Hey, my kind of Arab!
Indeed. A lot of our counter-outrage is misdirected, I think. Especially, when you consider that like every other racial/ethnic group from around the world, a fair number are our fellow citizens. There ought to be some code we might use to distinguish one from the other.
The easy, seemingly manic enthusiasm with which the so-called insurgents murder and butcher not only foreigners, but their own, reminds of a scene from Lawrence of Arabia. Ali (Omar Sharif) kills Lawrence's guide for drinking from his tribal well. Lawrence tells him, "So long as the Arabs fight tribe against tribe, so long will they be a little people, a silly people -- greedy, barbarous, and cruel, as you are."
The outrage of the little, silly people is certainly even more misdirected. All they have to do is take charge, hold their damn elections, maintain the peace, and we'll go home--or at least, withdraw to our forward bases elsewhere in the region.
Good posting. I am often reminded in my own mind of Lawrence's quote since the War in Iraq began. He was, and you are so right in your analysis, and nothing has changed for them in a century.
In reading the other postings I remembered that Lawrence (a foreigner) fought and (taught the Arabs) a guerrilla war against the Turks. Thank God we are not fighting like the Turks. How would it be for us to fight a guerrilla war against the insurgents? We couldn't but the Iraqis (if they got some spines)could.
And then speaking of the Turks, they were much feared and hated by the Arabs, they were not merciful in tending to the enemy's wounded (like the American soldiers), (in fact doesn't Lawrence have to kill his wounded before he leaves them because the brutality of the Turks to the Arab wounded was legendary?
But then it appears the only language of law and order that the Arabs of any day understand is the treacherous. deceitful strong arm and fist holding a sword dripping with blood, be it that of the infidel Crusader or of brother (sarcasm) Arab.
Made a huge and unforgivable blunder in the wording of last paragraph of my response to you. It was suppose to read,
"But then it appears the only language of law and order that the Arabs of any day understand is the treacherous, deceitful strong arm and fist holding a sword dripping WITH THE BLOOD OF THE INFIDEL CRUSADER OR OF THE BROTHER (SARCASM)ARAB."
To my horror it originally read that I was talking about the US holding the sword dripping with blood, (whereas I was thinking of Saddam Hussein, his sons, all Arab dictators, rulers and terrorist) being the treacherous, deceitful strong arm and fist holding a sword dripping...
Sorry.