Brilliant!
Posted on 01/02/2009 12:07:35 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Many Pakistanis now believe that the recent Islamic terrorist attack in Mumbai, India, was the work of the Israeli Mossad, or the American CIA. Such fantasies are a common explanation, in Moslem nations, for Islamic terrorist atrocities. Especially when women and children, and Moslems, are among the victims, other Moslems tend to accept fantastic explanations shifting the blame to infidels (non-Moslems).
Conspiracies are not unique to the Moslem world, but they are much more common there. After the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, many Moslems again blamed Israel. A favorite variation of this is that, before the attacks on the World Trade Center, a secret message went out to all Jews in the area to stay away. Another variation has it that the 19 attackers (all of them Arab, 15 from Saudi Arabia) were really not Arabs, but falsely identified as part of the Israeli deception. In the United States, some Americans insist that the attack was the work of the U.S. government, complete with the World Trade Center towers being brought down by prepositioned explosive charges. While few Americans accept this, the Moslem fantasies are widely accepted in the Moslem world. Even Western educated Arabs, speaking good English, will casually express, and accept, these tales of the Israeli Mossad staging the attacks, to trick the U.S. into attacking Afghanistan and Iraq. Americans are shocked at this, but the Moslems expressing these beliefs just shrug.
American troops arriving in Iraq go through a real culture shock as they encounter these cultural difference. They also discover that the cause of this, and many other Arab problems, is the concept of "inshallah" ("If God wills it.") This is a basic tenet of Islam, although some scholars believe the attitude preceded that religion. In any event, "inshallah" is deadly when combined with modern technology. For this reason, Arab countries either have poorly maintained infrastructure and equipment (including military stuff), or import a lot of foreigners, possessing the right attitudes, to maintain everything. That minority of Arabs who do have the right attitude towards maintenance and personal responsibility are considered odd, but useful.
The "inshallah" thing is made worse by a stronger belief in the supernatural, and magic in general. This often extends to technology. Thus many Iraqis believe that American troops wear sunglasses that see through clothing, and armor vests that are actually air conditioned. When they first encounter these beliefs, U.S. troops thought the Arabs are putting them on. Then it sinks in that Arabs really believe this stuff. It's a scary moment.
However, many troops learn to live with, and even exploit, these odd beliefs. When troops at one base discovered that they weren't being attacked much, because many of the locals believed that the base was surrounded by a force field, the troops would casually make reference to their force field, when they were outside the wire and among the locals. This reinforced the force field myth, and made the base safer. Other troops would invent new fantasies, like a pretending that a handheld bit of military electronics was actually a mind reading device. That often made interrogations go a lot quicker. Not all Arabs believe in this stuff, and those that didn't and worked for the Americans, often as an interpreter, could only shrug their shoulders when asked about it.
This easy acceptance of fantasies is exploited by leaders throughout the Middle East, and the Moslem world in general. Leaders who know better, build on these fantasies as a way to maintain their control over the population. The problem is a dirty little secret in the Moslem world, that leaders and academics don't even like to discuss it openly, much less with infidels. But it is real, and you can read all about it in the local media, or overhear it in the coffee shops.
Because they are ignorant people infused with a backwards culture pushed around by evil “leaders”? It’s almost too easy to imagine that Arabs are by nature mentally inferior at this point. Obviously we know that isn’t true, but they sure don’t give anyone any reason not to think that an Arab or a person foolish enough to accept Islam is a low grade moron.
Ah, the water car conspiracy. I like to engage in a bit of denial and pretend that they really aren’t stupid enough to believe the nonsense they are spewing. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. lol
Does anyone care to draw a parallel between these myths and equally irrational myths in the Western world? E.g., global warming, everything is Bush’s fault, Valerie Plame was a bona-fide clandestine agent whose identity needed by law to remain undisclosed, GOP is a party of the rich, Halliburton wields illegitimate power, Bush stole the election, Americans won’t do jobs that illegal immigrants do?
Not a damned one goes to paradise and gets one damn virgin. HeHehehehe!
They don't read FR do they?
Why not? They believe in flying horses, drinking camel urine is good for them, flies with poison and antidote wings, and murdering earns salvation.
Muck fislam!!! The sooner it is obliterated the better!
These rumors were frequently manifested in order to create more fear of the regime and keep the people in line.
I know educated, well credentialed, modern folks who believe we never actually landed on the moon and 9/11 was an inside job. You don’t have to be poor and dumb to believe stupid things.
I thought it was a hydrogen car....I heard you pour water into it and pure oxygen comes out the exhaust, which is then recaptured, contained in heavy cylinders, and then sold to medical supply companies. Thus you have a perpetual economic motion machine. Meanwhile, your engine combusts tiny hydrogen bombs all day long.
Further, I saw two of the WTC conspiracy movies. One was produced by a french dude (suspicious already) and the other by the zeitgeist people. Lively entertainment.
There are actually some American who believe that Obama is NOT a Muslim and that is the least of their fantasies about this sneaky little bitch.
Nope. I am not fitted with a tin foil hat.
Brilliant!
The Arabs only conquered the advanced civilizations like the Assyrians. The Arabs themselves contributed little to science and the conquered areas soon turned away from the pursuit of knowledge leaving what you find today.
We’ve got our own share of whack jobs right here in the good ole’ US of A. 9/11 deniers come quickly to mind.
I don't think the average American can even begin to understand how difficult it is for the average Iraqi to take advantage of what our invasion and overthrow of Saddam makes possible for them. It will take decades for them to overcome the absolute fear they lived under for generations.
Living in the 7th century is much more debilitating than any of us can imagine. Heck, I have culture shock when I go to visit my wife's kinfolk in rural Alabama.
We probably spent way too little time and effort early on working with them to help them adjust to the idea of life without Saddam. Much of Iraq was probably very much like New Orleans at the time of Katrina. The population had become so dependent on being told what to do when, where to do it and how to do it that without that guidance they were able to little more than sit on the roofs of their flooded substandard housing and wait for help.
I think had I been calling the shots I would have started with one very small part of Iraq and made it what a 21st century area should be like. Things like electricity 24-hours-a-day, running water, sewer treatment, paved roads, etc. Of course that would include the provision of sufficient security that people in the area could enjoy the benefits of post 7th century life. Then I would have slowly expanded the area as conditions permitted.
re: areas soon turned away from the pursuit of knowledge leaving what you find today
Sounds like public education in today’s America.
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