The gloves are going to come off....

[Capt'nAmerica]

http://www.reuters.com/printerFriendlyPopup.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=3577501

[Leon]

The source said the envoy's statement was mainly intended to impress the Arab world.


That's all Syria is doing. They have no army or equipment to speak of. Russia doesn't even make the tanks Syria uses, the parts are almost non-existent.

[Capt'nAmerica]

Originally posted by Leon
That's all Syria is doing. They have no army or equipment to speak of. Russia doesn't even make the tanks Syria uses, the parts are almost non-existent.

I really hope Isreal kicks the snot out of them what can happen? The jews are already hated by everyone, might as well throw their weight around... I bet the Arabs will respect or even fear them more.

[raver_mania]

Finally - maybe they can have all out war in the whole middle east and finish this shit off. Either the Jews are left standing or the Arabs...but as long as this shit ends and doesn't poison the rest of the world.
<sarcasm>

[.gene.]

Seems like they're backpeddaling now...

Syria's ambassador to Spain said Wednesday that
Damascus would respond militarily if Israel
continued to carry out attacks in Syrian territory
but his statement was later moderated in an
official Syrian statement.

However, Syria later said on Wednesday that the
remarks by its ambassador to Spain on possible
military action against Israel represented "his
personal understanding" of the country's
official stance.

"This is his personal understanding of the
official position," an official source told
Reuters, commenting on remarks to Reuters by
Mohsen Bilal that Damascus would respond
militarily if Israel were to go on raiding
targets in Syrian territory.

"The Syrian official view is expressed in the
letters to the United Nations," the source said
of a message by Foreign Minister Farouq
al-Shara demanding a condemnation of the
Israeli air strike near Damascus on Sunday.

[Capt'nAmerica]

I hope they put Asad's head on Sharon's desk....

[darius]

arabs are notorious bluffers . . . no one should ever look at saddam as being the typical arab leader -- he was a lion amidst a bunch of pussies, but that, obviously, does not constitute being a good leader. whatever syria said publicly to admonish the israeli attack was more or less to save face in the arab world. the truth is that the arab world has not had a great leader since Egypt's Anwar Sadaat (who was assassinated by extremists). anyhow, even if israel were to do it again, syria wouldn't do shit except sit there and take it. there is a fundamental reason why the arab world doesn't get along -- they don't trust each other at all. there is always someone waiting there with maybe more money, more popularity, more guns, or more whatever, ready to back-stab. this is another major tool that these terrorists groups have at their disposal -- exploiting current arab leadership to be weak and untrustworthy. nonetheless, it might be interesting to see if this situation escalates, but know that its all a bunch of hot air coming from the syrians.

[Leon]

Damn Darius, you understand the Arab culture very well, kudos!

I remember a Persian good friend of mine trying to tell me that Palestinians will not get land and even if they did they would not get anything done.

A bit shocked I asked her why, since the Jews were able to make something out of the desert and I hardly thought that the Jews were smarter than Palestinians.

She laughed and told me it's not about intelligence, "See, the Jews got to where they are, with economy, farming, even military, is because of one thing the Arabs -- not just Palestinians -- never had for centuries; trust."

It actually explained to me how different the Persians are. The Persians single-handedly repelled the entire world's resources when Saddam attacked them, and do you know why they were able to? Because unlike the Arab world they trust each other. It's actually a curse withing a blessing for them because they continue to trust their own clerics will get them out of the mess their country is in right now.

Perhaps that's why I've always had a soft spot for Iran--that and their most beautiful women in the world. ;)

[darius]

leon,

yeah, i've dated a few, befriended a few, went to school with a shitload, and did enough reading and observation on my own to develop these conclusions.

one of my ex's was 1/2 lebanese, 1/2 syrian . . . killer looks, but that shitty, untrustworthy attitude eventually manifested itself and i walked . . . i shoulda listened to mom ;)

[Leon]

Originally posted by darius

one of my ex's was 1/2 lebanese, 1/2 syrian . . . killer looks, but that shitty, untrustworthy attitude eventually manifested itself and i walked . . . i shoulda listened to mom ;)

Not to worry, the Russians are not too far behind. ;)

[admin]

Originally posted by darius
arabs are notorious bluffers . . . no one should ever look at saddam as being the typical arab leader -- he was a lion amidst a bunch of pussies, but that, obviously, does not constitute being a good leader. whatever syria said publicly to admonish the israeli attack was more or less to save face in the arab world. the truth is that the arab world has not had a great leader since Egypt's Anwar Sadaat (who was assassinated by extremists). anyhow, even if israel were to do it again, syria wouldn't do shit except sit there and take it. there is a fundamental reason why the arab world doesn't get along -- they don't trust each other at all. there is always someone waiting there with maybe more money, more popularity, more guns, or more whatever, ready to back-stab. this is another major tool that these terrorists groups have at their disposal -- exploiting current arab leadership to be weak and untrustworthy. nonetheless, it might be interesting to see if this situation escalates, but know that its all a bunch of hot air coming from the syrians.

