[Fitzcarraldo]

Sobering. What has kick started Islamic power in the last 100 years? The discovery of oil and its use by the West.

[Bobby777]

while the West developed universities and business and socially free cultures, Islam could no longer wage war with tribal armies and horses ...

but with petro-dollars-euro-dollars-etc-money, they have begun to purchase advanced military hardware ... Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have some very fine equipment ... and while Saddam could never match Israel, he at one time had an army that might have been a challenge for smaller nations ... he was like the 5th largest armed forces at one time IIRC ... and his troops had recent battle experience with Iran, where Iran's losses were nearly 10-to-1 against the Iraqis ...

[Texasforever]

When the west recognizes that Islam is NOT a religion but a political philosophy in the same vein as Communism, Fascism, Capitalism and so forth then the war can actually be joined.