The Grapes of Damascus

When T.E. Lawrence met Feisal, the man who became king of the result of Lawrence's nation-building, Saudi Arabia, Lawrence didn't waste any time in bringing up the subject of Damascus. Lawrence was visiting Feisal in the southern town of Wadi Safri, and when Feisal welcomed his blue-eyed blond British visitor, he asked how he liked the place.

"Well," Lawrence replied, "But it is far from Damascus."

Lawrence later helped Feisal conquer Damascus, for awhile anyway. These days Damascus is the capital of Syria, a nation that appears to be the next item on the U.S. military's "to-invade" list.

As the 21st-century re-enactment of Lawrence's Arabian adventure continues, we've now reached the part of the movie where Lawrence and his advancing army are approached by a messenger on horseback, riding hard and fast. He has a gift for Lawrence: grapes, just cut from the vines in Damascus. Lawrence bites into a grape, makes a face, and spits it out. The messenger watches and laughs. "But they are not ripe!" he shouts as he rides away.