Examples of the "Americans are the New Mongols" paradigm, mentioned below several times, continue to pour in. Just one case, as reported in the Guardian, "'The army of America is like Genghis Khan,', snapped Fouad Abdullah Ahmed, 49, as US tanks rumbled by without stopping. 'America is not good and Saddam is not good. My people refused Saddam, and they will refuse the Americans.' One young man went further: 'If this continues in Baghdad we'll kill any American or British soldier,' said Rahad Bahman Qasim, 30."

Under the circumstances Mr. Fouad Abdullah Ahmed can be excused if his history is a bit hazy; it was of course Hulegu, Chingis's grandson, who sacked Baghdad in 1258, not Chingis himself, who died in 1227.

In any case, is it too early to hope for another Pax Mongolica?