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| Arabia |
| Barrakish |
| 2004-09-14 |
| Sitting in Baghdad waiting for a C130 and I found this opinion piece that I thought would be worth Blogging. So here goes as published in the Kuwait Arab Times. By Ali Al-Baghli Former Minister of Oil ACCORDING to an old Arab saying Barrakish means "the Arab nation" because Arab intellectuals and politicians always promoted the idea that for decades Arab nations had been targeted by evil forces because these evil forces did not want the Arabs to hold distinguished positions or develop their nations. This assumption no longer holds true. When asked why of all the nations should the Arabs be targeted people would say it was because of their countries' prime location between the three continents. But this assumption was viable only when Megallan, Vasco da Gama and other explorers discovered new lands. Today we live in a world of airplanes and floating war cities and there is no longer any need for strategic locations - either from friend or foe. Others say "it is all about oil." Those who have this notion are mistaken, because we don't drink oil. We sell it to the West. The West, discovered it in our lands and needs it more than us. Moreover, they buy this oil at the market rate, the market which they have failed to control for the past three-and-a-half decades, because they have not discovered any alternative source of energy. The West - which has been accused of stealing Arab oil - once refused an offer from Saddam Hussein, after the occupation of Kuwait, who promised to pump oil to the West almost free of cost. However, when the noose around Saddam Hussein's neck tightened, he tried to bribe governments, leaders, and even individuals who had backed him to commit his cold-blooded crimes. So, who is attempting to get oil wealth for free other than the Arab and Muslim nations themselves? Getting back to the theory of Arabs and Muslims being targeted, particularly after 'Black September', it is a 100 per cent Arab responsibility to find out who targets whom. The Westerners didn't invade Afghanistan and Iraq but came to liberate these nations after they were targeted by Arabs and Muslims. For so many years we have been watching the horrible deeds of Muslims and Arabs, beginning with the attack on Manhattan and the cold-blooded killings in Casablanca, Zahran, Najaf, Al-Fallujah, Algeria, Tunis and everywhere you can name, including far away countries such as Argentina in South America. Last week I was watching on TV news about the hostage crisis in Ossetia, in Russia. I thought to myself, 'Thank God!' for the first time the Arabs are not involved in any killing for over a month. But after the Russian forces stormed the school and freed the remainder of the hostages, I was shocked to learn among the 25 hostage-takers killed, 10 were Arabs. |
| Posted by:TomAnon |
| #15 How could the Arabs afford to "drink oil" when the west guzzles it? News and Current Events |
| Posted by: P_CE Reporter 2004-09-14 12:52:05 AM |
| #14 "We Jews, we, the destroyers, will remain destroyers forever. Nothing that you will do will meet our needs and demands. We will forever destroy because we need a world of our own." - Maurice Samuel 'You Gentiles', P. l55 Harcourt, Brace. 1924 News and Current Events |
| Posted by: P&CE Reporter 2004-09-14 12:32:26 AM |
| #13 "We Jews, we, the destroyers, will remain destroyers forever. Nothing that you will do will meet our needs and demands. We will forever destroy because we need a world of our own." - Maurice Samuel 'You Gentiles', P. l55 Harcourt, Brace. 1924 News and Current Events |
| Posted by: P&CE Reporter 2004-09-14 12:32:26 AM |
| #12 "We Jews, we, the destroyers, will remain destroyers forever. Nothing that you will do will meet our needs and demands. We will forever destroy because we need a world of our own." - Maurice Samuel 'You Gentiles', P. l55 Harcourt, Brace. 1924 |
| Posted by: P&CE Reporter 2004-09-14 12:26:20 AM |
| #11 "We Jews, we, the destroyers, will remain destroyers forever. Nothing that you will do will meet our needs and demands. We will forever destroy because we need a world of our own." - Maurice Samuel 'You Gentiles', P. l55 Harcourt, Brace. 1924 |
| Posted by: P&CE Reporter 2004-09-14 12:26:20 AM |
| #10 How many names have you got, Booris? |
| Posted by: Steve from Relto 2004-09-14 10:57:23 AM |
| #9 I think the Algerians are a good example of killing jihadis by the boatloads. They seem to be taking care of the "preaching and combat" crowd pretty well without any pressure from the west. |
| Posted by: V is for Victory 2004-09-14 7:57:46 AM |
| #8 SPo'D - Lol! Yup - you can cover for me any time, we're synched, methinks! Sad to be here, but that's how life worx - you deal with reality or you get creamed. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-09-14 2:35:57 AM |
| #7 heheh .com I am glad you are tolerant like me. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2004-09-14 2:32:51 AM |
| #6 2B - Okay, gotcha. Idea: We'll leave them alone if they start killing jihadists by the boatload. When an innocent Italian truck driver (or whatever) is kidnapped, I want to see Al Zarqi's head on a pike within 48 hrs - held aloft by the truck driver. They could start with Basayev - that would impress me some. If they do this, say, 40-50 thousand times, then I'll say, "Whoa! Cool! Let's backoff and give these guys some room! Good hunting, guys! Need any ammo?" Less than this - no deal. Fry 'em up. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-09-14 1:54:32 AM |
| #5 .com - i was referring to the recent spike of articles like this one, where "moderate Muslims" are finally acknowledging that perhaps they may indeed have some responsibility for the monster they created. I've noticed that now, with Putin unleashed, they seemed to have woken with a start. They could always count on the US to play fair and nice, but Putin won't be so nice. It's nice that they are finally starting to see the light. The problem is that it's too late. |
| Posted by: 2B 2004-09-14 1:39:05 AM |
| #4 Piss-ant in our midst |
| Posted by: Capt America 2004-09-14 12:59:42 AM |
| #3 [Off-topic or abusive comments deleted] |
| Posted by: P_CE Reporter TROLL 2004-09-14 12:52:05 AM |
| #2 2B - You sure are generous. I don't think that anyone except the guy writing the AlQ Stylebook has noticed anything at all. They've been a fragmented bunch of splinters re-acting since Afghanistan. Regards the US: We lay out the flypaper somewhere else, and they show up to fight the Great Satan. Everywhere else: attack the weakest link and pretend it was your choice all along. They're not as smart as you credit them, IMHO! |
| Posted by: .com 2004-09-14 12:31:17 AM |
| #1 I think the fact that Putin just used Belsan to help morph himself into another Stalin has shocked Arabs into a self-realization mentality. They attacked the WTC, not realizing what the US was capable of and now their attack on Russia has turned back the clock to allow Putin an excuse to remind them how just uncivilized warfare can really be. I'm not quite sure why they thought they could sit quietly as terrorists slaughtered our friends and neighbors in their name - but they did. They counted on our decency and exploited our freedoms. They refused to look in the mirror and place blame where it belonged and instead looked for scapegoats to ease their shame. They felt big when bullies beat us up, despite the fact that we had actually done nothing to harm them. It was always our deceny that protected them and gave them the luxury to look the other way. Now, as they realize what an uncontrollable monster they have created - they will face the consequences of their lack of deceny. |
| Posted by: 2B 2004-09-14 12:22:40 AM |