My Muddy View of The Middle East
You don’t despair about something like the Middle East, you just do the best you can.
P.J. O’Rourke
When it comes to understanding complicated topics, I frequently turn to New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman. In a September 2, 2014 editorial titled, “Ready, Aim, Fire. Not Fire, Ready, Aim,” in which he discusses President Obama’s strategy toward the terror group known as ISIS, Friedman states:
“To defeat ISIS you have to address the context out of which it emerged. And that is the three civil wars raging in the Arab world today: the civil war within Sunni Islam between radical jihadists and moderate mainstream Sunni Muslims and regimes; the civil war across the region between Sunnis funded by Saudi Arabia and Shiites funded by Iran; and the civil war between Sunni jihadists and all other minorities in the region—Yazidis, Turkmen, Kurds, Christians, Jews and Alawites.”
I don’t know about you, but he lost me at “jihadists.”
In my simplistic view of the world, trying to decipher the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East is sort of like analyzing a map of California earthquake zones; there is always a new fault line to consider. Whereas everyone in California not locked into a coma is well aware of the San Andreas Fault, and my entire neighborhood lives in paralyzing fear of a Hayward Hiccup, every few years or so the Earth decides to disco around lesser known but equally disruptive fissures in the ground named Pico Thrust (Northridge, 1994, 6.7), Mendocino Triple Junction (Eureka, 2010, 6.5), and West Napa (American Canyon, 2014, 6.0). I mean, those faults are like The Knack—a one-hit wonder I never expect to hear from again in my lifetime.
I normally don’t carry very strong opinions about Middle East politics. Not because I don’t care, but because I don’t care enough. Trying to understand every issue, every conflict and every angle would require a tremendous amount of mental dexterity, and truth be told, I simply can’t keep up. I’m still trying to find answers to Egypt and Lebanon, and now you want me to factor in Libya, Iraq, and Hamas? And while we’re on the subject, whatever happened to OPEC, that predominantly Middle Eastern bully who was supposed to bring America to its knees? Last I heard, OPEC was an answer on Wheel of Fortune.
Call me naïve, stupid, self-absorbed, or all of the above, but I worry more about the 49ers than I do about the Kurds. Both will always be there, but at the moment the former has a much more immediate impact on my daily life than the latter. And I’m thankful to not only live in a country where I’m free to express an opinion, I have just as much freedom not to. When it comes to the Middle East, I’d rather let somebody else who knows a whole lot more than me do most of the talking. You may disagree, and if so, that’s your prerogative. Personally, I don’t give a rip.
However, I must admit one thing; I am concerned about ISIS. A lot.