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To: Oblomov who wrote (131654)	10/29/2001 6:39:22 PM
From: Haim R. Branisteanu	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 436258

Oblomov, not directed at you but in general, I am fascinated about how little tolerance or understanding is on SI for other cultures. This article was written by a news paper who was part of the BIG EVIL EMPIRE until 12 years ago. I do not know who the author Chris Floyd is, but I posted this article to reflect what one of our more serious potential allies in our war to combat terror has to say. ........... and what they say is not encouraging. The problem that the US is facing is that the masterminds who are financing a variety of terrorist attacks against us are also partners in to many US businesses and more so in the defense industry. I refer to citizen in influential positions in Arabia ....... and that is very dangerous. Many in the US disqualify the notion that the Arabs are still dreaming of the resurrection of their Empire which changed hands around 800 years ago to the Ottomans and then finally collapsed by the end of the 19th century. The justification of it's irrelevancy results from what the West or the US is thinking, as the West or the US did not started a war against the Arab world. The issue is VERY relevant because the Arab and many other Muslims around the world dream about their Caliphate and THEY started a war against the Western establishment no matter how many times our leaders will deny it. Fact is that what they talk about - fighting the Infidels and Crusaders -- and toward what they aspire ---- to rebuild the Great Caliphate form the Atlantic to Europe to the Indian Ocean and Pacific....... those are the important and relevant facts. Commanded by the Koran to seek knowledge and read nature for signs of the Creator, and inspired by a treasure trove of ancient Greek learning, Muslims created a society that in the Middle Ages was the scientific center of the world. The Arabic language was synonymous with learning and science for 500 hundred years, a golden age that can count among its credits the precursors to modern universities, algebra, the names of the stars and even the notion of science as an empirical inquiry. "Nothing in Europe could hold a candle to what was going on in the Islamic world until about 1600," said Dr. Jamil Ragep, a professor of the history of science at the University of Oklahoma. nytimes.com; ......... read what the various Islamic movements post on the Internet as their vision, what they write in their news papers are talk about......... do not try to understand by your concept or how you perceive the world ....... put your Arabic mentality "hat" to understand what is all about.............. and if do not have such a "hat" you are in trouble (two classic differences are the perception of time and perception of life). The delay in the resurrection of the Caliphate aspiration was for pure economic reasons. During the last 20 years those nations learned their way into Western establishment trough their wealth derived from oil and grew up to feel confident that they can proceed to their next step -- establishment of the Caliphate by hitting first the most powerful countries. The war in Afghanistan against the Russians was the first step to get their confidence up, after defeating the Russians......... and the rest is history. Upsetting Russia or India will be a big strategic blunder and the West will suffer as a result. We need them. One leader does not make a Country ....... he can be replaced if by a power struggle or other means, including assassinations not unusual in the Arab and other Muslim countries. Our real potent foes are Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran and possible Pakistan & Egypt............ the worst terrorist attacks were planed by people who were born there, received their education there and still have families there ....... many of whom are proud of their horrible terrorist achievements. In the days after Sept. 11, it also became clear that there was no Arab leadership with the inclination or stature to call a jihad against suicide bombings and the latter-day cult of martyrdom that may date from the Iran-Iraq war, in which Iranian teenagers, sent out by the thousands to be human minefield sweepers, were given keys to wear around their necks. Those keys, they were promised, would open the doors of paradise. ..................................................... In Gaza, feelings about suicide bombing turned out to be not very different from what feelings about capital punishment have been in this country for most of the last two decades. I'm not drawing an analogy between judicial execution and terrorism. I'm merely pointing to a climate of opinion. In Gaza, a poll taken in June that Palestinian and Israeli analysts both respect found that 78 percent of the population approved of the attacks carried out in their name in Israel or on its frontiers -- more by a long shot than presently approve of peace negotiations. In Gaza, in other words, support for bombings staged in support of the Palestinian cause has become a cultural norm. nytimes.com It is about time to wake up.