Media Monitors Network (MMN)

"Perhaps it is just a fairy tale to believe, along with The Beatles, “you have to admit it’s getting better, a little better all the time” because “it can’t get much worse.” Unfortunately, it could get worse -- a lot worse."

"Democracy isn’t something that can be exercised one day every four years; it calls for collective action on an ongoing basis, hopefully informed by the need to change a system."

"Israel has no reason whatsoever to make it easier for the Syrian dictatorship to extricate itself from a difficult international constellation."

"The Syrians calculate that a resumption of talks with Israel will help relieve the pressure from the US and open the way for potential deals on Iraq and Lebanon. That does not mean that Syria is interested in the process rather than the peace--an accusation that was sometimes leveled at the late Syrian president, Hafez al-Assad."

"Many Egyptian observers -- both Coptic and Muslim -- urged faith leaders to educate the public, and above all government officials, about respecting the religious rights and freedoms of all faiths."

"Most Israeli maps don’t even acknowledge the existence of the “occupied territories,” which are now a days reclassified as “disputed territories.” Few identify the West Bank, Gaza Strip or East Jerusalem as being Palestinian or Palestine."

"The most disturbing results came when Americans were asked if they would be more or less likely inclined to do business with an entity if they knew it was Muslim-owned. 40% said they would be less likely to patronize such a business against only 23% who indicated that they would be more likely to support a Muslim-owned business."

"The colonial elites had imbibed well the lessons of the Enlightenment, and here in the new world, they had an opportunity to harness liberty in the service of their economic interests. Backed by the self interest of their landed and commercial elites, and inspired by revolutionary ideas, the colonists had a dream worth pursuing. They were prepared to die for this dream – and to kill. They did: and they won."

"While none of these are guaranteed and any predictions are always fraught with risks, I'm reasonably sure the majority of them will prove to be quite accurate. They are based on my analysis of the personalities involved and the outcomes of similar situations from the past."

"Blair also tried to float the balloon of an Israeli-Syrian peace, but he gave that up quickly, too. Bush does not want Israeli-Syrian peace, and Sharon likes the idea even less. Bush wants to keep open the option of attacking Syria, once the Iraqi mess calms down (he still entertains that hope). Sharon, for his part, has no interest at all in a peace that would entail dismantling settlements and giving back the Golan. God forbid!"

"Many Arabs are well aware that the first to champion the use of chemical weapons in the Middle East was that icon of Western democratic values, Winston Churchill, who described himself as "strongly in favour of using poisoned gas against uncivilised tribes" in Iraq some seven decades before Saddam Hussein's regime used gas in Halabja in 1988 during the war with Iran."

"Contrary to allegations in the Newsweek piece, women in Islam are not inferior to men."

"As 2005 appears, some inner voices in the wind are telling us: Think for yourself. And don’t let the latest media technology stampede you like some speedster who’s tailgating you along a convoluted road."

"The BBC's 'Producers' Guidelines' note the importance of using "accurate language", stating that "it is not sufficient that we get our facts right. We must use language fairly. That means avoiding exaggeration. We must not use language inadvertently so as to suggest value judgements, commitment or lack of objectivity." The title "The New Killing Fields" was simply unacceptable. They are words that directly refer to the genocide in Kampuchea in the 1970s - and was the title of a well-known film about the Kampuchean genocide. The absence of a question mark in the title was even more insidious. The use of this title implied precisely the sort of value judgement and lack of objectivity warned against in the 'Producers' Guidelines'."

"Many conservatives agree with such “public choice” analyses on domestic programs but naively believe that all government spending on defense is for legitimate purposes of national security. This is hardly the case. The defense budget is rife with weapon systems that are unneeded, perform poorly, or were designed to fight the now defunct Soviet Union."

"The price we are paying for national greed and lust for power is too high. American servicemembers are not a ghostly, faceless mass of "troops." They are flesh-and-blood individuals; our sons, daughters, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, neices, and nephews. They are America's children -- her present, her future."

"Israel’s political and economic influence upon U.S. foreign policy is not countered by any Arab lobbying in the political arena or by any attempt to educate the American people on the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict nor on the truth regarding Islam. Americans are only exposed to an Israeli monologue that has usurped American foreign policy and constructed Islam as the new threat to western civilization."

"Many in the military believe the war is a disaster. Never has there been such bad feelings between the military and civilian leadership in the Pentagon. It is unreasonable to expect our military to continue absorbing losses for a war we didn’t have to fight. Before the war we thumbed our nose at most of the rest of the world. We can hardly expect them to come to our rescue – putting their lives on the line for miscalculations of the Bush Administration."

"Due to political instability, poor planning, a corrupt infrastructure, and lack of an educated work force and investment opportunities, Arab economies are dependent on importing food, medicines, and foreign labor."

"...when we ask ourselves who took the United States to war in Iraq (and keeps it engaged there) and what those individuals hoped to gain by doing so, we quickly come to appreciate what a roaring success this venture has been, and continues to be, for all of them."