His logic is sound, with the exception of the PLO and the Palastinian Authority. The PA is exactly what we need to keep this from becoming a Muslim vs West war.

If we want to keep moderate Muslims on our side, then this is the time to support Palastinian state hood. Put up border posts with UN or US soldiers and use force to keep both sides back from the border.

His history seems a bit shakey to me. On an emotional level I suspect he's got it backwards. Until very shortly before WWI the Ottoman empire was one of the most important in the world, but it had been in decline for a long time. In WWI the Ottoman empire was part of the central powers, but proved to be almost useless in combat. After the war it was divided up the winning side along various political lines that suited Europe.

The point however is that WWI did no so much show the weakness of the West so much as it showed the irrevelency of the middle east. There simply was no longer a major Arab power, and the Arab states where treated poorly by the powers of Europe.

Jay