Nations and Tribes...When Will WE Learn?

"Great powers never should involve themselves in
the political disputes of small tribes."
Kamil Salibi, Lebanese historian

























I remember watching Lawrence of Arabia a long time ago. It was one of my mother's favorite movies, and it is an epic film to learn much from. After reading Thomas L. Friedman's op-ed piece discussing the Chinese and American worldview, I couldn't help thinking about that movie again. Friedman says, "...over the last 6 years, China prepared for the Olympics while we built up an immense national debt buying Ipods and fighting Al-Qaeda."

Later, Friedman relates an incident he heard about from an American officer. His
unit was on patrol in a Sunni neighborhood when it was hit by an IED. A Black Hawk helicopter was in the area and alerted the soldiers on the ground that a man was escaping on a bicycle. The helicopter then used its generated wind to knock the insurgent off the bike. As Friedman writes, "the image of a $6 million helicopter being used for this captures the absurdity of our situation in
Iraq."

The map to the right illustrates the ethnic make-up of the country that Bush's general has us staying in for the indeterminable future. I can only hope that the next president, and the present Congress, take a look at Peter O'Toole and his classic role as a British hero and realist in an ancient world of tribes, hatred, and sand.