In the early days of the Second Temple, as the prophet Nechemiah organized a labor force to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, an apostate named Sanvalat HaCharoni and his band of miscreants sought to disrupt the project by mocking the workers, then by planning an armed assault against them, and finally by plotting  the assassination of Nechemiah.  The stability that a rebuilt Jerusalem would bring to the region threatened to put an end to the power and influence they had acquired by exploiting the chaos of the previous era.

As we see from Jeff Jacoby’s latest on Iraq, there will always be those who seek to promote discord to advance their own agendas.