tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-367019700923216960.post4214184082155576798..comments2024-01-17T13:19:24.071-06:00Comments on Salvation And Survival: Is Egypt The Key?Pam Kohlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00678673505358164380noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-367019700923216960.post-27691747216792059612012-08-16T22:36:27.354-05:002012-08-16T22:36:27.354-05:00I appreciate your respectful comment, and this is ...I appreciate your respectful comment, and this is exactly how we should discuss our differences. I am a Christian, so I see things from a Biblical perspective, and this enmity between the land of Israel and the rest of the Middle East is as old as Ishmael and Isaac. Man will never be able to fix it---- only God has the solution. Without that perspective, I can understand how the landscape of this problem might look. But you are absolutely correct that we need to pull together as Americans and work to turn this country around. The division in this country worries me, too, and I'm afraid it's only going to get worse. Pam Kohlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00678673505358164380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-367019700923216960.post-71041128828820069902012-08-16T20:19:29.115-05:002012-08-16T20:19:29.115-05:00I respectfully disagree with your take on Israel. ...I respectfully disagree with your take on Israel. The Middle East seems so complicated to me that I find it hard to find just one side at fault. I do however, appreciate your concern for our country and our rights. I hope that we Americans can stick together despite our differences of opinion when we really need too. We seem so divided lately it worries me. I thank you for your thoughts.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-367019700923216960.post-9349579400140417642012-08-14T15:35:44.757-05:002012-08-14T15:35:44.757-05:00I hope everyone reads your insightful comments! I ...I hope everyone reads your insightful comments! I am so discouraged at the lack of understanding by most Americans. The hatred of the nation of Israel is centuries old and encouraged by Satan. Somehow he (Satan) thinks if he can wipe Israel off the face of the map, he will thwart Jesus' Second Coming. As if that's not reason enough to be concerned about the rising radicalism and threats toward Israel, most Americans remain ignorant of the pieces being moved on the chessboard of the Middle East. Your experience and understanding of the mindset over there should scare the hell out of every US citizen! If anyone thinks we will not be affected by this insane hatred, your explanation should certainly wake them up. I have long believed many of the things you speak about, but did not have the facts to back it up. You have provided the reality and the truth. THANK YOU!Pam Kohlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00678673505358164380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-367019700923216960.post-38237220192299764172012-08-14T09:32:33.025-05:002012-08-14T09:32:33.025-05:00I lived and worked for a year in Saudi Arabia, spe...I lived and worked for a year in Saudi Arabia, spending all my time with Saudis, Pakistanis, Kuwaitis, Bahrainis, and an occasional Iraqi. Every single one of them, no matter how pro-western they were, had a pathological hatred of Israel. From their points of view, EVERYTHING wrong in their countries would be made better if Israel was destroyed.<br />When I traveled in Israel, I once asked why there were so many golf driving range nets all around the villages...and was stunned to learn these nets were to "catch" the Kassam rockets launched by Palestinians. No kidding. And when I asked why certain sections of the Israeli security fence were solid walls where others were just big chain-link, I learned the solid sections were set up to disrupt line-of-sight angles between hill tops in the Palestinian areas for snipers shooting into Israeli farms, highways, and villages.<br />In describing my experiences to the Saudis I worked with, they all tried to justify why launching rockets at houses and shooting at Jews was legitimate "Holy War." Any Israeli man, woman or child was a justifiable target. One of my most educated, most thoughtful Saudi associates spent over 30 minutes justifying attacks on Israel and shocked me at his readiness to do violence himself. Oh, and I had to describe my "experiences" in Israel as the stories of a friend, not my own because having visited Israel can be grounds for deportation from Saudi Arabia. Really. If my thoughtful Saudi associate had been confronted with my having visited Israel, I doubt he would have ever spoken to me again.<br />Most Americans and Europeans have no clue about the depth of irrational hatred that virtually every Muslim in the Middle East has toward all Israelis. And once the Arabs (of ANY fundamentalist nation) have enough balance of power to attack, they will.<br />Israel knows this and will defend themselves to every extent required. If America stands as a strong ally to Israel, the possibilities drop rapidly. The current American support for the "Arab Spring" has the opposite effect.<br />If/when war comes to the Middle East, oil prices will jump sharply and our fragile economy will be injured terribly. The secondary effects of an Arab-Israeli war could spiral out of control in too many ways to predict.Green Eyed Jinnnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-367019700923216960.post-14289399563913772302012-08-14T09:31:32.156-05:002012-08-14T09:31:32.156-05:00You are right to be worried about Egypt. And it w...You are right to be worried about Egypt. And it will come sooner than a few years when the youth become (even more) indoctrinated in Jihadist ideology. This threat is what I consider to be the most probable WTSHTF scenario in the next 2-3 years.<br />Mohammed Morsi is Muslim Brotherhood, through and through. So is Ayman al-Zawahiri. Both trace their ideologies to Sayyed Qutb, who was executed by Gamal Nasser. Zawahiri was in the Brotherhood (Ikwan) since the mid-60s, served in the Egyptian Army's medical corps, became part of the even more radical Islamic Jihad, and was pushed out of Egypt after they assassinated Sadat in '81. <br />The purge of Islamic Jihad members from Egypt saw many flee Saudi Arabia. That's where Zawahiri met and mentored Bin Laden. They formed al-Qaeda and attacked America (and many others). Since Bin Laden's unlamented demise, Zawahiri is now the leader of al-Qaeda.<br />The Muslim Brotherhood was prevented from entering openly into Egyptian politics by Mubarak largely because of their extremist views and their continued association with Islamic Jihad. Now that we have aided in Mubarak's removal, we have re-opened the door for the Ikwan to bring their Islamic Jihad brothers home.<br />Additionally, al-Qaeda is flooding into Syria, and one more country will be under Jihadist control. The previous governments of Egypt and Syria were certainly not ideal, and certainly oppressed their populations, but regime change doesn't necessarily mean good things for America. I told a colleague who was happy to see al-Assad on the ropes (because of his long-standing anger for Syrian support of the Marine barracks bombing and to Saddam Hussein in Iraq) to be careful what he wished for.<br />There will be war in the Middle East. Whether it will be a Lightning War with Israel starting first, or a Yom Kippur War with the Arabs starting, it will still be war. And the Iranians have even more opportunity to work their evil through surrogates.Green Eyed Jinnnoreply@blogger.com