I'm off to vacation, but to understand Bob just imagine that he's the
average Iraqi man on the street, hotheaded and restless. Description
follows.


Ciao.

-----------------------------------
"Their deductive reasoning skills seem to be influenced and negatively
affected by what they appear to see on the surface and by the rumors
which get spread about every event. The rumor mill churns out rumors,
which are accepted at face value, believed, and spread. Without knowing
the underlying facts, they draw conclusions about what is happening
based on the irrational gossip being spread."

"For the most part, I found them to be somewhat emotionally immature by
our standards; many times feeling like I was dealing with teenagers.
They tend to be pessimistic, and overall negative."

-----------------------------------
Chief Wiggles
Returning Home, Back to Iraq, My Attitudes, Media, Why do they blame
the USA?, 03/07/2004
http://chiefwiggles.blog-city.com/read/516855.htm

[snip]

Our media is not so great

Upon returning to my real life here in the states, for some reason I
now find TV very boring and superficial. I am bored with the things we
consider to be entertainment and find most programming to be
meaningless and without any real redeeming value. Are we just being fed
a constant stream of meaningless garbage which merely promotes negative
values and mindless interaction? I don't know what happened, but I am
now appalled at the things discussed on TV in the name of "news." I
find many programs disgusting and meaningless.

I was alarmed by the news of the additional bombings that have taken
place this week in Iraq, targeting the Shiite's religious gatherings. I
was not surprised by the anti-American Iraqi reaction to this
apparently indiscriminate killing of citizens. I am sure many of you
have a hard time understanding this type of mentality that blames and
expresses anger towards the US for an act which we definitely had
nothing to do with.

Over the course of the last year living in Iraq and interacting with
the Iraqi people on a daily basis, I have formulated my own opinions
regarding the mentality and mind set of these people. It is a very
complicated situation with many variables that have had an impact on
their way of thinking and the way in which they react and draw
conclusions. They definitely have a different way of thinking, which
is neither right nor wrong, just different.

Why do they blame the USA?

I am going to attempt to put words to further define the Iraqi
mentality, but in doing so I hope none of you will be offended by this
meager attempt. I don't mean to insult anyone by making this endeavor,
only to try to put words to clarify what I have concluded. This is also
just my own interpretation based on the individuals that I have come in
contact with. By no means is this all inclusive but merely my
perception. I'm doing this because the question above was asked of me
and in no way am I trying to stereotype them.

It appears that after having been controlled and brain washed in every
way by Saddam Hussein for the past 30 years, not to speak of the years
previous to that, the Iraqi people have a tendency to blame those in
charge for anything and everything that happens. They seem to need to
blame someone or hold someone other than themselves responsible for the
events occurring in their life. At times they say "In Shalla" to
everything, as if to hold God totally responsible for what happens in
their life, everything being according to God's will. All of this to
say they have no control and are not responsible for the events of
their life.

Their deductive reasoning skills seem to be influenced and negatively
affected by what they appear to see on the surface and by the rumors
which get spread about every event. The rumor mill churns out rumors,
which are accepted at face value, believed, and spread. Without knowing
the underlying facts, they draw conclusions about what is happening
based on the irrational gossip being spread.

They seem to concentrate on the present, on the day to day, forgetting
what happened in the past. They focus on the way things are for the
moment and who is in charge of taking care of those things for the
moment. The difficulties of the past are easily forgotten, replaced by
thoughts of the way things are right now.

They tend to be very emotional people, their reasoning and interpretive
skills tied directly to their emotions. These emotions tend to be
negative, without much hope, and with very little positive ideas
regarding what might happen in the future. I am sure that because of
their past plight under the rule of Saddam that many of them have taken
on a fatalistic, defeatist attitude.

Even right after the war when utilities were down, many of the citizens
were calling for the return of Saddam, claiming that at least under his
rule they had electricity and water. To think like this would appear to
be totally ludicrous, if one was to recall all the suffering and
torturing that went on before and if one could imagine what life might
be like in the near future with all the possibilities.

It appears that they have quickly forgotten the times when Saddam
favored the Sunnis and discriminated against the Shiites. Under
Saddam's rule they did not have the freedom to say what ever they
thought, or to meet in large groups whenever they wanted, or to protest
or demonstrate against who is in charge.

They speak out against us now because they can. They blame us now
because we are in charge. They expect us to take care of them and
prevent such open acts of aggression from happening. They have to blame
someone. They have to point their finger at someone, holding anyone
outside of God responsible, because surely God wouldn't allow such a
terrible thing to happen.

For the most part, I found them to be somewhat emotionally immature by
our standards; many times feeling like I was dealing with teenagers.
They tend to be pessimistic, and overall negative. I am sure their past
has influenced their way of thinking, not giving them much hope for the
future. Their past has probably completely impacted their ability to be
positive and optimistic.

Well that is my take on things. I did meet many people who were not
like this, but for the most part these tendencies existed in most of
the people I debriefed.

Also, that is not to say that many of us don't have the same tendencies
or propensity to be negative, with an inclination to blame others for
our own mishaps.

-----------------------------------

lcs Mixmaster Remailer wrote:

I'm off to vacation, but to understand Bob just imagine that he's the
average Iraqi man on the street, hotheaded and restless. Description
follows.

You could have just posted the link and saved the bandwidth.

You could have posted King Fahd's (of Saudi) opinion, after all he probably understands Iraqis better than most, being born in the Middle east and all:

"There is no real Iraq, no real Iraqi identity, just a bunch of warring tribes and religious factions, there will never be peace except under the rule
of an iron fist", (just a paraphrase, not a direct quote).

Cheers
Marty