At the recent Arab Conference of Iraqi Neighbors in Tehran (sounds so innocuous, doesn‘t it?), Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad imparted these words of wisdom to his audience:
“The basic problem in the Islamic world is the existence of the Zionist regime, and the Islamic world and the region must mobilize to remove this problem. It is a . . . regime that prevented the progress of the region’s nations . . .”
It’s the kind of talk that absolutely brings the house down at conferences in that part of the world. It’s like pushing a button that sends impulses directly to the pleasure centers in the radical Islamic brain. Call it crack cocaine for Koranic crazies.
Actually, given the subject matter of this particular conference, you wouldn’t think the main focus of discussion would be the need to eliminate Israel. But you can bet your sweet Koran that if a conference gets hosted in Tehran about anything from sturgeon fishing in the Caspian Sea to thirteenth century Persian poetry, somebody’s going to find an excuse to bring up the Zionist regime.
But getting back to Ahmadinejad’s thesis . . . In reality, the basic problem in the Islamic world is not the existence of the Zionist regime, but rather that it thinks that its basic problem is the existence of the Zionist regime. It is perhaps the biggest, most pathetic cop-out in human history.
In the entire history of civilization, has there ever been a more ludicrous sticking point supposedly responsible for the inability of a huge swath of the planet to advance or improve itself? Imagine everyone living in that Islamic swath stretching some 8,000 miles from one end to the other believing that their basic problem stems from the existence of one tiny country smaller in size than the state of Vermont. That is the very definition of mass insanity. If they were all waiting around for the mother ship to whisk them away to another planet, it wouldn’t be any crazier.
It is especially insane considering all the obvious things that are really wrong with so many Islamic countries. For instance, if I had to rattle a few of those things off the top of my head, they would be: horrible authoritarian leadership, religious fanaticism, tribalism, ignorance, backwardness, intolerance and a pathological aversion to modernity. But hey, the Islamic crazies all say, forget about such nattering details. What’s wrong with us is the existence of the Zionist regime.
So some of them wage a never-ending terror war against Israel (since they can‘t defeat it militarily), pouring all their energy and creativity into a useless, destructive endeavor that is doomed to failure. In doing so, they are the world’s greatest squanderers of human potential and allotted time on earth. Just imagine if they used all that time and energy doing something constructive. They might actually turn the region into something other than one of the world’s armpits.
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Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Apollo
Well said. That Ahmedinejad is a born psychopath and needs to be in a sanatorium not in such a responsible position.
2 - Mayank Austen Soofi
Israel doing a favor to the world by fighting with Lebanan is, of course, your opinion. But do you really think it is doing a favor to itself with all those sights of dead Muslim children daily appearing on TV screens? (Even if Hezbollah has purposely made the beirut kindergartens its missile launch pads.) Do you really think israel will be much safer now, and in the coming years? Safter than before this war started?
3 - Dave Nalle
Love the alliterative title.
And Mayank, he didn't say Israel was fighting Lebanon, but that it was fighting Hezbollah, and by doing that it's doing a big favor for the Lebanese more than anyoen else, because Hezbollah has been the main stumbling block to reestablishing peace and stability there.
Dave
4 - gazelle
eloquence apart, the cocaine will not make hezbollah go away. you guys need to get some ground reality about 'why the f--- ...', and easy answers are no answers as you yourself realize.
there are good reasons for why israel deserves the critical obsession from the world, and its not because they are jews or have friends in the US.
best
5 - Mayank Austen Soofi
Dave. Yes, the writer wrote Israel 'fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon'. But my doubts still stand. You are right that Hezbollah is a nuisance (a dangerous nuisance that is) to Lebanon, but I fear that Isreal won't get much out of bombing Beirut and inadvertently killing its people, even if its assisting Lebanese in getting rid of Hezbollah. (do people there dislike that organisation? has it no sympathy there? no following? I don't know..) People in the Arab world who are watching those dead bodies won't me much pleased. It is only winning more support for Hezbollah. Israel should have exercised some other option. The present actions are only hurting its long-trem security.
6 - Dave Nalle
Mayank, the only attack on Beirut specifically targeted Hezbollah headquarters and nothing else. Plus they attacked the Beirut airport. From what I've seen so far Lebanese civilian casualties have been quite low. Certainly nowhere near the scale of Israeli or Hezbollah casualties.
Dave
7 - SFC SKI
Mayank, Hizbollah has created its own areas of control in Southern Lebanon, that is to say the Lebanese government is not recognized as having legitimate authority in those areas. Secondly, because Hizbollah does have elected reps in the Lebanese government, it's military forces is not likely to be used against Hizbollah until Lebanon is forced to do so. (if it even can, the sad history of Lebanon is one of a weak central authority, and little national unity following the civil war). In short, Lebanon can't or won't deal with te Hizbollah terrorists living within their borders and attacking Israel, and neither Syria nor Iran want to end their use of war by Hizbollah proxies, therefore only Israel can really bring about a change in that region, sadly only through armed force.
