Interesting read

Well on one level, I'm not sure if you can get rid of terrorism. The power that one individual can have at this point in time in the way of communications, munitions, and ability to disrupt to meet their specific needs (right or wrong) is amazing. Keep in mind that things like "Desktop publishing" allowed small people with tiny voices to help "change" the Soviet empire from the inside. There will always be an idiot with an opinion and a detonation device waiting to make his / her voice heard.

From what I know about the middle east, is that since the beginning of recorded time, the sections between Turkey, North Africa, India, and middle "Russia" have been in constant turmoil. Resources are relatively scarce, people band(ed) together in Nomadic tribes, and sometimes the only way to "win" was to either organize well, or play kill your neighbor. Out of this section of the world we have Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Of the three, Judaism and Islam serve as "moral" and "civil" law reference points for the followers. It's arguable that Christianity with issues of Rome, and alignment of moral law into civil law "EG: the institution of the "10 commandments" into our laws, plays a part here, but let's face it, Christianity is a minority in this wartorn part of the world and dosent seem to have as much impact on society as the laws of the Jewish or Islamic faiths (again, in that section of the world).

I think your point about the crusades should also include this -- it was the issue of "moral law" (Christianity) mixing with "Civil law" (ok greed of local groups) that caused a lot of the wars, resource and land grabs, and killings during this period. My point is here that whenever religion is used as an excuse to move humanity forward by interlacing "moral" and "Civil" laws, it's a toxic mix. This is why although I'm a religious person, I do whatever I can to ensure that "Church" and "State" are kept separate -- thank goodness our founding fathers saw to that!

It seems to be "in their nature" of folks in the middle east to be nomadic and want absolute control over their respective areas (and then some). Also, in this area of the world, it seems that there is a bad case of "good old boy politics", but in the case of this section of the world, the politics are deeply infused by issues of religion. And therefore there's plenty of room for an enterprizing person or small clan of people that can distract the masses from their purposes by simply hiding behind this complex system of laws.

True, at this time, you really only see things that the media (and local governments) want you to see -- We've been shown that the Taliban are evil people, control with a very overbearing hand and use the Islamic religion as a club to instill law and order which no one would (or can) argue with. You only see issues where one segment of the group goes and stirs up crap and causes a skirmish. It's newsworthy, and it's covered. Because it tends to overshadow any other messages -- whether its for all the good that is being done in the area, or all of the collateral business corruption in the area, or who knows what -- we only see what "the media" wants us to see.

This is why I like the alternative media -- Blogs, Podcasts from other news sources, etc. It gives you a different perspective on the world.

Now -- let's look at the positives for a minute -- There are other Middle Eastern countries, that are either Islamic by majority or by rule, that play nicely in the world -- UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait all know how they play in the world commerce system and are sensitive to how they interact with non Arabic / Islamic folks. They are very accommodating and tolerant of others.

It's the small collection of nutcases that want to push their agenda using a Religion as a "cow catcher" as they try to run through other countries for political control that are the ones that we should call terrorists -- and are the ones we need to focus on. In the same context of the story you referenced, we shouldnt have a war on aviation, we should have a war on those who attack us.

It's not the religion -- honestly it's not -- it's the nutcases behind the extremist factions that cause this chaos. Unfortunately, with all the economic disparity in that section of the world, for the most part it's the poor and despondent (and disillusioned) that tend to want to follow these preachers / Imams / Leaders down this path. It is because that the style and mechanisms of this "war" are more at the individual level that we need to change our style of engagement. We've gone from large "platoon" movements of 100's of people, down to assault groups of 3-8 folks. We've moved out of Bradley's (at this point of the engagement) and into more nimble moving equipment (HumVees and the like). We are not fighting a massive Islamic nation (as we were with the Japanese and Germans) we are fighting single unit terrorists, individuals or groups, that choose to hide within and disrupt a fragile country.

We also need to change tactics and monitor EVERY style of communications. Knowing who is talking to who and how these groups are communicating is the key to keeping the attacks small and non-coordinated. You let folks with this kind of agenda communicate and plan, and then you have the attack of the WTT's all over again.

I think one part of your point Larry is this -- don't forget. Dont forget Japan, Germany, Korea, Vietnam, and the Middle East. They are all different and at the same time similar.

And -- I dont care who gets this part right -- I wish we could come up with an "accurate middle east policy" as a world society and act on it. I'm sure that part of the reason why we're here at this time is that there are folks that are "have-nots" looking at us westerners (Europe, USA), the "haves" and getting tired of being 4th, 10th, 100th on the rung of humanity. I feel that if there was some level of "equal playing field" for the masses of folks there, this crap may not have happened (or continue to happen). Indonesia isnt as bad as the Middle east and for the most part, they are islamic and dont really have that much of a problem about what's going on in the world. Same with Pakistan. Ok, I'm not ignorant to the point to say that they dont have their own problems, I'm just saying that I dont think that the western world is seen as the root of all evil for these folks -- the source of their demons are closer to them than we are.

I would also like to feel (and here's the american jingoism coming out), that we are diverse enough in our place in the northern (and maybe southern) hemispheres that Islamic extremism (EG: Taliban style rule) will not have enough time to take control. There are too many people here that would NOT lay down and take it ..

However, I do think that the only thing at this time that would cause this level of "armageddon" would be the exhaustion of all petrochemical fuel supplies on this planet. That should happen in the next 200 years .. after that, Humanity will be in a world of hurt and chaos. We'd be back to throwing rocks at each other and living in oddly ruled clans -- like "MAD MAX" like living ..

Frankly, THAT's what we should be worrying about -- I mean come on, if I cant have electrical power or a way to get to / from work, how can I power my Macintosh -- and after all, that's the only thing that's important here, Right?

Mike