Doug Feith’s Arabic problem.
At a recent forum, career U.S. intelligence officer Patrick Lang recounted a job interview he had with neocon war architect Douglas Feith. Lang, who had previously run the Pentagon’s world-wide spying operations, “was put forward as somebody who would be good at running the Pentagon’s office of special operations and low-intensity warfare, i.e., counterinsurgency.” So he was interviewed by Feith:
“He was sitting there munching a sandwich while he was talking to me,” Lang recalled, “which I thought was remarkable in itself, but he also had these briefing papers — they always had briefing papers, you know — about me.
“He’s looking at this stuff, and he says, ‘I’ve heard of you. I heard of you.’
“He says, ‘Is it really true that you really know the Arabs this well, and that you speak Arabic this well? Is that really true? Is that really true?’
“And I said, ‘Yeah, that’s really true.’
“That’s too bad,” Feith said.
The audience howled.
“That was the end of the interview,” Lang said. “I’m not quite sure what he meant, but you can work it out.”
Feith, of course, like the administration’s other Israel-connected hawks, didn’t want “Arabists” like Lang muddying the road to Baghdad, from where — according to the Bush administration theory — overthrowing Saddam Hussein would ignite mass demands for Western-style, pro-U.S. democracies across the entire Middle East.
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog Roll
In Bob Woodward’s Plan of Attack, former CentCom Commander Gen. Tommy Franks called Feith the “f**king stupidest guy on the face of the earth.â€
May 26th, 2007 at 1:24 pmWell, during the WWII we used to intern people with German heritage and/or accent. Nobody objected to that then.
Face it. During this existential war, being friends with arabs or being familiar with the arab culture makes you a security threat.
May 26th, 2007 at 1:25 pmHey MAF54, would a 5.56 in your ass be a security threat or not?
May 26th, 2007 at 1:29 pmI wish someone would explain where they got this Garden of Eden delusion from.
May 26th, 2007 at 1:32 pmWell, during the WWII we used to intern people with German heritage and/or accent. Nobody objected to that then.
Comment by MAF54
Nobody objected to that then;straightup assinine statement.
May 26th, 2007 at 1:32 pmTHIS JUST FURTHER PROVES MY THEORY THAT INCOMPETENCE IS JUST A COVER!!!!!!!!!
May 26th, 2007 at 1:36 pmMAF54 seems to think that we should stubbornly cling to the wrongs of the past. Otherwise we lack resolve and fortitude. Something that wasn so egregiously wrong then doesn’t become right with time, just so you know.
May 26th, 2007 at 1:38 pmLang was overqualified.
May 26th, 2007 at 1:45 pmbeing familiar with the arab culture makes you a security threat.
Comment by MAF54 — May 26, 2007 @ 1:25 pm
In a way, he’s right. Educated people are a threat to dictatorships. That’s why one of the first targets of a dictator is academia.
May 26th, 2007 at 1:49 pmWell, during the WWII we used to intern people with German heritage and/or accent. Nobody objected to that then.
Face it. During this existential war, being friends with arabs or being familiar with the arab culture makes you a security threat.
Comment by MAF54
One of these days, we’ll get around to interning people with Stupidish heritage, and then, you’re in trouble, MF54.
May 26th, 2007 at 1:51 pmMAF54, you don’t know much history, do you? Of course there were objections to internment. And it used to be illegal for whites to marry non-whites. This is all part of enforced racism.
To push a public theory of Islamofascism and some goofy Protocols of the Elders of Mecca, one can’t actually know what the history of Islam is, or what the Koran says, or how the various groups within Islam interact. That would only bring such a theory into disrepute.
What shocks me is the ignorance and arrogance of Americans who still think that the so-called Clash of Civilizations is entirely one-sided and that they hate American Freedom & Democracy. Where is this overview of Anglo-American involvement in the Middle East over the past 100 years? Would an American put up with that kind of interference if it happened to them?
If one is going to kill a lot of innocent people, first one has to demonize them. That means they can’t be thought of as decent human beings who love and are loved, who raise families, and who respect others. No, they must be Evil and desire to bring all manner of evil to the rest of the world. Such nonsense!
May 26th, 2007 at 1:54 pmIf only we could get the people who voted for Bush to enlist. Or perhaps the draft could be instituted, forcing those who support War to fight it.
The numbers of Bush supporters would die off dramatically.