Very true!

[raver_mania]

Originally posted by darius
leon,

yeah, i've dated a few, befriended a few, went to school with a shitload, and did enough reading and observation on my own to develop these conclusions.

one of my ex's was 1/2 lebanese, 1/2 syrian . . . killer looks, but that shitty, untrustworthy attitude eventually manifested itself and i walked . . . i shoulda listened to mom ;)

Hmm...funny - I can say that about Jewish, Italina, Polish, Indian, and almost every other nationality as well. I've met quite a few, especially Italians with attitude.
On the other hand, I've also met a lot of nice people from all nationalities, including Middle Eastern. I CAN say a lot of the guys are assholes when it comes to treating women.

Its funny you've never met nice Middle Eastern people - must be a NYC thing. Lots of Middle Eastern'ers in DC and they can be quite nice people.

[darius]

Originally posted by raver_mania
Hmm...funny - I can say that about Jewish, Italina, Polish, Indian, and almost every other nationality as well. I've met quite a few, especially Italians with attitude.
On the other hand, I've also met a lot of nice people from all nationalities, including Middle Eastern. I CAN say a lot of the guys are assholes when it comes to treating women.

Its funny you've never met nice Middle Eastern people - must be a NYC thing. Lots of Middle Eastern'ers in DC and they can be quite nice people.

it is with great regret that i must shit all over what u just said. well, not really, but i feel its somewhat necessary . . .

1) i'm persian aka iranian aka non-arab middle-eastern

2) i've been residing in the DC area for the last 20 years

3) what's really funny is that i happen to come from a wonderful family of middle-eastern people. my closest friends in life are also middle-eastern, who happen to come wonderfully nice families, and i am more than familiar with the plethera of middle-easterners living in DC . . . some nice, others not so.

how does that saying go . . . assumption is the mother of all fuck-ups???

what i said was nothing out of the ordinary from my life's experiences. i wasn't necessarily generalizing over the face of the globe or even the whole of the arab world. what i was implying was more the current arab leaders and figureheads -- whether "religious" or non-. every culture on the planet has its +'s and -'s, as far as the people who originate from them and of course its important not to make that distinction based solely on ethnic background alone -- ideally it should be an individual to individual thing.

having said that, i still BELIEVE 100% that my assessment of the fundamental, single-point-of-failure in the political arab world is still a firm argument -- the trust issue. at the same time, it is a characteristic that i personally have observed throughout my experiences with my arab acquaintances -- ranging from saudi to yeomani to lebanese to palestinian to jordanian to syrian to egyptian, etc, etc, etc. are all of them like that? most certainly not, but purely applying the law of averages, i can't help but feel its definitely something found commonly within the overall culture . . . mainly due to the wahabi brand of islam that has propogated over a long period of time through the region.

and u're right about how a lot of them are assholes when it comes to treating women -- again, a feature of the religiously-misguided background -- makes me sick, personally.

[raver_mania]

Originally posted by darius
it is with great regret that i must shit all over what u just said. well, not really, but i feel its somewhat necessary . . .

1) i'm persian aka iranian aka non-arab middle-eastern

2) i've been residing in the DC area for the last 20 years

3) what's really funny is that i happen to come from a wonderful family of middle-eastern people. my closest friends in life are also middle-eastern, who happen to come wonderfully nice families, and i am more than familiar with the plethera of middle-easterners living in DC . . . some nice, others not so.

how does that saying go . . . assumption is the mother of all fuck-ups???

what i said was nothing out of the ordinary from my life's experiences. i wasn't necessarily generalizing over the face of the globe or even the whole of the arab world. what i was implying was more the current arab leaders and figureheads -- whether "religious" or non-. every culture on the planet has its +'s and -'s, as far as the people who originate from them and of course its important not to make that distinction based solely on ethnic background alone -- ideally it should be an individual to individual thing.

having said that, i still BELIEVE 100% that my assessment of the fundamental, single-point-of-failure in the political arab world is still a firm argument -- the trust issue. at the same time, it is a characteristic that i personally have observed throughout my experiences with my arab acquaintances -- ranging from saudi to yeomani to lebanese to palestinian to jordanian to syrian to egyptian, etc, etc, etc. are all of them like that? most certainly not, but purely applying the law of averages, i can't help but feel its definitely something found commonly within the overall culture . . . mainly due to the wahabi brand of islam that has propogated over a long period of time through the region.

and u're right about how a lot of them are assholes when it comes to treating women -- again, a feature of the religiously-misguided background -- makes me sick, personally.

Darius: How is that shitting over all I said? I replied to your post regarding ME women (NOT the post about their leaders and trust issue)...it seemed that with that post you were taking it to a personal and individual level, and thats where I commented. There are definitely people out there that can be assholes and that can be nice....and thats pretty much what you're saying(unless I've grossly misunderstood your post).

Except the guyys treat women like objects.

