Check your facts

Submitted by Confused (United States), Nov 22, 2010 at 23:31

Ever heard of Al-Andalus? Prolly not because it happened a long time ago in a country far, far away. Al-Andalus (The stolen stolen one in arabic borrowed from the visigoth pronunciation of "vandal") was invaded by the Moors (North African Muslims, usually Berbers) in 711 AD. The Christian Crusades took place between 1095 and 1291 AD, after after the Caliphate of Cordoba (the rulers of Al-Andalus) broke up into several smaller states. Even though Spain wasn't entirely recaptured until 1492 the Crusades were started as a way to push the Moors back from Europe. Since the end of the Crusades in 1291 (or 1492) Christianity has not been a factor.

The Current conflict was Caused by the artificial political borders created after World War 2 and the politics of the Cold War. The UN and it's members grouped people together WHO HATED EACH OTHER, and then the US and USSR gave them weapons to fight a civil war. The economic hardships that come from having every male over a certain age killed led to the ultraconservative Madh'hab schools in Yemen gaining prominence (with financial backing from the Saudi Arabia they began educating "scholar" from across the world) and the "black turban" Taliban Islamist sect among others gained power using the teachings learned from a generation of fighting and a only little yemenite indoctrination. Don't blame religion --either Christianity or Islam-- when political interference alone is the cause.

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