The recap of history in the Defense vs Offense post is still very Eurocentric – while Homer was writing about the Trojan wars, China had its own civilization developing that wasn’t based on the Law of Moses.
Nomads who had crossed the land bridge from Russia to Alaska at the end of the last Ice Age were flourishing in the Americas, with no cultural connection to Greece, Rome or Egypt, Much of what is “European” – including its languages – developed in Asia and migrated West.
The “Indo-European” language family is the linguistic origin of the Greek, Latin, Western European languages, Hindi, Russian and Urdu. The languages of the Middle East relevant to the life of Jesus are part of the Semitic language family, that includes Hebrew, Aramaic, and Arabic (You weren’t taught that Arabs are Semites?)
If you are aware of history (and the Muslims are very aware of it), when George Bush described the “War on Terror” as a “Crusade”
“This crusade, this war on terrorism is going to take a while.”
September 16, 2001
That statement takes you down one of two paths – that the “War on Terror” IS a religious war to wipe out Islam – or that George Bush ignorantly used a word without knowing the implications of what he was saying and what it meant for future relations with Islamic countries. I tend toward the latter explanation, but the former is what most Muslims and many on the Left choose to believe.
The first Iraq war (George H.W. Bush’s war) had complete support from the Arab countries who fought with us to expel Iraq from Kuwait – the second Iraq “Crusade” had complete opposition, except for those we bought off (temporarily) with money and/or support for their dicatotorships and kingdoms – and pretty much most of Europe except for England stayed home(does it matter to this story that England and France had argued over control of future oil fields in Iraq after the end of World War 1? – and that BP is a major player now in Iraq’s oil fields and Libya’s oil fields?).
If I were running a News Network, one of my requirements for reporters talking about anything other than sports would a minor in world history in college or the equivalentl. Most of them now grew up getting all they know from watching the TV news and movies – it’s information incest of the highest order.
Information incest. Bravo.
We are at a point in history that will soon end with a Muslim hegemony from Gibraltar to Pakistan, and down to central Africa. I imagine the Arabs will be the head of this confederation. I doubt OPEC will be anything more than this confederation’s handmaiden (not that they aren’t now). Our allergy to drilling will turn into a full-fledged autoimmune disorder. January, 2013 is a long way off, and a lot will happen before then. We are weak and in decline. I don’t think we will be attacked, but I think our interests abroad will continue to be realigned. Those who oppose us don’t need to fly planes into our buildings to damage us. So much has happened in the last 10 years. The world is changing, and we are bumbling in response.
The more I’ve learned about the Middle East, the more unfortunate it is that Iran is not a friend of the United States. Blaming it on Jimmy Carter is a big part of it, but not the whole story.
After World War II wrapped up and the world was returning to normal, Iran demanded a better deal with what become a part of BP. What they got was the British and our intelligence people overthrowing the democraticially elected government and putting in the Shah. That was “sweet” for the West 30 years (unless you lived in Iran)… We’re now approaching the time that only the old people remember what it was like before the “Revolution”.
Iran is a huge country with significant resources (not just Oil)…. it’s location is extremely strategic. Kazakhstan and the other stans could have a pretty direct Caspean Sea route to export their oil to the world without having to go through territory next to Russia. Being mostly Persian, they’re not fond of Arabs, all things being equal and their culture is much richer and shows more promise for the future than Saudi Arabia for example
Unfortunately, you don’t get to choose the cards your generation was dealt. You just hope when your generation fades away, you left the world better for the next generation to make the world a better place. We gave the world Lady Gaga.
Mosaddegh and Kermit Roosevelt are two names that come to mind. If memory serves, Mossadegh was the PM who was attempting to curry favor with the Soviets because he felt like Iran was getting the brown end of the stick in terms of oil revenue. I believe mid-20th century history is replete with rulers who would attempt to kiss up to the US or the USSR. Whoever had the best to offer them. Neither can offer much today. A recent John Batchelor show mentioned a US payoff to the ruler of Yemen to flee the “right way.” In hindsight, our foreign policy has been akin to giving a blind monkey a loaded handgun.