Iraq "Mac"

I stay far away from politics in my blog. But yesterday's Wall Street Journal article about a self taught Tribal Warfare Expert named Iraq Mac is just too good to not submit to my readers too.

When the Mongol Armies conquered the known world they faced almost no significant opposition, they stopped for one reason and one reason only: Genghis Khan died and several of his generals felt they were in line for succession, so they returned home to "work it out." His two top generals chose not to return home, one settled permanently in Turkey, the other in Iran.

Generally speaking, when the Mongols encountered a horse riding people they offered them a choice: Join us or die. When they encountered other peoples they built pyramids with their skulls.

The Marmelukes were the only horse riding people to have success against the Mongols.

Mr. McCallister, the Marines' resident expert on tribal culture, settled on the perfect gift: a Mameluke sword. The swords, which all Marine officers carry, date back to 1804 when a Marine lieutenant led a group of Arabs in a successful attack on pirates and was awarded a sword by an Ottoman pasha.

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