May 26th, 2007 at 1:55 pmFace it. During this existential war, being friends with arabs or being familiar with the arab culture makes you a security threat.
Comment by MAF54
To win a war, knowledge of the enemy is essential.
May 26th, 2007 at 1:56 pmYour statement shows what an ignorant sh*thead pervert you really are.
draft, continued….We could start with the Senators and Representatives who voted to continue funding the deaths of American citizens in the Middle East.
May 26th, 2007 at 1:56 pmFeith only wanted to hire stupid Bush lover toadies. Bush Regime does not want qualified people in any government position.
May 26th, 2007 at 1:58 pm“If only we could get the people who voted for Bush to enlist.”
That’ll never happen as they are all a bunch of blubbering pu$$ies.
May 26th, 2007 at 1:59 pmFace it. During this existential war, being friends with arabs or being familiar with the arab culture makes you a security threat.
Comment by MAF54 — May 26, 2007 @ 1:25 pm
Please note: Lang’s interview with Feith was pre-911. If being friends with Arabs makes someone a security threat, then I guess you could classify the Bush family among that group….since they have had a long-term relationship with the Sauds? Being familiar with the Arab culture (and being listened to, of course) might just have allowed us to avoid the nightmare that currently exists thanks to the Iraq invasion.
By the way, in what way is this war “existential” in any way that makes it different than any other war? Since the term means: relating to or dealing with existence (especially with human existence), we certainly had this issue during the Cold War. Yet Sec. Rice is a specialist on the Soviet Union and served in Bush I’s administration dealing with Soviet issues. Was she a security threat as well?
May 26th, 2007 at 2:05 pmI assume “existential” is the Neo-cons way of saying it’s racist without using race. It’s an ideological war: Their God against Out God. And I see the idea of “Western Values” touted everywhere. And what I take that to mean is that Islam and most Eastern Religions are social in nature and not “individualistic”. It makes it difficult to carve up and subjugate the East if you can’t get them to give up crazy ideas like Family and Homeland. And so the existential Neo-cons must bust up this culture so that human relationships and land can be reduced to exchangeable commodities. That’s the Western Way.
May 26th, 2007 at 2:12 pmDougie Feith: From the John Bolton School of Highly-Placed Dickheads.
Poster-boy for the shite-pile we’re in.
Competent? Sorry. Move along.
May 26th, 2007 at 2:22 pmComment by MAF54 — May 26, 2007 @ 1:25 pm
This comment is almost incredible in its sheer stupidity.
To begin with, you cannot use past wrongs to justify current ones. Also, the statement is incorrect in that, during WWII, the people interned were only those of Japanese, German ancestry, or immigrants from either nation.
Americans of any other ancestry were not interned simply for being familiar with those languages and cultures; how would war intelligence translate enemy communications if they had?
This troll is actually advocating not only ethnic profiling but also cleansing American society of anyone who has friends of Arabic ancestry -and anyone who is educated enough to have read The Arabian Nights.
Like a good Brownshirt, education and open-mindedness are a threat to his belief system. His is an amazingly moronic comment of monumental proportions.
May 26th, 2007 at 2:23 pmAnd on topic, there is a good reason why Feith was called “the dumbest guy on the planet”.
It is obvious that for Feith sound qualifications actually disqualify a candidate applying for a job.
May 26th, 2007 at 2:25 pmHis is an amazingly moronic comment of monumental proportions.
Comment by Gregor Samsa
What else can you say about a troll who uses the moniker of a pedophile?
May 26th, 2007 at 2:27 pmJesus. Lang, a super-qualified expert is dismissed by a mushbrain like Feith in this manner? Posts like this one indicate yet again what asses ran the pre-war op & how ill served the U.S. was by its “leadeship” in the run up to the Iraq invasion. What a crapfest it all must have been. We’ve been paying the price for not using the expertise of Lang & those like him ever since.
May 26th, 2007 at 2:29 pmComment by Wayne — May 26, 2007 @ 2:27 pm
I actually hope he keeps posting his rubbish.
That will show casual readers what the Bush cultists are actually made of: Pedophiles, ethnic cleansing advocates, torturer wannabes, dissent-loathing authoritarian twits -just to list a few of their most salient personality traits.
May 26th, 2007 at 2:33 pmLindberg is not a German name? Eisenhower? Einstein?
I could go on, but it seems that these guys were not jailed.