[darius]

Originally posted by raver_mania
Darius: How is that shitting over all I said? I replied to your post regarding ME women (NOT the post about their leaders and trust issue)...it seemed that with that post you were taking it to a personal and individual level, and thats where I commented. There are definitely people out there that can be assholes and that can be nice....and thats pretty much what you're saying(unless I've grossly misunderstood your post).

Except the guyys treat women like objects.

i tied the two of them together . . . it was a response to the last part of your previous post. and on the contrary, i think u were also making an implication to contest what i had written earlier, prior to the post about women -- well, just 1 woman, really . . . and to some degree, yes, what i said was on a personal and individual level -- to my own experiences. perhaps we both mildly misunderstood, not grossly. so u're in the DC area as well . . . send me a PM, we can talk more on the topic there.

[Chicago]

everyone knows syria is iran and israel's biyatch. And Lebanon is Syria's biyatch.

the palis are the dogs of the arab world, and basically it looks like darius' statements are the most accurate on this thread . .arabs full of hot air, syrian military capabilities, etc.

i also believe or am pretty sure that alot more communication is going on between israel and syria than the world knows. i think the younger assad is more willing than his pops to talk w/israel. he's more shrewd, although not yet considered the leader that his father was.

[Chicago]

oh and btw . .you always hear muslims, when arguing w/jews over issues of intelligence say things like "Islamic culture created this or that, or were leaders/pioneers in math and science,etc"

the fact is that Islam spread rapidly throughout the ME and SE Asia and frankly there were already centers of learning there that were simply absorbed (although also encouraged to flourish) by the muslims. there were cities w/huge universities that wree already building on what the ancient romans and greeks had done . . .the muslims just conquested . .that's it.

[raver_mania]

Originally posted by Chicago
oh and btw . .you always hear muslims, when arguing w/jews over issues of intelligence say things like "Islamic culture created this or that, or were leaders/pioneers in math and science,etc"

the fact is that Islam spread rapidly throughout the ME and SE Asia and frankly there were already centers of learning there that were simply absorbed (although also encouraged to flourish) by the muslims. there were cities w/huge universities that wree already building on what the ancient romans and greeks had done . . .the muslims just conquested . .that's it.

But does conquesting it mean they didn't add anything to it? I saw a show on travel channel once (a 3 hour special) on the histroy of Islam...can't remember exact details (I know sounds like BS, but I promise its not)...but they actually expanded on a lot on these learning centers, and built many new ones. In fact, Baghdad at one time was a great center for progressive science and culture. Islam, and the Muslim culture has aided humankind enormously...when the Anglo-Saxs were still running around like barbarians, the East flourished in arts and sciences.

The Mongols were the ones (in the 13th or 14th century I believe) who rode westward and conquered a lot of land (whose people were Muslim)...they later converted to Islam, and hence the beginnings of the Ottoman empire.

[Leon]

In fact, Baghdad at one time was a great center for progressive science and culture. Islam, and the Muslim culture has aided humankind enormously...when the Anglo-Saxs were still running around like barbarians, the East flourished in arts and sciences.


You are confusing Arab and Muslim, Raver. One does not go hand in hand when it comes to science and this <a href="http://www.bebeyond.com/LearnEnglish/DailyReadings/Science2/Islam.htm">NY Times article</a> argues that the study of Koran actually discourages the independent thought required for scientific breakthroughs.

[jameznyhc]

Originally posted by raver_mania
Darius: How is that shitting over all I said? I replied to your post regarding ME women (NOT the post about their leaders and trust issue)...it seemed that with that post you were taking it to a personal and individual level, and thats where I commented. There are definitely people out there that can be assholes and that can be nice....and thats pretty much what you're saying(unless I've grossly misunderstood your post).

Except the guyys treat women like objects. Objects?????? lol lol haha when a woman can be stoned to death ???? they treat women worse than animals.... far from a object

[MsRay]

Originally posted by Leon
You are confusing Arab and Muslim, Raver. One does not go hand in hand when it comes to science and this <a href="http://www.bebeyond.com/LearnEnglish/DailyReadings/Science2/Islam.htm">NY Times article</a> argues that the study of Koran actually discourages the independent thought required for scientific breakthroughs. I didn't see this argument in the article. It isn't the study of Koran that "discourages the independent thought required for scientific breakthroughs," but the emphasis on studying only the Koran viewing it as the source of all knowledge.
Among other sociological and economic factors, like the lack of a middle class, Dr. Hoodbhoy attributes the malaise of Muslim science to an increasing emphasis over the last millennium on rote learning based on the Koran.

"The notion that all knowledge is in the Great Text is a great disincentive to learning," he said. "It's destructive if we want to create a thinking person, someone who can analyze, question and create." Dr. Bruno Guideroni, a Muslim who is an astrophysicist at the National Center for Scientific Research in Paris, said, "The fundamentalists criticize science simply because it is Western."

[MsRay]

Originally posted by Jameznyhc
Objects?????? lol lol haha when a woman can be stoned to death ???? they treat women worse than animals.... far from a object Is not being treated like an object not worse than being treated like an animal? An object is a thing, neither a person nor an animal. No intrinsic value beyond what is a non-being.