All things Middle East related

[over the mountain]

really good conversation guys. I agree with most.

I agree w Joe that we cannot expect Iran to think and make decisions in the same manner we think and make decisions. I read a good article which had a quote that China's diplomatic approach to us is that everything we do is reasonable and rational. Most "reasonable and rational" people have a bend but dont break approach to disagreement. china knows that we wont do anything rash or in haste and uses this to their advantage. basically we are very predictable.

i agree w that guy in that Iran is not full of death to america thinking people. i have never been there but ive had a few friends from iran. they are a very young population and like most young people, they want to be in touch with the world. the avg age is 27.1 years old. with that said, i dont think they necessarily want Mcdonalds at every corner. i view Iran as a very proud and historically a very influential culture. i think there is a power struggle to an extent of wanting to respect the ayatollah while wanting to be modern and connected to the world.

iran and saudi arabia are the 2 power groups and i respect iran a lot more than saudi arabia. the 9/11 guys were from saudi arabia. SA has a small population, shitty army and has shown its true colors by publicly flirting with russia in retaliation for us negotiating with iran.

fuck SA. (sorry to bring the intelligent discussion down)

i apologize if i misrepresented what anyone's points were.

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big picture for me = we need to respect regional powers to have some sway over their regions - china, russia, iran, EU - all should be able to exert some control over their regions. we just need to keep our military modern and ahead of anyone else bc we are they Super Power.