Text 25469, 52 rader
Skriven 2006-11-26 10:26:19 av John Hull (1:123/789.0)
  Kommentar till text 25468 av Jeff Binkley (1:226/600)
Ärende: Analysis
================
Jeff Binkley -> George Lagergren wrote:
 MG>>> Doesn't it amaze you how so many people are ignorant of all things
 MG>>> relating to the former Ottoman Turk Empire?

 JB>>> Indeed.  It wasn't until I spent 21 months in Turkey that I began
 JB>>> to  have any idea about the cultures of the Middle East, Turkey
 JB>>> and such.  Most people don't realize how backwards the Middle
 JB>>> East has been until the last 100 years.  If you ask most folks
 JB>>> when the Ottoman Empire  collapsed, they'd likely tell you 200 -
 JB>>> 300 years ago.

 GL>>    Perhaps the Middle East countries have "come of age" in the last
 GL>>    100 years.  Especially Iran in the last fifty years has really
 GL>>    "come of age."

 JB> Let's hope they don't achieve the liberal enlightenment of the 60s.


 GL>>    What about the Shia & Sunni Moslem conflict?  Can those two
 GL>>    groups ever get along in Iraq?

 JB> When they get tired of killing each other, sure.  No conflict lasts
 JB> forever.

But can we outlast that period?

 GL>>    And will Iran ever give up its desire to dominate the Middle
 GL>>    East?

 JB> Eventually but probably not in the short run.  It took two World Wars
 JB> and over 40 million dead for Europe to stop trying to dominate the
 JB> world.


Europe was warring with itself since the days of Charlemagne the Great. The
great push for colonization was to find sources of treasure to continue
financing those wars.  That means they fought over territory and world
dominance for the better part of 2000 years.  The muslim arabs have only been
at it for a little over 700 years. They aren't going to stop anytime soon.



 GL>>    And can an outside foreign country (like the USA) ever hope
 GL>>    to control, dominate, and occupy the Middle East?

 JB> The USA is not trying to occupy the Middle East.

Wouldn't matter if we were.  THEY blame us for all their ills, and truth hasn't
a damn thing to do with it.

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