I have read some ridiculous assertions from Salon letter writers posing as "middle east foreign policy experts" before, but the first three letters responding to Juan Cole's article really take the cake. I'm going to address as many fallacies as my lunch break will allow, because Lord knows there are more than I have time for. Let's start with,

"what this article shows is the western liberal's reluctance or inability to face the truth about different cultures."

First of all, the fundamental problem with Bush's foreign policy is a complete lack of understanding in regard to the complexity of the muslim cultures existing in the middle east region in general. We are talking aobut a man who didn't know the difference between a Sunni and Shiite in 2001. Make that "lack of understanding," AND "contempt."

"Bush did not create the troubles among muslims."

Who says he did? Not Professor Cole, or any other credible critic of the Bush Administration. Why don't you bother to name names instead of this tired straw man crap.

"We have to defend ourselves, which is what Bush is doing."

More of the pathetic "9-11 = Iraq" bullshit that only morons still buy into.

"Look at France. To hear american liberals tell it, they are perfect in regard to muslims."

Wow. Really? Like who? The whack-job-liberal you argue with down at the barber shop? Who, exactly? You even mention these "liberals" in plural, so certainly you can come up with several. How about five to be fair. Five credible liberal spokespersons who are on record as saying that the "french" view of "muslims" as "perfect."

"But as usual in one of P Coles rants - 'it's all Bush's fault'"

This letter writer uses quote marks as though Professor Cole has really said this. He hasn't. You know someone's argument is really, really lame when they resort outright lying. Not only did Cole not say this, he doesn't even imply it. All he does is very clearly outline and illustrate some of the many policy gaffes of the Bush administration. Cole never says, "Absent Bush, everything would be fine in Iraq and the Middle East." He only suggests that Bush has made a bad situation worse. And last time I checked, the majority of the American public feels the same way.

"I find it telling that the word "betrayed" was used to describe the person that gave Zarqawi's location away - one might consider that person to be a hero in most circles."

The words "betrayal" and "hero" aren't mutually exclusive, The Zarqawi case is an excellent example. I certainly didn't gauge anything in Cole's article suggesting the sort of judgmental line of reasoning that you attributed to him above.

"The more I read Juan Cole's articles, the more I understand why Yale passed on hiring him as a professor of modern Middle East history."

Here's the other tactic favored by Bush supporters: the personal attack/character assassination red herring. I'm glad you know exactly why Professor Cole is not on the faculty at Yale. I'm sure your personal discussion with those responsible for hiring faculty in that department was most enlightening. Let me point out that whether Cole is a member of the Yale faculty or not is a complete red herring.

"but in Professor Coles' fairy land - it's got to be all the USA's fault."

More straw man bullshit. Nobody is stupid enough to assert that point. Yet conservatives make baseless claims like the ones above simply because they have run out of rational arguments to support of the War in Iraq. The only tactic neocons have left is to argue against a straw man uttering fake liberal talking points. That is so pathetically lame! You hear it from Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and basically every Fox News "pundit."

From Air America's Marc Maron:

"What do you do when you are so sad you can't live with yourself because your heart is a calloused knot of emptiness from pimping out your soul for the big payoff at the cost of your conscience, and your self-hate runs so deep that it cripples your Johnson? You wander in a world of painkillers and shaft lifters in the Dominican Republic like a secondary demon on vacation in Hades, left with nothing but this hate and the deep desire to make everyone pay for this pain. Welcome home, Rush."

I am your pet, and you are my master. And my name is Cujo.

I agree with you completely. I have written the same letter you just wrote re: Ann Coulter several times in Salon. I have come to the conclusion that the "stop covering her" crowd never reads anybody else's letters because they never respond to arguments like ours. We're right, and they don't want to admit it. It's that "You won't play by my rules, so I'm gonna take my ball and go home" mind set. I just want one of them to give me a few examples of how "ignoring" someone like Ann Coulter has ever worked in the past? I can't think of one. The only way Coulter is "going away" is if someone more blonde, more shrill, and more outrageous comes along to take her place. Scary, thought, huh?