<p>razorsharp, my son’s theory is that Islam, being a few hundred years younger than Christianity, is just now going through its “Middle Ages,” acting much as the Christian Church did during the time of the Inquisition and Crusades. I don’t know history well enough to agree or disagree, but I thought it was an interesting theory.</p>
<p>I don’t think violence is the only expression of intolerance and that you’re ignoring some alternate causations. Look to the widespread discrimination in Europe and the United States by Catholics, Christians, and Jews against Muslims. That’s the cause of the riots in Europe, not because they are violent Muslims but because they are consistently discriminated against in the job process, they are forced into a cycle of poverty in the slums, etc. Ghettos and other similar areas are always more prone to violence. And look at the targeting, suspicion of, and detainment-without-reason of Muslims in the United States. As the minorities here, they have to resort to violence because, unfortunately, that is the only way they feel that they can be heard. Keep in mind that this violence can only really happen if there is impetus for it, and US and European actions have provided plenty of fuel…those of the Judeo-Christian faith are usually in control of the system in the West and thus do not need to resort to violence and can more effectively use the system as a vehicle of their intolerance. </p>
<p>Yes, Islam may be the only nation with suicide bombers, but there are actually very few radicals. More and more have been radicalized by Western actions such as the US invasion of Iraq and, of course, Israel. Even most of the Palestinians are not radical, having elected Hamas because they provided necessary social services, like schools, for the people. I think you are confusing religious violence with political and cultural violence - when al-Qaeda issues propoganda videos and such, "Muhammed’ and “jihad” are not the only things mentioned. It specifically targets the infidels that have invaded the country, have killed innocents, the infidels that do not meet their standard of morality, the corrupt, the perverse, etc. (this puts a cultural spin on things). They resent the Western presence in or near their countries specifically because they feel threatened, culturally and politically. If the Judeo-Christian West were not so hell-bent on cultural and political hegemony under the guise of “democracy”, we would not be having this problem. You can also discuss the issue of Israel, but duh, we were asking for it putting 2 volatile groups together, especially with the intifada and the poverty of Palestine - Israel is First world, but as many experts have noted, once you step into Palestine, it is a Third world nation. Again, poverty ALWAYS breeds unrest - think Germany and Hitler - and it becomes abundantly clear that Islam is not the root cause of any violence, but that, as always, it is politically motivated violence under the banner of God, or in this case, Allah, as it was in the Middle Ages with the Crusades.</p>
<p>I have read all kinds of reasoning for suicide bombers, and the blame always falling squarely at the feet of Western imperialists. It is always someone else’s fault.</p>
<p>Truth is, many of those suicide bombers are educated and middle class, not discriminated in the slums. Their martyrdom is celebrated, and their parents and families compensated nicely for their service. There is a culture of celebration of death as a martyr, which is not the fault of the US or Israel, although I will contend that both nations have simply deepened the hate.</p>
<p>Fact is, the waste and corruption in all of the Arab countries is rampant. In Palestine, Arafat and the PLO lived high off the hog (his wife still has billions, stolen from the people) while the people starved. Instead of using aid money to build schools and infrastructure, they have spent millions on bombs and weapons. Look at the money Iran has funded towards Hezbollah. Imagine if even half went towards the people, rather than terrorism.</p>
<p>I concur that Western imperialistic adventures have treated the Arab nations badly. OTOH, they accept no personal responsibility for their plight, keeping their citizenship motivated only by hopes for jihad, not hopes for a better life. If half the time they spent planning terrorist attacks went into planning for building a society, they’d see the fruits of their efforts.</p>
<p>Ebonytear, When Sunnis oppressed the Shi ites in Hussein’s Iraq, when they kill each other far more vociferously in American occupied Iraq than they do their “imperialist captors”, it’s because “Christianity” makes them ignore the Koran concerning the killing of their brothers, right? Or is it as Dstark insists, “it’s all about the oil?”</p>
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As of 2002, 40 percent of Iran’s population lived below the poverty line. With all that oil revenue, no one in Iran should be living in poverty.</p>
<p>Allmusic thats a good post with valid points.</p>
<p>I’m not saying the Israeli-Palestinain conflict is about oil. It’s not being solved because the war is too profitable to end.</p>
<p>There is peace in Ireland. France and Germany are getting along. The people in Israel and Palestine want peace. The land area in Israel and Palestine is barely larger than the land area of the SF Bay Area. If the world wanted peace, there would be peace.</p>
<p>Iran is making a fortune with all its saber-rattling. All the countries trying to persuade Iran to end it’s nuclear weapons program, countries like Russia, it’s ridiculous. Russia is helping Iran develop its nuclear program. </p>
<p>The price of oil was in the twenties and thirties before the Iraq war started.
