1549
Active Member
What if we identify that war IS going to help this region? It is obvious that negotiation and appeasement have not worked. So, ruling out those three aforementioned options, what do YOU recommend (presumptious of me to assume you posses one of those "better minds" but, what the hell, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt).
By better minds I was not referring to myself--I was thinking of the scholars and government minds with intellect that dwarfs the minds of message board posters (like us). To say that the war will help the region defies all logic. You did not dispute the causes of violence that I posted before. The war does not solve any of those issues.
I would guess that the solution would have to come from many angles and involve the international community.
1: Make concessions. For starters: recognize palestine. Doing so alleviates one source of tension and shows that the U.S. is looking to help the Islamic world, not destroy it.
2: Make ammends with the rest of the globe. I know we all like to think that the U.S. does not need the support of others to succeed, but in this case we do. Having the support of the UN helps eliminate the "us vs. them" mentality that exists in the muslim world. It also makes it more difficult for arab leaders to villify the U.S.
3: Crack down on Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is our "ally" in the region, yet their national wahhabi practices are the most extreme in the arab world and it breeds resentment of the west. We have turned our cheek to the Saudi's disgusting way of governing because of oil...that needs to change. Embargos and other UN actions can pressure the Saudi crown into mellowing their ways.
4: Extend humanitarian aid across the region. Israel's practice of bulldozing villages doesn't work. We should be building them instead. Helping to build infrastructure is essential to bettering life for the people of muslim nations. The U.S. can not do this unless they have the UN on their side. No leader will turn down humanitarian aid when pressured by the entire world.
Some posters here will criticize these ideas to no end, but the fundamental concepts of global support and bettering the common arab man are necessary.