May 26th, 2007 at 2:37 pmWaltThe Man,
If I’m not mistaken, Lindberg was actually a Nazi sympathizer, as was Henry Ford and BUSH’S own beloved grandpa, Precott, who was so deep in the Nazis’ hip pocket that he had his assets confiscated by the Federal govt. as punishment. I have to wonder, when Jr seems so intent on totally wrecking the govt, is this payback for what they did to his grandpa?
May 26th, 2007 at 2:44 pmthe republic of stupidity,
May 26th, 2007 at 2:50 pmI specicly named Lindberg because of his NAZI sympathy. It did not get him detained.
“Wrongs of the past”? Maybe they actually got it right back then and it is you moobats, with your misguided morals, have decided that it was a wrong thing to do.
We should either expel or imprison all the arabs living in this country right now. That would certainly make us safer - or can you give me a reason why it would have no effect?
May 26th, 2007 at 3:09 pmWhich might explain Lang’s crusade against Feith ever since…. I have no candle to carry for Feith, but Lang’s many conspiracy theories and outright slander of Feith makes a whole lot more sense now.
He got overlooked for a job. By Dough Feith. Ouch. That’s gotta sting.
May 26th, 2007 at 3:11 pm#
THIS JUST FURTHER PROVES MY THEORY THAT INCOMPETENCE IS JUST A COVER!!!!!!!!!
Comment by Deniz Yeter — May 26, 2007 @ 1:36 pm
I agree…incompetence, by design. The last thing this administration wanted were people who actually can communicate with the Arabs. That wouldn’t help with the unified message that Feith, et al, wanted to control.
May 26th, 2007 at 3:13 pmThe simple fact is that we’ve got nothing to communicate about with the islamofascists who’re responsible for the 9/11.
May 26th, 2007 at 3:16 pmMAF54 says We should either expel or imprison all the arabs living in this country right now.
May 26th, 2007 at 3:16 pmIs that your FINAL SOLUTION ??? Good Grief.
#31. Well, do you have an alternative plan? Like it or not, suicide bombers coming here and if you want to keep our children and way of life safe, you’ve better figure out a better way to keep the suicidal maniacs out of our malls, parks and elementary schools. Close the borders, arrest the arabs and expel anyone who won’t disavow islam.
May 26th, 2007 at 3:21 pmThe simple fact is that the inability to tell the difference between the categories “people who speak Arabic” and “the islamofascists who’re responsible for 9/11″ goes long way towards explaining why this war failed, and why the Republican Party is going to spend the next generation in the minority.
May 26th, 2007 at 3:25 pm#33. Oh really? So, can you tell the islamofascists apart from the allegedly peaceful people who simply speak arabic? Can you do it with 100% accuracy? If you can’t, it’s better to be safe than sorry and just expel them all.
May 26th, 2007 at 3:28 pmThe ONLY way to stop these suicide bombers from coming here is to ENLIST the cooperation of Patriotic, arabic speaking American citizens. Try locking them up en masse and see how much cooperation we get. The reason we don’t have the problems that Europe has, is that we try to welcome and assimilate people from all over the world who want to share the American dream.
May 26th, 2007 at 3:29 pmMaybe they actually got it right back then and it is you moobats, with your misguided morals, have decided that it was a wrong thing to do.
Comment by MAF54 — May 26, 2007 @ 3:09 pm
“Maybe”. That’s a speculation, but you cannot tell your opinion from facts.
Japanese-Americans have received compensation and reparation payments, as well as redress payments (note the terminology, or you can look the definitions if you’re unclear on the meanings).
Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 that compensated those interned during WWII. The Civil Liberties Act apologized for the internment and recognized it as a “grave injustice”.
It seems you are the one with the “misguided morals” -assuming you have any morals in the first place.
We should either expel or imprison all the arabs living in this country right now. That would certainly make us safer[…]
It was wrong then, and it is still wrong now. It would not make anyone safer, as it didn’t anyone back then. Most have recognized that much already, at least since 1988. You are almost 30 years behind in your social skills.
May 26th, 2007 at 3:32 pmWe should either expel or imprison all the arabs living in this country right now. That would certainly make us safer - or can you give me a reason why it would have no effect?
Comment by MAF54
well, let’s see… number of terrorist attacks committed by Arab-Americans since 9/11 - ZERO
I had a hard time believing someone who uses the screen name of a GOP ephebophile is being serious, but apparently he is.
