[Wombat101]

My remarks had nothing to do with Islamic armies, I was referring to ARAB armies. I'm perfectgly aware of when Mohammaed was whelped, thank you.

[LS]

Er, actually Alexander didn't even defeat "Arab" armies, per se, but PERSIAN armies. But, that aside, the Muslims had their heads handed to them by the Mongols, many times. Hanson remains the best analysis of these points of comparison.

The Bible says that you can't get good fruit from a bad tree---something akin to the acorn doesn't fall far from the tree. So history is always useful for these comparisons, and to say that modern Islam bears no resemblance to the older forms is PRECISELY the point: it does, in almost every way. Islam has never changed, and that is why it is so dangerous. It is still a violent religion, and always has been.