Bitter Pill For The Arab World
 

A bitter pill for the Arab world to swallow is the bombings happening in Iraq. After years of government sponsored terrorism and supporting the Palestinian terrorist campaign towards Israel for so long, Arabs are getting hit with the sharp end of the stick. Perhaps the good that will come out of this is that Arabs will realize that blowing up civilians is not a valid tactic and a terrorist is a terrorist is a terrorist.

JBX, do you really think that this hasnt been happening in the Arab world for many years? And the Palestine - Israel conflict isnt exactly a one sided series of attacks, is it?

man... i think the bitter pill for the arab world is called "the last 50 years." If they had taken a different tack in the 20th century... think of how peaceful and prosperous they could have been. Some of those countries possess incalculable wealth in natural resources, but their people are oppressed and sometimes live in squalor. Meanwhile, the clerics point their fingers at a wholly separate civilization across the ocean and their oligarchs frivolously stockpile billions. Historically they've morphed from a center of trade and learning to being insulated and myopic.

among all this violence and waste, i doubt the arabs take much notice to the bitterness of a few more homicide bombers.

Going off of what Irate said the people's lives often are so miserable they turn to Allah and his clerics. Aslong as those clerics are around indoctrinated the people with hate, and aslong as the people turn to them for leadership and buy into it the horrible cycles of violence will continue.

While I wouldn't characterize it as a "bitter pill" I definitely believe it is a new era in terrorism. While there have certainly been Arab victims of terrorism the attacks in Iraq over the last several months will do as much or more damage to terrorist organizations than the US's war on terror. Al Qaeda and others will be further alienated from the majority of Muslims and any support the more moderate Muslims gave to the extremists will deteriorate.

"The Arabs are their own worst enemy".

That isn't me saying that, it isn't an Israeli, it was something I read a few years back from an Egyptian intellectual talking about inter-Arab strife.

I do however agree with it.

I think there is a little too much generalization going on here. The people suffering from bombs in Iraq aren't the ones strapping them on in Israel. To say an arab is an arab is to paint with much too broad a brush.

I believe one side targets terrorist and the other civilians.

zing