Friedman Op/Ed

As always, Thomas Friedman has a way of conveying his thoughts that will astound anyone willing to read. In his latest commentary, he talks about the money that the U.S. has budgeted as rewards for the capture of Bin Laden and Zarqawi.

What I would do with the $75 million we have budgeted as rewards for bin Laden and Zarqawi is use it instead to sponsor an essay contest for high school students in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Syria and Egypt. The contest entry form would say the following: "In 2,000 words, write an essay on one of these two topics: 1. Why do you believe the Arab-Muslim world is fully capable of achieving democratic, representative government and how do you envisage it coming about through peaceful changes inside your country, without any American or other outside help. 2. Write an essay about the lives of any of the great medieval Arab or Muslim mathematicians, scientists or philosophers and how their innovations helped to shape our world today."

He always fascinates with his ideas. I saw him on Tim Russert and he talked about his way of achieving democracy in the Middle East: by completely stopping our dependence on their oil. Of course, this is not a new solution by any means, but Friedman's way of explaining and breadth of knowledge convey a more serious and acceptable way of solving the Middle East puzzle. Quite an interesting thinker to say the least.