Don't Kid Yourself

The Saudi's are not and never will be our friends. Our relationship with them is for mutual convenience, but they are not to be trusted - ever.

This is why. It is an article written by Aayan Hirsi Ali in the LA Times Oped entitled: Why the deny the Holocaust.

She asks a perfectly reasonable question:

"What's striking about Ahmadinejad's conference is the (silent) acquiescence of mainstream Muslims. I cannot help but wonder: Why is there no counter-conference in Riyadh, Cairo, Lahore, Khartoum or Jakarta condemning Ahmadinejad? Why are the 57 members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference silent on this?

Could the answer be as simple as it is horrifying: For generations, the leaders of these so-called Muslim countries have been spoon-feeding their populations a constant diet of propaganda similar to the one that generations of Germans (and other Europeans) were fed — that Jews are vermin and should be dealt with as such? In Europe, the logical conclusion was the Holocaust. If Ahmadinejad has his way, he shall not want for compliant Muslims ready to act on his wish."

I don't think the contemporary Muslim world quite reflects Germany circa 1933. First off, not a single Muslim country is a world military power like Germany. Even Pakistan is a second or third tier army...as is Turkey. But the current world situation is no less scary if only because it's just as hard to play. Fighting Germany is like a poker opponent with a little smaller stack. Playing against Germany and Japan would be like playing against two fairly rational opponents with medium sized stacks. Playing against Islamic fundamentalists is like playing against twently crazy men who barely know the rules each with a small stack. You can beat most of them, but the odds tell you that some of them will win sometimes.