MIDDLE EAST MESS
A cranky opinion for
CRANLY OPINION SATURDAY
The following is the opinion of a
cranky old man with little knowledge on the subject opined. It is an opinion that I could easily be
swayed against, so opposing views are welcome.
As always, please, no name calling, and that means you, you big stupid
head!
I know very
little about the Middle East. Does
anyone really understand this area? What I do know, or at least think I know is
this:
The
predominant religion in this area is Islam.
There is a very small minority of Christians. The only non-Muslim country is Jewish Israel.
Religion is very, very important in this
area. The Muslims hate the
Christians. The Muslims really hate the
Jews. The Muslims hate all the other
Muslims who belong to different Muslim sects.
There is a
ton of oil in this area. There is a ton
of money in this area that comes from the oil.
Only a very small minority of the people in the oil rich countries are
fabulously wealthy. Everyone else is poor,
really poor, they are “I don’t give a crap poor.” People who are "I don't give a crap poor," people with little hope of anything else are very dangerous people.
Israel has
no oil. Israel manages to grow stuff in
a desert. Israel is productive without
oil. Israel seem to be
prosperous. Israel only manages to exist
in the middle of a bunch of countries that all want to destroy it because they
are friggin tough.
A new group
of fanatical Muslims is now trying to take over the whole area. They destroy whatever they touch and kill
anyone they just feel like killing. They like to kill Christians. They really like to kill Jews. They will kill Muslims that think differently
from them. They kill homosexuals, they
kill women who don’t cover-up, and in general they kill whomever they feel like
killing. They seem to enjoy the killing
and the more violent the killing the more they like it.
The current
US administration does not want to get their hands dirty and stop this
killing. Previous administrations tried
to stop this type of activity; they apparently only managed to stop one group
but left the door open for this new group to take over.
The
situation in the Middle East is a mess.
The mentality of the US is see a mess, clean it up. We don’t seem to know how to clean up this
mess. It seems like the people in the
Middle East want the mess. They don’t
know anything else. Maybe we need to
just step back and let them figure it out for themselves. Stand by Israel, the only country in the area
that seems to have their stuff together, and let the rest of the chips fall
where they may.
It won’t be
pretty. We will feel guilty for all the
bad stuff that goes down. People will
hate us for not cleaning up the mess. People
in this area hate us anyway. They always
have, and probably always will.
But we need
the oil?
We can suck
it up and do without for a while…that shit just heats up the planet anyway.
I think the
only solution in the Middle East is to not interfere. Let the people of the Middle East just
keep doing what they do best. Murder,
maim and destroy. Maybe after a bunch of
years there won’t be anyone left to murder and hate. Maybe those that are left will get tired of
murder, maiming and destroying. Like a
disease that has no cure, but goes away when the only people left are resistant
to the virus, this may be the only way to end the virus of hate in the Middle
East.
I don’t like
this idea. I’d rather just go in and
clean up the mess, but we’ve tried and only made things worse. If we let them alone in the Middle East they may
be too busy murdering, maiming and destroying in their own lands to be bothered
with the rest of the world.
I don’t like
it, but since nothing seems to work, maybe we should just do nothing.
The preceding was the opinion of a
cranky old man, and not necessarily that of management...Mrs. Cranky
You just got it about right! :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty much with you on this one. I wish there were a place to keep the innocents until the idiots have slewed each other. It all needs put back together again, someday.
ReplyDeleteI think you understand the situation perfectly!!
ReplyDeleteI think you've got this down pretty well. These are thugs running around doing whatever they want. We also have way too many in this country and that's frightening. The same will eventually happen here. It's what they do.
ReplyDeleteHave a fabulous day. ☺
it is terrifying to see the headlines each day of is invading syria and making greater gains day by day. i do believe we've continually stirred things up over there when we've tried to help, and as you said, we tromp down one power only to make room for another, maybe worse. lord help us all...
ReplyDeleteIf one believes in the Bible, it has said in at least one place to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Maybe that's what we all need to do, no matter what religion we might profess to.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise, I think you summed it up really well with what's going on there, it will be interesting what the next administration might decide to do.
betty
If oil were to become irrelevant, the Middle East would possibly eventually become irrelevant.
