Winter Park, CO 80482
ph: 303 810 0809
feliciam
The Muftic Forum is an outlet for sharing thoughts about politics in America. Felicia Muftic , the editor, is a columnist with the Sky Hi Daily News, Grand County, Colorado. The Muftic Forum Blog, The Muftic Forum Facebook page, and The Muftic Forum Twitter site are all companions of sites of the Muftic Forum. The blog site is now serving as the archive for more recent columns. (www.mufticforumblog.blogspot.com )
Muftic Forum Blog can be accessed at www.mufticforumblog.blogspot.com
Columns in Spanish, en Espanol ... www.mufticforumespanol.blogspot.com
Posted on the Blog as well:
A good part of my life has been first hand interface with the conflicts of the West and the Muslim World in Bosnia. It has also been a focus of my academic studies since 1959. (see my biographical background)Much of what happened in the 1990's in Bosnia and the aftermath of that conflict has some translation to current events in the Middle East since the Arab Spring. Shortly after the end of fighting in Bosnia and the demise of any governing regime and law and order, jihadist elements tried to move into that region. NATO and the western European civil arm, the OSCE, moved in to hunt down the extremist inflow into the region and to try to establish democracy with education and gentle nudging.
The motivation was that Bosnia was in danger of becoming a portal for extremist Muslim terrorists to enter Europe. Another factor that also kept the lid on the terrorist infiltration was that the Bosnian Muslims were an extension of the Turkish traditions and experience and that the modernizing, secular movement led by Turkish reformer Kemal Ataturk, had also taken root there. While the terrorists may have found a portal in the post conflict chaos, they could not put down roots among the general Muslim population of Bosnia because Bosnian Muslims were more oriented to the West and the Ataturk reformation.
How Bosnia does parallel the recent events in North Africa is that there is and will be an attempt of the radical elements of Islam to try to thwart democracy and moderate Islamists there. That drama is being played out without a NATO or OSCE to put a brake on the influence of anti democratic Islamists.
In Cairo the more radical forces battling more moderate Muslims for power are centering around the radical Salafist movements and these appear to be the ones fostering violence against the US Embassy. It is an internal battle between the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafists for control of Egypt that characterizes much of the events there erupting after the Muslim world became aware of the insulting and hateful film paid for and sponsored by very anti Muslims in the US.
For the events in North Africa and some solid analysis, I rely heavily on hard news reports and analysis in the New York Times and the Washington Post. I especially respect David Ignatius of the Washington Post. His background and experience give him special insight to the Arab and Iranian world. I also listen keenly to CNN reports and their reporters who seem to be
closely connected with the grassroots in the counties finding their way in the post Arab Spring .
The current controversy regarding which candidate for president has the greatest understanding of the women's votes, go to the blog in April 2012. A personal note based on my own experiences is there in full. However, here is an excerpt:
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On the other hand, I do have cousins in the military who raised their family on military officer’s pay and she homeschooled her brood of six children, a choice for which I have nothing but respect. I would not have had the patience, and I fault myself for that.
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Columns May 3 to Dec 28 2011: see index to left "columns beginning May 3
2012+ columns will be posted on the .blog..link to right
Currently the comment function of the Sky Hi Daily News is under repair. To comment on my column either posted in the online edition or in the print edition, go to
http://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com
I welcome civil discourse. Those who substitute
such with ideologically based name calling will not be welcomed.
http://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/
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Winter Park, CO 80482
ph: 303 810 0809
feliciam