe before the gate of the palace."
Jajnagar:(Expedition objectives as stated by Sultan: Source:Ainn-ul-Mulk)
massacring the unbelievers, demolishing their temples, hunting the elephants, getting a glimpse of their enchanting country
I LOVE WHERE IN THE MIDST OF MURDER HE ACTUALLY TALKED ABOUT THE ENCHANTING COUNTRY - sort of nazi like isn't it.
Orissa:'Sirat-i-Firoz Shahi' records his expedition with the following words:
"Nearly 100,000 men of Jajnagar had taken refuge with their women, children, kinsmen and relations The swordsmen of Islam turned the island into a basin of blood by the massacre of the unbelievers. Women with babies and pregnant ladies were haltered, manacled, fettered and enchained, and pressed as slaves into service in the house of every soldier."
The Jihads of Shihabuddin,
the Sultankalka of Ghur

Around 1140, the Islamized Turko-Mongol chiefs of the Shansabanid tribe occupied Ghor in Afghanistan. Initially it was a vassal of the Ghaznavid Sultans, but around 1130 it came into conflict with them, after one of the leading Shansabanid nobles was murdered by the Ghaznavid Sultan, Bahram. A ferocious war ensued between the Sultans of Ghor and Ghazni, till Alla-ud-din Ghori invaded Ghazni with his entire cavalry and wrested it from Bahram. Alla-ud-din sacked the Indian spoils that Mahmud had placed there, massacred the city’s population in a 7-day killing spree and subsequently burnt it down. The next Ghaznavid Sultan, Khushro Maliq was driven out of Afghanistan by a coalition of Oghuz Turks and the Ghorids in 1157, and the Oghuz took Ghazni. The sons of Alla-ud-din, Ghiyas-ud-din Mu’azz-ud-din Ghori and Shihab-ud-din Muhammad Ghori defeated the Oghuz and annexed Ghazni in 1174. Ghiyas-ud-din, crowned himself Sultan, and appointed his brother Sultankalka. Shihab-ud-din was assigned the task of extending the kingdom to the East and he naturally gravitated towards India. 13 bloody campaigns that ravaged Northern India followed:

• Early in 1175 he invaded Punjab and sacked and burned Uch...(1)

• In 1178 he advanced south and marched towards Gujarat, but here the Indians acted quickly and rallying under the western chAlukya king MUlarAja II routed the Islamic forces completely forcing him to retreat...(2)

• In 1179 Ghori sent a message to PrithivirAja chAhamAna to make common cause with him against the Chalukyas. Prithivaraj however, wise disregarding his foolish minister, kadambavAsa’s advise to make a common cause with Ghori, preemptively attacked NaDDula and reconquered it from the Moslems.

• Shihab recovered in 1180 and invaded Sindh and ravaged the population carrying away much loot...(3)

• Then Shihabuddin Muhammad, quickly followed it up in 1181 and 1184 with two invasions of Lavapura (Lahore) accompanied with much slaughter...(4+5)

• In 1186 he invaded the Ghaznavid occupied Punjab and defeated the Sultan Khushro Maliq and wrested Punjab...(6)

• 1188 The Ghur Sultankalka invaded the ChAhamAna kingdom and sacked the fort of Tabarhindah killing the Hindu male populace and raping the women. Hindu refugees flocked around Delhi alarming the ChAhamAnas...(7)

• 1191 PrithivirAj advanced to meet Shihabuddin’s raid and routed him in the great battle of Tarai. While the Muslims suffered a crushing defeat, the Indians failed to butcher them to man and allowed Shihab to get away unharmed. He fled back to Central Asia leaving Punjab completely undefended...(8)

• 1191 PrithivirAj attacked Tabarhindah and took it back from the Muslims. Here the biggest mistake of the Hindus was not to reconquer and arm Punjab suitably.

