A Modern Fable

A burglar was reported to be holed up in the house of a merchant. Having tied up the master, who was noted for keeping his riches at home,-treaures of carpets, silver bars and jewels of rare sort he went through the house, room by room. The neighborhood was astir by the unusual activity going on in the house. One didn’t think any stranger could have gone in uninvited. “ Will not the inmates cry alarm if it were so?” “ Another was sure that the mistress of the house would have come to harm or ‘ may be gagged and in no position to cry for help.’ While neighbors hesitated, the burglar was coming to a realization.The merchant had lost his wits by sheer fright and his family members didn't know where the treasure was kept.( The merchant never trusted any other soul with the whereabouts of his wealth.)
At last one neighbor had the presence of mind to go in and confront the burglar. He said,” If you have got what you went in for, why not leave as silently? Do not harm the people.” The neighbors didn’t want police coming to their neighborhood as much as it was a nuisance.
You know what the burglar replied? “ If I leave without what I came in for what do you think my standing will be among other criminals? I shall be laughed out and I may have to look for someother career to support my lifestyle.”

Tailpiece: Thomas Donnelly, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, on the eve of the President’s visit to Vietnam compared the two wars. Citing Iraq's location in the volatile Middle East, the importance of its oil reserves and fears that the Sunni-Shiite battle dividing Iraq could spread throughout the region, he said the United States cannot afford to lose in — or even withdraw from — Iraq.
"We can't walk away from the Persian Gulf in the same way that we could in Southeast Asia," Donnelly said. "If we leave, it is clear that others will intervene."
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