Coming strictly from my own layman's perspective, the Luttwak piece seemed to paint the middle east, arabs, muslims, etc. (groups that cannot easily be "grouped") with broad strokes of 1st world arrogance and indifference. Something we are all very used to hearing among average folks here on the ground, but something I find very disturbing and dangerous coming from someone who supposedly has a better vantage point to make observations from than most of us.
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Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats. - Diane Arbus
PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce
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