• 1192 Shihab returned and sacked Tabarhindah again. This was followed by the second battle of Tarai, the ChAhamAna army was crushed and Prithiviraj was captured and brutally tortured to death...(9)

• 1192 the Ghur Sultankalka made a second trust towards Ajayamerupura (Ajmer) and sacked it smashing Hindu temples and a Hindu university in course of this invasion. The Hindus captured in this expedition caused slave prices to fall to a few Dirhams in the Muslim markets...(10)

• 1193 The sultankalka invaded Kannauj and slew the GAhadwala king Jayachandra. He followed this up with an invasion of vArANsipura slaughtering Hindus with great savagery and desecrating the holy city...(11+12)

After this, his viceroy Kutub-ud-din (also his lover?) and the Turkish adventurer Ikhtiyaruddin Khalji furthered the violence of Islam in the land of Hind. Meanwhile Shihab’s brother died in Ghazna and he crowned himself Sultan and immediately launched himself into another Jihad on the infidels of Hindustan in 1206. The exact course of this campaign is not clear. While on the North-western reaches of the Sindhu, he was ambushed by the Khokar chiefs and shot down by an arrow...(13). Thus ended the carrier of the Moslem brigand who brought misery to the whole of northern India through his 13 invasions.

Aurangazeb (1658 - 1707 )
Aurangzeb considered himself "The Scourge Of The Kafirs" (non-believers) and closed Hindu schools and libraries. In his lifetime he destroyed more than 10,000 Hindu, Buddhist and Jam temples and often erected mosques in their stead.3 In 1669 in Agra he had hacked off the limbs of the recalcitrant Hindu King Gokla and in 1672 several thousand revolting Hindus were slaughtered in Mewat.

From: Maasi-i-Alamgiri

Issued general order to destroy all centers of Hindu learnings including Varnasi and destroyed the temple at Mathura and renamed it as Islamabad
In Khandela (rajastan) he killed 300 Hindus in one day for they resisted the destruction of their temple.
In Udaipur all Hindus of the town were killed as they vowed to defend the temple of Udaipur from destruction.
172 temples were destroyed in Udaipur.
66 temples were pulled down in Amber. All Hindu clerks were dismissed from the office of the Imperial empire.
In Pandhpur , Maharashtra, the Emperor ordered and executed the destruction of temple and butchering of cows within the temple.
Aurangazeb also tortured to death the disciples of Guru Tegh bahadur before his death and also killed Guru. Guru Tegh Bahadur - the pride of Hindustan was martyred for he spoke for the persecuted Hindus of Hindustan. Aurangazeb also killed Guru Gobind singh's two children aged less than ten by walling them alive for not accepting the choice of Islam. In Punjab Muslim governors killed hundreds of Sikh children and made Sikh women eat the flesh of their own killed children. Banda Bahadur another great Sikh martyr before being torturd to death was also made to eat the flesh of his own children killed before his eyes. Any Muslim bringing the head of a dead Sikh was also awarded money

Zahiru'd-Din Muhammed Babur (1526 - 1520 )
Babur's Own Words on Killing Hindus:
For the sake of Islam I became a wanderer,
I battled infidels and Hindus,
I determined to become a maryr
Thank God I became a Killer of Non-Muslims!

From Baburnama, the Memoires of Babur Himself:
In AH 934 (1538 ) I attacked Chanderi and by the grace of Allah captured it in a few hours. We got the infidels slaughtered and the place which had be Daru'l-Harb (nation of non-muslim) for years was made into a Daru'l-Islam (muslim nation).

Guru Nanak on Babur's atrocities:
Source:Rag Asa Guru Nanak Dev witnessed first hand the atrocities Babur committed on Hindus and recorded them in his poems. He says: Having attacked Khuraasaan, Babar terrified Hindustan. The Creator Himself does not take the blame, but has sent the Mugal as the messenger of death. There was so much slaughter that the people screamed. Didn't You feel compassion, Lord? pg (360)

On the condition of Hindu women in Babur's monster rule:
Those heads adorned with braided hair, with their parts painted with vermillion - those heads were shaved with scissors, and their throats were choked with dust.They lived in palatial mansions, but now, they cannot even sit near the palaces.... ropes were put around their necks, and their strings of pearls were broken. Their wealth and youthful beauty, which gave them so much pleasure, have now become their enemies. The order was given to the soldiers, who dishonored them, and carried them away. If it is pleasing to God's Will, He bestows greatness; if is pleases His Will, He bestows punishment pg(417-18)

On the nature of Mughal rule under Babur:
First, the tree puts down its roots, and then it spreads out its shade above. The kings are tigers, and their officials are dogs; they go out and awaken the sleeping people to harass them. The public servants inflict wounds with their nails. The dogs lick up the blood that is spilled. Source:Rag Malar, (pg.1288)

From an article by Dr. Harsh Narain on Muslim Testimony (Indian Express 2/26/90):
Since the establishment of Zahiru'd-Din Ghazi's rule, officers and religious leaders spread Islam vigorously desteroying the Hindu faith. We cleared the filth of Hinduism from Faizabad and Avadh.

