Samurai P.J. O’Rourke was to written in his tome Give War a Chance this wisdom about the Middle East:
Until 1918 the Arabian peninsula was ruled by the Ottoman Empire, so called because it had the same amount of intelligence and energy as a footstool. When the Turks backed the wrong horse in World War I, the French and English divvied up the region in a manner both completely self-serving and unbelievably haphazard, like monkeys at a salad bar. The huge, senseless notch in Jordan’s border with Saudi Arabia, for instance, is known as ‘Winston’s Hiccup’ because the then head of the British Colonial Office, Winston Churchill, is supposed to have drawn this line on a map after a very long lunch.
Okay, I only quoted that because I like the phrase “like monkeys at a salad bar.”
Reed is first!
–You asked for a source for good Ronin quotes…
–Three words: General George Patton.
–Here’s a sample:
“Accept the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory.”
– General George Patton
–Here’s a good site for some of his quotes… you can find lots more out there, though.
–I have a book, titled “Gen. Patton’s Principles for Life and Leadership”, by Porter B. Williamson. It is awesome!!
–He also said,
“Better to fight for something than to live for nothing.”
and
“The way to win is to never lose.”
–Oops… forgot to post the site.
http://www.military-quotes.com/Patton.htm
The Barking moonbats got a post on freaky female chimp.
Frank,
More monkey biz
Did that North American tree monkey look like this?
Do you know why the Ottoman Turks were able to control the Arab world?
Because they didn’t take shit from them (the Arabs)
And when the arabs gave them shit, the Ottomans killed them with a quickness.
We could learn alot from the Turks.
The french and the English also didn’t pay attn. to the tribal structure of the arab world and divided the land wrong.
So it’s all the frenches fault. That’s why they refuse to join the coalition of the willing.
That and jaques suckcok can’t even run his country correctly.
Rob,
I have been reading Inside the Asylum: Why the United Nations and Old Europe Are Worse Than You Think
by Jed Babbin
Let me tell you, that is some seriously interesting reading.
It looks like a good book Josh, I will follow your recommendation and pick it up once I finish the other 3 books I have been working on (slowly, and school started last week so free time has been cut in 1/2…). I saw it advertised on townhall(?) and took intest in it then.
Have you been paying attn. to what the u.n. has been doing in The Sudan? It seems like nothing much….
Okay, I hate to spoil the fun, because I guess you are probably just interested in this subject in a superficial way. However,if you have an interest in the division of the Middle East at the end of the Ottoman control in WWI I have a recommendation.
The book to read is LAWRENCE OF ARABIA: THE AUTHORIZED BIOGRAPHY OF T. E. LAWRENCE by Jeremy Wilson. This book was published in 1989 and is more interesting than a novel. If things were indeed done “like monkeys at a salad bar”, then Lawrence was the reluctant, conflicted organ grinder.
If you venture to read this biography, I predict it will go on your lifetime favorites list. If you do read it you will be much better informed, but your biases against the French will survive intact! Mari