Memory lies at the heart of the Middle East problems

Individual memory of people who have been taught an Islamofascist view of the Koran has created an international band of brothers in a movement whose end justifies any means. This is why schools, churches/mosques, and the media are so crucial in shaping a culture and the only hope for changing a culture.

Part of this Islamic culture is also steeped in the notion of revenge: an eye for an eye, etc. Those who have been taught this view will never stop being violent. Whatever harm is done to them, even if they instigated the violence, will always require revenge.

I see no solution to the problems in the Middle East. Most of the policies of the "outside world" are well-intended, but naive. Memory is a powerful thing, especially when it is coupled with emotion. Emotions in the Middle East are always raw because of what people there have learned from the past.