ReplyDeleteSo if we would want to do something about this mess, we know what the first step should be.
In no way will i ever say i know what to do about this mess, and your solution sounds tragic and very likely what will happen.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing i will say for sure is that the Christian "minority" used to be not such a small minority in those countries. Most of these countries were up to 40% Christian at one time, and are now in the single digits because indigenous Christian populations were the first ones the Muslim fanatics went after.
It is exhausting isn't it? You might have a sound approach if only there weren't so many innocents being slaughtered. Think an alternative fuel source making oil useless might be helpful.
ReplyDeleteYou've got a lot of support for your position, not just here but from other, more 'famous' sources.....Henry K. was quoted at least 10 years ago when asked the question 'what should we be doing in the middle east', he said "Nothing".
ReplyDeleteMy question, at least at this point, would be 'what do we do when Syria is controlled by ISIS, and starts an effective invasion of Israel? Suggest Israel use nuc's? Send troops to help?
Yeah, we're at an impasse in the middle east, but if we just let it play out, the cost might be fore in the future.
And no, like Henry the K., I have no idea.
Don't know much about geography,
ReplyDeleteDon't know much trigonometry.
Know a little about algebra,
Don't know what a slide rule is for.
But I do know that one and one is two,
And on this one I agree with you,
What a cold, cruel world this can be.
Your summary is what we need to hear on the news - straightforward and honest. 100% agree with you. And to those who criticize the president for "not doing anything" - what do they want? US troops in the middle of that mess of bloodthirsty, godless demons? God bless the president for keeping everything but drones out of there!
ReplyDeleteHi Cranky Man,
ReplyDeleteI don't agree with all of that because I think you are generalising far too much and believing the propaganda that the TV networks tell you.
I have been to the Middle East and returned back unscathed. I met some very friendly and tolerant people there.
Of course, there are extremists there but, equally, there are extremists everywhere, including your country and mine. Islamic State is a major cause for concern and believe me some of the nations out there are worried about what they can and will do.
The US, Europe and the UK all went steaming into the area because there was oil there and we could all profit from it. We are partly to blame for some of the mess that exists. We all preach about human rights and how we had to do something, but then we conveniently forget about other countries where , as you say, the leaders murder, maim and destroy their own people - like North Korea for example. Would the US or UK ever step in there?
The answer is no - because there is nothing to profit from.
In my country a few extremists demonise Muslims and the Middle East because of the behaviour of a few psychopaths (and believe me, these people are in the minority but are so extreme that they do not value the lives of those who do not adhere to their interpretation of Islam). Such people believe that because some Muslims are like that then ALL Muslims are like that. And that is a bad way to think.
I believe, as you do, that the US and Europe should never have intervened in the first place. In my opinion, we have contributed to the mess.
I'm not saying we shouldn't keep an eye on what is going on, in case there is a credible threat, but we do have allies in that area - who will actually be in the firing line long before we are.
Cheers
PM
Here's how I see it.
ReplyDeleteLong ago, Western powers drew boundaries for Middle Eastern countries with no regard to the histories and cultures of the people living there. So they mashed Kurds, Sunnis, and Shiites into one country (Iraq), and did similar things with others. It was never going to work, not because people there love to kill but because based on their histories they can't see a way to get along. More recently, our misguided interference has made us attractive targets for the anger of people who are hopelessly mired in bad situations. (Some of those people have found amazing ways to be ruthless and cruel. It has happened in other cultures as well.)
I don't often agree with Henry K, but I do think the only way to a lasting solution is for the residents of the area to determine their own futures, which will require them to fight things out while we mind our own business. Not easy to do, but the only way.
Excellent, Nancy.
DeleteSpot on Joe. I think our collective compassion wants to help all those innocents caught in the middle of that mess over there. Our hearts say "Do something!" But the fact is, despite out immense military power, it does have its limits. And the same with our finances....we have so many things we want to do, and not enough money to fund it all. It's a truly sad situation.
ReplyDelete