Improving the Middle East - One beer at time

A more skilled writer may be able to paint a verbal picture of the landscape here in Iraq, but for as far as my eyes can see it’s just sand. I find it no great wonder that the inhabitants of this area of the world are such zealots. Their world is monochromatic, and almost barren of the resources to create beer and other alcoholic beverages.

You laugh, but with a million kegs of beer I think I could win this war. Benjamin Franklin was once quoted as saying, “Beer is proof that God loves us.” Certainly Allah has the same love for his people…don’t you think?

So why is alcohol strictly forbidden by their faith. Easy, they have very little of the resources required to produce it, and instead of wishing for what they can’t have they just outlawed it. Oh, I’m sure someone has discovered how to make a liqueur out of a bunch of fermented dates, and I know they make palm wine in Africa but the fresh water to mixed those ingredients with is also in short supply.

What would a million kegs cost, 70 million dollars? One countrywide block party to replace the thought of the promised 70 virgins in the after life for a chance to drop their differences for a night. The women would be shedding their veils and showing their ankles, and the men would lighten up enough to realize the here and now isn’t so bad. An entire country shaking their junk on the dance floor and showing the rest of the middle east the benefit of the “Jimmy Buffet lifestyle.”

The biggest hurdle I see is getting them past that initial phase of not liking the taste, as many of us went through in our late teen years (er, I mean early twenties). I’ll need some help in brainstorming that part, so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Those are my big thoughts for today. Stay tuned for my next addition where I’ll address the topic of “girls with guns.” Hope you’re all well.