Milestones in Dumb Political Commentary on the Middle East Posted by Shadi Hamid

Angry Arab just gave me "the award for the dumbest comment on the Middle East" for my piece on "Bush nostalgia" in the Middle East. I have to confess I'm somewhat intrigued. I'd actually be interested to hear his substantive arguments(s) against what I wrote (brief summary of my basic points is here).

I wrote the article knowing that some people really wouldn't like it. I guess you can expect that when you use the words "Bush" and "nostalgia" together. But apart from a visceral dislike of anything that smacks of giving Bush credit, I'm not quite sure what the issue is.

Part of the problem, I think, is that after everything that happened 2006 on, people started forgetting what it felt like to watch the "Arab spring" of 2004-5, however short-lived it might have been. To watch it happen in real time. To see the protests. To sit back and watch Esam al-Erian, perhaps Egypt's most prominent Islamist, and Saad Eddin Ibrahim, perhaps Egypt's most prominent secularist, chatting together over dinner, joking, smiling - and hoping. But even if you felt optimistic then, it's hard to remember that's actually the way you felt. Luckily, I wrote it down.

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