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Originally Posted by Arabesque
Militant fantasies? Thanks for putting it in such a romanticised way.
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well, i didnt mean any offense by it, and it wasnt directed at you exactly. The popular imagination over there is pretty fixated on war though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Arabesque
I don't think we should all be vindictive, and poke the Americans in the eye and whatnot. You're assuming those American-led wars will come to an end soon, which I truly hope they would, but reality shows otherwise. And since it doesn't seem like they're going to be restrained any time soon, I think it is best that we be wisely prepared to defend ourselves and our countries, not to attack theirs. After all, I did not suggest that we cross oceans to confront the Americans. They're the ones planning to land in our backyards.
Wait a minute. They're already there!
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Yeah I understand what you're saying. I didnt say you were being aggressive, and I acknowledge you were talking about defense. You were not speculating or imagining a situation where the Emirates invades the USA and blows up the statue of liberty and so on (although others do speculate and imagine such scenarios like their crazy American counterparts who want to drop nukes everywhere and so on). You were talking about citizens of the Emirates defending themselves and drawing America into a quagmire where they slaughter American soldiers in the ruins of their destroyed cities, much like the situation in Iraq (which is what I assume you mean by 'they are here already'). That would be self defense, and I'm not saying it would be wrong. I just dont think that this is a productive place for our collective imagination to be, as Arab youths. Obviously, I'm an Arab-American so our future is very different from yours, and my concerns are about building our community's capacities here in New York City and America as a whole, before concerns about prosperity in Egypt and other regional issues in the middle east. Therefore I am something of an outsider, and I acknowledge that. But, be that as it may, I dont think the dream of our youth should be to destroy our enemies in wars in our home cities and towns. And I'll tell you that this isnt the dream of the youth of highly productive and successful societies (which is not to minimize the considerable success of gulf countries in the last couple of decades). We can blame that on the Americans or the Israelis or on some other outsiders, and I'm sure those arguments would be partially valid, but only partially because part of the blame also belongs on a popular culture and narrative that is so fixated on revenge and war. We're all progeny of tribal and clan cultures where vendetta plays a major role, but vendettas are often examples of hubris in which both parties end up being destroyed
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Originally Posted by Arabesque
I sincerely hope that a durable peace is realised soon, but that's not pragmatic, nor is it realistic. That sounds like naiive idealism. The truth is, as long as there are conflicting interests - and there are, and will always be - peace will not be achieved easily.
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conflicting interests will always exist everywhere on earth, but that doesnt necessarily translate to neverending warfare in every corner of the earth. The fact is, most Arabs already live in peace. The war in Iraq will have to end in some way, it isnt going to rage non-stop for a million years. Either some faction will come to dominate the others or some arrangement will be reached between them. It might not end with a just peace, but most of us dont want a just peace in Iraq anyway because that would entail giving a majority of power to the majority of Iraqis who happen to be shias. The slaughter of black africans in Darfur looks like it will end soon. I am hopeful that Palestine will be established pretty soon. And more importantly, there are cultural revivals all over the middle east and even movements toward political reform. We're not talking about geologic time, this is stuff that will start to mature within a decade or two. We'll see the fruits within our lifetime inshallah. And i dont think a nuclear exchange between countries or a giant war of suicide hijackings and assassinations, or huge tank columns going through the desert or urban combat in destroyed cities would benefit the region more. Yeah, it may come down to that, but I hope it doesnt and i dont think it will. Just my opinion though!
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