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To: LindyBill who wrote (85336)	11/10/2004 11:17:00 AM
From: LindyBill	Respond to of 793838

ISRAELPUNDIT - Ramifications for the Middle East and Islam By fred What will Turkish EU membership mean for the Middle East and Islam? The spontaneous answer to this query is: "Nothing, or not much". Turkey will become an EU member country at the earliest by 2015; and then Turkey's impact on EU foreign policy decisions will be limited. It will just have one voice among 30 countries, some of which, like France, the UK and Germany, have a long-standing role in the Middle East. But let us take a closer look. It appears very likely that, at their meeting on December 17, European heads of government will decide to open formal negotiations with Turkey with a view to membership. These negotiations will last for several years. Whatever their final outcome, they will bring Turkey closer to the European mainstream. Turkey will adopt European regulations and practices in many sensitive policy areas, from home and justice affairs to economic and social policy. It will demonstrate that democracy, the rule of law and personal freedom are perfectly compatible with Islam. The reform process in Turkey will influence public opinion in Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Iran and the GCC countries. It would, of course, be naive to believe that the Turkish example will, all of a sudden, transform the Middle East into a region of modernity. Turkey is already the most modern and democratic Muslim country in the region, without this having had any noticeable impact on its neighbors. But membership talks will project Turkey more often into the Arab media. Arab journalists will write more frequently on what is going on in Turkey and make comparisons with the Arab world. Turkey is also likely to attract more foreign direct investments and to develop economically more rapidly than most of its Arab neighbors. Thus the very fact of entering into membership talks with the EU will make Turkey a more attractive country for the Arab world to watch and even to learn from. This would by itself be a welcome by-product of the negotiation process and the many reform steps that Turkey undertakes during the coming 10 years.

To: LindyBill who wrote (85336)	11/10/2004 11:21:50 AM
From: carranza2	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793838

Their secret police sure do! They deport the militant Mullahs without delay. Deporting a few Mullahs doesn't solve the underlying problem. The Shah learned that lesson the hard way. Police issues in France are enormous. There are more than 100K highly unionized cops in France, but only 10k of them work at any one time. As a result, the Muslim outer-borough ghettos are festering sores of militancy. I think the term they use for these Muslim enclaves is the French equivalent of "badlands." The problems the French will have are huge and looming. Growing Muslim militance explains to some degree the kow-towing behavior of the French to Arafat, whom we all consider a thug and murderer. The hard right will fight the Muslims while the lefties will get in bed with them to form an unholy alliance. Of course, a large part of the French population on both the right and the left will become even more anti-Semitic than it already is, and blame the usual whipping boy. France is headed for big, big trouble. We may see mass terrorism in France soon. What a rotten place. Good wine and cheese, though.