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2004-04-15 Afghanistan/South Asia

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Posted by Dan Darling 2004-04-15 12:41:38 AM|| || Front Page|| [3 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 This sounds like a sham. These tribal guys sound like half-assed monkey boys. They are likely to be paying lip service to the Musharraf government. I am not confident that we can count on them.

Posted by Tibor 2004-04-15 1:40:17 AM|| 2004-04-15 1:40:17 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 I have a question about these local reports from Pakistan...I read these almost daily and I just hate the linguistic rhythems of the reports. My question is for the poster of these reports; Are these reports written in English originally? It almost sounds like they're translated using one of those translating software programs. Anybody got an answer to this question, please?

Posted by Kentucky Beef 2004-04-15 8:53:02 AM|| 2004-04-15 8:53:02 AM|| Front Page Top

#3 The whole point of the much-hyped loyalty of the Pak tribes is survival. If they can be convinced that harboring foreign terrorists is detrimental to the survival of the tribe, they might be more enthusiastic about purging these foreigners from their lands.

Posted by BH 2004-04-15 10:19:42 AM|| 2004-04-15 10:19:42 AM|| Front Page Top

#4 Kentucky Beef, can't speak for Dan, but if Software/online translation tools were used, it really wouldn't make much sense. Those programs don't work well, but they will give you the general idea.

Posted by jn1 2004-04-15 12:41:53 PM|| 2004-04-15 12:41:53 PM|| Front Page Top

#5 You are all missing the brilliant subtext of the tribal message. foreign terrorists could be their term for Americans. What sounds like an anti-Al Queda pledge could in fact be defiance of the Pak government.

Posted by ruprecht 2004-04-15 7:46:48 PM|| 2004-04-15 7:46:48 PM|| Front Page Top

#6 Sounds like the CIA check cleared. Now to burn the candle at the other end and shakedown the alleged prey. Remember Tora Bora?

Posted by tu3031 2004-04-15 8:54:12 PM|| 2004-04-15 8:54:12 PM|| Front Page Top

#7 KB, this is fairly typical of English on the subcontinent. What I think is happening is they get the vocabulary but don't get the grammar and the many unwritten conventions in the English language.

Incidentally this demonstrates why Chomsky was completely wrong. He said that grammar is hereditary and we all share the same basic grammar. The truth seems to be that most of us have difficulty learning more than one grammar and carry forward the grammar we know when we learn a new language.

Posted by Phil B 2004-04-15 9:06:02 PM|| 2004-04-15 9:06:02 PM|| Front Page Top

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