John McCreery didn't like my gun-fighter analogy and while I don't know whether he objects to gun-fighter symbolism in general or just my particular application, a lot has been written on this sort of thing. I have noticed that the Japanese value their Samurai in about the same way we value our Western Cowboy gun-fighter. The last Samurai died off about the same time our last gun-fighter did, but the symbols remain. When Japanese businessmen were under extreme pressure to enter into economic competition against Western powerhouses, they invoked the code of Bushido and fancied themselves economic Samurai. Not all Japanese think of themselves as Samurai to be sure but when a symbol is needed in certain sorts of emergencies, the Samurai is available to the Japanese. Great wars become symbols as well. Winston Churchill commented upon Hitler's belief that Americans could be discounted because they didn't have a warrior tradition. Hitler didn't believe they would enter the European War. Churchill wrote that he had read about America's Civil War and knew Americans would fight. What was he saying? Surely everyone who fought in the Civil War was dead or senile by the time WWII broke out. What did that have to do with Americans fighting in Europe? The Civil War is one of our symbols. We are citizen soldiers (not Samurai). We join the military in time of emergency, and when called upon we do as well, if not better, than the professional military. Our Civil War, whether our ancestors were on the South or the North, is symbolic proof of who we are as soldiers. I'm familiar with Marine Corps symbols. The Germans in World War One didn't rate us highly, but after Belleau Woods the Germans called us "Devil Dogs," and we were proud of that. Notice that I say "we," even though I didn't fight at Belleau Woods. But Belleau Woods is one of a Marine's symbols as is the greater symbol "The Marine Corps" itself. In reading about the Arabs, I noted that they were highly attracted to Sayyid Qutb's characterization of them as warriors in the cause of Muhammad. They were inherently courageous, more courageous than anyone else and it was only the evil undermining of others, foreigners and traitors that caused Arabs to lose sight of that. What they need to do now is return to the Sharia and become as warlike as the warriors of old. No one can stand against us! Bernard Lewis and others noted this desire to recapture their glorious past which he didn't think possible. Neither do it, but I do think their past contains symbols they (many of them) are applying to themselves today. At one time I was stationed near some Australians and got to know several fairly well. They had traditions not unlike those in the Marine Corps. They respected us more than other U.S. military branches, but I don't know what symbols or traditions came into play to permit them to think that. What symbols do the Canadians have? We in the West have a tradition; we can't even call it a symbol, of tolerance. We fought our religious wars but after the Peace of Westphalia we gave that up. Since that time our "RIGHTS" and "FREEDOMS" have been hammered out, but other people in other parts of the world have traveled a different route. I marvel that so many in Hong Kong and Japan seem to have senses of humor like ours. Did they get it from us? That is clearly not the case in the Arab Middle East. They have no tradition of "Free Speech," and don't like the Danish Cartoons. In the Old West, if you called a gun-fighter a liar, you'd better go for your gun. The modern Islamist is like that. You have insulted us and we need to kill you, but if we can't we'll kill one of your relatives or someone 1000 miles away that reminds us of you. Someone called this "mad," but it isn't. It is just behavior unacceptable to us in the West. If certain important people in the West capitulate to the Arab Warrior demands, he may temporarily satisfy him, but he is surely going to offend his [Western] constituents. Lawrence