I read something about fear a few years ago that resonated with me: neurologically, fear and anger have very similar effects on the human body. I read this in prison; it gave me pause: most of the people I knew who were in prison for murder weren't stereotypical gangsters or psychopaths. I thought long and hard about the stories I'd heard over the years and most of them were rooted in fear not anger. I decided that I would do everything in my power to avoid appearing intimidating or threatening.

Instead of going down the road of truncated arguments about the biblical and historical roots of middle east aggression, we should focus on the fear that dominates the region now. Isis gets all of the headlines, but I remember the Mujaheddin, Hezbollah, Al Qaeda and the other terrorist groups who were labelled the biggest threats to global peace. I'm not diminishing the threat these groups pose, but we've been on a precipitous course where every new terrorist group is billed as the next big thing. Yet, with all of the kidnappings, suicide bombings and decapitations, America and Israel instill more fear in the hearts of Egyptians, Palestinians, Syrians, Jordanians and Moroccans than the aforementioned groups. This fact often leads reactionaries down the unproductive road of questioning the polling data or the motives of those who were polled. What's important is that we are feared. Some of our right-wing, flag waving, neoconservative brothers revel in this fear. What many of them fail to see is that the fear we instill, combined with our foreign policy has been the most valuable recruiting tool for jihadist.

The efforts by Benjamin Netanyahu and his Republican allies in the house and senate to dismantle the nuclear deal with Iran is based more on fear than the typical obstructionism we've accepted as the new normal. For the record I don't think Iran should have nuclear weapons; I also don't believe Israel should either. I understand the self-defense aspect of having nukes. If, Iran were to develop a nuclear arsenal, the threat of an invasion would be checkmated. Likewise, Israel's nuclear arsenal has been a deterrent to a ground invasion.

Fear is powerful. After 911 much of the country was scared. Looking back it's obvious that those seeking revenge used the fear of others as justification for their actions. We often confuse the motives of actors in the region. There are religious zealots who want to spread a global caliphate; likewise, there are those in the west who would reduce the middle east to ruble. Neither of these groups can function without the fear of those around them. Every bomb dropped lands somewhere. yes, war is sometimes necessary, but we can't kill our way out of this problem. As Americans we have to accept the reality that our military strength also functions as a weakness. No, we shouldn't radically disarm, but we can put a shirt on and stop flexing on little guys. No one questions our military might, they question our judgment and motivation.