The resurgence of fundamental islamicism is from the retreat of European and Great Britain control over the region and the reduced influence of Western Europe.

It seems to me that the things inherent within Islam itself might have a thing or two to do with the perceived failure of Western mores and values in the Middle East, and then the ensuing failure of the governments who uphold those values. Things like corruption, misogyny, lack of education, and no rule of law when practiced daily and in-depth for decades and centuries have *got* to overcome a shallow thin veneer of civilization laid on by the Brits or the French in a few years.

I don’t think it’s fair to blame the plight of the Arabs on “retreat of the British”. You get the government you elect or choose and to me, the Arabs are fine with living in sewage and filth and being ripped off by their politicians or they’d change it.

Alternatively they probably have just accepted their lifestyle in an “inshallah” way, not realizing that there are other ways to live and behave. America kicking in their door, sending in the cream of the crop of our young people to act as role models, and giving them newspapers and television sets tuned to the outside world has got to make a difference in showing them that they do *not* have to necessarily live their wretched little lives squatting in a mud hut breathing in their own sewage.

Then, if they still choose to continue to live and follow the old ways, inshallah, and we’ll probably have to end up killing the whole kit and caboodle of them.