Meditations on Terrorism

RogueClassicism notes this "Persian meditation on Madrid in Athens" at the (Lebanon) Daily Star, by Ahmad Sadri. Well, since the RC gives you the beginning, I'll give you the end:

The invasion of Iraq was an example of shameless exploitation of the events of Sept. 11, 2001. Now the terrorists are shamelessly exploiting the invasion of Iraq to justify new atrocities. Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian Wars shows how the smart Athenians ran circles around their own better judgment to hasten their own demise. With atomic weapons at our fingertips – and sooner or later, in the hands of terrorists – we ought to do better than the ancient Athenians and Spartans. Military solutions did not work for them. Putting instrumental reason in the service of greed, passion and patriotism did not serve those brilliant ancients. We must find better means of surviving our own follies.