[speaker001:] Okay.
[speaker002:] Well, I haven't, uh, you know, when the war was on I watched C N N and, uh, NIGHTLINE
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] pretty regularly and read the paper and all but when, uh, lately, like the last week or two I guess with Easter [LAUGHTER],
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] and spring break with the kids I, um, I hadn't been thinking much about the Middle East and what's going on over there. Have you been keeping up?
[speaker001:] Well, uh, just really the last couple of days since this, uh, the, U N debate or whatever you want to call it that, uh, voted on whether there was going to be a cease fire. I guess, you know, the thing really isn't over.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] They, uh, they had, uh, kind of, uh, I don't know if you call it standout or whatever but anyway they stopped and waited to see if Iraq would accept a permanent cease fire situation though. As I understand it, from the Iraqi point of view this current cease fire thing that the U N, uh, had set up, you know, the Iraqis are probably not going to go for at all,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] unless they're just absolutely forced to.
[speaker002:] Um.
[speaker001:] So, I guess, from what I understand the thing could just
[speaker002:] Start up.
[speaker001:] it could just, they could take off at any moment without, uh, you know, [LAUGHTER] you know, any local, you know, congressional effort or anything else because, you know, it's not really settled yet.
[speaker002:] There's no official document signed or anything?
[speaker001:] Not yet. Not yet at all.
[speaker002:] Well, I, um, when the, when the crisis began last August I began to think well I, I couldn't remember things that I had studied in the past in school and all so I got out like my encyclopedias and tried to read about the history.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] And it was really, what I felt was kind of cynical because it there just hasn't been any peace over there ever [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER] No.
[speaker002:] In thousands of years,
[speaker001:] Yeah. I don't know,
[speaker002:] of history.
[speaker001:] why they expect it's going to start this week, you know.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] That's right. And it just, it's just not people they, and it's not, uh, you know, there isn't any real Arab coalition because they do fight among themselves.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh. Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] And they fight with each other and they have such hatred for, uh, Israel and,
[speaker001:] Yeah. The, uh, the thing that's kind of interesting about this, my sons in the Air Force.
[speaker002:] Oh, yeah.
[speaker001:] And, uh, he came within a quarter of an inch of going, uh, to Saudi, he ended up in Korea instead and because of the way they split a transportation group out in Lubbock.
[speaker002:] Um.
[speaker001:] So he ended up going to Korea and his buddies ended up going to Saudi. Well, he's still in Korea and his buddies home now [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] Oh, no.
[speaker001:] He, he almost wishes that, that he could have gone home.
[speaker002:] And got it over with.
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] Well, I just, there's just no way for us to be involved over there and hope that there will be much peace.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] And, um, with, and that I'm afraid that we would have to stay.
[speaker001:] Yeah. The thing, uh, the other thing too, when this all started if you, you know, if you did much reading on the thing, you know, Kuwait, the country of Kuwait was just, you know, somebody's [NOISE] uh, you go back to World War I when the, uh, Ottoman empire broke up
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] and the British and the French
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] and the, yeah, the British and the French mostly decided to carve up that part of the world and call part of it Persia
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] and part of it Iraq and part of it something else, you know, and they, they split things along, um, geographical lines but they didn't take any kind of consideration into, uh, social or cultural things at all.
[speaker002:] Right.
[speaker001:] So, the country of,
[speaker002:] [Children].
[speaker001:] of Kuwait really doesn't make just a whole lot of sense except that it is an excepted place, you know
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] it's like any other country, you know, for whatever reason it's, it's actually there. Well, Iraq has had, uh, designs on that place since nineteen twenty-two so, you know, it wasn't like something that just suddenly popped up.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] And it's just that this was an excuse, you know, to make some noise [NOISE]. Now, something that I [breathing] read in the paper the other day that I thought was kind of interesting was that the Arab, uh, uh, their version or vision or whatever the United States, now, is somewhat changed in that we won, you know.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] Now, now we are a, uh, a legitimate player,
[speaker002:] [Whispering].
[speaker001:] in the game over there, you know, the, the, I don't think we can really understand their attitude because there cultures are just so much different.
[speaker002:] Right.
[speaker001:] But, uh, we are now a legitimate player in the, in the, in the game because we came in with a certain amount of force and we, you know we defeated, you know Iran couldn't do it in seven years and we went in and did in seven days what Iran couldn't do in seven years, you know.
[speaker002:] Right.
[speaker001:] So
[speaker002:] Right [TV].
[speaker001:] that kind of ups our stock in there just a little bit. It makes us more legitimate. So, now what they're saying is that, well, since we won whatever we say goes because it's, uh, a kind of a might make strike sort of attitude about it and, you know, we've got the power.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] Which is why for centuries or hundreds of years the British and the French had so much influence in there because they'd go in and they'd win something.
[speaker002:] Right.
[speaker001:] And then, and then they could call the shots for the, you know, period of time until the next strong man came up and, you know
[speaker002:] Right.
[speaker001:] and caused problems.
[speaker002:] Well, I just, uh, I'm not interested in keeping big military over there and having to go and call the shots like you say.
[speaker001:] Yeah. Yeah.
[speaker002:] And I just would prefer that, I mean sometimes we've said let's keep, we're not interested in what other countries do.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] And then other times we jump in and do things and while I'm glad that they, uh, I, it was important de-, demilitarize that area because of all the build up armaments.
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] I don't, [LAUGHTER]. I hope we don't try to keep, uh, in there and try to keep our fingers in the pot and try to,
[speaker001:] Um.
[speaker002:] stay over there because we just don't want to send our people there and make them stay.
[speaker001:] Yeah. That's, that's the, uh, that's, that's the big thing, you know, we still got a little bit of the old, you know, Vietnam, um, problem, you know, in the back of our minds. We,
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] we got this, we're, we're used to wars where you can get in do the job and get out. Vietnam we never did get out, you know, never did get the job done because they were too ham strung.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] Uh, this thing they, they gave the guys, uh, the power and the material and the, told them to go do it and they did it. You know,
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] got in and got out. I'm not sure, the, the big fuss that we're going to see now for the next few weeks I would think is, uh, you know, the, uh, the business with the, uh, the Shiites of all people, you know, in the southern part of the country and also the Kurds because these people evidently are, you know, being killed off by the thousands.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] And whether the, the United Nations, I don't think the U. S. will do it on their own but whether the United Nations comes around and says, hey, wait a minute we know this thing isn't, uh, all that much over, we've got to go back in there and, and be sure that this large population isn't just wiped out.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] Which is, seems to be exactly what's happening right at the moment.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh. I noticed that.
[speaker001:] But, um, you know,
[speaker002:] Well, I don't think there's much hope for [breathing] a lasting peace over there like they,
[speaker001:] Oh, well,
[speaker002:] expect. *Should utt 101 be included in this slash unit?
[speaker001:] No. No,
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] there, there never will be.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] I mean, uh, uh, the only way that you're going to have peace over there, if, if we determine that we want to go in and wipe out every last one of them, you know, until we make a decision to do that there won't be peace but I don't think we want to make that decision either.
[speaker002:] No.
[speaker001:] So that's, that's a little rough, you know, we're not, we're not quite up to that sort of thing.
[speaker002:] No.
[speaker001:] So [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] Well, I guess I better go I have a repairman just came,
[speaker001:] Oh [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] for my refrigerator,
[speaker001:] Oh, well, that's,
[speaker002:] But,
[speaker001:] that's fun.
[speaker002:] Yeah. Well, I enjoyed the topic. I hope you have a good day.
[speaker001:] You too.
[speaker002:] Okay. Bye-bye.
[speaker001:] Bye-bye.