Our experts are idiots...

This article by "Middle East Expert" Daniel Pipes has made me angry enough to blog again after four years. My four months as a not-too-observant tourist in Turkey have led me to believe he has absolutely no idea what he is talking about.

Calling Turkey's current Kurd issues a "crescendo" as compared with the full on civil war of the mid-90s is a joke.

I have now spent time in Turkey's two most religious cities, Konya and Sanliurfa. In both of these cities I have seen outfits on women that would have raised eyebrows in the trashiest neighborhoods of Washington, DC. To call Turkey "Islamist" is to broaden the definition beyond the point at which it has meaning. It's just a scary word to use on the simple-minded.

Yes, AK Prime Minister Erdogan has some troubling views. That does not mean we should lament Turkey's transition to full democracy.

Turks don't much like Israel. Not particularly surprising considering their main influences are Islam and historically anti-semitic Europe. Frankly a Turkey that follows the consensus on that issue is a better partner for us. Following the Islamic party line, of outraged impotence, means they are better positioned to export the benign parts of their model to Arabia. There is no question of them actually getting into a military engagement with Israel outside of the fantasies of children like Daniel Pipes. The financial critique was boring. I got lost halfway through his source material. If the past five years have shown anything, it is that the folks making economic predictions have no idea what they're talking about. In any case, we are hardly the people to be lecturing folks on fiscal responsibility. This article fits into the sad, stupid genre of "why don't they do exactly what we say anymore!?!?!?" Turkey articles that I have no sympathy with.