I offer this not to fix racial stereotypes, but to counter those who offer up Herodotus over 2000-year-old observation (such as The Arabs keep such pledges more religiously than almost any other people) as though its entirely and universally relevant to geopolitics of today. We should recall that Pashtunwali, which is why SEAL Marcus Luttrell is alive, was extended by native Afghans who were NOT Arab, and that Arab fighters exported to other countries by bin Laden often propped up the ideological basis of the conflict. Tank gunner Mario Mihaucich reported, Before we even crossed the border, when we were still in Kuwait, we had an Iraqi guy come and talk to us about the culture and customs. . . . I remember the most significant thing that he ever told us was Arabs lie. Thats what we do . . . Straight up to your face. He says, Theyll come and shake your hand during the day, and shoot at you at night. Arabs lie. When they tell you they dont know what happened, they do. They make it their business to lie. He says, Sometimes they lie just to lie, even when it serves no purpose to do it. I remember him telling us that specifically. And I was amazed that an Arab is telling us this. He says, Im ashamed of my people. This is before the war started (Trisha Wood, What Was Asked of Us: An Oral History of the Iraq War by the Soldiers Who Fought It [New York: Back Bay Books, 2006], 38-39).
Posted on: Sat, 26 Jul 2014 15:25:03 +0000
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