US ‘thinks it knows the Middle East better than we do ourselves’

[Disir]

That the US thinks it understands the Middle East better than people in the region is one of the major problems in Western policy on fighting terrorism, the King of Jordan has said.

Speaking in an interview with CBS' 60 Minutes in Amman, King Abdullah the Second Bin Al Hussein said the world needs to adopt a “global perspective” in combating extremism in both the Middle East and Africa.

“The ethnic makeup of the region is pretty glaringly obvious for us that live in the region, that advisers and think tanks in the West seem to know us better than we supposedly know ourselves,” he said, adding that the inability to see the bigger geopolitical picture hindered the fight against groups such as Isis.

I think the problem with the West is they see a border between Syria and Iraq. Daesh [Isis] does not - and this has been a frustration, I think, for a few of us in this area with our Western coalition partners, for several years. You know, the lawyers get into the act and say, 'But there's an international border.' And we say, 'For God's sake, Isis doesn't work that way,'” he said.

“So if you're looking at it and want to play the game by your rules, knowing that the enemy doesn't, we're not going to win this.”
Jordan’s King Abdullah: US ‘thinks it knows the Middle East better than we do ourselves’

Yep. That's pretty much it in a nutshell.

 

[Asclepias]

That the US thinks it understands the Middle East better than people in the region is one of the major problems in Western policy on fighting terrorism, the King of Jordan has said.

Speaking in an interview with CBS' 60 Minutes in Amman, King Abdullah the Second Bin Al Hussein said the world needs to adopt a “global perspective” in combating extremism in both the Middle East and Africa.

“The ethnic makeup of the region is pretty glaringly obvious for us that live in the region, that advisers and think tanks in the West seem to know us better than we supposedly know ourselves,” he said, adding that the inability to see the bigger geopolitical picture hindered the fight against groups such as Isis.

I think the problem with the West is they see a border between Syria and Iraq. Daesh [Isis] does not - and this has been a frustration, I think, for a few of us in this area with our Western coalition partners, for several years. You know, the lawyers get into the act and say, 'But there's an international border.' And we say, 'For God's sake, Isis doesn't work that way,'” he said.

“So if you're looking at it and want to play the game by your rules, knowing that the enemy doesn't, we're not going to win this.”
Jordan’s King Abdullah: US ‘thinks it knows the Middle East better than we do ourselves’

Yep. That's pretty much it in a nutshell.

its true. The assumptive stance of majority white countries is one of "father knows best". Then they wonder why people are so eager to kill them in terrorist attacks.

 

[Divine Wind]

That the US thinks it understands the Middle East better than people in the region is one of the major problems in Western policy on fighting terrorism, the King of Jordan has said.

Speaking in an interview with CBS' 60 Minutes in Amman, King Abdullah the Second Bin Al Hussein said the world needs to adopt a “global perspective” in combating extremism in both the Middle East and Africa.

“The ethnic makeup of the region is pretty glaringly obvious for us that live in the region, that advisers and think tanks in the West seem to know us better than we supposedly know ourselves,” he said, adding that the inability to see the bigger geopolitical picture hindered the fight against groups such as Isis.

I think the problem with the West is they see a border between Syria and Iraq. Daesh [Isis] does not - and this has been a frustration, I think, for a few of us in this area with our Western coalition partners, for several years. You know, the lawyers get into the act and say, 'But there's an international border.' And we say, 'For God's sake, Isis doesn't work that way,'” he said.

“So if you're looking at it and want to play the game by your rules, knowing that the enemy doesn't, we're not going to win this.”
Jordan’s King Abdullah: US ‘thinks it knows the Middle East better than we do ourselves’

Yep. That's pretty much it in a nutshell.

Islamic terrorism has been around for decades. It wasn't caused by the US nor will it go away if the US bails out of the entire Middle East.

Remember these assholes from 1972? Fuck all Islamic terrorists. The sooner we neutralize them, the better off the world will be.

 

[Disir]

I'm aware.

 

[Divine Wind]

I'm aware.

Then why blame the US for a problem that began decades before the US even became involved in the Middle East?

 

[Dogmaphobe]

The best way to understand the middle east is to look at the enormous degree of inbreeding. When nieces are married off to uncles, and first cousins are married to each other, blood ties trumps ideology.

 

[The Irish Ram]

How about we take our money and go home. And use it to rebuild our failing infrastructure, replace our water lines, and feed our hungry and take care of our homeless, and let the King of Jordan handle the middle east.

 

[Disir]

I'm aware.

Then why blame the US for a problem that began decades before the US even became involved in the Middle East?

Did you read the article?

 

[Disir]

How about we take our money and go home. And use it to rebuild our failing infrastructure, replace our water lines, and feed our hungry and take care of our homeless, and let the King of Jordan handle the middle east.

"We" have no problem doing that. Corporations on the other hand........

 

[Divine Wind]

The best way to understand the middle east is to look at the enormous degree of inbreeding. When nieces are married off to uncles, and first cousins are married to each other, blood ties trumps ideology.

