I’ve been in Iraq for about 18 months now performing construction management. It is simply not possible for me to exaggerate the massive amounts of lies we wade through every single day. There is no way - absolutely none - to determine facts from bulls*** from these people.
To be fair to individual Iraqis, lying and deception is an integral part of their culture. It is not even considered lying to them; it is more akin to being clever - like keeping your cards close to your chest. And they don’t just lie to westerners. They believe that appearances--saving face--are of paramount importance. They lie to each other all the time about anything in order to leverage others on a deal or manipulate an outcome of some sort or cover up some major or minor embarrassment. It’s just how they do things, period. I’m not trying to disparage them here. I get along great with a lot of them. But even among those that I like, if something happens I’ll get 50 wildly different stories, every time. There’s no comparison to it in any other part of the world where I’ve worked. The lying is ubiquitous and constant.
This is extremely true - People who have not been to Iraq (and even the ME to a large extent) simply don't understand how true this is (to a large extent among the average citizen) - His "they think they are being clever" comment when they lie is 100% accurate -
From my admittedly limited experience, this is correct. Many years ago, I defended an insurance company in a claim by a Pakistani for damage to some rugs, and discovery revealed that he had totally exaggerated the number and value of the rugs. His lawyer said that was just the way "they" did things; I reminded him that over here, we call it "insurance fraud." The case was dismissed. I don't doubt for a moment that there's a huge tissue of lies going on in this, and that money is behind it.
I'm glad this was posted. We have some friends in Paris; her father fought in Algeria in the 50's. She said, "He told me, 'We learned NEVER to trust the Arabs. They will stab you in the back every time.'" Is this secret knowledge??? I think not.