However Iran - and Iraq - greater Persia at the time, under Calif Khwarazmian already suffered the fate you mention above ala the12th century…maybe even worse. Funny how history tends to repeat its’ self. This self same Calif Khwarazmian was offered a choice of peace and trade with the super power of the time. He chose to - three times- kill the emissary’s from the supper power and rob them of their gifts, intended as a peace offering. After the third and most humiliating response from the Calif (the Persian leader had a few of the peace emissaries that he did not kill returned to the Super Power leader with their beards burned off ala Islam). After this outrage the Super Power did what super powers did back then…. Which was to invade and massacre men women, children, the old and every living thing. The story says that so many were put to the sword that the blood flowed like a rain storm flooding the desert. Now insulting a super power was no small thing back then and a lesson had to be taught, not just to the Persians, but to every other nation in the area that would dare to stand and insult the great. So… huge pyramids of human skulls were erected from the dead as well as the great cities were totally thrown down to the last brick as well as the fertile land was sowed with salt so as to not support civilization for generations to come (kinda sounds nuclear don’t it!). Well who was this supper power that did the worse then nuclear option on the Moslems? It was Genghis Khan and the Mongols hoard. As for the Caliph and his family (don’t know if he had son’s named Uday and Qusay) they didn’t go before a world court or any other court. One story has the unfriendly Caliph brought before the Mongol leader where-upon the stolen gold and sliver, now recovered, was melted and poured down the mouth, ears, eyes and any other bodily orifice you can think of as punishment. Another story has the Mongul King obeying a Mongol prophecy were by no Persian Kings blood was to be spilt upon the desert sand. So the Calif and his family were wrapped in carpets (Persian carpets no doubt) and kicked to death - possibly the origin of the flying carpet…eh..maybe not;-). Either way what happened to the Persians under the Mongols was so devastating and lasting that the once great Persian civilization chronicled in the Arabian Knight stories and such was reduced to the dirty tribal nomads typical of the area now. Most of their great cities are still abandoned to this day. Maybe pitching a nuke on some-ones country isn’t the worst thing that can happen.

What do you think?