LOL. Funny, but it's more about the 8th Century culture there than anything else. Yes, including the religion.

 

[Coyote]

The best way to understand the middle east is to look at the enormous degree of inbreeding. When nieces are married off to uncles, and first cousins are married to each other, blood ties trumps ideology.

I think I've heard that before....oh wait. It's a frequently regurgitated anti-semitic canard....Science reveals: Jews fantastically inbred. – Jewlicious THE Jewish Blog - right from a hate site. If you can't find anything else - attack them with inbreeding. What hate site did you get yours from?

 

[turzovka]

That the US thinks it understands the Middle East better than people in the region is one of the major problems in Western policy on fighting terrorism, the King of Jordan has said.

Speaking in an interview with CBS' 60 Minutes in Amman, King Abdullah the Second Bin Al Hussein said the world needs to adopt a “global perspective” in combating extremism in both the Middle East and Africa.

“The ethnic makeup of the region is pretty glaringly obvious for us that live in the region, that advisers and think tanks in the West seem to know us better than we supposedly know ourselves,” he said, adding that the inability to see the bigger geopolitical picture hindered the fight against groups such as Isis.

I think the problem with the West is they see a border between Syria and Iraq. Daesh [Isis] does not - and this has been a frustration, I think, for a few of us in this area with our Western coalition partners, for several years. You know, the lawyers get into the act and say, 'But there's an international border.' And we say, 'For God's sake, Isis doesn't work that way,'” he said.

“So if you're looking at it and want to play the game by your rules, knowing that the enemy doesn't, we're not going to win this.”
Jordan’s King Abdullah: US ‘thinks it knows the Middle East better than we do ourselves’

Yep. That's pretty much it in a nutshell.

There is no will to do something by the West.

And even if there were what of great meaning could the West do?

The West is terrified of Islam and then there are enablers like Obama who will not even criticize the worst of Islam but turn his back on Israel. The U.N. acts that way, too.

ISIS is only the latest scourge. Islam has been at war with "infidels" and with its own Muslim brothers for at least the last 50 years and probably many times before that. How can anyone say this is Israel's fault?

To me, there is only One True God and One True faith. And given how large the "fringe" element of Islam is causing total murder, fear and sadness for the rest of the world --- I highly doubt that is a sign Islam is the true faith of the ONE ABOVE. (which may be a source of this trouble)

 

[Divine Wind]

Did you read the article?

Yes. What does that have to do with my comment?

"“I think the problem with the West is they see a border between Syria and Iraq. Daesh [Isis] does not "

Educated people know it wasn't the US that drew that border. It was the Brits and the French in the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement, something the US had nothing to do with. Furthermore, if the Ottomans hadn't chose the wrong side to support in a World War, their empire wouldn't have been carved up like a Thanksgiving Day turkey. Again, not the fault of the US. So why blame the US for all of this? Because it's the Islamic meme to scream "Death to America!" just like they scream "Death to Israel".

Britain and France conclude Sykes-Picot agreement - May 19, 1916 - HISTORY.com
On May 19, 1916, representatives of Great Britain and France secretly reach an accord, known as the Sykes-Picot agreement, by which most of the Arab lands under the rule of the Ottoman Empire are to be divided into British and French spheres of influence with the conclusion of World War I.

After the war broke out in the summer of 1914, the Allies—Britain, France and Russia—held many discussions regarding the future of the Ottoman Empire, now fighting on the side of Germany and the Central Powers, and its vast expanse of territory in the Middle East, Arabia and southern-central Europe. In March 1915, Britain signed a secret agreement with Russia, whose designs on the empire’s territory had led the Turks to join forces with Germany and Austria-Hungary in 1914. By its terms, Russia would annex the Ottoman capital of Constantinople and retain control of the Dardanelles (the crucially important strait connecting the Black Sea with the Mediterranean) and the Gallipoli peninsula, the target of a major Allied military invasion begun in April 1915. In return, Russia would agree to British claims on other areas of the former Ottoman Empire and central Persia, including the oil-rich region of Mesopotamia.

More than a year after the agreement with Russia, British and French representatives, Sir Mark Sykes and Francois Georges Picot, authored another secret agreement regarding the future spoils of the Great War. Picot represented a small group determined to secure control of Syria for France; for his part, Sykes raised British demands to balance out influence in the region.....

 

[Disir]

Did you read the article?

Yes. What does that have to do with my comment?

"“I think the problem with the West is they see a border between Syria and Iraq. Daesh [Isis] does not "

Educated people know it wasn't the US that drew that border. It was the Brits and the French in the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement, something the US had nothing to do with. Furthermore, if the Ottomans hadn't chose the wrong side to support in a World War, their empire wouldn't have been carved up like a Thanksgiving Day turkey. Again, not the fault of the US. So why blame the US for all of this? Because it's the Islamic meme to scream "Death to America!" just like they scream "Death to Israel".

