The Middle East has been a hot bed of activity since the beginning of civilization. The transition from hunter-gatherers to agriculture depended on an abundant supply of water, thus the land surrounding the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, called the "Fertile Crescent," made this Mesopotamia area (today's Iran and Iraq) not just a heavily populated, multiethnic area, but also a highly enviable area. The kings who ruled the cities were not just interested in trading and raiding, but also in establishing dominance over each other. The historians have been on the side of the leaders, not the people. ...more

June 13, 2008

I read that there are as many as 20,000 private contract soldiers in Iraq, all paid directly or indirectly by the U. S. government. What is this costing us? ...more

September 23, 2007