Lessons From the Apaches

My last two articles, judging from the volume of email I got, were very well received. People want to know how history, like the seasons, tends to happen in cycles and patterns that are somewhat predictable. When it comes to the United States government repeating history, that is easier to predict than the weather. One thing I touched on in a previous article is the fact that the West, and the United States government who pulls the entire West along like a child pulls a toy wagon, is unable to understand the concept of tribal violence. In truth, tribal and clan violence has not changed, as far as motivations for it go, in several thousands of years.

First, let us understand that this violence in the Middle East is not actually created by the religion of Islam. People have mistakenly imagined it is because they wish it to be so simply explained. In fact, what we have in the Middle East is a shaky confederation of tribes and clans that are only loosely held together by the common faith of Islam. What does not change is that a tribe has its own codes, laws, and taboos that cannot be violated without severe consequences. For example, in many Middle Eastern nations, the penalty for murder is death. We all know that. But what people don’t know is that’s not the only penalty there is.

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