20060121
    Overshadowed by the stroke and subsequent hospitalization of Israeli leader Ariel Sharon and the release of the results of the Iraqi election was the fact that Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah, emir of Kuwait, died 15 January 2006.
    Sheikh Jaber was arguably the strongest of the US’s strong allies in the Middle East, the leader among a select set of nations that includes other nations like Bahrain and the UAE. He was also known among Arab political circles as a quiet progressive, even boldly suggesting to extend voting rights to Kuwaiti women.
    With his passage, following that of Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum of the UAE, the removal from power of Ariel Sharon from Israel, and the apparent alliance of Iran and Syria in Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons, the Middle East is now a far more dangerous place that it was even a month ago at this time.
    Worse, there are signs that Sheikh Jaber’s legacy as a moderator and US ally may be threatened by the very same political and religious forces that threaten the Saudi monarchy and power the insurgency in Iraq.
    Now is the time, if ever there was one, for the US to take notice of the real, daily events in the Middle East. There can be no question, as powerful moderating leaders pass and new ideologues take their place, that the region is headed once again toward a crisis of proportions not seen since the period of the World Wars.
    This course is not inevitable if such notice is paid by the nations who can respond now and do something about the state of affairs in the Middle East, especially the nations of the West. Failure to respond, however, can be a tragedy of unimaginable proportions.
DLH
Dumb question time. How or in what way can we respond? There are protests if we do and protests if we don’t.It doesn’t seem as if we can win either way.