Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D.

12-27-90 . . . Iraq’s president, Saddam Hussein [1937-2006], who has yet to withdraw from Kuwait pursuant to a United Nations resolution, has vowed to attack Israel if the United States or any other nation attacks his army or any part of Iraq. I carry no brief for Israel, but this changes the complexion of Middle Eastern diplomacy. The Arab world is poised for a holy war against the only Jewish state in the region, Israel. Hussein knows that if he is attacked, the Arab world will rally to his cause and set out to destroy Israel. Perhaps that was his plan all along: to draw the United States into a conflict in which it and its allies (one of the strongest of which is Israel) must defend against a united Islamic front. I’ve written many times in these pages of my skepticism about the possibility of lasting peace in the Middle East. As far as I can tell, as long as there are Muslims and Jews, they will be at each other’s throats. Their religions and customs are simply incompatible with one another and both reward martyrdom. When the nations in the Middle East had only conventional armaments—tanks, infantry, and artillery—there wasn’t much cause for alarm. But now Hussein has chemical and biological weapons and is thought to be on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. The Middle East could very soon be a cauldron of blood and gore. I’m just glad my loved ones and I live far away.