| Submit your comments on this article |
| International-UN-NGOs |
| Karen Hughes: We Need To Learn Arabic |
| 2006-06-30 |
Karen Hughes makes the case for a military solution to end the WOT. However, that was not her intention. How can "education" create understanding while Saudis textbooks promote hate for Christians, Jews and Hindus? And should our "respect" for other cultures, include the jihadist cultures? I do agree with much of what she says.Press Release: US State Department |
| Posted by:Anginens Threreng8133 |
| #38 "Together we must undermine the extremists by providing platforms for debate, by empowering mainstream voices of tolerance and inclusion, and by demonstrating our respect for Muslim cultures and contributions to our society and to world society." -contributions to our society and to world society? Hahahaha......gimme a break or here ya go Hughes how about my favorite arabic phrase: K'sim mahk sharamoota! |
| Posted by: Broadhead6 2006-06-30 22:54 |
| #37 sounds like you have issues. I took it completely different. Now...if I was told I have to..... |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-06-30 22:39 |
| #36 Reads like a Hillarycare memorandum to me |
| Posted by: Captain America 2006-06-30 22:35 |
| #35 Folks, I'm only gonna mention this one more time, so get yur pencil and paper ready. Being "advised" by someone to do anything is akin to nannyhood. As in, take your medicine, I (Ms. Hughes) know what's best for ya. Surmising for one's self that one should use another language for one's own benefit (like ordering Mexican beer) is different and perfectly reasonable IMHO. Cautionary note: Ms. Hughes completed her road show months back, visited several ME countries. She has an expectation and, it is expected of her, to make the surveys read "we Muslims heart America" -- good luck with that |
| Posted by: Captain America 2006-06-30 22:30 |
| #34 Hey, it never ever hurts to learn the language of your enemy. It's even better if you don't look like someone who would understand the language (classic case when I was at the PD.....two Mexican murder suspects were busy coordinating their stories in Spanish in front of a black police officer. Said officer was fluent in Spanish. Como se dice "conviction" en espanol, pendejo? ;) ) But, yes, I never speak English overseas if I can avoid it when discussing matters I'd rather keep private. Too many of them understand, even if they pretend not to. (FYI....Spanish works great in Germany. Especially if you can rattle it off a la Mexican radio. Russian, not so much, too many former DDR's understand a little.) |
| Posted by: Swamp Blondie 2006-06-30 22:11 |
| #33 And we don't need to "conform" to the so-called "world". LOL! |
| Posted by: Theath Sheretle2555 2006-06-30 21:26 |
| #32 Perhaps it was a special case then, Captain America -- I'm not very knowledgeable about such things. In the tale Mr. Wife told, the others were discussing what they did and didn't like about the various clauses (?? or whatever they were). Sadly true, lotp. Americans put their pants on one leg at a time, just like everyone else (except those that don't wear pants, of course)... So many times when we lived over there I was complemented on how surprisingly well I spoke English. (!!!) |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-06-30 20:14 |
| #31 yikes! Hostile crowd. Can we all agree that one should learn the language of teh enemy for all the good reasons noted above? Speaka Da English at home, but use every tool to undo those who would try and kill us? I'm an E"nglish-only for America" guy, but learned to hablar when travelling in Mexico. Good to learn phrases, like Agua Peligroso, and Uno mas Cerveza por favor! |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-06-30 19:39 |
| #30 Nothing speaks more elegantly than the offer or withholding of $$$ |
| Posted by: Captain America 2006-06-30 18:31 |
| #29 T-Wife, we don't need a nanny telling us what is good for us. And we don't need to "conform" to the so-called "world". As for hubby, should he or any other American determine for him or her self that knowing one or more other languages, s/he should pursue. Relative to negotiations, side conversations are smoke while direct party discussions are signals. After all, negotiations require agreement on both sides of a deal. |
| Posted by: Captain America 2006-06-30 18:29 |
| #28 My wife teaches French. She believes we should know the language of our adversaries. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2006-06-30 17:44 |
| #27 I beg your pardon? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-06-30 16:57 |
| #26 Dumb bi+ch. Them first, both language and open mind. Until the extremists can open their own minds, I suggest we do it for them . . . . |
| Posted by: grb 2006-06-30 16:42 |
| #25 It's America's Fault --- fuk her |
| Posted by: Captain America 2006-06-30 16:00 |
| #24 Its always useful to speak a for language, IMHO. Im not formally studying Arabic, but trying to pick up words here and there, esp using my Hebrew knowledge to help - eg the day Zarqi was killed, NPR ran clip of Maliki saying in Arabic what they translated as "today Zarqawi was killed" Started with Al-yom. Well today, in Hebrew, is Ha-yom, so i figured good, ive just learned another Arabic word. Too bad my Hebrew isnt better, though ;) Learning a language for love and understanding, and learning it for eavesdropping and espionage, are sort of the polar opposites. In between is just learning it for practical, direct reasons - whether its a GI communicating at a roadblock, or us trying to make sense of Iraqi or Egyptian or Syrian politics - its good to know even for those of us who DONT think all arabs are the enemy, but also dont think we're gonna win this war by hugs and singing kumbaya. BTW - re:hispanics - the ones who come here are usually eager to learn english. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2006-06-30 15:58 |
| #23 I'm willing to learn how to say: "Give up yer jihad and quit treating women as chattel, or die!" in Arabic. On the other hand, Moslems would do well to study the Federalist Papers, when they're ready to abandon the death cult. Surely there's a translation of that book in all major languages? |
| Posted by: Kalle (kafir forever) 2006-06-30 15:58 |
