Lessons to Learn

There is a controversy at present over whether an obscure video/amateurish movie that presented Mohammed in a bad light was the cause of the recent murderous attacks on American embassies in Libya, Egypt, and other Muslim countries.  Conservatives point to evidence that the attack in Libya in particular was apparently  carefully planned and executed to commemorate the anniversary of the attacks of September 11, 2001 and are skeptical of claims the other attacks were spontaneous.  Leftists say that, whatever the case in Libya, the other attacks were spontaneous and driven by religious sentiments inflamed by a couple of video clips on YouTube. The interesting thing is that in most respects it doesn’t matter which side is right. If the attacks were planned, terrorists’ assaults timed for the anniversary of the attacks of 2001, they were  the work of vicious savages who cannot be trusted to behave in a civilized manner. If the attacks were spontaneous outbursts of violent religious fanaticism, they were   the work of vicious savages who cannot be trusted to behave in a civilized manner.

This does not mean that all Muslims are savages or untrustworthy. It does provide additional evidence that that from Pakistan  to North Africa the savages and fanatics are on the march in one way or another, and it illustrates how violent that savagery and fanaticism can be.

I think it is fairly clear that the United States should never have fought the war with Iraq and should have left Afghanistan after completing its punitive expedition in early 2002. This country never needed  to be involved in nation building, colonization, or futile attempts to civilize the un-civilizable in the Middle East. The United States has a vested interest in preventing dangerous fanatics from getting nuclear weapons and a commitment to help Israel avoid  destruction. Beyond that, activities for the present should be limited to keeping the sea lanes open and the oil flowing. American policy for the future should be to develop energy resources and production of all sorts in North America with a goal of fully self-sufficient energy production on the continent as soon as possible. Once this goal is reached, America should leave the Middle East to the Middle Easterners (and such  European and Asian nations as may still need the oil). These places are far from home and should not be our problem to solve or burden to bear.