One of the real problems with our policy in the Middle East is that we do not understand the Muslim mind. To them we are all infidels. Some Muslims just take a more pro-active role in eliminating the infidels than others.
Yes, this is the real problem. We do not understand the Eastern mind whatsoever.
Years ago when I was in insurance agent, a man came in for a policy. He was the Royal Crown Prince of Qatar, his father was the king. He owned several companies in America that made fruit juice. He was very wealthy and owned several Mercedes Benz's. He simply wanted liability insurance, he was not worried about damage to his vehicles. The problem was he only had an International Driver's Licence, which most insurance companies will not accept. I was an independent agent and had one company that would insure someone with an IDL, and would also insure these expensive cars which some will not insure. He ended up buying a nice policy from me, I made a very nice commission. :smilewinkgrin:
Anyway, when we were filling out the application I asked his name. He gave me 14 names! I asked, "That is your name?" He said yes, in his country you have all the names of your fathers. He knew all his great grandfathers going back nearly 2000 years. And he knew more than just their names, he knew how many children they had, where they lived, and details of their life.
So the Eastern mind is very different. They look at time very differently than we do. 100 years to them is like a week to us.
And this is the problem. They are content to fight on and on, even if it takes hundreds of years. That is not a long time to them.
I also saw an interview once of Ho Chi Minh, the leader of North Vietnam during the Vietnam war. He said he always knew they would win because the Americans did not understand the oriental mind. They would keep fighting if it took 25 years, 100 years, or 500 years. Time like this is not long to the oriental mind.
And that was the reason I was against going into these countries in the first place. I am all for stopping terrorism. But you are not going to win against these countries, they will keep fighting until you tire of fighting and withdraw. This is why the British and Russians did not succeed there.
This may sound brutal, but if I ran the world I would simply nuke them. Not that I like killing or war, I hate it. But if you impose terrible loss on them, then they would think twice about supporting terrorism. And we would not lose our own soldiers.
I do think things are changing in the Middle East however, they seem to be getting away from the ancient mentality. The young people in the Middle East are very modern and have computers and Internet access. They are influenced by the West. The young people in Iran for instance are very pro-America. But the government is run by the old hard-liners with the ancient mentality. So, perhaps things can change in the future.
Since we are there, we ought to go all out to drive out the Taliban and keep them out. If the country becomes strong and stable, they may become good allies.