| #22 Yup, a proven strategy. ;-) Unfortunately, some Americans think Europeans can't speak English, which has given rise to the opposite effect. |
| Posted by: lotp 2006-06-30 15:33 |
| #21 Barbara, the world is convinced native English-speakers are incapable of learning foreign languages. (Which fact has given so clearly American that he needn't even open his mouth to prove it Mr. Wife a real advantage in negotiations -- so often foreigners will have what they assume to be private side conversations right in front of him...) |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-06-30 15:13 |
| #20 derka derka jihad. |
| Posted by: mrp 2006-06-30 15:01 |
| #19 #17 Jules - then why announce it publicly? Sorta defeats the purpose, doesn't it? |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2006-06-30 14:43 |
| #18 I agree with JohnQC: if you've got the time, learn Arabic and go help out the guys at MEMRI. |
| Posted by: Xbalanke 2006-06-30 13:47 |
| #17 Barbara-not to speak, but to eavesdrop... :) mhw-Other than specialists, you mean? I was thinking in general populace terms. One idea might be to shake up the way high school foreign language curriculum is geared. |
| Posted by: Jules 2006-06-30 13:45 |
| #16 to sum up : El Khara Dah? Arie Fique !! |
| Posted by: MacNails 2006-06-30 13:05 |
| #15 Lemmee see - we're supposed to learn Arabic, and Spanish, to "please" Arabic and Spanish speakers. They don't have to do a goddam thing but badmouth us and try to destroy us, while they suck FUCK THAT. They can learn English. Or not. But I'm not speaking a foreign language in my own country. Screw that idea and the camel (and donkey) it rode in on. >:-( |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2006-06-30 12:42 |
| #14 La atta kala'am al aribiya. |
| Posted by: Huperetch Flamp5732 2006-06-30 12:14 |
| #13 Good gawd, I guess we'll now be graced with a Muslim History Month now, Karen? I'm with the others here....the ONLY reason to learn arabic is to see what they're REALLY saying and to DEFEAT them...PERIOD! Man, this makes me wanna rant like Mendiola! |
| Posted by: BA 2006-06-30 12:05 |
| #12 here in America, we need to teach our politicians when to STFU. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2006-06-30 11:15 |
| #11 We actually have enough arabic speakers to understand the Koran, Jihad, Sharia, etc. We need more people like Karen Hughes to be open minded enough to realize that the 7 million American muslim figure is BS (this number has been debunk on RB) to realize that Jihad is a fundamental part of Islam and to realize other dirty stuff. |
| Posted by: mhw 2006-06-30 11:08 |
| #10 "You don't study the enemy's language to be sensitive and understanding, but to take away something else he assumed was secret" Amen, tw. |
| Posted by: Jules 2006-06-30 11:07 |
| #9 I can tell you that even my limited residual capacity with Arabic has helped me unmask a lot of the BS - plus knowing Arabic and having learned it in an immersive environment at DLI, expecially a given dialect (Iraqi in my case), you really learn what the culture is about. And thats what a lot of our leadership is missing: theyhave no idea how the US "Political Correctnes" plays out to Arabs as weakness & subservience, and invites attacks in justification of thier dominaace to our subservience. A proud man does not bow his neck to anyone exept Allah. Yet we pay for damage, obsess over every little possible nit and pay reparations for it, and let criminals go unpunished, andlack the will to act consitently and constantly with strength. So unitl we do manage to show solid resolve, and kick some ass continuously without regard to "PC" issues, we will continue to generate Jihadis because their culture tells them we are weak and the weak deserve (by Allah) to be enslaved by the strong. That's thier culture - and why the "go easy" people in this country are writing a ticket to defeat. |
| Posted by: Oldspook 2006-06-30 11:07 |
| #8 The more people who can read the Koran [insert alternate spellings as desired here], understand the Friday sermons and what the Palestinian leadership says to its people, the fewer who will be able to close their eyes to what we're really fighting. Even knowing little things like the difference between a Western ceasefire and a Muslim hudna, or the rules for Dar el Harb vs. Dar al Umma are critically important... or what jihad really means. You don't study the enemy's language to be sensitive and understanding, but to take away something else he assumed was secret -- the same way they can't hide if they have a cell phone (remember when the phones of all the Iraqi military commanders rang with the same message just before we invaded?). |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-06-30 10:56 |
| #7 I think more people learning Arabic is a great idea. OTOH, this is complete claptrap: "They seek to portray the West as in conflict with Islam, because that's the window into which they recruit." It is not only "they" that portray the West in conflict with Islam. Anyone with a brain can see that the West IS in conflict with Islam. Our enemies can identify us as enemies, but we can't identify Islam as what sustains the enemy. Great PR campaign there, Karen-much promise for ROI. A good look at history will show how effective extending respect towards Islam has been. /sarcasm off/ |
| Posted by: Jules 2006-06-30 10:47 |
| #6 What JohnQC said. We need to be able to KNOW what they are saying so we can expose their lies! -M |
| Posted by: Manolo 2006-06-30 10:21 |
| #5 My daughter's going for Urdu. Figures ther'll be more demand for that by the time she gets out of college. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-06-30 10:15 |
| #4 The only reason I can think of to learn Arabic, etc. is to gain some advantage in the war against terrorism. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2006-06-30 10:14 |
| #3 Right after I learn Latin as a useful language for day to day commerce and interaction. I recommend Karen brush up on her Spanish. More likely to be useful for her, particularly at forums in Houston. |
| Posted by: Spomble Phinerong1942 2006-06-30 10:11 |
| #2 You first, Karen. |
| Posted by: Jonathan 2006-06-30 09:51 |
| #1 Screw Arabic. They need to learn English. When was the last time something got invented in Arabic again? Sometime in the 10th century? |
| Posted by: mojo 2006-06-30 09:51 |