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Saturday, January 28, 2006 History Is So Important Recently Karl Rove (aka Bush's Brain) made a speech claiming that the opposition is living in pre 9/11 days. He stated to his fellow Republicans that they are the only ones living in post 9/11 days. Well, in his arrogance he is wrong. We are all living in post 9/11 days. The big difference is that Rove and the neo-con cabal don't believe in history. They have ignored the lessons learned through centuries of events in the Middle East. They have used the 9/11 tragedy to invade and impose an imperialistic philosophy of control over a region whose history is a quagmire of ambitions, hopes, betrayal and despair. They have claimed that the Iraq regime of Saddam Hussein created a threat to the USA. All of the specific accusations against the Baathist regime have been proven false. One can correctly state that Americans have been lied to by an American administration that had a secret agenda for attacking Iraq. Instead of concentrating on the resurrection of Afghanistan we are engaged in the disastrous enterprise of occupying Iraq. No matter how one can explain over 30,000 insurgent attacks in the last year we must recognize that a state of Civil War exists in Iraq. Iranian influence holds sway in what is now a Shiite theocracy dominated government, replacing Sunni/Baathist dominance. Our current administration has followed a disappointing strategy in dealing with Iran. Not that any previous administration deserves credit for doing much better. Since Carter pulled the rug out from under the Shah we have seen the tragic results of our compounding a felony of interfering in the internal affairs of another country. Pre 9/11 history should be taught to those running our affairs. Starting with Alexander the Great the area of the Middle East has been a battleground. Usually it was to influence other areas such as India and the Far East; it was only comparatively recent that religion and later oil made the Middle East important in its own right. The Crusades were periodic pillaging done in the name of God. Recently the film "Kingdom of Heaven" gave a comparatively factual version of events, which certainly showed the Moslems, generally, as more respectful human beings than we have been told. Another epic film "Lawrence of Arabia" gave viewers a background of another dark chapter in the history of Western interference. During my period of work in the Middle East an important project for me was the rebuilding of the Hejaz Railroad, a critically vital utility in enabling the sacred Muslim duty of making a pilgrimage to Medina/Mecca. This was the railroad destroyed during WWI by Lawrence with the help of the Arabs, a fact the western world would not have known had not the late newsman Lowell Thomas filmed Lawrence's missions. The Arabs were promised their independence in return for their help. Later these promises were betrayed by the Western powers, France and Britain with the approval of the United States. During my advising Senator John F. Kennedy on the Middle East I counseled repeatedly that the Palestinian question was the harbinger of WWIII; that only the active movement of the major powers who would be able to solve that dilemma. It seemed to me that the ethnic, religious and tribal antagonisms engulfing the populations and territories would never be solved locally, but only by rational international pressures. What must be tragically frustrating to all of us today is the blind ignorance of our politicians to the pre 9/11 historical events that have allowed us to create such a frightening and abominable mess. The blindness of our leaders to the past only increases their myopic view of the present and future in the Middle East, whereas their knowledge of the region's history would at least allow greater insight to the problems and potential solutions to the situations their ignorance has created. Next chapter, Hamas leading the Palestine Authority, that will be a real test. |
ARTICLES
OF NOTE
Conflict Over Faith Extremism Is No Excuse Intelligent Design and Brokeback Mountain The Season's Message Want To Express It Again Remarks for Friends of Conservation Probably Our Major Problem Today All In The Name You Give It We All Have The Same Problems ARCHIVES December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006
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