The IRS targeting certain groups for harassment because of their politics would be unfair. If we found out the NSA was keeping special tabs on everyone who worshiped at a mosque or took a Bible trip through the Middle East, you’d have an uprising.

Although I went to college in the United States – Carleton in Northfield, Minnesota – I returned to the Middle East for a year in 1970-71 to study at the American University of Beirut.

I love the Middle East. My earliest childhood memories are of Jerusalem. I love the colors and smells and cadence of Arabic spoken in the streets of Cairo or Beirut. I also love the modernity and verve of Tel Aviv.

The deserts of the Middle East are in need of water, not bombers.