Butter, not bombs?

In reading the comments section of an entry from Scott Rosenberg's Salon blog, I ran across the following entry that's both quirky and interesting:

I wonder what would have happened if the US had reacted to our swift victory in Afghanistan with a massive aid program to the Middle East. What if we had replaced the $50 billion in arms now in the gulf with $50 billion in butter? What if we had taken a page right out of the Wahabi sect, and gone right into the schools of Northern and Southern Iraq (who's gonna stop us?) and began distributing books that teach children something other than that silly "you'll have 20 virgins at your behest if you just blow up schoolbuses" crap that the Wahabi introduced.

Why does nobody ever think differently for a change? What is so hard about it? Is it really rocket science to go into the hearts and minds of the Arab people and speak to them about their hopes and gripes and anger?
- written by Chuck White [ Web | E-mail ]