Jahangir (1605 - 1628)
Source: Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri
Though in the beginning of his rule Jahangir followed the humanistic rule of his father Akbar the great -the policy of sulehkul even issued a proclamation against the forcible conversion of Hindus to Islam, he revoked Akbar's orders that those who have been forcibly converted from Islam could return to Hinduism. He severely punished Kaukab, Sharif and Abdul Latif for showing inclination to Hinduism. He also prohibited the free inter-marriage customs between Hindus and Muslims in Kashmir. Hindus marrying Muslim girls and those who had already married were given a hoice between Islam and death. Many were killed.

Jahangir's torture of Guru Arjun Dev ji: Guru was imprisoned at Lahore fort. He was chained to a post in an open place exposed to the sun from morning to evening in the summer months of May to June. Below his feet a heap of sand was put which burnt like a furnace. Boiling water was poured on his naked body at intervals. His body was covered with blisters all over. In this agony Guru used to utter.

Tera Kiya Metha lage, naam padarath Nanak mange(whatever you ordain appears sweet. I supplicate for the gift of name)

The Guru was ordercd to be executed. In addition a fine of Rupees two lakhs was imposed on him. Some historians say that, as a measure of clemency at the intervention of Mian Mir, this fine was imposed in lieu of the sentence of death. The Sikhs offered to pay the fine themselves but the Guru forbade them to do so. He replied to the Emperor, "Whatever money I have is for the poor, the friendless and the stranger. If thou ask for money thou mayest take what I have; but if thou ask for it by way of fine, I shall not give thee even a Kaurz (penny)." The Guru accepted death by torture.

Shah Jahan (1658 - 1707)
In 1632 Shah jahan ordered that all Hindu temples recently erected or in the course of construction should be razed to the ground. In Benares alone seventy six temples were destroyed. Christian churches at Agra and Lahore were demolished. In a manner befitting the Prophet he had ten thousand inhabitants executed by being "blown up with powder, drowned in water or burnt by fire". Four thousand were taken captive to Agra where they were tortured to try to convert them to Islam. Only a few apostacised, the remainder were trampled to death by elephants, except for the younger women who went to harems.

Shahjahan put enormous eonomic pressure on Hindus particularly peasents to become Muslims. The criminals too were forced to become Muslims.

Source: Badshah Nama, Qazinivi & Badshah Nama , Lahori

When Shuja was appointed as governor of Kabul he carried on a ruthless war in the Hindu territory beyond Indus...The sword of Islam yielded a rich crop of converts....Most of the women (to save their honour) burnt themselves to death. Those captured were distributed among Muslim Mansabdars.

Source: Manucci, Storia do Mogor vol-II p.451 & Travels of Frey Sebastian Manrique

Under Shahjahan peasents were compelled to sell their women and children to meet their revenue requirements....The peasents were carried off to various Markets and fairs to be sold with their poor unhappy wives carrying their small children crying and lamenting. According to Qaznivi Shahjagan had decreed they should be sold to Muslim lords.

Agreed !

However, the Middle East needs to UNITE against the bullish foreign policies of the US of America and take peace and progress intitiatives in their own hands.

