What do you think about Middle Eastern relations?

[Bad Beat Maker]

How do you feel about your countries political and socio economical relations with the middle east as a whole? Let me know about what you feel your nation is doing right and wrong when it comes to the region.

Please post the nation that you live in in your response.

[theweatherman]

America

I am a ME studies major at GW and am currently posting from Cairo, Egypt.

As far as I am concerned America should stop all forms of support to Egypt. Egypt is a moderately oppressive pseudo-dictatorship which has the worst of both worlds: a failed socialist system and a militant government. Its amazing how a few weeks here can make you support isolationist policies.

As for the rest of the middle east i think America should just come out and say it;

you have oil, we need oil, sell it to us fo' cheap or we will take it. It would make things much more interesting.

Also America should stop the unquestioning support of israel and Saudi Arabia. this would solve a huge number of problems we face here literally over night.

I could go on for a while longer but I wont.

what you gonna about it?

[Bad Beat Maker]

Do you take into consideration any religious beliefs for Islam / Jews?

[Low Key]

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What do you think about Middle Eastern relations?

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I'm no racist, I'd sex a girl from the Middle East.

All kidding aside, as an American, I think my country's involvement in the Middle East is about as complicated as the human circulatory system. Getting involved was a horrible idea, not getting involved would have been a horrible idea, staying over there is a horrible idea, leaving would be a horrible idea.

Honestly, I'm glad it's not up to me, because I'd hate to have to make some of the hard decisions that, either way, end up killing people.

Sometimes I just wish the whole world would wake up tomorrow a completely new, civilized place. But as we've seen in Iraq, that just doesn't happen.

I'm reminded of a post here recently from a guy in NY that got a rock thrown at him and his dad by some black kids, which made him wonder if black people were, in fact, the most angry, violent, inconsiderate, etc, people there are. I think the Middle East really shows what angry, violent, inconsiderate people can act like. I mean, I haven't read the entire history of that region, but I'm pretty sure they've all been trying to kill eachother since before America was founded.

[Chips Ahoy]

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I think the Middle East really shows what angry, violent, inconsiderate people can act like. I mean, I haven't read the entire history of that region, but I'm pretty sure they've all been trying to kill eachother since before America was founded.

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It seems you are saying the Middle East has more violence than the rest of the planet.

20th century death tolls:

WW1: 15 million
Russian Revolution: 9 million
Stalin: 20 million
WW2: 55 million
Mao: 40 million

.. and it's the middle eastern people that are inherently violent by nature?

[mmctrab]

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I think the Middle East really shows what angry, violent, inconsiderate people can act like. I mean, I haven't read the entire history of that region, but I'm pretty sure they've all been trying to kill eachother since before America was founded.

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Since before America was founded? They've been killing each other for like 1500 years.

[dazraf69]

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I think the Middle East really shows what angry, violent, inconsiderate people can act like. I mean, I haven't read the entire history of that region, but I'm pretty sure they've all been trying to kill eachother since before America was founded.

[/ QUOTE ]

Since before America was founded? They've been killing each other for like 1500 years.

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Last I checked..so has the rest of the world. How many millions were killed during the crusades? And prior?

[mmctrab]

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[ QUOTE ]
I think the Middle East really shows what angry, violent, inconsiderate people can act like. I mean, I haven't read the entire history of that region, but I'm pretty sure they've all been trying to kill eachother since before America was founded.

[/ QUOTE ]

Since before America was founded? They've been killing each other for like 1500 years.

[/ QUOTE ]

Last I checked..so has the rest of the world. How many millions were killed during the crusades? And prior?

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I never said Muslims had a monopoly on violence did I? And, you do realize that the Crusades were a response to years and years of the Christians being murdered, raped, pillaged and enslaved by Muslim armies, right? The Christian Crusaders did bad things, but what they did pales in comparison to what the Muslim armies did. But, of course, all of this is well documented, so you certainly don't have to take my word for it.

[in48092]

American ME studies grad from University of Massachusetts posting from Damascus, Syria.

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As far as I am concerned America should stop all forms of support to Egypt. Egypt is a moderately oppressive pseudo-dictatorship which has the worst of both worlds: a failed socialist system and a militant government. Its amazing how a few weeks here can make you support isolationist policies.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree with you that Mubarak is a complete reprobate. I'd qualify him as pretty much a full on dictator, nothing psuedo about it. I think an interesting track for America to take vis a vis Egypt would be to strongly encourage a democratic transition when that frail [censored] finally dies. I don't mean "encourage" democracy like we did in Iraq, but withold our massive aid package until they hold quasi legitimate parliamentary elections. Allow the Ikhwan to run freely and openly. I'd assume that they would make fairly large gains, possibly even winning a plurality. Let them form a government and continue with our aid package, only witholding if they reneged on Sadats agreeemnt with Israel. The reason the Ikhwan are so popular now is that by and large the secular governments of the last 100 years have been a complete failure in terms of widely raising standards of living/providing services to the general populace. One of two things would happen under an Ikhwan formed government, either they would build on there existing social welfare institutions successfully converting them to a statewide level,or they would fail. Should the latter happen hopefully a moderate secular candidate would emerge, and at worst another military man would emerge and we'd be back where we started only now the Ikhwan would have had a crack at it and failed.

Most of the crazies who have split from the Ikhwan (Islamic Jihad etc...) have done so because of the failed policy of gradualism that have hisotrically been employed in Egypt, Jordan etc...Despite token seats in the Egyptian "parliament" they've never held any real power. Give the mainstream Brothers a chance in the name of democracy. The worst (best) that can happen is that they'll fail.

[Bad Beat Maker]

It is a proven fact that "Christians" have killed more people over the past few thousand years in the name of "God" than any other religion.

All that aside, do you guys believe the tension that has built up over the past sixty years over the recreation of Israel thanks to England and the USA will climax shortly, or that after the Iraq war alot of this tension will fade away for a few years? Personally I think after the war is over that the radical Muslim factions in Syria and Egypt will begin to attack more as they have probably been dumping money into fighting in Iraq at the moment.

What do you say?