Somewhere in The Godfather, Brando says something like... children are allowed to make mistakes, not so adults.
Among adults, naivete is perilous.
I hate to be a party-pooper, but can't we see what's coming? In Iraq there will be no democracy. There will be less brutality, perhaps, but nothing to resemble what John Locke had in mind. Afghanistan should be a lesson. We did what we had to do. We chased out the Taliban and it is better over there, but not terrific. Miniature Osama's rule from tribe to tribe and it is still much safer for women to remain covered up and indoors. Variations of same old, same old.
Throughout the Ishmaelite world, there will only be more resentment, probably even reprisals... against us. For this is not about Iraq, where we are also doing what we have to do, and it is not about Israel. This is about the Big Picture. Ishmael wants "Jerusalem and even Rome."
Should we expect gratitude from the 22 Arab nations, or altogether, from the 57 nations of the Muslim world?
Here and there, yes, but to Ishmael, this is another Crusade, the latest installment in what began in 1095, in the Council of Clermont... ?onward Christian soldiers.? Or, as stated in the Catholic Encyclopedia: "The Crusades were expeditions undertaken in fulfilment of a solemn vow, to deliver the Holy Places from Mohammedan tyranny."
Today, that's not our interpretation. We are innocents abroad. But there's a fine line between liberation - our take - and conquest - their take. We see ourselves (correctly) as Good Guys coming to the rescue. They see us as Soldiers of the Church.
In the middle of it all, the "moderate" king of "moderate" Jordan gave himself away when he called us invaders. Imagine, then, the response from the non-moderate Arab street.
President Bush has my support for the war, but he's naive. Does he really believe that he can transplant Texas onto the lands of burkas and kafiyyehs?
We're new at this thing democracy. But they've been in the Muslim business for some 1,400 years, right after Mohammed was born in Mecca, April 20, 571. Since then, not much has changed in that world, and it's wonderful when we bring down one despot after another, but, hey, let's not kid ourselves. Saddam was a monster, but he was their monster.
To them, this is another Arab defeat. The Israelis beat them in three major wars, and here we come adding insult. Even worse than the Crusades, this time Christians have united with Jews against Ishmael. That's Ishmael's point of view, as can be heard from mosque to mosque. They're the victims. They don't remember 9/11 and all the rest. They don't remember what they inflict, only what they suffer in recompense.
If Bush is naive, what can we say about Natan Sharansky, or Ehud Barak? Bush has an excuse. As I said, we're young. We're entitled.
But the Israelis? Do they have the right, the luxury, to be gullible? So did I hear Sharansky correctly, when he said after Saddam is removed everything will be terrific? Knowing what he knows about Ishmael from Shittim to Gilgal, and those today in his own backyard, he has to be kidding.
But he wasn't, and such gullibility is perilous from a man of influence.
Then what about former prime minister Ehud Barak? What's his excuse? He actually said that if he had to do it again, he would. He would give up all that land, throw in Jerusalem, upon Arafat's "guarantee." Can you believe this? First, that he would give up Jewish land, and second that he still - still - trusts Arafat's guarantees?
Is this guy nuts? Barak is a perfect case of naivete gone bonkers, but not the only case.
Naive children are a risk mostly to themselves. Naive adults are a danger to us all.
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Jack Engelhard is the author of the international bestseller Indecent Proposal and is a former radio and newspaper editor covering the Mideast, as well as a former American volunteer in the Israeli Defense Forces. His columns can be read online at http://www.comteqcom.com/jackcolumn.php and he can be reached at JackEngelhard@ComteQcom.com.
************
Spend Passover with Arutz Sheva at a resort in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv or Kfar Pines (near Hadera). Click here for info.
Among adults, naivete is perilous.
I hate to be a party-pooper, but can't we see what's coming? In Iraq there will be no democracy. There will be less brutality, perhaps, but nothing to resemble what John Locke had in mind. Afghanistan should be a lesson. We did what we had to do. We chased out the Taliban and it is better over there, but not terrific. Miniature Osama's rule from tribe to tribe and it is still much safer for women to remain covered up and indoors. Variations of same old, same old.
Throughout the Ishmaelite world, there will only be more resentment, probably even reprisals... against us. For this is not about Iraq, where we are also doing what we have to do, and it is not about Israel. This is about the Big Picture. Ishmael wants "Jerusalem and even Rome."
Should we expect gratitude from the 22 Arab nations, or altogether, from the 57 nations of the Muslim world?
Here and there, yes, but to Ishmael, this is another Crusade, the latest installment in what began in 1095, in the Council of Clermont... ?onward Christian soldiers.? Or, as stated in the Catholic Encyclopedia: "The Crusades were expeditions undertaken in fulfilment of a solemn vow, to deliver the Holy Places from Mohammedan tyranny."
Today, that's not our interpretation. We are innocents abroad. But there's a fine line between liberation - our take - and conquest - their take. We see ourselves (correctly) as Good Guys coming to the rescue. They see us as Soldiers of the Church.
In the middle of it all, the "moderate" king of "moderate" Jordan gave himself away when he called us invaders. Imagine, then, the response from the non-moderate Arab street.
President Bush has my support for the war, but he's naive. Does he really believe that he can transplant Texas onto the lands of burkas and kafiyyehs?
We're new at this thing democracy. But they've been in the Muslim business for some 1,400 years, right after Mohammed was born in Mecca, April 20, 571. Since then, not much has changed in that world, and it's wonderful when we bring down one despot after another, but, hey, let's not kid ourselves. Saddam was a monster, but he was their monster.
To them, this is another Arab defeat. The Israelis beat them in three major wars, and here we come adding insult. Even worse than the Crusades, this time Christians have united with Jews against Ishmael. That's Ishmael's point of view, as can be heard from mosque to mosque. They're the victims. They don't remember 9/11 and all the rest. They don't remember what they inflict, only what they suffer in recompense.
If Bush is naive, what can we say about Natan Sharansky, or Ehud Barak? Bush has an excuse. As I said, we're young. We're entitled.
But the Israelis? Do they have the right, the luxury, to be gullible? So did I hear Sharansky correctly, when he said after Saddam is removed everything will be terrific? Knowing what he knows about Ishmael from Shittim to Gilgal, and those today in his own backyard, he has to be kidding.
But he wasn't, and such gullibility is perilous from a man of influence.
Then what about former prime minister Ehud Barak? What's his excuse? He actually said that if he had to do it again, he would. He would give up all that land, throw in Jerusalem, upon Arafat's "guarantee." Can you believe this? First, that he would give up Jewish land, and second that he still - still - trusts Arafat's guarantees?
Is this guy nuts? Barak is a perfect case of naivete gone bonkers, but not the only case.
Naive children are a risk mostly to themselves. Naive adults are a danger to us all.
--------------------------------------------------------
Jack Engelhard is the author of the international bestseller Indecent Proposal and is a former radio and newspaper editor covering the Mideast, as well as a former American volunteer in the Israeli Defense Forces. His columns can be read online at http://www.comteqcom.com/jackcolumn.php and he can be reached at JackEngelhard@ComteQcom.com.
************
Spend Passover with Arutz Sheva at a resort in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv or Kfar Pines (near Hadera). Click here for info.