The Trouble with Peace .... (the Middle East is just one giant sinkhole)

CNSNews ^ | February 12, 2007 | Alan Caruba

[IrishMike]

People attributing the current conflicts in the Middle East to either religion or oil, believe they don't really have a dog in the fight. What cannot be ignored however is that a paroxysm of religious strife has broken out in the Middle East and it is exporting death and terror in the name of Allah.

Still angry over the defeat in 732 A.D. at Poitiers, France that stopped their northward conquest of Europe and the Crusades that followed from 1095 to 1291, the Arabs of the Middle East have taken the temperature of the West today and concluded that it's time for a big comeback. Either through birthrates in Europe or the use of terror from Bali to Manhattan, they have concluded it's time to try again to be the ones who run the world.

Considering how little previous generations of these Arabs or Islam have contributed to modern civilization this seems astonishingly arrogant. The modern world is entirely the creation of the West.

The West of today, wanting only to purchase the latest ingenious new gadget and wishing to avoid warfare at all costs, cannot ignore a declared war even if it wants to.

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The great empire of Rome discovered what happens when citizens do not want to defend what they have. They began to rely on armies made up increasingly of people they called barbarians. Tired of endless conquest and occupation, the citizens of Rome discovered one day those barbarians were at their gates. They sacked Rome. The Dark Ages followed.

I do not know what the President will do in these final two years of office, but if George W. Bush decides to reduce large portions of Baghdad to rubble or obliterate big chunks of Iran, history will likely say he was right to do so.

[Chgogal]

Mr. Caruba gets it! Good post Irish Mike. Thanks.

Here are some excerpts that I found spot on.

"Iraq, like the whole of the Middle East is just one giant sinkhole of all our expectations. So we want to leave, but we can't because, if we do, some astonishingly evil people might end up in charge. They cut off people's heads. They have been doing this since the days of Mohammed, the self-proclaimed final prophet of God.

Still angry over the defeat in 732 A.D. at Poitiers, France that stopped their northward conquest of Europe and the Crusades that followed from 1095 to 1291, the Arabs of the Middle East have taken the temperature of the West today and concluded that it's time for a big comeback. Either through birthrates in Europe or the use of terror from Bali to Manhattan, they have concluded it's time to try once again to be the ones who run the world.??Considering how little previous generations of these Arabs or Islam have contributed to modern civilization this seems astonishingly arrogant. The modern world is entirely the creation of the West.

The difficulty of achieving peace is that it requires everyone to agree to it. Wars, whether initiated by a religion or the naked desire to acquire land, resources, and power are still wars. Winners are determined by who is willing to resist and, beyond that, to destroy the will of the enemy to continue."

[IrishMike]

I do not know what the President will do in these final two years of office, but if George W. Bush decides to reduce large portions of Baghdad to rubble or obliterate big chunks of Iran, history will likely say he was right to do so.

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This seems right on the money !

[Lurker]

The Dark Ages followed.

Technically there weren't any 'dark ages'.

L

[IrishMike]

Technically there weren't any 'dark ages'.

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Global Cooling ?????

[Chgogal]

I cannot agree more with you. Unfortunately, we in the West have been brainwashed into thinking we can have a more "gentler war". Horse pucky! You win by being brutally ruthless and you don't stop until the surrender papers are signed with your enemy's blood. The winner has to be absolutely sure he has won. The loser has to know and feel that he has lost and that there is no hope for a come back at a later date. Then and only then will there be peace. Considering how the war went with in Cheyna and how stubborn the people were, we have a long way to go.

[Lurker]

we have a long way to go.

And miles to go before we sleep.

L

[syriacus]

I do not know what the President will do in these final two years of office, but if George W. Bush decides to reduce large portions of Baghdad to rubble or obliterate big chunks of Iran, history will likely say he was right to do so.

I think we should help the Iraqis move their capital away from Baghdad, to another city

The US, Brazil, and Germany have moved their capitals.

[Nevernever]

"Still angry over the defeat in 732 A.D. at Poitiers, France that stopped their northward conquest of Europe and the Crusades that followed from 1095 to 1291, the Arabs of the Middle East have taken the temperature of the West today and concluded that it's time for a big comeback."

I think this may be a wee bit of an oversimplification...