On to the lager topic, the Arab world, moreso the hostile and extremist parts of the Muslim world's antipathy towards Israel is only one symptom of its inability to reflect on its own possible failings; it must have someone else to blame. Many Arab heads of state are also willing to hold up the presence of Israel as a problem so big that none of the other problems that challenge their blighted and oppressed peoples can be even be addressed until Israel is removed. Syria has long cast itself in the role of protector to justify a large military and its continuing, though apparently diminished involvement in Lebanon. (Syria considers Lebanon to be a geographic aberration, BTW, akin to Iraq calling Kuwait its 19th province.)
It's a damn shame, because the Lebanese were long considered a forward moving, moderate people, presenting an almost Western face on a mostly unknown region.
Iran has long supported Hizbollah in order to advance its version of an Islamic Republic in any area it can, an Arab face on a Persian scheme. The Iranian regime faces sanctions, and threats of outright force, therefore it chooses to use Hizbollah to strike at Israel and the US, and anyone else who won't support it, or can be cowed into supporting those in Teheran. Also, by appearing strong, the Iranian regime can better control its burgeoning and threatening domestic unrest and resistance. After all, if we won't oppose the mullahs outside of Iran, what assistance can we render those would seek to free themselves of Iranina theocracy inside Iran?
If the last Israeli were to swim west into the Mediterranean in order to appease the Arabs, it would not bring peace, stability, or contentment amongst the Arabs. In fact, if the Arab despots did not have Israel to blame for their problems, they nmight actually have to come up with solutions on their own, and that may terrify them more than war does.
8 - Bliffle
Addiction to cocaine leads to total depravity, and the same fate awaits the Israel obsessed countries of the ME.
9 - Bob
Good article. Congrats. Now, if only we westerners could stop that mass insanity that is our addiction to petrol fueled vehicles...we'd be on track to killing two burds with one stone. Saving our eco-asses and, via quitting sending BILLIONS in oil monies to those crazies, we'd effectively cut off their funding which, btw, finances these zealous campaigns seeking the destruction of Isreal and obtaining Nukes.
10 - Dean
Let's not overlook the crux of this matter.
Both sides violate international law but the US looks the other way when Israel is the violator.
Currently, it is UN Res 1559 that is being promoted.
We would advance peace in the Middle East a long way if ALL Resolutions were put on the front burner.
11 - gazelle
hizbollah and its supporter ARE the MAJORITY of the LEBANESE people.
somehow this fact is not filtering through.
hizbollah supporters are the civilians being killed and that is also unacceptable.
among the 600 dead (compared to israels 45?) according to jan egeland one-third are children.
open your eyes guys. or open yourself to internatinal media. get some multiperspective news. you are missing the reality of this.
best
12 - Triniman
Iran has to be dealt with sooner or later by a reluctant world, and the longer the world waits, the harder and bloodier it will likely be.
Perhaps the time is approaching to use Israeli nukes against Iran. If they don't do it sooner or later, Iran will use nukes directly or through Hezbollah, against Israel. Besides, Iran should be severely punished for supplying rockets to Hezbollah.
Nuking Iran is a very, very, very extreme measure. However, nothing in the past has curtailed Israel's enemies. I can't imagine they want to live with a nuclear Iran. Of course, nuking Iran will either scare the enemies of Israel into suing for peace or it will strenthen their resolve to destroy the Jewish state. I just wish they would accept Israel and focus on economic development to give hope to their people and raise their standard of living, instead of being jealous of the higher standard of living the Israelis have made for themselves. Keep the young people busy with education, training, jobs, careers and raising families and they will have something to lose. It's the ones who believe that they have nothing to lose who are willing to strap bombs to themselves. Would they did that if they have spouses and children of their own, and decent paying jobs, etc? Just my 2 cents.
13 - Dean
Triniman:
“Nothing in the past has curtailed Israel's enemies.”
What has not has “curtailed Israel's enemies” are the Palestinian refugees living in squalid refugee camps since 1948. You can blame other countries for this, but it is the US that should have taken the lead in solving the problem. Without US involvement and support there would have been no refugee problem.
“I just wish they would accept Israel and focus on economic development to give hope to their people and raise their standard of living, instead of being jealous of the higher standard of living the Israelis have made for themselves. “
You should wish the United States would have accepted responsibility for what it did not do with over a hundred billion dollars sent to the Israel over the years. This money has been used to build illegal settlements on Palestinian land, The money should have been used to get rid of the refugee camps so that there was no inclination to revolt.
You say that you want to “focus on economic development to give hope to their people and raise their standard of living, instead of being jealous of the higher standard of living the Israelis have made for themselves. “
Agreed, but it is now late in the game. Hundreds of billions have been wasted on illegal settlements and other counterproductive things, the refugee camps are still there, and the refugees in the camps are under bombardment by Israel. Not quite the ingredients for peace and tranquility.
