The first Crusade was in 1096 and the aim was to recapture Jerusalem from the Muslims. That early effort set the standard model of using a religious jihad as the cover for an attack against Byzantium, the Persian Empire, the Ottoman Empire and always the Arabs.
The empires took up generally the same areas over the last thousand years and all of them shared one delight: the West wanted to waste them.
The battle with the Ottomans continued until their last gasp in the Battle of the Dardanelles in World War I. This was the time of Gallipoli and it was an incredibly violent battle which no-one really won because it was so destructive. In any case, after WWII Turkey came into the NATO fold and the Ottomans were nothing but a memory.
The biggest intervention in post-WWII Iran was through the Coup of 1953 instigated by Eisenhower after Iran nationalized oil production. The oil companies wanted it back and Uncle Sugar overturned the government. The blessings of that move are still being felt in resentment today as the Shah's policies up to that point had not been that bad. So much for any semblance of dominion within the Persian Empire.
Based on a plethora of ineffectual wars in the Middle East, we conclude it's all the same pattern and it hasn't stopped in a thousand years. Whether it's ISIS, Saladin, or Omar Sharif really doesn't make any difference.
So far, our favorite for the most ludicrous war was whatever Saudi Arabia did to Yemen as they were bombing the hell out of it but never seemed to follow with anything. Presumably that made some point although we leave it to you what it may have been.
It really is just a deck of cards and it's been the same one for a thousand years. It may be the most perfect statement of war in history as not one damn thing has been accomplished by it.
The empires took up generally the same areas over the last thousand years and all of them shared one delight: the West wanted to waste them.
The battle with the Ottomans continued until their last gasp in the Battle of the Dardanelles in World War I. This was the time of Gallipoli and it was an incredibly violent battle which no-one really won because it was so destructive. In any case, after WWII Turkey came into the NATO fold and the Ottomans were nothing but a memory.
The biggest intervention in post-WWII Iran was through the Coup of 1953 instigated by Eisenhower after Iran nationalized oil production. The oil companies wanted it back and Uncle Sugar overturned the government. The blessings of that move are still being felt in resentment today as the Shah's policies up to that point had not been that bad. So much for any semblance of dominion within the Persian Empire.
Based on a plethora of ineffectual wars in the Middle East, we conclude it's all the same pattern and it hasn't stopped in a thousand years. Whether it's ISIS, Saladin, or Omar Sharif really doesn't make any difference.
So far, our favorite for the most ludicrous war was whatever Saudi Arabia did to Yemen as they were bombing the hell out of it but never seemed to follow with anything. Presumably that made some point although we leave it to you what it may have been.
It really is just a deck of cards and it's been the same one for a thousand years. It may be the most perfect statement of war in history as not one damn thing has been accomplished by it.
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