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Politics : President Barack Obama -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tejek who wrote (136376)	8/28/2013 2:32:26 PM
From: Road Walker	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 149317

I think if the West does nothing now, the problem will only grow bigger going forward. The West has been doing a lot, for a long long time. And the problem keeps growing bigger. If we bomb the crap out of them do we REALLY believe that's going to make anything better for anyone? How? Sometimes I think, usually I think we do this stuff to make ourselves feel better. On several levels.

To: tejek who wrote (136376)	8/28/2013 3:26:49 PM
From: koan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 149317

I can see how one would go back and forth on Syria. My view of the ME is more philosophical. What is going on is a 7th century culture is interfacing with a 21st century culture. The 7th century culture must evolve. We cannot have 7th century cultures in the 21st century with nuclear weapons, etc. So there was going to be an upheaval any way you slice it. 13 centuries they have to span. So what I look at is what is the most judicious way for this necessary evolution to take place. The secular folks have to gain power. Which they are. The faster the better. In Egypt the military for all its corruption, at least is defending the secular community against the primitive theocrats. If the same thing was going on in Iran the secular community would have control. Kids are secular. It has also worked pretty well in Turkey. Ironically the Saudi's forming alliances with Egypt will result in a quicker demise for them, which is very good. But it is a complex dynamic that probably just has to play itself out on its own and we should just shore up the perimeters (like defending the Kurds) where we can and let it manifest itself on its own. Making sure the internet is available is probably our biggest weapon. That allows modern thinking to infiltrate the 7th century dogma and speeds up change.