I asked my favorite professor

Submitted by Zentrist (United States), Nov 20, 2008 at 23:24

Many years ago I asked my favorite government professor, "What is the Middle East conflict all about?" or words to that effect. His indirect answer (as if he knew the answer) was food for thought at the time--and it kind of remains food for thought. He said, "the roots of this conflict are to be found in the Bible."

One of many things I admire about Dr. Alan Keyes is that he uses the Bible as his compass. He knows who he is; he knows where he stands; and he knows what needs to be done. (I had the privilege of hearing him speak at a church in Dallas many years ago, when he was running for president.)

Recently, the journalist Cal Thomas taught me something that I, in my ignorance, didn't even know: The Arabs were offered a Palestinian State from the get-go. They turned it down, he said. If so, this fact provides a whole different angle from which to approach the problem.

Still, what my old prof said and what Cal Thomas reminded his readers about: None of this really helps with the current reality or question, What is the next fair and right and just step? There are some unorthodox views out there that have a lot of merit, in my opinion. One of the main ones, is this: our foreign policies in the region (including our presence in Saudi Arabia, e.g.) are probably helping bin Laden's cause, not ours. bin Laden's goal is to win over the one point four billion Muslims in the world, without whose help, he cannot "push Israel back into the sea."

If he succeeds in winning over the hearts and minds of the devotees of Muhammed (and he already has an alarming percentage, according to polls), then he can slowly but surely get his way, whatever that is. I suppose what bin Laden would like is this: terrorism runs rampant in our Homeland, the U.S. If he can stop our support for Israel, then his vision of the "Caliphate" or whatever will see the light of day. Starting in the Middle East (for we will by then have long since hightailed it out of there).

What I'm hoping with Obama as prez is that we can begin to take some of the wind out of UBL's sails. True enough, with hard power, we've already taken away some of his short term goals. Or, have we? Did we really play right into al-Qaida's hands by invading Iraq? Dr. Michael Scheuer has argued with some force that we have, that we did. But that book is old, now. We're now in a new reality. The surge has apparently worked. We seem to have won the war. Seem to have. I tend to doubt it. But if so, Obama will have a much stronger hand to play. With the success of hard power already evident, he can now continue our efforts, his way, of winning the battle for hearts and minds. This is the decisive "battle field" I think. If terrorism were to erupt here at home in a big and disruptive way, then al-Qaida is surely getting the upper hand. They are for fear. And terror here at home would scare the living daylights out of most of us. Farewell, Israel.

We don't want to see that. We want to see a "win-win deal" in the Middle East that does right by all countries involved, including us. I like Dennis Ross. I'm hoping that with him and Hillary at State we can begin to deal with all the loose ends remaining from the Camp David deal. I want to see peace in the Middle East in my lifetime. A sustainable peace.

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