Useful Fools

Humiliation seems to trump logical thinking every time. This is certainly the case in the Arab world today. The following quote from an article in The Telegraph makes that clear.

`The fact that Saddam has survived for 12 days is seen as a colossal success. Before the conflict, his star was falling in the Arab world, with few takers for his propaganda that he intended to liberate Palestine.

The Americans had been surprised to find that the presence of foreign troops had awakened a sense of “patriotism and honour” among the Arabs. “They think that they can humiliate the Arabs all the time, and no one will answer back,” he said.”‘

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This bodes ill for the west, but is hardly surprising. Rather than a 9-11 effect, I think the battle for Iraq has been akin to lancing the boil that is Araby and letting out the pus of self-loathing and anti-western hatred.

The Arabs have achieved very little in the last several hundred years, while the Western nations (and even Russia) have surged past them in every way. Almost every weapon they use was produced in a foreign country, usually the pathetic Soviet Union. Their technology is stolen or purchased from successful societies.

Their militaries have been pitiful. The Israelis, always outnumbered vastly, have demonstrated that time and again. The United States has done the same thing when necessary, starting with the Marine attacks on Tripoly in the 18th century.

Their economies are third-rate. Even some of the oil-rich Arab countries have significant poverty, massive unemployment (largely among those of an age most susceptible to arguments about pride and humiliation), and super-rich dictatorial leaders. They have no high-technology or service industries. The products are largely agricultural, ethnic trinkets and oil.

This massive record of failure does not come from a lack of smart and capable people. Nor does it come from poor circumstances - a number of oil countries, especially Iraq, have squandered vast amounts of oil wealth, oil which they only produce with infrastructure initially stolen and to some extent later purchased from more successful societies. All Arab countries are close to European markets for goods and labor.

The Arab societies fail because their culture does not work in modern circumstances. The tribal nature of their societies leads to corruption. Their traditions and religion have prevented democracy in every Arab country. Most interpretations of Islam prevent the establishment of secular governments or even religious societies that function. Their suppression of women deprives them of 50% of their labor supply. Corruption is rampant.

Some nearby non-Arab muslim countries have been more successful. Turkey itself used to rule much of Araby, and while having troubles is far more successful than the Arab countries. Iran (the former Persia), was a sophisticated and successful society, although militarily they were only an even match for the pathetic military of Iraq.

How the Arabs deal with the Iraq issue will be of significant import. Increased terrorism against the West is likely, simply because of the frustration and humiliation of young Arab men.

Hopefully the War Against Terrorism will preclude the provision of weapons of mass destruction to these individuals. The crushing of Iraq should cause Syria and Iran to reduce or end their support for terrorism, and the coalition should make it clear to both countries that our armies in Iraq could quickly replace their regimes also should it become necessary.

Arabs should reform their societies. They should stop listening to the religious “leaders” who make damaging statements and start listening to the ones who are more reasonable. They should encourage democratic societies.

We need to institute a mass information effort. Arabs need to understand that we achieved our superiority by the nature of our societies and the hard work of our people. Today, they act as if these weapons just materialized into our possession, and our soldiers win by magic, not training and technology! Arabs need to understand the nature of our societies.

Anti-western media outlets need to be reoriented. If they will not do so voluntarily , we should use our massive economic and even military power to change them.

Al Jazeera is not an example of a free press - it is an example of an extremely biased propaganda organ operated for profit! It should not be allowed to continue without moderating its stance.

Our society can affort alternative news sources, including strongly biased ones, because we have a plurality of choices. The Arabs cannot, and it is strongly in our interests to stop these efforts to incite people to kill our citizens.

The conclusion of the Battle of Iraq will not signal an end to the war. We are still at war with terrorism. We must defend ourselves preemptively from those who would provide aid, support and weapons of mass destruction to terrorists, be they North Koreans, Iranians, Syrians or Sudanese. And we likewise must fight against those who create terrorists by biased anti-American reporting, painting us as evil and glorifying suicide terrorists who kill women and children.

9-11 was a vicious attack upon our people. We cannot rest in any theatre of combat until the guilty have been destroyed and the threat minimized.