balaord, I'm moving my debate with you to this thread. I don't think The West regards the Arabs as backwards, since they do not recognize the latter's ancient contributions to their knowledge. All your quotes carry a western lineage, which proves out my point. The bigger issue is where is this sense of intelligence (you quote about) in today's Arab world? Who would stop them if they attempted to improve their own science and wellbeing? Why are they always at loggerheads with each other apart from the West. The US vs Al Queda squabbles is only a decade and half old. There were always frictions going on among them earlier. Iran vs Iraq is a major example. Iraq over taking Kuwait is not forgotten either. Turkey has its own Kurdistan headache. The Europeans seem to be having at least one stable union these days, where apart from the Serbian tangle, they do not seem to carry any major issue within them (unless Russia backfires yet again in future). Why can't the intelligent Arab world sort out its own problems? Why do they always keep awaiting Americas fall before they will be able to live peacefully?
