[Tredge]

I'm wary of the junk Hussein was spewing in the Gulf War (mother of all battles, invaders die, etc.).

There must be some cultural thing I don't understand about lying. Is anyone else getting that? Is their some facet of their culture that says "Lie until they catch you, then take a step back and tell the next lie"?

If I'm naive, then I don't know what to call Dan Rather. I watched his interview with Saddam or whoever the hell that was, and the one thing that I kept wondering was, "Does it register that he's being used?" They trumpet their honesty the loudest of any culture I've encountered, but I've yet to find a culture that lies more. Shakespeare must have had something to say about all of this.

I think of myself as cosmopolitan, but the outright lying that comes from this culture makes it impossible to take a single word from this quadrant seriously. Especially since "trust the intel, and damn the rest" has worked so well. You all must think I'm naive.

War predictions? Baghdad is the nucleus, a hard kernel in the middle of a gelatinous mass. Saddam's death doesn't stop anything. One of his sons was the official protector of the city, I forget which son. He might be dead too. Not enough info here. But I can say, when I try to predict how this war will come out, I don't watch what the Hussein regime does, I watch Rumsfeld.

[Centurion2000]

There must be some cultural thing I don't understand about lying. Is anyone else getting that? Is their some facet of their culture that says "Lie until they catch you, then take a step back and tell the next lie"?

It's an Arab thing .... truth literally has no meaning to them as they will speak only to further their interests.

I've heard that the Chinese negotiate this way as well in business but can't confirm it.