This Middle East unrest looks like it will continue for

[Islandman]

at least another few days. Hopefully it is contained and the violence is minimized.

What a mess. Clearly this is about a lot more than a video. It doesn't look like the way the Arab street views the US has changed much under Obama's presidency.

[Gamma]

it was always there festering just waiting for a flashpoint, any likkle thing.

this thing is deepseated ... the use of the word "crusaders" to identify the western troops in the middleeast by itself is incendiary

[Karl]

The Middle East unrest...

...has been there from before I was born...and I have no faith in its abatement before my death!!!

There will always be radicals who will incite to violence! ...the aim for majority 'live and let live'/tolerance of western democratic norms I do not think will arrive within the next 50 years.

[Islandman]

So the so-called Arab spring is a myth?

[Gamma]

kind of. the middleeast houses some of the oldest civilizations and cultures in the world. from sultans, to caliphs, to ayatollahs to kings. the point i am making, is that maybe western style democracy is not for them and after years if autocratic rule the people are either 1. not used to the lack of a strong authoritarian figure to tell them what to do; or 2. as a culture they NEED this strong authoritarian figure.

either way, western style democracy if it is to happen is going to take at least a decade or so and even then, a coup is always going to be just around the corner.

[Hortical]

Obama has not delivered, or is not empowered to pressure Israel to seek peace with the Palestinians. They continue to build settlements on captured Arab land, while the Palestinians live like cavemen in refugee camps. Many young moslems are uneducated and take their orders from Mullas who continue to see America as the great satan. In northern Nigeria, Mullas have nuff sway on illiterate youth and it takes a simple directive and they embark on a bloodletting campaign.

[Gamma]

if you have children who have strict parents and those children always want to go out and party hard and do what they like but are kept in check by the parents, what do you think will happen if the parents are removed?

anyway, not Obama, nor Romney nor any president can bring peace to the middleeast especially where arab israeli relationships are concerned.

the fight about land did not begin in '45 or the early 1900's! the children of ishmael want their birthright as the descendants of the first son of abraham! that is what it is ultimately about once you peel away the lawyers.

[Assasin]

who has delivered? Clinton came so close and them back out on him. The question is, do they want peace or they want to re live their history over and over?

[HL]

hehheee...King Karl, you make me laugh at times.

"The Middle East unrest...
...has been there from before I was born..."

No kiddin' Karl....

[Gamma]

you can gwa'an mek karl lampse yuh!

[Historian]

Good Points

kind of. the middleeast houses some of the oldest civilizations and cultures in the world. from sultans, to caliphs, to ayatollahs to kings. the point i am making, is that maybe western style democracy is not for them and after years if autocratic rule the people are either 1. not used to the lack of a strong authoritarian figure to tell them what to do; or 2. as a culture they NEED this strong authoritarian figure.

either way, western style democracy if it is to happen is going to take at least a decade or so and even then, a coup is always going to be just around the corner.

Good points, Gamma. And then there is the religious factor as well (Islam vs. Christianity). Both religions seem to have co-existed fairly well in Lebanon, but as for the rest of the region.......

[Willi]

Arab?

Yuh nuh see Indonesia a protest too?

Freedom of speech stops when yuh yell fyah in a crowded theatre.

Di film maker knew what he was doing. Incitement!

[Islandman]

Yes that what it is ultimately. Neither side really wants peace unless it is on their religions terms, which are based largely on fairy tales from the Bronze Age. Again, what a mess.

[Hortical]

No, the US is unwilling/incapable to pressure the Israelis to make concessions.

[Islandman]

Clinton got them to agree to a lot of concessions, Israel would have given up more than 90% of the occupied land and Arafat walked away from it, with not even a counter-proposal. That convinced me that he had no interest in bringing an end to the conflict. He could not conceive of an end game and his role in it.

Israel has more than its fair share of blame in this but the Palistinian leadership has been mostly uninspiring and corrupt. They need a Mandela, badly.