[freedom44]

That's actually a totally false statement. There was no Iraq at the time. Iraq was created in the 1920's. It was the Persian Empire and it was far before the Arabs invaded so the people were actually Persians or Iranians and not Arabs or modern Iraqis.

[jocon307]

"That's actually a totally false statement."

I think inaccurate might be more precise than false.

But I didn't come to carp, I came to say, thanks for posting this. Good on W for visiting Mongolia, I read a very interesting piece on their emerging democracy a while ago. It was in the New Yorker Magazine, of all places.

And thanks to the Mongolians for serving bravely in Iraq.

[Skywalk]

Um, there were certainly Arabs there, for jihad swept through much of the known world all the way into France within one century of Muhammad.

Jingiz Khan (Kerry tried to pronounce it 'correct' but got ti wrong) and his boys were operating in the 13th century.

Islam, with Arabs as its vanguard, had long ago conquered most of the Middle East.

[Skywalk]

"The Mongols massacred 800,000 of the city's inhabitants, including the Abbasid Caliph Al-Musta'sim, and destroyed large sections of the city. The canals and dykes forming the city's irrigation system were also destroyed. The sack of Baghdad put an end to the Abbasid Caliphate, a blow from which the Arab civilization. never fully recovered." that's from wikipedia. The Persian Empire had long ago been swept aside, though the city's name is probably derived from Persian.

[Cronos]

It was the Persian Empire and it was far before the Arabs invaded so the people were actually Persians or Iranians and not Arabs or modern Iraqis.

Actually it was the Abbassid Empire -- the Caliphate based in Baghdad. The People were Arabs or Mesopotamians since this was a Sunni Caliphate and the Shia's had already expanded in Iran.

[Prost1]

I will allow a bit of casual reporting since most Americans do not know where Nevada is....