I can make a far stronger case for expelling Christians than your case for expelling Arabs.
May 26th, 2007 at 3:32 pm#35. Ah yes. The troublefree Europe. Ask any Frenchman or a Dutchman if they like to see more muslim immigrants. There are suburbs in Paris where the cops won’t go because the islamic gangs have taken over. And the city of Malmö in Sweden is practically run over by mullahs’ troops. Talk about problems there.
May 26th, 2007 at 3:33 pmI’d like to start up a collection to buy MAF54 a pallet of Depends. Must be tough being a right-wing bedwetter, laying awake all night in fear of the Muslim hordes.
May 26th, 2007 at 3:33 pmIt should be noted that, during WWII, even many previous Nazi sympathizers changed their support largely because of Germany’s declaration of war on the US. (Along the same line of thought, America’s Communists had already shifted to an anti-Germany feeling due to Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941.)
May 26th, 2007 at 3:35 pmAs for Lindbergh, it should be noted that he was less a Nazi sympathizer than he was an isolationist, but propaganda will frequently do that to a person’s reputation. Much of Lindbergh’s beliefs were not that different from mainstream America’s; there’s little genuine scholarship (that is, that’s not hinged on proving Lindbergh was a Nazi or sympathizer) that proves he was MORE anti-Semitic or MORE racist or MORE pro-eugenics theory than the likes of Theodore Roosevelt or George Patton. Yes, he said he would rather have the US allied with Nazi Germany, but THAT was made solely from his very staunch anti-Communist stance (and, it should be noted the US, following WWII, was more than willing to support extreme dictators as long as they were staunch anti-Communists–like Marcos, the Shah, Mobutu and a host of Latin American leaders and juntas).
It should also be noted that Lindbergh was barred–by FDR–from rejoining the military following Pearl Harbor and only assisted the military as a civilian advisor; the military would have been stupid to not use Lindbergh, since his earlier trips to Germany gave HIM more first-hand knowledge of the state of German military hardware than anyone else in the US. I’m not trying to excuse Lindbergh’s “bad side”, but the man’s allegiance was to the United States and this country’s welfare. If it meant not getting involved in the European or Asian conflicts, so be it. That was, of course, the primary sentiment throughout the US from 1933 to 12/7/41.
General Tommy Frank describing D.Feith: ” The f–ing stupidest guy on the face of earth”…
May 26th, 2007 at 3:36 pmMAF54… you win! You are officially the dumbest troll ever to grace these pages. Now go get your Presidential Medal of Freedom.
May 26th, 2007 at 3:37 pmDreamcrusher @ 28-
May 26th, 2007 at 3:39 pmDon’t want to feed kibble to a troll, so all I’ll respond is: read Lang’s bio; he didn’t exactly want/need the job. Having your head so far up your own paid-to-post here ass must sting also.
r€nato,
I think in this instance you’re the one who needs the Depends, apparently unable to deal with the real world as MAF54 pointed out to you in #38. Muslims are assimilating much better in the US than in Europe, just take a look at France, Britain, Sweden, and hell even Norway. Britain is knee-deep in fundamentalist Muslims, France has to deal with about 80-100 cars being burned every day. I mean damn, wake the hell up buddy. This is real life we’re talking about, not some kind of liberal Utopian ideal of Europe that doesn’t exist.
May 26th, 2007 at 3:40 pmMAF54… you win! You are officially the dumbest troll ever to grace these pages.
I totally disagree. I think he was a skillful troll– his entire post was a bunch of inaccuracies rolled into one: it’s an “existential war,” people of German ancestry were interned, and that no one objected to internment– a panoply of falsehoods that gets everyone riled up.
He also neglects one of the most famous German-American soldiers of WWII: William Patrick Hitler. Then there was the recruited officer when he joined: “Hess.”
May 26th, 2007 at 3:45 pmSomeGaveAll,
I know a lot about Mr. Lang, thank you very much, and the fact that he even went to the interview should tell you that you are having your head somewhere you shouldn’t, if I were to use your moronic Larry Johnson rhetoric against you.
You know, because people normally show up for job interviews for jobs they don’t need or want. Yeah, that’s what I do. It’s a hobby of mine. Fake interview object. Yup. I go to interviews every day, pretending to want the job, and then I just give them the finger and leave and laugh.
