[quote=“dablindfrog”]http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070421/ap_on_re_as/pakistan_child_executioner

this is only 1 example of the legendary ruthlessness dished out in the middle east
for thousands of years,leaders have refused to wage war on some ME nations because of this very reputation,but of course it took an over confident pea-brained like bush to go against the flow[/quote]
I don’t get your point.
2500 years ago the Greeks invaded and sacked Troy along with colonising half of what is modern day Turkey.
2300 years ago Alexander invaded and defeated the entire ME region.
2000 years ago the Romans consistently fought and kept the Persians at bay.
1000 to 800 years ago the Crusaders felt no compunction NOT to wage war against the ME nations.
750 years ago the Mongols invaded and crushed the Islamic armies in the region of Syria and Persia.
200 years ago the Napoleonic army romped all over Egypt and (due only to the Royal Navy) had to march his army back home through Syria and the Ottoman Empire.
1914 to 1918 the Allies gave Johnny Turk one or two things to think about, dissasembled the Ottoman Empire and took control of large portions.
1939 to 1943 the Germans romped through the area quite merrily until they were defeated by the British Empire at El Alemein.
1967 the Israeli’s kicked the hell out of the lot of them in six days.
1991/2 The Americans (sure, it was an allied force, but mostly Americans) romped through Iraq.
2003- present the Americans are still romping through Iraq, albeit less successfully than they would have hoped.
Not exactly a Bush fan, but also don’t really see where he “Went against the flow.”
My point is: All and sundry seemed to have had no worries about invading, usually quite easily conquering and romping all over the ME for the last 2500 years, the only notable exception in that time being the rise of the Islamic Empire in the 8th century. And even then no one seemed overly concerned by what you call their “reputation” (of brutal state sanctioned capital punishment?).
“So what?” is my question.
In the ME they behead you (they used to do this in France too you know).
in the States they gas you, hang you or inject you.
In China they shoot you in the head, and send the price of the bullet to your family.
In most countries (that have capital punishment) they just hang you.
What’s the difference really? The end result is the same, and I doubt that death by hanging is a picnic.