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Megan McArdle

Megan McArdle - Megan McArdle is a senior editor for The Atlantic who writes about business and economics. She has worked at three start-ups, a consulting firm, an investment bank, a disaster recovery firm at Ground Zero, and The Economist. More

Megan was born and raised on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and yes, she does enjoy her lattes, as well as the occasional extra-dry skim-milk cappuccino. Her checkered work history includes three start-ups, four years as a technology project manager for a boutique consulting firm, a summer as an associate at an investment bank, and a year spent as sort of an executive copy girl for one of the disaster-recovery firms at Ground Zero … all before the age of 30.

While working at Ground Zero, Megan started Live From the WTC, a blog focused on economics, business, and cooking. She may or may not have been the first major economics blogger, depending on whether we are allowed to throw outlying variables such as Brad Delong out of the set. From there it was but a few steps down the slippery slope to freelance journalism. She has worked in various capacities for The Economist, where she wrote about economics and oversaw the founding of Free Exchange, the magazine's economics blog. She has also maintained her own blog, Asymmetrical Information, which moved to The Atlantic, along with its owner, in August 2007.

Megan holds a bachelor's degree in English literature from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago. After a lifetime as a New Yorker, she now resides in northwest Washington, D.C., where she is still trying to figure out what one does with an apartment larger than 400 square feet.

I protest!

By Megan McArdle
Oct 22 2007, 3:58 PM ET Comment

There's a horde of angry Arabs outside my office, yelling about the destruction in Iraq.








Interestingly, they are not taking on US foreign policy, but Saudi Arabia, whose embassy (I just learned) is across the street from the Watergate. This appears to be the group running the protest, and this is their explanation:

Saudi Arabia's Government is aware of the groups who directly
support terrorism by hosting and supporting those who issue calls and
ideologies that encourage terrorism in Iraq and elsewhere.

Muslims across America denounce the destruction of the Islamic holy
shrines which represent our religious, architectural and cultural
heritage. Similar calls for destruction are responsible for the bombings
of the Al-Askariyya Shrine in Samarra, Iraq twice last year, in which
hundreds of civilians were killed. Such radicalism is present in Saudi
Arabia and is also responsible for the destruction of the Jannat-ul-Baqee
cemetery in Madina, Saudi Arabia on April 21, 1925, where several
companions and family members of the Prophet are buried. The destruction
of Jannat-ul- Baqee is a major crime committed by the Wahhabis within
Saudi Arabia against the people of Islam and is a great loss to the
heritage of Islam.

Saudi Arabia has unfortunately been turned into a school for nurturing
terrorism. According to the latest report by US military, more than half
of the foreign fighters entering Iraq are coming from Saudi Arabia
(Los Angeles Times, July 18 2007). Not to mention 15 of the 19 hijackers
on September 11, 2001 were Saudi nationals. Al-Baqee would like to promote
the awareness of such Wahhabi efforts aimed at further division of the
Muslim community which are fueling Intra-Islamic terrorism and destruction
around the world.

We appeal to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to end all governmental support
and ties to the Wahhabi structure in the Saudi Kingdom and worldwide. As a
close U.S.-ally, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has an obligation for
providing freedom of worship and honoring human rights for all within its
borders. Al-Baqee calls upon the Saudi Govt. for the restoration and
preservation of Islamic Holy Sites (i.e. Jannat-ul- Baqee) and encourages
Saudi government to use its influence to restrain Wahhabi rhetoric that is
fueling much destruction around the world.


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