Yeah, that’s what Lang was doing. Ahahahaha.
Quit wasting time defending your shallow heroes and deal with reality.
And why does every god damn liberal on this site say that anyone who doesn’t suck on Think Progress’ wiener is paid to post here? Is that just another way for you to displace reality?
Talk about a head up an ass.
May 26th, 2007 at 3:45 pm“France has to deal with about 80-100 cars being burned every day.”
They did when there was rioting over a bill that was passed. That IS NOT occuring everyday, whacko.
May 26th, 2007 at 3:46 pm#44: They won’t understand it. They’ll just embark on the liberal guilt-trip and blame all the immigration problems on us, Christianity and the western civilization in general. You can’t blame the religion of peace or you’re a racist, you know.
May 26th, 2007 at 3:47 pmMAF 54. You obviously didn’t get my point about Europe. I certainly never said Europe was troublefree with regards to muslim immigrants. In fact , I said exactly the opposite. Europe invited muslims and others in as guest workers ,with second class status, and kept them in ethnic ghettos without real opportunities. Not surprisingly, they became resentfull. In America, muslims became productive members of society….even a member of congress.
May 26th, 2007 at 3:47 pmIf there are terrorist plots , they will know about it first. How do you think we stopped the American plots so far….by speaking chinese to them???
#49: “Europe invited muslims and others in as guest workers ,with second class status, and kept them in ethnic ghettos without real opportunities.”
Well, there you go. As I expected, you’d blame it on us. Poor muslims. None of it is their fault.
May 26th, 2007 at 3:52 pmEurope invited muslims
As I expected, you’d blame it on us.
So jake, you are a European pedophile?
May 26th, 2007 at 3:56 pmFeith, of course, like the administration’s other Israel-connected hawks, didn’t want “Arabists†like Lang muddying the road to Baghdad
I think the point may be lost here insinuating this was a pro-Israel/Anti-Arab issue.
This was a pro-ignorance/anti-truth issue.
A decent number of Israelis know arabic pretty damn well (millions). There was a campaign to rid all intelligence agencies of interpreters that can find intelligence. The army just discharged 48 arab interpreters for being gay. Watch-Kill the Messenger.
The point is the Bush/Cheney regime do not want people to find out the war on terror is a frickin tool and excuse for preemptive invasions of resource filled countries.
This has nothing to do with israel/arab relations.
For the record, this activity has allowed al-qaeda into tripoli. Nothing ion the past 30 years has caused more israeli tensions-i do not think they support this lack of intelligence. Especially while the US trots all over the arab countries like the world is spain and the middle east represents the streets during the running of the bulls.
May 26th, 2007 at 4:02 pmSpudge,
Ehm, you are very, very wrong.
At the height of the riots in France, 1400 cars were burned in 274 towns across the country. The supposed last day of what they considered the riots, there were 163 cars burned in a select number of towns.
90 cars burning is normal fare across France.
May 26th, 2007 at 4:05 pm#51. I can’t speak for this Jake pedophile person you keep bringing up, but I’m very much a New Jersey guy.
May 26th, 2007 at 4:06 pmDude, the link to Wikipedia you posted is titled:
“2005 civil unrest in France”
That IS NOT going on today as you said.
“France has to deal with about 80-100 cars being burned every day.â€
Do you know the difference between “has to” and “had to?”
This is not an everyday occurance. It happened in 2005 during their riots.
YOU ARE VERY WRONG.
May 26th, 2007 at 4:08 pm#51. I can’t speak for this Jake pedophile person you keep bringing up, but I’m very much a New Jersey guy.
Comment by MAF54 — May 26, 2007 @ 4:06 pm
Every single time you post using the screen name of a pedophile, you are proving you worship a pedophile, jake.
May 26th, 2007 at 4:09 pmDreamcrusher, also note that only 1 person died in those French riots. Compare those to riots in the USA. Heck, 1 person died in 2004 celebrating the Red Sox penant win.
Those wishing to compare with how many people died in the LA riots in the early 90s can do so on their own. Then we can see which country has a problem with ethnicity and race.
May 26th, 2007 at 4:10 pmIslamophobia is alive and well. And the very people promoting should know better.
As for France, why was France in Algeria? Seems to me that protesting Muslims in France is like protesting African-Americans in the South. And Malmo? That’s due to the racism in Denmark, if you didn’t know. And the Netherlands? Ask about their colonies in Indonesia.
