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Politics : Middle East Politics -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Thomas M. who wrote (336)	1/7/2002 10:46:52 PM
From: Nadine Carroll	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6945

Oh, Thomas, you are a never-ending source of amusement. Showing that ignoramus' letter, claiming that the Arabs fell behind the West because Europe invented colonialism and the slave trade! That boob should study the history of technology and the Industrial Revolution if he wants to get a clue. Slavery and Conquest were not European inventions; the Arabs only lost their ability to make better use of them than the Europeans. Next time you meet any Hindu Indian, ask him about the Moghul Empire and the Arab/Persian capacity for colonialism. He'll tell you it wasn't invented first in Europe. The Arabs started out in Arabia, Thomas. How did they manage to rule North Africa, Spain, the Middle East? Hint: it wasn't a peaceful merger & aquisition. And as for the slave trade! The Trans-Saharan Arab slave trade has been a going concern for over one thousand years; in fact, it's still going on in the Sudan. Slavery was legal in most Arab countries well into the 20th century; I think Saudi Arabia made it illegal (de jure, that is) sometime in the 1960's. The Koran, remember, only forbids taking Muslims as slaves. No, no, the Portuguese found a thriving trade when they arrived; they just supplied more demand, transportation, and the gold and trade goods. If you want to learn about the subject, Hugh Thomas' The Slave Trade is a good place to start.