Victor Davis Hanson: “The Middle East is the Middle East not because America intervenes or does not intervene, or reaches out or stays out, or imports oil or cuts back its purchases. Instead, Middle Eastern violence and instability are homegrown. They result from a complex brew of tribalism, religious fundamentalism and intolerance, sexual apartheid, anti-Semitism, authoritarianism and statism – all made worse by huge oil revenues and its key strategic location. Americans have a choice. They can learn to keep clear of these quagmires and accept that hundreds of thousands will frequently die in the Middle East – and occasionally some Americans as well. Or, if we tire of watching the violence and intervene after a 9/11-like attack, we should brace for a bloody mess that will take years of unpopular occupation. So for now we will blame each other for the ensuing savagery and vow to let the Middle East be the Middle East – at least until the next time Islamic terrorists slaughter our diplomats, blow up an embassy, take down an airplane or topple a New York skyscraper.”