There used to be signs in America that said No Irish, No Jews, No Catholics, No Coloreds. Pick your prejudice. We should be past this now. Shouldn’t we? Or do you really think the Japanese internment was a good thing?
May 26th, 2007 at 4:44 pmSpudge,
If you actually read the Wikipedia article, instead of just reading the title (gee I wonder how the media is able to fool people by simply using misleading headlines…….), you’d see that cars burned during the riots numbered up in the thousands. The last day they considered to be during the riot, 163 cars were burned.
As I said, 80-100 cars burned is normal fare in France.
Try reading next time instead of being an idiot.
May 26th, 2007 at 4:58 pmTry reading next time instead of being an idiot.
Comment by DreamCrusher
So when do you read, before or after coloring the pictures?
Of course, with some of the books you “read”, the pages somehow get stuck together after a while, so “reading” them anymore is out of the question, isn’t it?
May 26th, 2007 at 5:01 pmSo now it comes down to how many cars are burned per day in France? And I thought Feith was the stupidest f*cking person on the planet?
May 26th, 2007 at 5:05 pmshnooky,
I’m sorry, but that’s what happens when morons like Spudge just can’t read a simple article and deal with certain facts. I’m sorry he has to derail the discussion to deal with his reading comprehension problems. Game on.
May 26th, 2007 at 5:10 pmThe last day they considered to be during the riot, 163 cars were burned.
Comment by DreamCrusher — May 26, 2007 @ 4:58 pm
That is true. But that was in November, 2005.
As I said, 80-100 cars burned is normal fare in France.
So, where is your link that shows cars are still being burned in France? You know, because it’s 2007 now.
Try reading next time instead of being an idiot.
Both Spudge_Boy and I were already aware of the events of 2005.
By your logic, we could say throwing Molotov cocktails to break into stores are normal fare in the US, given that they were used in the LA riots of 1992.
If there is anyone being an idiot here is you.
May 26th, 2007 at 5:15 pmWow the republicans have given us real pros to run our federal government… Heck of a job Republicans! I hope you are smart enough to feel ashamed…
May 26th, 2007 at 5:57 pmGregor, Spudge, meet facts:
If there is anyone being an idiot here is you.
Ehm, no. I said 80-90 cars per day burned in France. Look above. Kthx.
May 26th, 2007 at 6:03 pmSpeaking of Feith, Card et al, here’s an observation by Frank Rich:
While the people of Iraq brave terror and violence at every turn to survive in a collapsing society, the American foreign policy elites who designed the Iraq war have taken quite well to blaming its civilians for the catastrophe, Frank Rich writes in his Sunday column for the New York Times.
Speaking about the increasing exodus of Iraqis from their home country, and the established US policy of ignoring their plight, Rich writes, “To admit that Iraqis are voting with their feet is to concede that American policy is in ruins. A ’secure’ Iraq is a mirage, and, worse, those who can afford to leave are the very professionals who might have helped build one. Thus the president says nothing about Iraq’s humanitarian crisis, the worst in the Middle East since 1948, much as he tried to hide the American death toll in Iraq by keeping the troops’ coffins off-camera and staying away from military funerals.”
More at
May 26th, 2007 at 6:24 pmhttp://rawstory.com/ news/ 2007/ Frank_Rich_War_architects_seek_freedom_0526.html
Well, DreamCrusher, my uncle has lived in Paris since the 1960s and he didn’t think there was anything frightening about the riots of 2005. Indeed, he joked that burning cars was a national pasttime. “Anyone with a grievance takes it out on a parked car.”
I should also not rely on wikipedia for your facts with checking the references. I’ve read some “riotous” comments about Obama, Mandela, and Gandhi in the past month on wikipedia. The spurious comments all vanished when I returned, but it made me wonder about the validity of the site.
May 26th, 2007 at 6:54 pmWell, during the WWII we used to intern people with German heritage and/or accent. Nobody objected to that then.
Face it. During this existential war, being friends with arabs or being familiar with the arab culture makes you a security threat.
