http://politicalhumor.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ/Ya&sdn=politicalhumor&cdn=entertainment&tm=17&gps=122_9_1020_565&f=10&su=p445.92.150.ip_&tt=14&bt=0&bts=0&zu=http%3A//cagle.slate.msn.com//news/Yassin/main.asp
^Second Cartoon Down
This picture, while to some it may look like just a cartoon, actually says a lot about the relationship between the Arab world and different cultures. Many say that the Arab's refuse to be peaceful and cooperate with other nations, but is that because if they did their culture would become squashed and turned into a westernisized society like they fear? Everyone else seems to want that because the Arab world would be more compatable with other nations, but that's depriving them of their true identity. That's just simply taking away thousands of years of culture. Also, the Arab's might view other nations talk of "peace" as just squashing and getting rid of the Middle East all together.
-BC
Monday, March 19, 2007
"Peace"?
http://politicalhumor.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ/Ya&sdn=politicalhumor&cdn=entertainment&tm=17&gps=122_9_1020_565&f=10&su=p445.92.150.ip_&tt=14&bt=0&bts=0&zu=http%3A//cagle.slate.msn.com//news/Yassin/main.asp
^Second Cartoon Down
This picture, while to some it may look like just a cartoon, actually says a lot about the relationship between the Arab world and different cultures. Many say that the Arab's refuse to be peaceful and cooperate with other nations, but is that because if they did their culture would become squashed and turned into a westernisized society like they fear? Everyone else seems to want that because the Arab world would be more compatable with other nations, but that's depriving them of their true identity. That's just simply taking away thousands of years of culture. Also, the Arab's might view other nations talk of "peace" as just squashing and getting rid of the Middle East all together.
-BC
^Second Cartoon Down
This picture, while to some it may look like just a cartoon, actually says a lot about the relationship between the Arab world and different cultures. Many say that the Arab's refuse to be peaceful and cooperate with other nations, but is that because if they did their culture would become squashed and turned into a westernisized society like they fear? Everyone else seems to want that because the Arab world would be more compatable with other nations, but that's depriving them of their true identity. That's just simply taking away thousands of years of culture. Also, the Arab's might view other nations talk of "peace" as just squashing and getting rid of the Middle East all together.
-BC
Iraq: what's so hard about negotiating?
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2007/03/19/iraq_sunni_insurgency_kills_6_more_us_troops/
In this news article, it talks about how the Iraqi Sunni killed more Americans and how they don't plan to stop. "The issue that we're all trying to figure out is how best do you get the Iraqis to reconcile their differences -- because, after all, this is not going to be solved by the military. It has to involve political reconciliation in Iraq, among Iraqis," Gates said on the CBS show "Face the Nation." This quotation is a prime example of how fighting with the Middle East isn't as simple as people think it is. American's are fighting against people who think nothing of themselves in order to kill thousands of people. How can you possibly fight against that? It's to the point where even leaving your house to go to the supermarket is dangerous. America's trying to get the Iraquis to "reconcile their differences", because America realizes that this isn't going to be solved by force or military; it would never end. It's more of an Iraqi problem with themselves, than an America vs. Iraq problem. The U.S is trying to get Iraq to negotiate, because as dangerous and useless as it is to stay in Iraq, it would be even more dangerous to pull out. If that happened, you would leave a country with no political direction, and would put America in the number one spot for Iraq's next ist attack. They attacked us before, they'd definitly attack us once we've got them angry. Frankly, in my opinion, this is a no win situation unless Iraq negotiates, and people are going to continue to die until they do.
