[speaker001:] okay uh
[speaker002:] yeah Middle East and
[speaker001:] yeah uh well you know it's really ironic because it's just about a year ago today we were involved you know actively in that war that was going on at this time and uh
[speaker002:] yeah I guess last week was the uh anniversary of everything but uh
[speaker001:] uh-huh yeah yeah uh-huh
[speaker002:] that's that's one of those messed up areas I mean it's just
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] I I I think that the whole operation you know the idea of peace ever being achieved over there is just kind of a I don't know I mean that we're going to have peace you can have maybe some little more stability that what they have right now but
[speaker001:] um uh-huh
[speaker002:] it's just that's pure hatred between the Israelis and the uh Arabs I mean it's just I just don't think they can coexist I mean because they're not ever going to you know it's just too many problems that
[speaker001:] yeah well it it it certainly is not a an easy situation to deal with but uh I uh I I remember last year when the war was going on that I actually was uh if one can be in any way relieved when a war is going on but at least Israel listened to the uh admonitions of the United States about not retaliating uh when those missiles were dropped on them
[speaker002:] right
[speaker001:] and amazingly we we had those weapons that would counteract those missiles so that they would do a minimal of damage uh the whole thing was very amazing to me I don't think any any of it is right I mean we should be doing any of that stuff oh it's such an misuse of what we are as people but under the circumstances I could not help thinking that probably uh you know five or ten years ago I don't I don't even think that same kind of uh respect uh sufficiently for the United States would have been there that Israel wouldn't have just gone ahead you know uh like that uh Arafat and the and the the P L O and everything would just you know be so rambunctious as to just to retaliate and even even cause worse damage I oh it was a very terrible thing but uh it's uh
[speaker002:] uh-huh yeah I'm I'm amazed uh Israel didn't even uh
[speaker001:] uh-huh they did
[speaker002:] retaliate that that that's one of the most surprising things
[speaker001:] yeah yeah well I guess you know so long as our uh missile systems were holding out to counteract what was being thrown in and things seemed to be working I guess it's
[speaker002:] I'm uh but
[speaker001:] it's really worth trying for peace or at least coexistence like you said uh and they have actually gone to peace talks uh since the time of that war to try to hit some kind of a a common ground for coexistence uh
[speaker002:] yeah in fact Baker was uh a speech yesterday trying to get them back they're supposed to be going back to tables pretty soon the next week or two I guess but
[speaker001:] yeah uh-huh
[speaker002:] uh they'll you know they'll work out some type of an agreement and something will pop up in about five years and
[speaker001:] oh sure
[speaker002:] the fact that we never got uh Hussein out hopefully that will fall apart on its own in the next year or so but
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] I mean if he ever gets any type of military power back I mean for that area that's just going to be same situation again and
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] I don't know Bush
[speaker001:] um
[speaker002:] I just think should have gone in and just take take him out that would have that was a major problem
[speaker001:] yeah well it amazes me that the guy is still there yeah yeah is not around
[speaker002:] just him being just he's powerless but still the fact that he's still in power it's over there that's a symbol of
[speaker001:] very strange uh-huh
[speaker002:] he stood up to the evil force of the western world and I mean that's just completely different mode of thinking and
[speaker001:] you know yeah
[speaker002:] to them what they view view as reality is just simply opposite of what we view but
[speaker001:] yeah um
[speaker002:] so I it's I just I don't know the only thing that keeps us there is the oil and I guess the only good thing that came out of it is we would be paying twice as much more now for gas but
[speaker001:] oh well that's hopefully not the essential issue to mankind but uh
[speaker002:] I mean well it is for the money makers out there I guess but
[speaker001:] yeah uh-huh
[speaker002:] I don't know it's it's kind of hard for me to really
[speaker001:] yeah
[speaker002:] imagine I mean I've never even been over in that part of the world I had a friend of mine that got back and
[speaker001:] oh really yeah
[speaker002:] he's sort of there and he's just said that he just really he couldn't stand the the uh Saudis at all because he said they just didn't have any respect for them at all just
[speaker001:] mentality like oh really
[speaker002:] yeah they didn't he just really had a hard time you know
[speaker001:] oh
[speaker002:] I look at it as a he looked at it as a job he wasn't like
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] because he didn't like the people and no one did he said they just didn't they didn't want them over there the people they didn't like them and
[speaker001:] um
[speaker002:] you know they had all these rules you couldn't bring any type of religious artifacts in or
[speaker001:] oh that's right that's right
[speaker002:] any type of alcohol anything like that he's just
[speaker001:] yeah oh that that's in Arabia
[speaker002:] and they they have like this they look down at the soldiers the American soldiers and he said it's just
[speaker001:] um
[speaker002:] you have a hard time you know fighting for their cause
[speaker001:] yeah
[speaker002:] and to me to it's I don't know it's just it's just totally backward everything you know black is white and
[speaker001:] yeah
[speaker002:] white is black to them I mean that doesn't make sense but
[speaker001:] yeah well it makes you wonder how how