strong horse paradigm- ride-em cowboy!

Submitted by Martin H. Katchen (United States), Feb 16, 2010 at 02:28

From the American perspective, the problem with a strong horse paradigm in the Middle East is that the strongest horses cannot be ridden. The United States appreciates the value of a "strong horse" regime in the Middle East in terms of gaining the respect of Arab people, but it has to be a horse that while strong is "broken to bit and bridle" in terms of following international norms and offering a favorable business climate. Expecting a well-broken quarter-horse to hold the respect of the rest of an essentially untrained herd is a neat trick if an international wrangler can pull it off--and if the quarter horse can withstand the continual challenges of young stallions coming up from the herd

. But in the long run, our wrangler will always be having to ride bucking bronco after bucking bronco and get back on every time the bronc throws him until he is broken. And ignore the cries of the animal rights activists sitting on the fence that what he's doing is cruel. That in a nutshell is a metaphor for our problems in the Middle East and Southwest Asia.

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