Question about the Middle East

[PBDS]

....As a hypothetical question: What if the vast quan****** of oil had never been discovered in the Middle East?? Where would that whole region of the world be in the grand scheme of things?? What would their major source of income be? What would their industry specialize in? Without the "look what I found" luck of having all that oil under their land, how different would the region be? The wealth that comes with the oil industry has allowed for families and dictators to rule with an iron fist and keep the people oppressed and in line. Without the oil would the middle east be a democracy? Would their be any terrorism coming from that region? Obviously the oil wealth is a huge source of funding for terrorism. Would the middle east still even exist really? I am curious to hear anyones take on my question.

[Konstantin]

It would be another Africa?

[Wizard]

Terrorism isn't really a problem from "the middle east". It's a problem in small groups all over the world. It just so happens that the U.S has done alot more ****ing around their because of oil. If they didn't have oil OFCOURSE terrorism wouldn't be an issue because YOU wouldn't have anything to do with them. They would be an africa. It's funny the extent to which the brainwashing has worked.

[legend]

Without oil, the Middle East would be even more underdeveloped. These countries are the richest countries in the world and they still have some of the worst education. Instead of teaching their children about reality, all they teach is anti-Western values, so IMO terrorism is not an American problem, it's a Middle Eastern cultural problem. Let's not forget that these *********s kill SO MANY of their own people in attempts to kill foreigners and people who support foreigners.

[Wizard]

I really don't think anti-western values are the root of the problem. Give an example of an anti-western value that is related to terrorism.

[Bombardier]

This is an excellent question, and actually a lot of ****** scholars really regret the fact that so much oil was discovered on their lands, because it has allowed oil barons and dictators to flourish in the region.

You have to remember that in the Middle Ages the Middle east was much more advanced than Europe, and actually helped to preserve the learning of Ancient Greece and Rome. After the Ottomans moved in the area full under the grip of what was essentially a military dictatorship, albeit one that did not have as much control over its dominions as the dictatorships do today. After the Ottoman Empire fell these places were reeling, and could have gone in many directions. Unfortunately, partly because of oil (and because of the Western world's thirst for oil) things ended up not so well.

Like I said, a lot of people in the ****** world wish that the oil wasn't there, because without it things might have been better.

[Shaolin Bushido]

Lol, it would be an Africa. Yeah, there's nothing of value to ever come out of Africa ... except damn near all the diamonds in the world, lots of other minerals and precious commodities, raw materials, civiliazation ...

What an asinine remark.

Anyway, *********s and freedom fighters are only identified by perspective.

The precious oil discovered there isnt' the reason for their troubles. Oil is actually relatively obsolete but perpetuated as a commodity due to GREED. Both of the West and the westernized monarchs and other social climbers who are modelling them.

[NiGe2011]

Without oil, the Middle East would be even more underdeveloped. These countries are the richest countries in the world and they still have some of the worst education. Instead of teaching their children about reality, all they teach is anti-Western values, so IMO terrorism is not an American problem, it's a Middle Eastern cultural problem. Let's not forget that these *********s kill SO MANY of their own people in attempts to kill foreigners and people who support foreigners.

We claim that terrorism is not an American problem but fundamentalism is just as present in the United States as it is in any other country. Our fundamentalism is just not in the form of Islam, as there are not as many ******s in the United States as there on the Middle East. But there are fundamentalists none-the-less, they just are in a different form. Timothy MacVeigh was a fundamentalist in his own right, and also was to blame for one of the most prolific acts of terrorism in recent memory. The KKK could be viewed as a fundamentalist group which terrorises its own population. The problem of terrorism is not an 'eastern problem', it is a fundamentalist problem. All of the ******** clinic bombings were orchestrated and carried out by Christian fundamentalists-- the point is that we have been conditioned to think of this as being a Middle Eastern phenomena, whereas I think the problem is much more basic and universal.

[PBDS]

We claim that terrorism is not an American problem but fundamentalism is just as present in the United States as it is in any other country. Our fundamentalism is just not in the form of Islam, as there are not as many ******s in the United States as there on the Middle East. But there are fundamentalists none-the-less, they just are in a different form. Timothy MacVeigh was a fundamentalist in his own right, and also was to blame for one of the most prolific acts of terrorism in recent memory. The KKK could be viewed as a fundamentalist group which terrorises its own population. The problem of terrorism is not an 'eastern problem', it is a fundamentalist problem. All of the ******** clinic bombings were orchestrated and carried out by Christian fundamentalists-- the point is that we have been conditioned to think of this as being a Middle Eastern phenomena, whereas I think the problem is much more basic and universal.

...Nige please!!!! The terrorism commited on a daily basis by the middle eastern religious zealouts "out shines" by far anything that the KKK or the Timothy McVey's of the world could accomplish in one year of persistent attacks. It's an entire mindset and anti west way of thinking. The McVey's and KKK wanna be's are few and far between in the civilized world. "Death to infidels"!!! How many ******* to you get for killing infedels again??? Is it 19?? I can never remember the exact number but I know they are gonna get alot of quality pootie tang when they die for Allah. They certainly won't just become badly charred worm food for 20 years.

[Wizard]

We claim that terrorism is not an American problem but fundamentalism is just as present in the United States as it is in any other country. Our fundamentalism is just not in the form of Islam, as there are not as many ******s in the United States as there on the Middle East. But there are fundamentalists none-the-less, they just are in a different form. Timothy MacVeigh was a fundamentalist in his own right, and also was to blame for one of the most prolific acts of terrorism in recent memory. The KKK could be viewed as a fundamentalist group which terrorises its own population. The problem of terrorism is not an 'eastern problem', it is a fundamentalist problem. All of the ******** clinic bombings were orchestrated and carried out by Christian fundamentalists-- the point is that we have been conditioned to think of this as being a Middle Eastern phenomena, whereas I think the problem is much more basic and universal.

This man knows what he's talking about.