I find this talk about an oil shortage amazing.
Oil inventories are at a 5 or 6 year high. They are about the same as they were when oil was $10 a barrel. With all the demand from China and India, and with all the supply problems, oil inventories are at a 5 or 6 year high.
Speculators are betting that the mideast conflicts will keep oil prices high. If peace ever broke out, prices would plummet.</p>
<p>Garland gets it.</p>
<p>“Look at the money Iran has funded towards Hezbollah. Imagine if even half went towards the people, rather than terrorism.”</p>
<p>I am no great fan of Hezbollah (in fact, I think they include a large number of murderous thugs). Iran does what it has to do if it wants to survive, and it isn’t pretty. But one of the main reasons that Hezbollah and Hamas have gained such wide sway over the people is that they HAVE spent massively on the people - schools, wells, drinking water systems, social services, food programs, housing for the elderly. In other words, they have delivered on their promises of a better life, though under extremely difficult conditions. So put the shoe on the other foot: how much has the U.S. spent on schools, wells, drinking water systems, etc. in Palestine, in southern Lebanon, etc.? Figures of what I’ve seen on Iran’s total spending on Hezbollah have been $37-$55 million per year (I’m sure there is more covert aid, but still hardly a dent in Iran’s total expenditures), a tiny fraction of what the U.S. has spent on weapons for its client state (between $1.8 and $2.4 billion a year.)</p>
<p>Suicide bombing (as opposed to suicide bombers) is merely another weapon. When outnumbered or outgunned soldiers stand and fight rather than running, they are simply suicide soldiers with a false sense of power because they have guns in their hands. Suicide bombing did not originate in Islamic countries; it existed in southeast Asia and Sri Lanka well before it was a weapon used in the Middle East.</p>
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<p>It’s not a talk of inventories. Inventories show only a small side of the equation for pricing. What’s the main issue is supply and demand or actually the difference between the two, called spare capacity. Before the war, there were several million barrels per day (mpd) of spare capacity throughout the world in Kuwait, Nigeria, Russia, and mainly Saudi Arabia. Today, the only spare capacity is 500 kpd of heavy sour crude that has no buyers so it doesn’t really constitute as spare capacity. </p>
<p>You should really learn how markets and the oil industry work before you go blabbing off about it.</p>
<p>Mekrob, I really should learn more about the markets. :)</p>
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I think he is well aware of concepts like supply and demand. The price of oil is determined at the margin. The economic growth in China and India is causing steady increases in total annual demand for oil. The increase in the annual supply of oil on the market is not increasing at the same rate as demand is increasing because available oil reserves are not increasing. The consequence is that the marginal cost of oil is increasing and will continue to increase even if peace breaks out all over the place. The only thing that could change the price of oil is a recession or depression which destroys demand. That does not look likely, even though the Federal Reserve is doing its best to put us in recession.</p>
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<p>No he’s not. He’s basing it off of inventory levels which are only a few million barrels higher than normal (inventory levels are very strict so even a slight increase is a new “record”) but that’s a very small amount when you look at the day to day usage (85 million barrels per day, 21 mpd in the US). </p>
<p>If he were truly aware of how they worked then he’d realize that even with $70 oil, demand is still growing while supply hasn’t grown for the past year despite massive drilling and everyone pumping to full capacity.</p>
<p>“despite massive drilling and everyone pumping to full capacity.”</p>
<p>Except for the US of course, which has stubbornly refused to drill in many areas of known reserves - including the perfect place for such drilling (ANWR).</p>
<p>Mekrob, are you going to UNC? Are you going to major in finance, geophysics, or geology?</p>
<p>UNC, yes. I’m not sure, but I’m thinking geophysics.</p>
<p>Mekrob, good luck to you at UNC.</p>
<p>Muslims are attacking and killing non-muslims everywhere their territory can be expanded - the Phillipines, Thailand, Indonesia, Nigeria, Somalia, Chechnya, Pakistan/India. Ethiopia, …and the middle east.</p>
<p>Their book tells them that everyone must be a muslim or be killed. That’s why people were shot in Seattle last week. It’s the same reason all over the globe.</p>
<p>Anyone who thinks it’s about oil is not seeing the big picture. This war has been going on for over a thousand years, long before oil became an energy source.</p>