The images from this past week of Sunni Muslims protesting against the United States strikes me as being fairly indicative of the mentality of many in the Middle East, not just towards the United States, but against anything society that allows religious tolerance.
The war in Iraq was really a no-lose situation in terms of military might for the U.S. But the struggle to bring democracy to Iraq will be a much more difficult battle to win.
These people simply do not understand the basic principles of freedom. This is because they are so tightly bound to their Muslim beliefs.
Their fervor gives me a bit of a desire to delve into what Islam actually teaches its followers, just to see how skewed it really is.
But there really isn't any point. Muslims have been this way for centuries. It's simply their way of life.
America was able to successfully rebuild Japan and Germany after WWII because those nations understand freedom based on the Christian principles of tolerance and forgiveness. I don't think that many of the people in Iraq share those same ideals, which will probably on lead to more of the same old thing in Iraq.
But at least the rest of the world won't live in fear of what a sadistic regime might be able to unleash upon it.