Link

http://www.globalissues.org/Geopolitics/MiddleEast.asp
It is shocking to me that before 9/11 I did not know anything about the middle east. All of my history class’s covered everything around it. For some reason it seemed like there was a empty part of the map though. Then one day changed all of this. After September 11th 2001 the middle east became a popular topic of discussion. This country that was once almost non-existent in my eyes is now a different type of feared country. No one is afraid of the middle east head on, but it is the coming up from the rear and attacking that makes people nervous. This thought causes me to believe that we are one of the main reasons for them attacking. Along with a lot of other countries we ignored them; in our views they were insignificant. This was the biggest mistake that the U.S. along with the rest of the world could make. This will hopefully help us and other countries to ignore nobody and fear everybody. Any country can quickly put together a devastating attack. This is the second time in America’s history that we have ignored the fact of violence. The first was Pearl Harbor, American’s never thought that the Japanese would attack us. If we gain nothing else from these examples, we must not let our nation be surprised and vulnerable again.