Comment by MAF54
Face it, MAF54, hundreds of thousands of intercepted calls between suspected terrorists remain untranslated because of the dire lack of linguists competent in Arabic, Persian, Urdu, and other languages spoken in the Middle East and Afghanistan in the various US intelligence services. Shortly after Pearl Harbor, the FD Roosevelt government set up intensive Japanese-language schools on some military bases. Despite the fact that Japanese is a difficult language with an entirely different writing system, some of the best students were even able to crack military codes within a few years. The US invasion of Iraq has now lasted longer American involvement in WWII, and idiots like you still think that knowledge of Arabic and Arab culture makes a person an enemy, eh?! In reality, such people are very much needed by US intelligence services.
May 26th, 2007 at 7:04 pmdavid,
That’s great that your uncle doesn’t fear car arson, but as I was saying, and your uncle confirms, it happens relatively often in France, a fact that some here are in denial about.
May 26th, 2007 at 7:38 pmwow
May 26th, 2007 at 8:17 pmMAF54 seems to confuse “knowing the Arabs and Arabs very well” with being friendly with them.
For instance Condie Rice was a Sovietologist by tranining. Does this mean that we should fire her because “she knows the Russians too well?”
Patrick Long (Patrick - now there an Irish Arab name for you) was a skilled expert in his field and a professional spook. Feith was a dilettante and didn’t want experts, particularly experts who knew more than he did.
May 26th, 2007 at 8:27 pmComment by DreamCrusher — May 26, 2007 @ 6:03 pm
First, your link is broken. You didn’t even test it, did you?
Second, I found the web site you lifted it from. Note how the post is from 2005.
Third, had you done your homework, you would have found the actual article instead of being lazy and relying on an old post on some blog that has an outdated, broken link.
You tried to establish a correlation between the burning of cars across France and the Muslim population in that country, when such relation is not even hinted in the original article.
Again, if there is anyone being an idiot here that’s you.
May 27th, 2007 at 1:17 amit happens relatively often in France, a fact that some here are in denial about.
Comment by DreamCrusher — May 26, 2007 @ 7:38 pm
What we are calling into question is your contention that it happens due to the Muslim population in that country.
That is something you still have to show.
May 27th, 2007 at 1:19 amQuote:
> Well, during the WWII we used to intern people with German heritage
> and/or accent. Nobody objected to that then.
I never heard of that? I knew, that the US detentioned 120.000 japanese american (shame enough!), but there are simply too many americans with german ancestry. Currentyl 50 Million or around 18 % of the whole US population.
May 27th, 2007 at 7:35 amBy the way, his name is Colonel W. Patrick Lang, US Army (ret). Lang’s blogsite addy on which his bio is posted, among other things is:
http://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semper_tyrannis/
May 27th, 2007 at 9:56 amGregor,
Yes, because the disaffected youth are all white Frenchman. The hordes of unemployed Muslims in the slums of France have nothing to do with burning cars. It’s all an illusion I made up. Now what were those riots in France in 2005 about again? Who were burning all those cars? Surely not disaffected young Muslims….
Oh wait yes it was! You can deny reality all you like, but at some point you’re going to have to deal with it. It’s not like I think Islam has any bearing on what’s going on in France in particular, just that the French Muslims are not assimilating like they are in the US, and are thus having a harder time finding jobs and being part of society. They take out their frustrations over this by…. burning cars.
May 27th, 2007 at 10:14 pmComment by DreamCrusher — May 27, 2007 @ 10:14 pm
Stop your blather and post a link that shows that all those cars that are burned daily across France are the work of Muslims.
You have an opinion, think it’s a fact, and want me to take your word for it.
Again, post a link or STFU.
May 28th, 2007 at 12:09 amThe car burning in France happened because there exists a purse of disenfranchised immigrants of second or third generation (but french citizens!) that have a very hard time to get into the job market. But that happens with immigrants of a lot of origins, not only of muslim countries. There exists also a lot of immigrants of american or african ex colonies.
The clash with the social system that ended in riots and car burnings, is a social and class one, not a religious one. The fact that there were young people from muslim descent is only secondary, because there were also from other origins.
And happened mainly when Sarkozy (far rightist, descendant of eastern noblesse), the actual President of France, and then Minister of the Interior decided to apply a heavy handed policy to the demonstrations, asking for jobs and integration.
But this isn’t exclusive from France. Some say that muslims in the USA don’t do this. Well, muslim countries in the USA isn’t the greater source of immigration. But seek for black or latino demonstrations and riots, and voilà ! Your country had a good bunch of these.
It’s about poor people having a hard time in an unjust society, nothing else.
May 28th, 2007 at 8:23 am