posted
OK, I admit it. I was reading the guest essays next to OSC's column, which I don't usually do. But I'm bored today, so. Anyway, I came across this little gem :
quote:But Iran would LOVE to have the bomb to knock down the US and Israel. Something every Arab country has wanted to do for the past 50 years.
The Iranians are mad at the US for being our usual decadent selves and for past "wrongs" that we committed against them. Namely, that we supported Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war. They hate Israel because, well they do not need a reason, they are Arabs, thus, they are born hating Israel. Can you imagine how cool the leader of Iran would be to the rest of the Arab world if he nuked Israel? Well, the memory of him would be cool, as he himself would be a crispy bit of charcoal after the counter strike by Israel.
I hate to tell you this, comrade, but the Iranians are about as Arab as I am. Believe it or not, 'Arab' and 'Moslem' are not synonyms. Nor, in fact, are 'Arab' and 'West-hating gung-ho terrorists'.
And, by the way, this about supporting Iraq during the war; why does it suddenly sound as though that's a Just War and the Right Thing To Do? Saddam was in fact in command at the time, right? Anyone might be a touch annoyed at having a democracy support a tinpot dictator against them in a war that killed several hundred thousand people.
Come on, people. You Americans are supposed to have the (hah!) best educational system in the world; surely you can come up with better propaganda than this?
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posted
The fact that we supported Saddam is the reason, I feel, that it was our obligation to take him out. We were responsible for helping him do what he did. We thought we could tame the tiger, and we were wrong.
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posted
I'm not American, but this thing I always knew:
quote: I hate to tell you this, comrade, but the Iranians are about as Arab as I am. Believe it or not, 'Arab' and 'Moslem' are not synonyms. Nor, in fact, are 'Arab' and 'West-hating gung-ho terrorists'.
I've been trying to teach Israelis that fact for 4 years. No one seems to believe that "Death to the Arabs" is racism. Well, maybe the Arabs are not a race, but rather an ethnic group, but nevertheless.
You're right, KoM, the US had pathetic propaganda when going to Iraq. So damn ridiculous that I was astonished. But that's not the issue; the US dosn't seem much concerned about Iran. Frankly, I fear the threat growing to the East: once the US will be out of Iraq (because Guerilla warfare will tire it), Iran will be in a much more liberal position.
posted
Not only are not all Arabs Muslims, but, shockingly enough, not every Muslim country (or any Muslim country -- it's all specific individuals) is really at a point where they want to blow up the US and Israel.
Right, and not all Muslims are Arabs. I'm scared of Iran, like Iraq never scared me. But the bit crack is tearing Israel apart. And this will be a battleground. What I don't want, though, is Israel to end up like Poland of the 70s and 80s.
Posts: 2978 | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
Having had a good Iran rant, I now return to my more usual hunting ground of grammar rants. Raia, when you say "Not only are all Arabs not Muslims", you are in fact saying that no Arabs are Muslims. What you probably meant was "Not only are not all Arabs Muslims", that is, there exists at least one non-Muslim Arab. You got it right in the next clause, though.
[ January 06, 2005, 04:24 PM: Message edited by: King of Men ]
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I say that several Arab, Muslim and other countries can threaten "the west", if they want. North Korea is a serious player; and I doubt Pakistan will do what it did in Shadow of The Hegemon. No Achilles for us here, nor any Peter.
"This is the tide of strength and pride" - a poem by me.
posted
Why, thank you, dear. You are quite precious to me too. But really, I have a girlfriend. I'm afriad it wouldn't work out.
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I'm afraid your jokes went out of context; I was quoting a very common phrase in LOTR that does not even need to be marked as quotations, due to it being a cliche.
Moreover, I suggest both of you be precious to HADES.
[ January 06, 2005, 05:12 PM: Message edited by: Jonathan Howard ]
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posted
Actually, Raia's statement thare was not incorrectly written, and it was certainly not grammatically incorrect. Syntactically, it was open to misinterpretation, except that the correct interpretation was obvious, so you would have to be intentionally obtuse to take the other meaning out of it.
Interestingly enough, we just had a thread on GalacticCactus on this not long ago.
quote:I hate to tell you this, comrade, but the Iranians are about as Arab as I am. Believe it or not, 'Arab' and 'Moslem' are not synonyms. Nor, in fact, are 'Arab' and 'West-hating gung-ho terrorists'.
I tried to teach that to just about everyone in my elementary/middle/high school for years. They didn't seem to be able to get it through their heads - they still use "Arab" as an epithet.
quote:I hate to tell you this, comrade, but the Iranians are about as Arab as I am.
And if you don't believe it, try calling an Iranian an Arab to their face. I saw that happen once, the Iranian woman in question being an older lady who I knew at school. In reply, she drew herself up to her full height (about five feet two) and announced, "I am not an Arab. I am a Persian." The intonation in her voice alone ended that discussion real quick, with the other person properly chastised.
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