The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Middle East

If the last 100 years of the Middle East were not so tragic, this book would provide the basis for a script of a Monty Python comedy movie. It describes the unusually incomptent actions of western an eastern leaders of many nations and political parties in causing the mess. If you change names, dates, and places it would describe the 1930-1939 road to the second world war.

Anyone who wants an overview of the History and current staus of the Middle East without the myths, preconceptions or instant analyises of "experts" who have an axe to grind must read this book. The author debunks the reputations of some of the major players historical and current and gives praise where praise is due. His thoughtful if somewhat opinionated analysis puts a perspective on this part of the world that you will not find in the mainstream media. His analysis are thoughtful, succint and blows away a lot of the "conventional wisdom" we are subjected to every day. This book should be "must reading" for those in government making the day to day decisions regarding policy in this part of the world. They would learn a lot and maybe wouldn't have made so many mistakes

Once again, Martin Sieff has proven to be one of Washington journalism's most original thinkers. Mr. Sieff brings razor sharp critical acuity, fueled by an impressive knowledge of history and politics, to his work. In fact, his understanding of world affairs, history, and politics puts that of most of his contemporaries to shame. You may not agree with all of Sieff's conclusions, but you will find them challenging and thought provoking. The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Middle East provides a fast-paced, insightful, and often witty analysis of this troubled and often misunderstood region of the world. Martin Sieff's iconoclastic thinking on things and people ranging from the Ottoman Empire to Jimmy Carter may have you reconsidering what you thought you knew. And true to the book's title, his ideas are bound to rattle a few cages along the way.

This is an excellent book and certainly provides some controversial (aka politically incorrect) views of Islam, the Palestinians, Israel, and how we got to where we are. Martin Sieff shows how inch by inch and small decision by small decision we have arived with a worldwide conflict with Islamofascim starting with that arrogant aristocrat Winston Churchill and continuing with each US administration since 1917. Sieff points out that our politically correct views have and continue to cost the lives of American soldiers, Iranian dissidents, Iraqi's, and Israeli Jews. He points out that the ridiculous and misguided attempts by the US and the western democracies to establish democratic governments in the middle east was not only doomed to failure from the outset but it is making matters worse as we pursue this bankrupt policy. The reality is that the Islamic Middle East is a tribal culture that is opposed to any central authority unless it is imposed with a mailed fist. Blood feuds are common and the battles between Sunni and Shia goes back a thousand years and is not likely to end anytime soon. Perhaps the best chapter that puts the whole thing into historical perspective is the chapter on the Ottoman Empire. Sieff points out that the Ottomans ruled the region for more than 400 years and during that period ignorance, apathy, and squalor were the pillars of the Empire but the result was peace and tranquility. It was only when the trendy western democracies interjected their ideas of democracy, socialism, and representative government that things went to Hell in a handbasket. Another fascinating point addressed in the book is that the Saudi's are not the problem but have in fact conducted a sustained and largely effective war against Islamofascism. While it is true that Arabia is a monarchy with draconian laws by western standards, it also is an effective ally and a stabilizing influence in the Middle East. The West has never fully grasped the strategic situation in the area where the Shiite Iranians were checked by the Sunni Iraqi's with the help of the Saudi's. The section on the Israeli-Arab Wars was also well worth the reading because it puts the history into perspective. It not only describes how the Israeli's managed to defeat much larger armies but how those Islamic governments reacted and why the situation continues as it is today. This is not a whitewash of the Israeli's nor is it a blanket indictment of the Arabs, but it does show that if Israel were to vanish today nothing would change because Israel is not now nor has it ever been the motivating factor behind the carnage that has plagued the area since the fall of the Ottomans. Overall this is a very good book with many excellent insights. I think Sieff could have provided more detail regarding the western actions following WW I and WW II that led us to this mess but he provides enough to show the foundations to the current conflicts and the rise of militant Islam. Alth

This book warns us that the Middle East is an area "where political correctness can kill." And I think Martin Sieff has done a good job in telling us something about the region. The first chapter gives us an introduction to the Ottoman Empire. Next is a chapter on the Arab-Israeli conflict, which exposes the myth that the Holy land was promised to both the Jews and the Arabs. This chapter has plenty of interesting material, but I wish it had said spent some time on the infamous British White Paper of 1939. Next is a good chapter about Iraq which summarizes some of the mistakes we've made in our war there. And following it is a chapter on radical Islam, which we see is something new, not a return to old ideas. Chapter Five is about Iran. Sieff criticizes President Carter's handling of American policy involving Iran. While I think this criticism is deserved, it's not clear how much better things would have been had someone else been President. The next chapter is about the Arab wars against Israel. There are plenty of interesting tidbits here, as well as some rather interesting opinions about some of the leaders. Chapter Seven asserts that the Saudis are part of the solution, not the problem. I'm not so sure that I would agree with such a characterization. The following chapter is about Middle East wars and peace from 1975 to 2007. Carter's role in bringing about peace between Israel and Egypt is discussed, again from a "politically incorrect" perspective. And there is a rather uneven discussion of the Oslo agreements and the Camp David negotiations of 2000, which we see were doomed from the start. But I think Sieff fails to show the extent to which the Arab side was uninterested in long-term peaceful coexistence with Israel. Chapter 9 is about the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. I think that the role of the United Nations as part of the problem should have been mentioned here. We do not get to see the attempts to expel Israel from the UN, or the "Zionism equals racism" resolution, and now we don't hear about the infamous Durban "racism" conference. The final chapter attempts to explain what works and what does not work in bringing peace to the region. That's a good idea, considering that some folks believe that if only everyone would put pressure on Israel, there would be peace. Sieff explains that this is false: solving the Arab-Israeli conflict will not solve the problems. Nor would the annihilation of Israel solve the problems: it would make them worse. Sieff says that Natan Sharansky's book (The Case for Democracy) made matters worse by helping convince some people in our administration that democratic governments in the region would be a big improvement. Sieff is making a good point here, but I think this is unfair to Sharansky, who explained that the problem is the existence of "fear" rather than "free" societies. Sharansky noted that merely letting propagandized people vote extremists into power is not the