"This crusade, this war on terrorism, is going to take awhile." --George W. Bush in 2001
"President Bush's use of the word 'crusade' was most unfortunate" --Soheib Bensheikh, Grand Mufti of the mosque in Marseille, France.
To this very day, moslems freak when they hear a Western leader say the word 'crusade.' When my German ancestors watched the First Crusade romp through their barley fields in 1099, they felt no different. The First Crusade was basically a motley procession of people on foot-- not only soldiers, but also country people, women and kids. It was obvious to anyone that these crusaders "...had altogether lost their wits."But Germany's reluctance to (ta-da!)"Join the Crusade" did not last long. They soon helped lead the procession. I can just see an 11th Century Collin Powell (i.e. Peter the Hermit) going to a 11th Century united nations with the kind of evidence that was considered incontrovertible back then. It was reported that ...a woman after two years gestation finally gave birth to a boy who was able to talk; and that a child with a double set of limbs, another with two heads, and some lambs with two heads were also born; and that colts came into the world with great teeth, which we ordinarily call horses' teeth and which nature only grants to three-year old horses.... through these and similar signs the whole creation seemed to offer its services to the Creator. --Medieval Source Book
Oh! There you go! Even a glued to the party line semi-amusing milk-toast like Rush Limbaugh would agree. Case closed! Middle East, here we come. Grab your hat and staff and off the deep end we go!
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