I am for love and peace as much for anyone else. I am also a pragmatist. If we can teach those in the middle east the gospel(as in the BoM as AA alluded to in another thread)and get everyone to calm down that way then fine. However, given the current non-solicitation policies of most middle east countries that seems doubtful - at least for a good long while.
So what are we left with?
We are left to protect ourselves assiduously and to not trust the other side. Some may argue that that just exasterbates & elongates that problem. Could be. But the west cannot afford to make mistakes in this regard. If usama offers a truce what exactly do you think that the motivations are behind that?
Its a very unfortunate situation with no one trusting each other. But I just don't know how to get around it. The US is distrusting of the muslim world and a good portion of the muslim world(at least in the me) have a stark hatred for the US and everything that it represents.
I do not condemn Islam as a religion(as I have said before) nor the middle east as a whole but the situation with them needs to be treated, at the very, very least, with extreme caution.
One good thing(at least potentially) that is happening right now is the increased number of Arabs that are coming to the US to study in our colleges. That will educate them and give them some exposure to our way of life and hopefully see, at least in part, that perhaps America in not just some giant evil entity.
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