As Islamic State militants routed in Iraq, their families fear reprisals

[boomerangutang]

13 minutes ago, Orton Rd said:

Not interested in them at all, they deserve all they get IMHO

Do they really 'deserve' all the get?

 

If you're in charge of a day care center, and every day the kids show up carrying handfuls of mud, and proceed to throw it all over inside, .....are you going to methodically clean up the place, buy them all new clothes/shoes/backpacks,  .....each day?   

 

That's a microcosm of what we see in the M.East.  The people there have been getting hand-outs since before the Suez Canal, yet each day they continue to make messes, kill people, subvert females, etc ad nauseum.  You can guess why there's 'donor fatigue' from people in western countries.   Plus, the Saudis, Kuwaitis, Dubai, UAE, Qataris and some others have piles of money.   How much are they paying, comparatively, to clean up the endless messes of their neighbors?  

[pegman]

2 hours ago, boomerangutang said:

Americans, in particular, always think that shoveling tons of money at a problem will fix it.  Money helps, but there are so many grave problems in the world (I just found out that 25% of the world's coral reefs have died in the past 15 years due to warming oceans), that there's not near enough money to pile on them.  

 

As much as anything else, improvements in the M.East are reliant on educating children.  They're not going to get rid of their mean-spirited belief systems, but hopefully they can downplay some of the most radical teachings they're now encumbered with.  I'm referring, of course, to radical aspects of Islam.  In their place, enable kids to learn about weird (to Arabs) concepts like cooperation, tolerance, art, music, dance, appreciation for nature, inventing useful things, science, etc.   How to nurture movements toward reason, and away from fanaticism?  I don't have all the answers, but I do have some suggestions.

How about stop starting wars there? I think most of the M.E. trouble right now can be traced to the Brits and Americans invading Iraq on a lie.

[halloween]

7 minutes ago, pegman said:

How about stop starting wars there? I think most of the M.E. trouble right now can be traced to the Brits and Americans invading Iraq on a lie.

Sure, before that the area was so peaceful and tranquil.

Edited July 19, 2017 by halloween

[Kwasaki]

50 minutes ago, pegman said:

How about stop starting wars there? I think most of the M.E. trouble right now can be traced to the Brits and Americans invading Iraq on a lie.

 l think Iraq was invaded by a coalition led by the U.S and there puppet.

 

Maybe the Kurd's would look at differently but under President Reagan, the United States continued to aid Iraq after receiving reports of the use of poisonous gas on Kurdish civilians. 

 

Nothing learnt though from bombing before or after 2003.

Let’s tick bombings off: Iran (1980, 1987-1988), Libya (1981, 1986, 1989, 2011), Lebanon (1983), Kuwait (1991), Iraq (1991-2011, 2014-), Somalia (1992-1993, 2007-), Bosnia (1995), Saudi Arabia (1991, 1996), Afghanistan (1998, 2001-), Sudan (1998), Kosovo (1999), Yemen (2000, 2002-), Pakistan (2004-), Philippines 2012 and now Syria.   velly good err.  

 

 

Edited July 19, 2017 by Kwasaki

[boomerangutang]

54 minutes ago, pegman said:

How about stop starting wars there? I think most of the M.E. trouble right now can be traced to the Brits and Americans invading Iraq on a lie.

Dire problems would be thick in the M.East with or without western interventions.  It's debatable whether Brits and Americans have done more harm than good there.  I think they've done more good than harm.  Look at happens when left to their own devices:   Iraq invades Kuwait.  Iran and Iraq have a war which includes masses of child-soldiers and chemi weapons.  Here are some of the things the M.East would NOT have were it not for westerners: 

guns, ammo, refrigeration, internet, computers, phones, electricity, trains, cars, technology to bring oil out of the earth, .....

[simple1]

43 minutes ago, boomerangutang said:

Dire problems would be thick in the M.East with or without western interventions.  It's debatable whether Brits and Americans have done more harm than good there.  I think they've done more good than harm.  Look at happens when left to their own devices:   Iraq invades Kuwait.  Iran and Iraq have a war which includes masses of child-soldiers and chemi weapons.  Here are some of the things the M.East would NOT have were it not for westerners: 

guns, ammo, refrigeration, internet, computers, phones, electricity, trains, cars, technology to bring oil out of the earth, .....

A number of analysts view the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait as a failure of US diplomacy. The Iraqi war against Iran was with US support.. Regards development of oil fields in M.E. and North Africa, massively benefited the West. These days one has to include gas extraction technology, crucial to the global supply chain.

 

M.E. rulers have responsibility, but contribution of the West, particularly France and the UK. later the USA as well, to causes of conflict in North Africa and M.E. for the past 150 years or so is, IMO, obvious.

Edited July 19, 2017 by simple1

[Morch]

10 minutes ago, simple1 said:

A number of analysts view the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait as a failure of US diplomacy. The Iraqi war against Iran was with US support.. Regards development of oil fields in M.E. and North Africa, massively benefited the West. These days one has to include gas extraction technology, crucial to the global supply chain.

 

M.E. rulers have responsibility, but contribution of the West, particularly France and the UK. later the USA as well, to causes of conflict in North Africa and M.E. for the past 150 years or so is, IMO, obvious.

 

What have the Romans ever done for us?

[simple1]

9 minutes ago, Morch said:

 

What have the Romans ever done for us?

Methinks trade and oil / gas field development by the West wasn't motivated by altruism - nor roads etc by the Romans

[Morch]

42 minutes ago, simple1 said:

Methinks trade and oil / gas field development by the West wasn't motivated by altruism - nor roads etc by the Romans

 

Methinks altruism is not an integral part of international relations.

 

[boomerangutang]

7 hours ago, simple1 said:

A number of analysts view the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait as a failure of US diplomacy. The Iraqi war against Iran was with US support.. Regards development of oil fields in M.E. and North Africa, massively benefited the West. These days one has to include gas extraction technology, crucial to the global supply chain.

M.E. rulers have responsibility, but contribution of the West, particularly France and the UK. later the USA as well, to causes of conflict in North Africa and M.E. for the past 150 years or so is, IMO, obvious.

I agree that US, GB and other western nations have contributed mightily to conflicts in the M.East region.  However, I'm saying that, without western powers' intervention, I think things would have been worse there, in the past 100 years or so.  It's the difference between a series of bad events, or a series of atrocious events.  Granted, it's hypothetical, but based on how things devolve there.  

[pegman]

22 hours ago, boomerangutang said:

Dire problems would be thick in the M.East with or without western interventions.  It's debatable whether Brits and Americans have done more harm than good there.  I think they've done more good than harm.  Look at happens when left to their own devices:   Iraq invades Kuwait.  Iran and Iraq have a war which includes masses of child-soldiers and chemi weapons.  Here are some of the things the M.East would NOT have were it not for westerners: 

guns, ammo, refrigeration, internet, computers, phones, electricity, trains, cars, technology to bring oil out of the earth, .....

Not since 2003 like my comment reflected. All that other stuff could be gotten from the Far East. What do you find now a days in Thailand produced in the UK or USA?