Jekyl’s World - Our Little Middle Eastern Problem

I’ve been a little quiet since the September 11^th business.  I haven’t been entirely sure how I want to go on record about it.  I’ve had a bit of time now to contemplate it and what I’ve come up with ain’t very pretty.

Many of us share deep, immediate emotions that cry out for retribution and retaliation for what has been done to our own.  For those of you who are monosyllabic, that means we want to bomb the bejesus out of them.   The real problem is figuring out who they is.  Additionally, we have been offended by those who would suggest that America is doing something which caused this backlash from the Muslim extremists.  I’ll tell you something;  I’m not so sure that we haven’t.

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m as true blue and as patriotic as anyone.   I can’t listen to the national anthem at the opening of a ballgame without getting choked and teary.   I cry when I watch Saving Private Ryan, even though I’ve seen it 20 times.   I did my time in the U.S. Army and protected the borders from communists, or whoever it was they told us that we were protecting against at the time.  I would gladly step forward and summarily execute every one of those Arab bastards that are behind this.   I would probably pull the trigger to take out thousands in one shot.  I have no love for those fanatics.  Until 9/11, I was insulated along with the rest of you enough to allow my criticism to be stated  in simple humorous jabs pointing out how ridiculous their behavior is.  Well, that’s all changed now and I will stop short of saying that I hate them, whoever they are.  I would gladly deliver the counter punch on America’s behalf.  You can be damn sure that I will cheer as others deliver those blows for us.

Now, having said that……….

As I understand these fanatics’ beliefs, they are pissed off about a couple of things;  1)  That we support their mortal enemies: the Israelis, and 2) That we maintain troops in their Holy Land: Saudi Arabia.

Leaving all religious mumbo-jumbo aside, I would like to ask why, exactly, America feels the need to continually prop up Israel.  Our entire system is based on majority rule, isn’t it?  There’s this little pocket of people in the Middle East surrounded on all sides by a huge majority of folks with vastly different beliefs and view points and we stick up for the minority.  It wouldn’t be so bad if they were meek, mild-mannered folks who asked for help, but they are provocative, ruthless, and entirely uncooperative.  I don’t pretend to know the entire history, but as I understand part of it, the Israelis forcibly took a bunch of land from the Palestinians years ago (I’m too lazy to look it up.  Was it 1967 or 1973?) and have been building towns there since.  The rest of the world has told them that these settlements are illegal under international law (the same laws that created Israel), but they do nothing but thumb their noses at the world.  And on top of that, they kill these folks on a pretty regular basis for violently protesting the occupation of their homes.   In fairness, the Arabs senselessly murder innocent Israelis on a pretty regular basis as well, which would piss anyone off pretty badly.  I think these folks just take turns committing atrocities on each other.  I believe it’s been this way for several thousand years, which is one reason that I don’t think that we, or anyone else, can solve it now. 

So how do we, the most powerful nation on Earth, deal with this?  We send the Israelis billions of dollars a year to perpetuate what they’re doing.  Again, leaving aside the religious stuff, what does America get out of this deal with Israel?  Olive Oil?  The Arabs have all of the oil, which is what all of the conspiracy theorists would have you believe this is all about. 

I don’t give a damn about Israel.  I don’t give a damn about Iraq.  Or Afghanistan, Lebanon, Iran, Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, or any of the rest of them.   If it’s about oil, allow me to let you in on a little secret:  It’s going to run out.   Maybe not today or tomorrow, but it will and the sooner we prepare for not needing it, the better off we’ll all be.

I suggest we take the billions of dollars that we send to the Middle East every year, and the billion dollars a month we’re spending right now bombing the Afghanis, and give it to research scientists who can develop the technology that we need to allow us to live completely oil-free.  They can do it and it would be a lot less trouble than killing all of the fanatics.  Matter of fact, if we Americans leave the Mid-East equation they would very probably kill each other.  What’s more important is that it might, just might keep them from wanting to kill us.  I, for one, would prefer to go back to worrying about Gary Condit, Robert Blake and his wife, and Sigfried and Roy, rather than whether or not we’re going to get bombed or poisoned in our daily routines.

I am as pissed off as everyone else in America.  You poke me in the eye with a stick and I am going to administer a serious ass kicking on you from here to tomorrow.  You kill my brother and I’ll kill three of yours.  We’re tougher than you.  Woof, woof.   I don’t expect that we’ll ever have the same beliefs as those folks in the Middle East.  But if they will stay over there on their side of the world and leave me alone, chances are that I’m going to stay over here on my side and not bother them.  And that’s the way I’d prefer it.