Response to Anna

        I thought your connection between religion and imperialism was really interesting especially since we haven’t talked about it that in-depth during class. I would agree with your statement that much of the United States intervention in the Middle East is because of religion—especially since most of the terrorist groups we aim to disband are oriented around religion. I think the fact that religion plays such a strong part in these radical groups is a reason why they are so dangerous. For example, if a leader of one of these groups dies, there’s still a reason to continue fighting—for their faith. This relates back to one of the discussion questions for the movie Viva Zapata. The old man said that a dead man could be a dangerous enemy, meaning that sometimes the supporters are more radical than the leader.