CardiffBaseball: I don’t think you are going to see any flareups related to the middle eastern immigrant population, but it has been a while since I have been there. As an interesting aside, a friend of mine was telling me that al Qaeda has a significant presence in Mexico (mainly for training). For some reason, this made perfect sense to me. This is also someone who would know, and based the observation on solid field intel.

Nost: While your comment might generate some blowback, I agree with you. Anyone who cares to can read up on the Jordanian expulsion of the Palestinians, their treatment by the Saudis, as well as how effectively Yasir Arafat hijacked the “revolution” for his own ends.

It’s interesting to note that Arafat died a billionaire. What makes that more interesting is that the money in question was not used to build schools or hospitals or help with basic and necessary social services. Instead it was earmarked for terrorist activities, and to keep Arafat and his Palestinian Authority buddies in power.

Mentioning this, however, sends most lefties into a tizzy, and is rejoined sharply by accusations of supporting the “Zionists” and the “American Empire”.

The Palestinians have been very effectively used as both a propaganda tool, and cannon fodder.

As far as the AK goes: It is the best assault rifle ever made, bar none. We used to capture AKs with mud in the action, and fouled gas tubes, and covered in rust. Damn things functioned flawlessly. The M16 (“if it’s Mattel, it’s swell”) on the other hand, had to be cleaned religiously (up to three times a day in the jungle) and would malfunction if you looked at it wrong. Don’t get me started on the history of that misbegotten hunk of junk.