61 of 64 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An analysis of the current war by one who predicted it, December 26, 2002
This review is from: The Thousand Year War in the Mideast: How It Affects You Today (An Uncle Eric Book) (Paperback)
Richard Maybury is a very rare bird. He can take a complex subject, such as why the US government is engaged in a war with radical Islam, and explain its root causes in simple, truthful terms. He is a tough, hardheaded, fearless thinker who is unafraid to go past the facile explanations of the mainstream press and seek out the deeper causes of socio-political phenomena. Maybury relies on science, reason, and a penetrating study of history for his explanations. He is also an ex-military man with an astonishing grasp of military history and the current level of effectiveness of US armed forces
For instance, his analysis begins in the 8th century with the founding of Islam. He explains why the devastation visited upon the Islamic world by the European Crusades and the Mongol hordes of Genghis Khan in the 11th-13th centuries still exert a powerful influence on the peoples of the MidEast.
He also clearly identifies the theoretical basis of his reasoning, i.e., Austrian (free market) economics and the natural or "scientific" jurisprudence that underlies the evolutionary development of Common Law, the basis of American freedom. I was stunned by his ability to extract from his studies the two basic laws (stated in short, simple sentences) upon which every successful civilization is and has been based. He explains in another book how America's success derives from the founders' understanding of these two laws. He writes that he has never found anyone who disagrees with the rightness of these two laws...although the current American political state massively violates both every day. In the context of this book, he shows how the US government's intervention in Middle Eastern affairs tramples on the two laws that, ironically, have always been the source of American freedom and prosperity.
I have read most of the deeper academic works of the Austrian school and am well-read on American/European history. I have also applied myself assiduously to understand the current conflict and its probable outcome. However, until I read Maybury's clear, concise book, I honestly did not understand what was going on. Maybury has given me the tools I was seeking to grasp the nature of the current conflict. For instance, he not only predicted that something like 9/11/2001 would happen years before it did, but also why it was bound to happen. He also predicts that unless the US gov't withdraws from the MidEast and apologizes for over 50 years of murderous meddling in the afffairs of the Islamic world, we will face far worse consequences. Maybury is also honest about the limitations of his ability to predict. He lays out the principles upon which he bases his projections in straightforward terms so you can judge his conclusions for yourself.
Maybury uses simple examples to explain why he thinks the way he does. Eg, he asks how we would feel if the Iranian navy were permanently deployed in Chesapeake Bay. He further states obvious truths that the mainstream somehow overlooks, such as, that the US military is over there in their homeland killing people right & left and has been doing so for 50 years; their military is not over here on our (US) homeland. He points out, without justifying them, that two decades of Muslim attacks on Americans have been in response to prior American attacks on Muslims that have killed thousands of innocent islamic men, women & children.
Maybury does not take sides (the thinks both sides are wrong) but does show how the American government (not the American people) has instigated the current version of the "1,000 Year War" through its continuous interference in the Middle East or as he calls it "Chaostan." Finally, he explains why the US gov't cannot possibly cure the ills of tyranny, poverty & constant violence that plague that part of the world. US meddling will only make things worse at great cost to both sides.
I feel so strongly about the rightness of Maybury's analysis in this book that I urgently recommend it to any and all free thinking people the world over, but particularly my fellow Americans. We are truly on the brink of potentially catastrophic events and Maybury is the one thinker I have come across who shows a realistic pathway out of the war and chaos to come.
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66 of 71 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very insightful but a bit short sighted, April 1, 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: The Thousand Year War in the Mideast: How It Affects You Today (An Uncle Eric Book) (Paperback)
I thought this book is a very useful read and does much to inform about the historical roots to the mess that is currently the Middle East. There are ancient hostilities and tensions that are beyond the understanding of many of the policy makers that determine the direction that nations take in the Middle East.
Maybury does an excellent job explaining 'why they hate us so' which was a seemingly unanswered question in the days after 911.
However, I felt that Maybury did great disservice to his readers by not explaining that the crusades were in response to hundreds of years of Muslim advance, often brutal and murderous in nature. All the countries we now know as Muslim countries were once considered Christian. Istanbul was once Constantinople, the seat of the Holy Roman Empire. Maybury paints the Muslims as innocent victims without presenting the more honest view that the Muslim religion was birthed in hostile, war like advance. Muhammed essentially conquered Mecca and Medina to make them Muslim; they did not convert voluntarily.
This oversight was quite disturbing because it is the oversight that one hears from the Muslim extremists. They often refer to the crusades without any reference to their own heritage of bloodshed.
While I tend to agree with his assertions about the role the USA should play in the Middle East, I feel that Maybury lacks a thorough knowledge of the religious ideology that drives the Muslim extremists who are seeking to become the norm.
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29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
a much needed perspective for these times, September 17, 2002
This review is from: The Thousand Year War in the Mideast: How It Affects You Today (An Uncle Eric Book) (Paperback)
I found this book in a quest to find a fairly impartial discussion on the war in the Middle East. Over the years I have read about what ever was the current headline of the day but I had no appreciation for the intricacies and the longevity of the issues that have kept this part of the world at war for over a thousand years. Being born on American soil, a nation that is in its infancy by comparison to so much of the rest of the world, I had no context in which to even begin to understand what has fueled the fires of war and hatred for so many generations. I feel very lucky to have stumbled upon Richard Maybury's book. Instead of being put off by what seemed like a student textbook approach I was appreciative of his assumption that the reader knew almost nothing about the history and geography of this part of the world. Armed with a map and paper to make notes I tackled this book. Maybury uses a ptolomeic style of writing that is reassuring for the reader but the information is so complex that I found myself having to re-read sections and go back and refer to earlier sections of the book. This is not meant to discourage. I think Maybury did an incredible job of tackling such weighty subject matter.
Basically I came away believing with much conviction that America has no business being involved in the Middle East. Our involvement speaks to our arrogance as a country and our selfishness as a nation of consumers who upon finding our own oil reserves dwindling have jumped into the fray to try to gain control over as much oil as we can grab with both fists. Being a big fan of Daniel Quinn I was struck by Maybury's comments that our fears that the Middle East will not sell its oil to America do not justify our involvement because, after all, those people cannot 'eat' oil.
I highly recommend this book. Give yourself the opportunity to read something unbiased by your newspaper's editorial board, politicians, your newstation, talk radio host or TV personality. Think for yourself!
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