Thanks. The Crusades are a passion of mine. And so much of what Bush is doing is reminiscent of the Crusaders. In fact, I see two crusading leaders who remind me of Bush and Bill Clinton:
1. Clinton is like Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor. He had a harem, was a scientific inquirer and spoke Arabic. Needless to say, the Pope hated him. On the night he sailed away on crusade, he was excommunicated. Frederick arrived and simply ask the Muslims to return Jerusalem. They did, and he sailed back to Italy (he was also King of Sicily and most of Southern Italy, which was another reason the Pope hated him). He was totally successful in recovering the Holy City and the religious nuts hated him for not killing Muslims.
2. Bush is like King Louis IX (later Saint Louis). The crusaders had Jerusalem, so Louis attacked Egypt, which had not been part of the crusader holdings at any point. His attacks caused the overthrow of the moderate Ayubbid Sultanate (Saladin's descendants) and brought on the rule of the fanatical Mamlukes, who were military slaves. The Mamlukes defeated Louis, held him for a huge ransom and took back Jerusalem. The crusaders were left hanging on to their coastal cities by a thread. He attacked the wrong place, helped violent radicals sieze control and left the entire area in peril. The population loved him and they cheered when he was made a saint. The voters were wacko back before Diebold machines. |
