Bob Thomas: Staying out of Syria is in our best interest

Where does an alien go to register? I always ask that question when I’m stymied. Either I’m missing something terribly important about this Syrian civil war, or I’m the dumbest cluck in Carson City. And the same goes for Iraq. Our State Department is afraid to breathe the words “civil war,” but that’s exactly where Iraq is headed between the Sunnis and the Shiites, unless we get sucked into stopping it.

How many generations does it take before our leadership (?) admits to the obvious fact that Arabs love dictators? Did they attempt to overthrow Saddam Hussein? No. Do you think they would have had we not intervened? No. If Saddam hadn’t been a braggart hinting about having WMDs to gain world attention, he’d still be boss man.

Arabs have been a bunch of outlaw tribes for centuries. It’s their heritage. All Mohammad did was unite them — Islam via the sword — for the first time, giving them a religion to rally around. Prior to that, every invader, such as the British and the French, easily defeated one Arab tribe after the other.

What I’m leading up to is: Isn’t it true that the Shiites and the Sunnis both hate us? One of them is a bit more lenient than the other in matters of state, separating their Islamic faith from secular governmental affairs, while the other wants Islam to control all aspects of Arabic life, imposing strict Sharia law. But members of both factions hate the ground we walk on and are sworn to Allah to kill all nonbelievers unless we convert to Islam.

OK, if both the Shiites and the Sunnis hate us, then why don’t we step aside and let them kill each other until they get sick and tired of fighting? Let each side battle the other until one wipes out the other (impossible), or until they are so damned busy they have neither time nor the inclination to spread their hatred outside their own countries.

The same holds true with the Syrian civil war. Why do we give a hoot who wins that conflict? Both sides are militant Muslims, hating our guts not only for supporting Israel but for fighting Islamic terrorists. Haven’t we learned anything from the ill-fated Egyptian uprising that disposed of President Hosni Mubarak in favor of the Islamic Brotherhood? The Brotherhood sponsors most terrorist groups worldwide.

Why were we obligated to fulfill military and financial aid agreements with Egypt when it is no longer the same country it was when those agreements were made? Everything has changed. Our State Department acts like a bunch of groupies who live in their own dream worlds, all at our taxpayers’ expense. It’s called cronyism! These State Department lackeys have made close and profitable Arab relationships over the years in Egypt and in other Arabic states, and they won’t risk losing those relationships in favor of Uncle Sam’s best interests. Payola? You can bet on it.

Once more I’m recommending a book that will do more to unlock the internal conflicts of Arab culture than any other. I’m talking about “The Haj” by Leon Uris, the author of “Exodus.” You will understand the hopeless contradictions in which Islamic Arab families are trapped. It is an exciting novel that goes so deep into Arab and Jewish souls that you’ll know why God and only God will resolve this conflict.

Bob Thomas is an author and a retired high-tech industrialist who served on the Carson City School Board, the Nevada Welfare Board and the Carson City Airport Authority and as a three-term state assemblyman. His website is www.confessionsoftheentrepreneur.com.