Voice of America is reporting:  Although official results have yet to be announced, provisional results give the [mainstream Sharia-promoting] Ennahdha party about 40 percent of the vote. President Obama's (sadly predictable) "upbeat" reaction: U.S. President Barack Obama has offered his congratulations, saying Tunisia has "changed the course of history" and "inspired the world." Tunisia's experiemtn in "democracy" represents another example of the trend first exploited in North Africa by the neighboring mainstream Sharia-promoting Algerian FIS leader Rabah Kbir during a sermon recorded in Oran in October, 1991, "Islamic state through the will of the people." As scholar Emmanuel Sivan observed regarding Kbir-an observation which should be borne in mind when evaluating the Tunisian Ennahda party's Rachid Ghannouchi: [Kbir] was ambiguous over whether it means a plurality of parties would be maintained under an Islamic state. He was likewise opaque about accepting the principle...(Read Full Post)