Anthony, thanks for taking my post as an opinion rather than as trying to force people to think like I do... Well, that probably means I'm on a riht way!:biggrin:
I do not think that there are any group of people "good" or "bad" from their nature. I rather think that in the beginning there are equal number of fair and unfair individuals between any several randomly choosen populations.
But I am sure that culture matters. A simple example: in Russia, alcohol is a major cultural component, thus, you can expect any Russian to be an experienced drinker I think that an Arabic baby adopted by a European ar American family will grow as a European or an American, not as an Arab.
And what I mean, muslims think that their religion is the only right one, and that they will be rewarded in the afterlife for killing people of other religions. The Koran says right the opposit thing, by the way, but for some reason this wrong interpretation is greatly widespread and accepted in the Muslim world. Just think about this: they do not know how to read, but do know how to shoot. This is why, I do not like them and do not trust them. I have base for my opinion: look what happened in France last year, or in Denmark a little later.
Again, if you think I'm saying something insulting or unacceptable, please feel free to remove my postings.

The only Thing that I have to say about this is no matter what religion, cultural base, ethnic group what have you, There will always be extremists and those who chose to interprute religious beliefs It would be fair in my opinion to say that the general principals behind the Koran, the Bible, and all other religious writtings is that they are not set with the belief to cause war and terror and that killing is right It is how it is interpruted thats is the issue. I had a Partner that was Iranian and for the longest time I thought he was so rude and aggressive, and confrontational, I am glad that I had the patience to talk with him mand to find out that his beliefs are that it is unacceptable to be wronged and that you must always stick up for yourself and fight for what is right say what you mean and be upfront. Anyways I too am tired of the loss of life and would love for the wars to be over and everyone be home, but I am also glad to see that there are nations people that are willing to stand up to injustice and to help fight for whats right. I am proud of our Troops I just wish they could all come home.

Of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion...However, when that opinion, stated in a public forum, could be seen as spreading hate, I get a bit worried... Saying that a people or peoples (in whole or in part) should be annihilated is extremely worrying at best and I don't know what at worst...but the word genocidal comes to mind...and in my opinion, is no different than the sick Nazi ideology used in WWII

Sweeping generalizations and "othering" certainly do not help matters...Not everyone is a fanatic...but in my opinion, those sweeping generalizations and "othering" usually result from ignorance and fundamentalism on the other side...

Hello,
I'm a newbe here but would like to join in a little. I got a bit of a weird view on this whole matter. Although I try to keep my head in the clouds and ignore things I havn't the power to do anything about, sometimes my adult brain over rides my kid brain and I decide to try and develop an informed oppinion.
1st, I'd like to say that alot of folks have the idea that our military men in Iraq are invensible machines that are trained and able to handle anything. I've even heard poeple say this is just a conflict and not even a war! And I thought I had my head in the clouds! What people fail to understand is that our men and women of the United States Military are human beings who are away from their homes and families living in an unpredictable, dusty, foreign environment where there are no clear targets and no predictable enemy!!! They are either bored stinkless, worked buttless, or scared sh*tless!!!! Not only that, they don't know if the woman crossing the street with skinny arms and a fat dress is just pregnant or toting a bomb!!! And this is not a war!!! If thats not a war I shutter to think what a war is! What? Do people think there has to be an extinction level event for it to be called a war!!! And this whole big thing about "War on Terror"! Who the H#ll is terror!!! Is it a country? Is it a dictator? I may be a simple hick from the sticks but I think our elected folks need to do a better job defining this whole thing if they are going to put America's best men and women in harms way to go to WAR!!!!
I've seen pictures of men and women in Iraq holding hands in prayer, feeding children, and helping people build things. It makes me so proud of our military people and our allies military folks I just want to hug everybody and cry!
Well there's my speal!
LUV & CARE
Marilyn

Aming them, there are a way too many fanatics.
You've never seen, and are never going to see, ultra-ortodox Jews protesting violently against pictures of pigs in public places, or cartoons in newspapers. You will never find them burning cars and houses in the country which accepted them as immigrants.
Well, I do have an opinion, and for now, it is not going to change. There is also notheng to add to what I had already posted, simply in order to avoid hot discussion.
I respect other people's opinions, and will keep mine for myself.

You've got a definite point there, Linda. While I served with UNDOF in Golan Heights, we rarely had difficulties with Israeli settlers. The Arabs were another matter entirely. That's not prejudice, it's simply the truth of the matter.

However. Having recently returned from a very brief deployment to Afghanistan, must say, I do have compassion for the Afghan people. The majority are against the Taliban and grateful to have our troops there to assist them. Fortunately I have never been to Iraq and God willing I never shall.

Jim.

Jim,
I had a lot of friends in Russia who were Afganistan vets, and my ex-boyfriend was one, too. None ever said negative about Afgani people. I heard "They are hard workers", "They are humble", "They are not vicious". None hated them.
Also, I had friends who had been in Chechnya, and here, many came back with a real hate toward Chechens.
I do not know what the difference is, probably it is that Afganistan is a poor country with a large population of peasants, who just want to have their land and work on it in peace.
In contrast, Chechens traditionally were living from invading other tribes' land and robbing.

Intersting topic, and I like to hear what people outside the US have to say about things.

I guess I'll break this up into facts and opinions.

Facts:
1. The gov't lied abotu the rationale for the invasion of Iraq.
2. There were other reasons to invade (cease fire violations, violations of UN mandates)
3. Sadaam paid for and ordered an attempt to be made on the life of former president Bush (sr)
4. Sadaam's forces repeatedly fired upon American and British aircraft patrolling the no fly zone.

Opinions.
1. We broke it we bought it. We can't pull out to the job is done.
2. We are not giving our troops the support they need to accomplish the mission at hand.

A good plan that a friend told me Sen. Murtha (I'm going to hell for agreeing with him) put forth was that we retire to the dessert and form several bases in the country outside the cities, giving us the ability to launch lightning strikes against targets at a momoents notice. I really like this a lot, too bad Bush(jr) woudln't go for it.

its a mess, if its a war you would be able to fire on anyone firing at you, no problem there, if its a peacekeeping role then you cant do shit, if its an occupation then you can only deal with organised uniformed groups if its a cooperative assistance force your tied up liasing with locals,
if its a big mess where everybody is trying to kill everybody else and all you can do is try to keep a lid on it, to stop it boiling over what do you do, they have no rules of engagement or tribunals or laws about killing, they certainly dont have to read a poxy card or wait for more than one round to come in before firing, its not a war anymore its not a defined operation, its a case of doing the best with a big mess, you cant use military tactics in cities without killing people, the press dont like that, you cant act against the local bad boys as that gets you in more trouble, between the press , people gaggling to cry foul and tie the hands of people on the ground, and idiots in charge, its going to take time, there is no new nation born without struggle, the reasons for going in were bullshine, the way the occupation was handled in the early days led to a lot of problems later, now have to deal with the mess, best option is build stability and internal governance, get the place reasonably self regulating, build up local forces and resources and leave, but only at a point in time when the iraqis are capable of managing, that still leaves others on the ground in a mess, their not in a war their not in a peacekeeping role and their being screwed from all sides, is there an answer to the problem? pull out and the place will be overrun with anarchy in 48 hours and all these bleeding hearts who complain of it all being attributable to soldiers on the ground will be astonished to see mass open inter nicene warfare and extermination instead of the attrition which is happening now, for the moment the only thing to do is stay and make the best of it, do the best you can do in a bad situation,
stay and have casualties and disruption,or go and have mass exterminations and a never ending civil war.

Excellent perspective Loathe... well said.