Brice writes:

> Mr Lee has a good point in that the Middle East was a hotbed of discord
>  for a long time before The French republic, the British Empire or the
>  USA even existed.
>
>  Italy was involved way back then, but there would have been trouble
>  without the involvement of any one else.

That is unforunately not true. For 200 years, all during the eight and ninth
centuries, Baghdad was the richest, most well-educated, most scientific city
in the world. It's original name, Madinat al Salam, means "City of Peace," just
as Amman, Jordan's original name was Philadelphia, meaning the "City of
Brotherly Love."

These are not the names that war-mongers give to their cities or their people.

If you condense the last 2800 years of history in the region, there are
certainly a number of wars, and that may make the region look instable in this
telescoped version of history, but it's important to keep in mind that Bush's
political advisors just recently advised him that two wars per four-year term is
probably optimal, certainly no more than that.

Wirt Atmar

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