The theme of peace has preoccupied historians, political leaders, and the general public for as long as our history has been recorded. Will there ever be peace in the Middle East? Will the centuries-old battles, both foreign and domestic, ever end? This question, pondered throughout the decades of Western civilization, has both a simple answer and complex reasoning. To begin to discover the answer, one must understand the conflict and its deep-rooted origins, or even hypothesize its outcome. We must first venture into the cautious minds of radical Muslims, our coalition forces, and the minds of nonviolent Muslims who seek freedom from the grip of evil. We must delve into the history of the Islamic world, the stories of Jihads, and try to understand their motivations. In order to answer the question of peace, it is crucial to understand the history of Islam and its founder Muhammad. According to the Middle East World Almanac, the Prophet Muhammad was born around the year 570 (Downing, 1946). When he was a young child, Muhammad lost both his parents and was in turn raised by his uncle. Having grown up in the caravan environment, young Mahomet was a camel driver. At the age of 25, Muhammad worked for a woman named Khadija (who was fifteen years his senior) whom he later married. It is said that in his 30th year of life, Muhammad reported being visited by an angel who we now know as Gabriel. Muhammad (naturally) thought he was going crazy and sought comfort from his wife Khadija. She assured him that he was not crazy and in turn became the first disciple of Muhammad ("The Life of the Prophet", 2010). It would be in his country of birth that Muhammad would face his first religious persecution...... middle of paper ... lies of any country that allows a different religion or believes in the freedoms that we Americans hold so dear . Their goal is to overthrow governments around the world and establish Islamic law, by any means necessary. They have no reservations about killing their own people (or ours) due to differences of opinion, claiming that such acts are justified by Allah. They are not afraid to die because they are in a holy war and dying for Allah is a privilege and honor that they seek. Radicals are enemies who will pursue any path, morally sound or not, that will achieve their goal of total domination. As we have seen in our history books, no amount of persuasion, money or attempts at liberation will stop them. Will there ever be peace in the Middle East? Shown throughout history, the answer is very clearly: no. Works Cited History of the Middle East