-BC
In this news article, it talks about how the Iraqi Sunni killed more Americans and how they don't plan to stop. "The issue that we're all trying to figure out is how best do you get the Iraqis to reconcile their differences -- because, after all, this is not going to be solved by the military. It has to involve political reconciliation in Iraq, among Iraqis," Gates said on the CBS show "Face the Nation." This quotation is a prime example of how fighting with the Middle East isn't as simple as people think it is. American's are fighting against people who think nothing of themselves in order to kill thousands of people. How can you possibly fight against that? It's to the point where even leaving your house to go to the supermarket is dangerous. America's trying to get the Iraquis to "reconcile their differences", because America realizes that this isn't going to be solved by force or military; it would never end. It's more of an Iraqi problem with themselves, than an America vs. Iraq problem. The U.S is trying to get Iraq to negotiate, because as dangerous and useless as it is to stay in Iraq, it would be even more dangerous to pull out. If that happened, you would leave a country with no political direction, and would put America in the number one spot for Iraq's next ist attack. They attacked us before, they'd definitly attack us once we've got them angry. Frankly, in my opinion, this is a no win situation unless Iraq negotiates, and people are going to continue to die until they do.
-BC
Dangerous or Self Defending?
To many Americans, the Middle East is viewed as a dangerous section of the world; always in turmoil. When reading Baghdad without A Map, I was shocked to find out that in Yemen, all the men carried two daggers on them daily. Coming from American culture, to me that was just asking for on the streets. I had overlooked that fact that mayve the people in Yemen are just trying to protect themselves. In a small surburban area in America, one wouldn't have to carry a dagger on them in order to feel safe. In fact, if you did, it wouldn't be acceptable. However, in the Middle East, what I failed to notice was that their culture is nothing like ours. American's don't need to carry weapons daily, but maybe Yemen's do in order to protect themselves. In any part of the world, country, state, and even city where there is lots of turmoil and , many people do carry weapons on them in order to feel safe. It may be unnatural or problamatic from an American's point of view, but what people don't understand is that the Middle East is a very different place from America, and that you can't really compare the two lifestyles at all. TO the Americans, the Middle East is just a section in the world looking for trouble, but in reality, it's just trying to defend itself from it.
-BC
-BC
Why can't we both be RIght?
There are many reasons why the Middle East and America don’t get along. One of the main reasons is that neither nation nor culture understands the other. They both assume that their culture and way of life is right, therefore the other culture must be wrong. This ignorance builds up to the point in which since the two cultures know nothing about the other, the mystery is filled with fear, which sadly leads to hatred. The American’s view the Middle Eastern culture as demeaning to women and downright crazy. The Middle Eastern’s, on the other hand, think it’s crazy that the Americans give women as much freedom as they do. Both cultures think that they’re way of living is the only way that’s right, and don’t understand that both Middle Eastern and American cultures can both be right. It doesn’t necessarily have to be one over the other.
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Fear of the "Wrong"
The huge misconception that people in America and also from around the world believes is that the Middle East “hates” Americans. Whether or not they “hate” Americans, it’s not just simply for the act of hating. The conflict is much deeper than that. It’s the fear of Westernization that drives the Middle Eastern culture and people to think that Americans are their enemy. The Middle East has prized itself on keeping it’s culture free from Western influence, and any country that threatens that becomes the Middle East’s enemy. The Middle East is scared of America. They see it as a nation trying to change the way they’ve lived fro hundreds of years. Americans are also frightened by the Middle Eastern way of life as well because it’s so different from their society. It isn’t hate that drives the two ways of life apart but ignorance and the fear of the unknown.
-BC
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Woman's Rights vs. Woman's Rights?
In Baghdad Without A Map, the separation and differences between Middle Eastern and American cultures become quite clear. In the Middle East, it’s socially acceptable to carry daggers on you in public. Women however are forced to wear veils or a type of clothing covering everything but their eyes. This culture shows a harsh but true favorism of the male sex, while in America the dominant sex is becoming more and more unclear with time. Just back a century ago, American women weren’t allowed to vote and stayed at home with the kids and house. A few decades later however, women had the right to vote and were slowly but surely on the path to success in the workplace and in the world. They started working and taking men’s jobs. Nowadays a man is almost as likely to stay home with children than a woman. This huge transformation over the years has been a prime example of how the Middle Eastern and American cultures differ. On another note, there isn’t much to be said about the changes that Middle Eastern females have undergone because there hasn’t been many. The Middle Eastern culture has somewhat stayed the same over the years. While American culture is constantly changing, Middle Eastern values and customs have remained solid in their attempt to stop change and Westernization from reaching the Middle East.
-BC
-BC
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