Obama speaks directly to Arabs

[harpman1]

You seem to think that the Muslim world's psychology is the same as a debating society at SSU.
'Taint so.
Strength, as in force; power; aggression, is the currency of leadership over there.
Pres. Obambi's actions speak loudly to them.
It says "weakness".
Such a childish viewpoint for an adult.
Know your enemy, or pay the price for an expensive education.

[saunterelle]

Jan 29, 2009 14:29:30 GMT -5 harpman1 said:

You seem to think that the Muslim world's psychology is the same as a debating society at SSU.
'Taint so.
Strength, as in force; power; aggression, is the currency of leadership over there.
Pres. Obambi's actions speak loudly to them.
It says "weakness".
Such a childish viewpoint for an adult.
Know your enemy, or pay the price for an expensive education.

Actually, the childish viewpoint is your own. If you'd have done your homework you would know that modern day Arabs are smart. They don't simply bow down to America because we act like a bully and flex our muscles with shock and awe. Dialogue can be used in conjunction with our military might to best achieve our goals. You're stuck in a 20th century mindset. The world is much smaller now.

Another dimension to this complex problem is the role of petrodictators. As their power increases, freedom of their people decreases. Weening America off fossil fuels will be an effective way of taking power away from oil rich nations. That is one of Obama's primary goals.

[moondog]

Jan 29, 2009 14:05:25 GMT -5 saunterelle said:

moondog wrote:

And once again, nice dodge bub. You answered one part of the question. First, a handful carried out the attack, but about 10% of their populations are engaged in questionable to terrorist activities. So your comparison is way, way off base. There is no way that 10% of our soldiers were committing atrocities at Abu Ghraib. If you believe there was, then we have absolutely nothing to talk about, because you would be in the realm of fantasy not reality.

10% of Arabs are engaged in terrorist activities?? Can you please site your source for that laughably false piece of misinformation?

So, I ask you this. Should we negotiate with the very Arab people who were cheering after 3,000 people were killed after their fellow Muslims flew planes into our buildings?

Obama is not negotiating, he is engaging in conversation. There is a big difference. A confident President engages in dialogue, even with the enemy. A weak President isolates himself, lobs missiles, and has other people talk for him.

I didn't say 10% were engaged in terrorist activities. I said 10% were engaged in questionable to terrorist activities. About 1% are actively engaged in violent terrorist activities. That is one percent of 1,500,000,000 in the middle east alone. Gee, that amounts to around 15,000,000 people. The rest are involved in activities like teaching their children to hate Israel and the United States.

Here is a quick test for you. Ask your Muslim friends if Israel has a right to exist in the middle east, right where it is. Then come back and tell me how many of your Muslim friends you lost.

[moondog]

Jan 29, 2009 14:49:46 GMT -5 saunterelle said:

Jan 29, 2009 14:29:30 GMT -5 harpman1 said:

You seem to think that the Muslim world's psychology is the same as a debating society at SSU.
'Taint so.
Strength, as in force; power; aggression, is the currency of leadership over there.
Pres. Obambi's actions speak loudly to them.
It says "weakness".
Such a childish viewpoint for an adult.
Know your enemy, or pay the price for an expensive education.

Actually, the childish viewpoint is your own. If you'd have done your homework you would know that modern day Arabs are smart. They don't simply bow down to America because we act like a bully and flex our muscles with shock and awe. Dialogue can be used in conjunction with our military might to best achieve our goals. You're stuck in a 20th century mindset. The world is much smaller now.

Another dimension to this complex problem is the role of petrodictators. As their power increases, freedom of their people decreases. Weening America off fossil fuels will be an effective way of taking power away from oil rich nations. That is one of Obama's primary goals.

You are going to sit there and tell us how intelligent Muslims in the middle east are when we know for a fact that there is about a 30% to 40% illiteracy rate. Give me a break.

[saunterelle]

Can you please cite your sources for these claims? It is not common knowledge.

[moondog]

Just go look at the studies done by Great Britain and the UK.

[saunterelle]

So, can you provide a link or two? Did you memorize these numbers? Or did you look them up to ensure accuracy before spewing them forth?

[moondog]

Actually, it was on a program I was listening to this morning and you can find the numbers on the internet. It is not my job to make your education easier, but it is your job to educate yourself.

[saunterelle]

Maybe if you tell us which program you were listening to it would provide some context to determine the validity of the number you put out here.

[moondog]

I just told you to go out and look up the Great Britain studies on the rates that Muslims engage in terrorism. They have concluded that one percent of them engage in terrorist activities. Do some of your own home work for a change. Or come up with something to dispute it.

[saunterelle]

It's bullshit until you can prove otherwise.

[moondog]

There is the rub. I don't have to prove anything to you. If you choose not to educate yourself then that is your problem. But, Great Britain has done a study of this, just google it for yourself. That is if you have the knowledge to google.

Here is a quote for you:
"The problem with the terrorist threat is that if only a very small fraction of society decides to become terrorists the cost to the rest of us would be enormous. One one hundredth of one percent of America is about 30,000 people. That many people operating as terrorists could kill more people than the US lost in the last 100 years as soldiers fighting in wars. Therefore any group which has even a small fraction of its members leaning toward terrorism should be kept out. We already have enough people and so does Europe. Immigration should be done only when the benefits per person coming in clearly outweigh all the costs immediately and in the long term. In my opinion the United States could reduce the rate of immigration by a couple of orders of magnitude by putting a high IQ minimum on immigrants and eliminate huge costs and growing risks while retaining the bulk of the benefits of immigration."