Our Votes Are In, No The Ceasefire Will Not Hold
Well our votes are in. The readers who responded said "no the ceasefire would not hold". Several sited various interesting and thought provoking reasons. To read the full comments just scroll down one blog post and then click comments. You can read the full commentary there.
With Israel posturing itself to waffle on embracing the ceasefire, and Hezbollah as well as many in the Middle East trumpeting that "Hezbollah has won the fight," I personally just do not see the ceasefire holding at this point beyond several weeks or months.
If you have strong views, just comment to this post anonymously, if you would like, or to yesterday's post on the voting. I'll look at the comments again later today or tomorrow and post your thoughts.
One thing that I found was interesting was the "conspiracy theory" in one viewers comment to yesterday's post.
This is a common thread voiced by many in the Middle East. The superpower of which the writer is most likely referring to is the United States.
Many in the Middle East, and for that matter in the jihadist community, espouse that the US in only interested in the Middle East for self serving concerns and fully intends to steal the oil riches of the Muslims. This attitudes stokes the fire of anti-American sentiment region wide and reflects a perception of the US, that may be rightfully deserved from some viewpoints. Therein lies the difficulty of perception that makes it simply so hard for the US to be involved as a major player for peace or democracy in this region of the world.
It is very difficult for the greater community of Muslims, as they watch the US state "we want democracy to grow in the Middle East," and then have some wonder why the US is working closely and supporting financially and militarily many authoritarian governments in this region.
Saudi Arabia is an authoritarian, non-democratic government, Qatar is the same, the US heavily supported the Shah in Iraq. When these events are put into historical perspective, no wonder it is difficult for many who are closest to these events in the region to trust the US's intentions for real democracy, especially if what may evolve is a Muslim mandated democracy.
With Israel posturing itself to waffle on embracing the ceasefire, and Hezbollah as well as many in the Middle East trumpeting that "Hezbollah has won the fight," I personally just do not see the ceasefire holding at this point beyond several weeks or months.
If you have strong views, just comment to this post anonymously, if you would like, or to yesterday's post on the voting. I'll look at the comments again later today or tomorrow and post your thoughts.
One thing that I found was interesting was the "conspiracy theory" in one viewers comment to yesterday's post.
"No, because the militants both sides of the border hate each other so much - the last thing they want is peace. If only they could see that they are both being used, as is this hatred, by a superpower whose only concern is to secure energy supplies for it's corporations."
This is a common thread voiced by many in the Middle East. The superpower of which the writer is most likely referring to is the United States.
Many in the Middle East, and for that matter in the jihadist community, espouse that the US in only interested in the Middle East for self serving concerns and fully intends to steal the oil riches of the Muslims. This attitudes stokes the fire of anti-American sentiment region wide and reflects a perception of the US, that may be rightfully deserved from some viewpoints. Therein lies the difficulty of perception that makes it simply so hard for the US to be involved as a major player for peace or democracy in this region of the world.
It is very difficult for the greater community of Muslims, as they watch the US state "we want democracy to grow in the Middle East," and then have some wonder why the US is working closely and supporting financially and militarily many authoritarian governments in this region.
Saudi Arabia is an authoritarian, non-democratic government, Qatar is the same, the US heavily supported the Shah in Iraq. When these events are put into historical perspective, no wonder it is difficult for many who are closest to these events in the region to trust the US's intentions for real democracy, especially if what may evolve is a Muslim mandated democracy.
