Which begs the question: if it’s not the pimply, over-Coked, underpriveleged Muslim Teenage Ninja Turtles who are going splat! (or more recently, flop!), where should the focus be? Possible answer: Get out of Saudi Arabia, Yemen, in fact the whole Gulf area. Problem #1: That’s where the oil is. Problem #2: That’s what Osama the Banana has been saying all along. Problem #3: What happens if we do get the flock out of there? Who wins?
My brain hurts.

It all seems to simple to me. So simply unsolvable. I think it’s possible we could sit down and negotiate some, maybe major portions of these disputes out. But look at the principles. Both sides are led by religious fundamentalists who believe they are driven by and protected by a god. A god. They don’t just think they’ve got a really great idea, they both think that in their proverbial corner stands an approving, supernatural being.

I think the first thing we need to do is change some of the major players. Then ideas, sure.

Another option: give them all houses.

Once they are busy calculating insulation depth in the attic, how to stop the underground sprinklers from spraying all over the place, or how to put together laminated flooring they won’t have time to contemplate the hereafter.

And it would be less expensive than the current military budget.

The take home message may be found in the last paragraphs of the interview:

TAC: What do you think the chances are of a weapon of mass destruction being used in an American city?

RP: I think it depends not exclusively, but heavily, on how long our combat forces remain in the Persian Gulf. The central motive for anti-American terrorism, suicide terrorism, and catastrophic terrorism is response to foreign occupation, the presence of our troops. The longer our forces stay on the ground in the Arabian Peninsula, the greater the risk of the next 9/11, whether that is a suicide attack, a nuclear attack, or a biological attack.

America is safer, indeed.

Ok, it isn’t funny but it could work.

Hope Perlman