Middle East

"All parties interested in making sure the Gaza disengagement is a step toward stability and political progress should be keen to convince Israel to change its position. If Israel maintains control over borders it will consequently maintain restrictions. This is true whether we speak of the Rafah crossing to the outside world, the Karni crossing to Israeli ports, or the Erez crossing to the West Bank."

"Many of the Arab Americans own businesses in cities and towns devastated by the hurricane, including in New Orleans which has been submerged in polluted ocean waters for more than a week now."

"We need prudent government now more than ever before, and unfortunately, it is a term totally unfamiliar with Bush the Lesser and his crowd. Governance without prudence moving forward is a disaster in the making."

"If federal efforts in both disaster relief and homeland security are creating an unhealthy dependency by states and localities and distorting priorities of those on the frontline of disaster response, then, although counterintuitive, cutting the budget for such federal activities might actually improve results. However, after any crisis, such as the New Orleans debacle, federal officials usually claim that they could have done a better job if only they had had sufficient funding. Congress, under political pressure to rectify highly publicized problems, usually ponies up the cash. For example, after 9/11, funding was increased for the very intelligence agencies that failed to see the attack coming. But in disaster relief and homeland security, as in intelligence, failure should not be rewarded. It only leads to more failure."

"The children of Adam of all races, religions, genders, ages, and nationalities are joined in a common cause, called life."

"The prospects for Iraq's future now largely rest on the Sunni Arab action and reaction to the constitution. Whether or not Sunnis participate in the October 15 referendum, and whether or not their participation has an effect on its passage, will be of extreme importance."

"Thirty percent of New Orleans residents live below the poverty line. If half of them could not get out of the city and were stuck in their homes, you have 75,000 souls stuck in the city."

"The situation in Iraq and Afghanistan looks no better for President Bush and his corporate supporters. After having spent $500 billion dollars, America is nowhere near to controlling the oil wells of Iraq or the Caspian region. Nor has America made any substantial headway in crafting stable political solutions for Iraq and Afghanistan."