"Wes Groleau" wrote in message
...
On 08-21-2013 16:27, Robert Green wrote:
It may turn out that the cultural differences between the West and the
Middle East means that strongmen like Hussein, Assad and Mubarak are the
only way to keep order in such societies.

Culture can change. But a culture of dozens of generations of fighting
won't be changed by a few years of more fighting.

Sometimes, we can win nations over to our side without firing a shot. The
best example of that is "Red" China. We fought proxy wars with them for
years but we never had to engage them directly (recently) for them to change
their culture from total socialism to a very capitalistic-leaning one. We
did it remarkably quickly. We won their "hearts and minds" without have to
invade them, blockade them or declare war on them. The biggest country on
earth. Even with that object lesson before our eyes, we still believe we
can force change on people who hate us.

Anyone who's had kids knows how difficult it is to force them to do
something they don't want to do. People, tribes, cultures and countries
tend to react badly when they perceive something is being forced upon them.

Now if we were to "enforce" democracy for three generations--which we
shouldn't do even if it were possible, which it isn't--then MAYBE
something would be accomplished.

Change has to come from within, just as it did for the US during the Civil
War. No matter how many times we've tried to "cut the heads" off the Taliban
and Al-Qaeda, they always grow back. Greek mythology had that problem
well-described 1,000's of years ago.

http://www.mythicalcreaturesguide.com/page/Hydra?t=anon

Maybe we'll learn the moral of that story. Someday.

--
Bobby G.