“Keep the young people busy with education, training, jobs, careers and raising families and they will have something to lose.”
Exactly.
“It's the ones who believe that they have nothing to lose who are willing to strap bombs to themselves.””
I couldn’t agree more
14 - Bliffle
The US didn't create Israel, the UN did, under European influences. Maybe the 100,000 nomads living in the desert given to the jews were treated rudely, but they were rude times: 40 million europeans died in a horrid war started by Hitler, the Arabs favorite. A new threat from Russia dislocated many millions from Eastern Europe: that was pretty rude, too. And those Displaced Persons were taken in by the US and most other countries in a spirit of goodwill towards others. Alone among all the peoples of the world, the Arabs refused to take in their own brothers and cousins, deciding instead to use them as pawns in their stupid ancestral war against jews.
The US could have trampled over the ME countries and seized their oil fields for exploitation easily, but we chose to PAY the people of the ME for the oil! Amazing! And what did those idiots do with their windfall? They wasted the money on stupid royal extravagances and incessant warfare against that little tiny bit of desert the jews lived in. Need I point out that the jews made the desert bloom? That they organized themselves to improve their people with farms, universities, businesses and international diplomacy? And what did the arabs do during that time? Nothing! They didn't build farms, train doctors, develop advanced social government. They bowed down to every demagogue who whipped up hatred for jews and Israel. Scapegoating.
Is it any wonder that US citizens overwhelmingly support Israel? They struggle, they work, they sacrifice. They work past their defeats and move into the future. They're like us! The Arabs whine, backstab and steadfastly oppose self-improvement, clinging to dusty old books and ancient hatreds. That's exactly what most US people hate about welfare cheats, business cheats, stockade lawyers, used car salesman, and other bums. Oh yeah, the other guy we hate to see coming is that tiresome cousin who's always whining about some slight he received in highschool forty years ago.
15 - Dean
Bliffle
You're watching the Fox News Channel too much.
Read some legimate history books and open your closed mind. You might start with Harry Truman's diary.
16 - Dave Nalle
The fact that the US supported the creation of Israel doesn't change the fact that it was created under a UN mandate. The heart of it is that it was England more than any other country which was responsible for the creation of Israel and the US inherited their role in that part of the world to a large extent.
Bliffle is pretty much right on target with his description of the situation, though he's oversimplifying the breakdown of the population. There were several settled towns with mixed arab, christian and jewish populations in the area, i addition to some tens of thousands of bedouins.
Based on what I know of Bliffle's political views, I doubt very much that he's watching fox news. Dean, on the other hand, is listening to Air America with his critical capacity turned off.
Dave
17 - Greg Strange
Bliffle,
You absolutely nailed the difference between the modern, productive, progressive, innovative, prosperous culture of the Jews in Israel and the endless whining, negativity, hatefulness and ineptness of the Arab world, which is perfectly content to carry useless and self-destructive grudges until the end of time.
And the best criticism of your viewpoint that #15 Dean can come up with is that you watch too much Fox News and that you should read some "legimate" (sic) history books. You'll probably want to check out Hezbollah's recommended reading list to "open your closed mind."
18 - Dean
Dave:
It looks like you also watch the Fox News Cnannel too much, "with [your] critical capacity turned off."
Your spurious claim that I am "listening to Air America..." is as phoney as most of your speculations.
19 - Bliffle
I don't have cable so I do not get Fox, though I know some of the names by reputation. I DO however get lots of PBS and NPR, and I listen to KPFA occasionally. The commercials drove me away from commercial broadcast. Are those liberal enough for you Dean?
Don't make me flex my conservative muscles, you other snipers.
I'm an independent and try to judge each issue and candidate on merits. And I've even changed my mind on occasion.
20 - Greg Strange
There Dean goes with the Fox News Channel critique again. There seems to be a theme here.
21 - Dean
Bliffle this one was for you:
It's time for the next change.
22 - Dean
Greg:
I watch Fox News enough to know that it is the mouthpiece for the neocons.
23 - Greg Strange
It absolutely infuriates Fox News haters that there is one lonely network on television that isn't a mouthpiece for the standard liberal line on every issue.
24 - Dave Nalle
Your spurious claim that I am "listening to Air America..." is as phoney as most of your speculations.
No, Dean. It's EXACTLY as legitimate as your claim that Bliffle and I are watching Fox News - when you have no knowledge at all of what we watch except for your own bigotry and belief that you stygmatize people by calling them Fox News viewers.
Dave
25 - Dean
Dave:
Sorry, but I watch Fox News enough to know that neocons and their views predominate.
I consider what it broadcasts and it comes up short.
If Fox is right, the rest of the world is wrong.