Why I'm not a senator

Not being a U.S. Senator, I don't have an all that sophisticated view of foreign policy. For instance, if I were to ponder how the U.S. government might improve improve its image in the Muslim world, my answer would be: why not stop killing so many Muslims? Or how about not backing corrupt, authoritarian regimes from Egypt to Saudi Arabia, while funneling military supplies to Israel so it can lay waste to Muslim populations in Lebanon and Palestine?

But these are laughably unserious ideas from a mere blogger.

Serious thinkers, on the other hand, like Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-MA), hold hearings on "Engaging with Muslim Communities Around the World", where two luminaries of the U.S. foreign policy establishment between them responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Muslims -- former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former head of U.S. Central Command Admiral William Fallon -- will impart their wisdom on the Oriental mind. And really, what's better than having two symbols of American imperial arrogance discussing how to address the Muslim world's distaste for . . . American imperial arrogance?

Albright, you will recall, famously told 60 Minutes' Leslie Stahl that the deaths of more than half a million Iraqi children from the U.S.-imposed embargo were "worth it" in order to achieve U.S. policy objectives -- a cold and callous remark that understandably enflamed anti-American sentiment throughout the Middle East.

Admiral Fallon, meanwhile, was the man responsible for overseeing the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan from 2007-08, which speaks for itself. And while rumored to have been an opponent of a possible war with Iran, his enlightened views on the Iranians -- "These guys are ants. When the time comes, you crush them." -- leave some doubt as to his progressive, humanitarian credentials.

Still, kill enough Muslims and you can't help but learn a thing or two about them, right?