[speaker001:] I think that the middle east is of all the uh regions of the world the most volatile that we seem to be getting ourselves involved in
[speaker002:] and uh
[speaker001:] I'm not sure we're doing so with sufficient knowledge about the history of the area and um with what uh the people there expect I think we're just getting ourselves into a barrel of trouble
[speaker002:] yeah well I think we may have the knowledge knowledge of the history but certainly not any understanding of the history
[speaker001:] uh
[speaker002:] we seem to be you know doing the same we've done in many other cases which is sticking our noses in where it doesn't belong and I think it's you know motivated you know clearly by the fact of the resources that are controlled by the region which is
[speaker001:] oh clearly yes and um
[speaker002:] of the you know used up in the next twenty to fifty years there won't any oil any oil left I'm sure
[speaker001:] hum  well I feel that as far as US policy's been concerned while I understand um a position in allied um friendship with Israel I think that we've applied a lot of double standards in the legion uh in the past as far as dealing with the Arabs versus dealing with the Israelis and the expectations that we put on the
[speaker002:] um
[speaker001:] uh Arab nations uh while basically succumbing to a very powerful Israeli lobby in this country
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] and I I think that the Palestinian question is a key to a lot of problems in the region and I don't think that this country's handled that well at all
[speaker002:] yeah well probably from there is that the same problem as anywhere else anytime you take something away from somebody and give it to somebody else
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] that you didn't own in the first place there's you know going to be problems I mean that's basically what's happened I mean
[speaker001:] yeah
[speaker002:] basically a handful of nations took away from Palestinians what was their homeland and gave it to the Israelis you know to the Israelis and you know it's not the way to go about any kind of uh solution that's ever going to be workable you know I mean you neither party was consulted up front
[speaker001:] yeah  yeah I kind of anticipate that because you know we set the stage and how we've dealt with that issue in such a poor manner by basically you know paying lip service to the Palestinians in the past
[speaker002:] hum
[speaker001:] uh I think that's up the stage for the end effect to for this uh uh revolution of Islamic fundamentalism what seems to be sweeping definitely through North Africa and uh within parts of the Middle East as well something which terrifies the moderate Arab states
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] uh
[speaker002:] well it's pretty scary anybody if you think about I mean any any time you get fundamentalists you know whatever nature
[speaker001:] yep
[speaker002:] and in power anywhere I mean they're they're pure fanatics and there's that you know fundamentally no way to deal with a fanatic and you can't argue with them on any sort of logical or emotional basis a fanatic will believe in X Y Z and you're never going to change that
[speaker001:] yeah I I suspect yeah
[speaker002:] you know so you might as well not even try
[speaker001:] I suspect that we'll probably in uh with the demise of the Soviet Union formation of Russia whatever ends up coming out of that
[speaker002:] um-hum
[speaker001:] that probably the biggest problems we're going to have in foreign policy are going to have Middle East in the future I think that we're going to continue to see a lot more fundamentalist influence in the area it's been spawning for a long time the more moderate states uh even including Saudi Arabia which is a very religious country Islamic wise it's not allowed the fundamentalist to gain control but uh I you know Tunisia and uh now we have problems with Sudan
[speaker002:] um-hum
[speaker001:] and uh these places I think that you know we're just in the beginning here of uh what will probably sweep through I mean Egypt's suffering the same kinds of problems with fundamentalism right now
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] the more nations that join with this kind of uh thinking in government the more stronger uh difficulty we're going to have as a nation in dealing with the region because of our past experiences with the Palestinians
[speaker002:] yeah I think a lot of it is is just rejection of the current you know power structure and that power structure happens to be religiously aligned and aligned with uh you know a religious based monarchy in a lot of those countries and that they're basically rejecting that power structure in favor of another which is you know return to a fundamentalist thing I mean it's not to unlike what happened in the United States over the last ten years I mean basically people rejected you know there's fundamentalist you know movement
[speaker001:] yeah
[speaker002:] wasn't quite as severe or as you know fanatically radical I mean because the uh the class structure is is you know less prolific here or less you know regionally defined here and uh the uh the differences aren't so so strong as in say talking about like Saudi we're you've got you know uh basically a ruling