[hoagy62]

Sharif said that he spoke with President Bush before the beginning of the Iraq War and told him that Arab nations are made up of sects resistant to becoming democratized.

"I said to Bush, even before he entered Iraq: Forget about all that. We, the Arabs... We are not like [regular countries]," said Sharif. "You will drown there.

After being asked what Bush's response was, the actor stated: "He didn't believe me."

[politicalwit]

posted here http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2027918/posts

[prolifefirst]

“He knew that that well was mine.”

[whitedog57]

I love the media.

“Let’s ask a washed-up actor for his opinions on the future of the middle east!”

Even if he is correct, who cares what Omar has to say? Let’s ask Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon and the creep from Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

[saganite]

Hmm. He must have overlooked Israel!

[Rippin]

The credentials of this bridge player are primarily that He is not a Republican President.

[ClearCase_guy]

To accept this type of thinking is to buy into some genetically-based racist view of people from the Middle East. I don't buy it.

Everyone started out as a tribe of some kind. Look at the German barbarians, or the Celts of France and Britain. Naked tribesmen going off to war, coming back with severed heads. Later on, they produced Goethe, Beethoven and Shakepeare.

The Arabs have spent too long in the 8th century, but they are not condemned to be there forever. They just need to be shown the way forward.

[LibLieSlayer]

screw sharif and the camel he rode in on. Perhaps he is right... perhaps arabs are too stupid NOT to have someone controlling their every move.

LLS

[isrul]

The man has a point. Real secular democracy is anathema to mainstream Islam.

[GiovannaNicoletta]

What’s Omar trying to say? That the Arabs are too primitive and barbaric to live like civilized human beings?

[AlaskaErik]

I believe him and agree with him. There is something fundamentally wrong with muslims. They are not capable of living in an open and free society. Nor should they be forced to.

[wideawake]

Omar Sharif was born Michel Shalhoub in Alexandria, Egypt and raised a Roman Catholic by his wealthy parents who sent him to the elite Victoria College boarding school.

He converted to Islam when he was 23 and changed his name so that his Egyptian celebrity wife would not lose popularity.

He's spent most of his adult life in England and France. He now claims to be an atheist.

[Bringbackthedraft]

I’d bet that the USA net work Monk actor would agree with him too. Looks like they have the same last names and same roots.

[elpadre]

“After being asked what Bush's response was, the actor stated: “He didn't believe me.”

I don't either. If he is talking about people who hold power, yes. They will always say, “this the ways we have always been. This is the way it will always be.”

But I believe the individual, regardless of ethnic background, yearns to be free of domination, to have control to some degree of his future, to enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

In Iraq, it may take a generation to weed out the old mind-set and allow a new, democracy minded leadership arise.

[Joiseydude]

""I lived in America for a long time. Only 10% of all Americans have a passport. In other words, 90% never left America," said Sharif. "They don't know anything. Americans are ignorant."

Sorry, but I'm not gonna take that sh*t from some washed-up, has-been of an actor, who's only achievment in life is making others believe that what is in fact fantasy, real.

[ZULU]

The man is right.

The best we can hpe for is to make sure we put Sheiks in power we can trust.

Islam and democracy are incompatible.

So is Islam and civilization.

Too bad Shariff converted from the faith of his ancestors to a murderous cult - but then that’s life under Islam.

[McGruff]

I agree. I thought Pres. Bush's idea of bringing democracy to the Middle East was a bad one when I heard it. We want a stable Middle east with rulers favorable to our interests. That would be my foreign policy.

[snoringbear]

“Sharif said that he spoke with President Bush before the beginning of the Iraq War and told him that Arab nations are made up of sects resistant to becoming democratized.”

I think Sharif is correct. Muslims hate modern western values, and thereby hate Christians and Jews. They would much prefer to wallow in their hateful religion and medieval Sharai law. By the way, there is no such thing as a “moderate Muslim”. We here in the U.S. need to get past that notion. Even Muslims who are professionals working for our most progressive corporations and who live here in the most upscale suburban areas hate our guts and covertly support terrorist organizations.

[jongaltsr]

Sharif said that he spoke with President Bush before the beginning of the Iraq War and told him that Arab nations are made up of sects resistant to becoming democratized.
"I said to Bush, even before he entered Iraq: Forget about all that. We, the Arabs... We are not like [regular countries]," said Sharif. "You will drown there.
I lived in the middle east for close to 5 years. What Sharif says is true - very true. Muslims (Arabs) are happy being told what to do, when to do it and not to think for themselves. They are "Group Think" and their leaders get their marching orders from the few leaders who can think for themselves and those people see EVERYTHING as us against "poor little them".
As long as we allow our politicians to treat them as responsible adults we will continue to lose. If we let our Military deal with them, unfettered by political correctness, we can easily stomp them into little pools of slime.

[rhombus]

What a bunch of racist crap. If you raise slaves, you get slaves. If you raise free people, you get free people.

[haroldeveryman]

What does Omar Sharif know about the concerns and frustrations of young Arabs in some slum in Cairo or Gaza City? No doubt he spends most of his time jetting around Europe or visiting some deposed king’s palacial mansion. He probably gets gets his Middle East news from CNN and Rosie O’Donnell just like most other people in the West.