here is why there are problems in the islamic world. its your religion that demands you hate, kidnapp, hold for ransom, torture, rape mudere and force conversions. once you reject these concepts - once you accept that you canot force islam on others - the world will be a much better place.
The Hadith No. 284, The Muslim, volume one, says that any Jew or Christian, who heard of Muhammad but did not convert to Islam, and died in disbelief, would rot in hell! Thus Islam withdraws from all Jews and Christians the right to believe in their faiths, and pratice them as such.
"The unbelievers of the People of the Book and the idolators shall be in the Fire of Hell therein dwelling for ever; those are the worst of creatures. But those who believe, and do righteous deeds, those are the best of creatures..." (XCVIII: The Clear Sign: 5)
Here those Jews and Christians, who spurn Islam, have been lumped together with the idolators such as the Hindus, and classified as 'the worst of creatures'. Therefore the Koran commands:
"O believers, take not as your friends those of them, who were given the Book before you, and the unbelievers, who take your religion in mockery and as a sport..." (V: The Table: 60)
"The true believers say: Has not God ordered a chapter that commands the holy war" (Sura 47:22); or elsewhere: "Kill the idolaters wherever you find them, imprison them, besiege them, ambush them" (Sura 9:5); and, "Make war on unbelievers" (Sura 9:29). "When you come upon unbelievers, massacre them, tighten the bands of the captives that you will have taken. Then you will set them free, or you will release them for a ransom" (Sura 8:57).
"To Allah, there are no animals viler than those who do not believe and remain unbelievers" (Sura 8:57). That is why it is necessary to Islamize them by force and by humiliation. And those who resist Islam and its founder must be chastised, according to the Koran: "Here is the fate of those who fight Allah and his messenger: you will put them to death or you will make them suffer the torture of the cross; you will cut their hands and their feet alternately. They will be driven from the country" (Sura 5:37).
"Do not display cowardice, and do not call the infidels to peace when you are superior to them" (Sura 47:22). THIS ALLOWS THEM TO MAKE PEACE SO THAT THEY CAN MAKE WAR AGAIN LATER.
4.89": They desire that you should disbelieve as they have disbelieved, so that you might be (all) alike; therefore take not from among them friends until they fly (their homes) in Allah's way; but if they turn back, then seize them and kill them wherever you find them, and take not from among them a friend or a helper.
"4.90": Except those who reach a people between whom and you there is an alliance, or who come to you, their hearts shrinking from fighting you or fighting their own people; and if Allah had pleased, He would have given them power over you, so that they should have certainly fought you; therefore if they withdraw from you and do not fight you and offer you peace, then Allah has not given you a way against them.
"4.91": You will find others who desire that they should be safe from you and secure from their own people; as often as they are sent back to the mischief they get thrown into it headlong; therefore if they do not withdraw from you, and (do not) offer you peace and restrain their hands, then seize them and kill them wherever you find them; and against these We have given you a clear authority."
or the islamics crying over the crusades when they started them. here is a little short history about that:
The first Crusade began in 1095… 460 years after the first Christian city was overrun by Muslim armies, 457 years after Jerusalem was conquered by Muslim armies, 453 years after Egypt was taken by Muslim armies, 443 after Muslims first plundered Italy, 427 years after Muslim armies first laid siege to the Christian capital of Constantinople, 380 years after Spain was conquered by Muslim armies, 363 years after France was first attacked by Muslim armies, 249 years after Rome itself was sacked by a Muslim army, and only after centuries of church burnings, killings, enslavement and forced conversions of Christians.

The idea that sending our Karen Hughes, a goodwill ambassador and PR machine in one, to right the policies of the last half century in the Middle east is wasteful, arrogant and condescending. The countries of the Middle East do not need to learn more about the United States to improve America's public opinion there. The peoples there already know the United States very well. American movies and music are the most popular. Nike, Adidas, and American clothes are ubiquitous. Everyone makes his pilgrimage to Washington, DC and New York, the first chance he/she gets.

That popularity of American culture, however, does not change the extreme hostility to America's hostile foreign policy in the region. From America's siding with Israel and funding of Israeli weapons and settlements to America's sanctions of every Arab country that speaks out against Israel's excesses. From the fact that 5 out of 7 countries that have had American sanctions imposed on them are Middle Eastern to America's support of dictators such as Musharraf of Pakistan, Mubarak of Egypt, Abdullah of Jordand and Mohammed V of Morocco. Popularity of the US will change with American foreign policy, until then we should expect strong criticism of our policy in the Middle East in the form of post global commentary as well as less savory ways of resistance to American hegemony.

The world according to the current Administration's spin:

"America is good. Anyone who disagrees with America is either uninformed or bad. Don't worry about the facts because they don't mean anything. All you have to know is America is good"

This ridiculous spin is what the Bush Administration has been trying to sell all over the world for 5 years and no one is buying it anymore. Kudo's to you for telling whoever the US offical was to take his spin and shove it.

I appreciate your candid remarks but would like to know the context in which the ambassador made the remarks.
Sound-bites (read media) do not help much unless we have full picture in front of us. May be the ambassador was trying to point out a few weaknesses of the American policy in the Arab world. I tried to google the speech, but no luck so far. Will get back to you when I find the speech and have read it.
Diplomacy in a rough turf and requires patience of all involved.