Britain and France conclude Sykes-Picot agreement - May 19, 1916 - HISTORY.com
On May 19, 1916, representatives of Great Britain and France secretly reach an accord, known as the Sykes-Picot agreement, by which most of the Arab lands under the rule of the Ottoman Empire are to be divided into British and French spheres of influence with the conclusion of World War I.

After the war broke out in the summer of 1914, the Allies—Britain, France and Russia—held many discussions regarding the future of the Ottoman Empire, now fighting on the side of Germany and the Central Powers, and its vast expanse of territory in the Middle East, Arabia and southern-central Europe. In March 1915, Britain signed a secret agreement with Russia, whose designs on the empire’s territory had led the Turks to join forces with Germany and Austria-Hungary in 1914. By its terms, Russia would annex the Ottoman capital of Constantinople and retain control of the Dardanelles (the crucially important strait connecting the Black Sea with the Mediterranean) and the Gallipoli peninsula, the target of a major Allied military invasion begun in April 1915. In return, Russia would agree to British claims on other areas of the former Ottoman Empire and central Persia, including the oil-rich region of Mesopotamia.

More than a year after the agreement with Russia, British and French representatives, Sir Mark Sykes and Francois Georges Picot, authored another secret agreement regarding the future spoils of the Great War. Picot represented a small group determined to secure control of Syria for France; for his part, Sykes raised British demands to balance out influence in the region.....

I know. And? I'm sure you have a point. I was kind of hoping the point would be somewhat related to the article.

 

[Divine Wind]

...I'm sure you have a point.

I do: Your OP is bullshit. The problem is far deeper and further back in history than 1948.

...Jordan’s King Abdullah: US ‘thinks it knows the Middle East better than we do ourselves’

Yep. That's pretty much it in a nutshell.

 

[Disir]

...I'm sure you have a point.

I do: Your OP is bullshit. The problem is far deeper and further back in history than 1948.

...Jordan’s King Abdullah: US ‘thinks it knows the Middle East better than we do ourselves’

Yep. That's pretty much it in a nutshell.

It's about strategy. Nitwit.

 

[gipper]

That the US thinks it understands the Middle East better than people in the region is one of the major problems in Western policy on fighting terrorism, the King of Jordan has said.

Speaking in an interview with CBS' 60 Minutes in Amman, King Abdullah the Second Bin Al Hussein said the world needs to adopt a “global perspective” in combating extremism in both the Middle East and Africa.

“The ethnic makeup of the region is pretty glaringly obvious for us that live in the region, that advisers and think tanks in the West seem to know us better than we supposedly know ourselves,” he said, adding that the inability to see the bigger geopolitical picture hindered the fight against groups such as Isis.

I think the problem with the West is they see a border between Syria and Iraq. Daesh [Isis] does not - and this has been a frustration, I think, for a few of us in this area with our Western coalition partners, for several years. You know, the lawyers get into the act and say, 'But there's an international border.' And we say, 'For God's sake, Isis doesn't work that way,'” he said.
“So if you're looking at it and want to play the game by your rules, knowing that the enemy doesn't, we're not going to win this.”
Jordan’s King Abdullah: US ‘thinks it knows the Middle East better than we do ourselves’

Yep. That's pretty much it in a nutshell.

The US needs to get out of the ME entirely. History tells us our dumb ass politicians tend to make a mess of the things, resulting in lots of death and destruction merely to enrich a few corporations and empower corrupt politicians.

...but I fear I am dreaming. It looks like the powers-that-be are doing their best to start WWIII in Syria.

 

[Coyote]

...I'm sure you have a point.

I do: Your OP is bullshit. The problem is far deeper and further back in history than 1948.

...Jordan’s King Abdullah: US ‘thinks it knows the Middle East better than we do ourselves’

Yep. That's pretty much it in a nutshell.

The problem, as it is now had it's start with the carving up of the Ottoman Empire by greedy European imperialists, the creation of artificial states that could only be held by autocrats, the meddling of American interests that led to the misbegotten invasion of Iraq. You shouldn't be forcing people who have a long hatred of each other, into artificial states, for the purpose of providing influence and resources for foreign powers.

 

[Divine Wind]

It's about strategy. Nitwit.

Thanks for the insult. It tells me you are weak and lack the intellectual capacity to formulate an intelligent reply.

No worries, I've been called a lot worse and it never hurts me. OTOH, the odds are King Abdullah and the other privileged elite of the ME will end up hanging from lampposts like Mussolini are strong. They'll either be hung by Islamic fanatics like Daesh or their own people in revolt.

 

[Divine Wind]

The problem, as it is now had it's start with the carving up of the Ottoman Empire by greedy European imperialists, the creation of artificial states that could only be held by autocrats, the meddling of American interests that led to the misbegotten invasion of Iraq. You shouldn't be forcing people who have a long hatred of each other, into artificial states, for the purpose of providing influence and resources for foreign powers.

So what is your solution? Back out and let them slaughter each other?

Do you agree that if Israel was about the fall, they'd go absolutely apeshit and nuke all the Arab capitals in the ME?