This War Isn't New

From the Washington Times (with our comments in brackets):

“Armed Palestinian factions are just "centimeters" away from civil war, a top aide to President Mahmoud Abbas said yesterday after two days of deadly factional fighting. [Centimeters? Not quite! 9 millimeter Egyptian pistols to be exact.] … Each side blames the other for the fighting that has left 12 Palestinians dead … [What? No Zionists to blame?] … Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, meeting with Arab leaders in Cairo, appealed for an end to the fighting. [Huh? Perhaps Condi can bring them together to fight Israel.] … [Condi says:] ‘Innocent Palestinians are caught in the crossfire … [Innocent? Where?] … The Palestinians deserve calm.’ [12 are now very calm!] Mr. Amr said of Monday's fighting. ‘I am afraid that without a political solution, more groups will cross the red line. Gaza isn't just chaos. It's a big storehouse of weapons. Each family has its own militia and its own organization. [Innocent? Or Islamic Gambino and Genovese families? Earth to Condi …] “

On the other had, things are not much better for the Russians in Chechnya.

“Ramzan Kadyrov, the most feared and powerful man in Chechnya, turns 30 tomorrow, making him eligible to become president of the war-torn republic in southern Russia. … Mr. Kadyrov shared a house with notorious rebel warlord Shamil Basayev before he joined his father in switching sides in the late 1990s. … Today, he heads a 10,000-strong private army renowned for its ruthlessness toward Chechnya's civilian population. He counts boxer and convicted rapist Mike Tyson among his friends [OK, now we know he’s bad!] … ‘The Chechens have been fighting against Russian rule for centuries. … The insurgency will be back. .’” But that means the Russians have been fighting the Chechens for centuries, too, and they’ll be back. Read the rest.

The war didn’t start with 9/11; it didn’t start with the founding of the state of Israel 60 years ago. It has been going on for centuries … since this guy Muhammad stopped the Arabs from fighting among themselves and brought them together to plunder, slaughter, and subjugate others.