[muawiyah]

The Islamic Caliphate didn't really get going until the Seljuk Turks crushed the Arabs. Other Turks followed on the same track and eventually turned the Arabs into slaves. Finally the Mongols solidified that pattern and it wasn't until the late 1800s that there were any "free Arabs" in the Middle East.

With the defeat of the Ottoman Empire all the Arabs achieved a state of liberty and well-being they hadn't seen in nearly a thousand years.

Alas, Arabs are never grateful, nor do they bless their benefactors. They are your basic unvarnished desert barbarian with only a patina of civilization.

We'll probably have to crush them again and return them to the slavery they seemed to be so happy to have imposed on them.

[Jim Noble]

We'll probably have to crush them again and return them to the slavery they seemed to be so happy to have imposed on them.

I favor subcontracting the crushing to the Turks - they did an excellent job last time.