Tuesday, September 14, 2004
BBC vs. blogosphere
The BBC seems far from the mark in its analysis of Putin's reasons for not leaving Chechnya, showing once it again that it doesn't "get" the war on terror. Some people just can't shake off old assumptions about how geopolitics and security works. Dan Darling at Winds of Change can.
# posted by Andrew Gawthorpe @ 8:16 PM
Comments:
It appears that the BBC has become the British wing of Al Jazeera. That was absolute crap. A land grab? I really don't think so.Dan has exactly thr right idea. As someone who has actually taken a course on Middle East sociology (many moons ago) this is what happens with the arab culture. Certain elements within them push forth and propagate like bunnies. (no dehumanization intended) until they try to completely take over the region they are in. Ever heard of Kashmir? It used to be part of India. Now the Pakistanis want to claim it. Certainly the population in Kashmir is more arab/muslim now than it used to be. Would you want to give your territory to a slow moving variety of hostile takeover? That is what is happening, area by area.Welcome to Homespun Bloggers. I hope you don't mind if I link to your posts on Chechnya issues, particularly those about Baslan. I'm trying to set up a bloggers' memorial for what has happened.
# posted by Jeremy : 3:20 AM
Thanks for the welcome, and I think your memorial is a great idea.The most ironic thing about the violent extremism that is seeping into Chechnya is that Wahabbism and Arab culture are totally foreign to the Chechens, who are predominately Sufis. Although I'm sure the Arab Wahabbis find fellow-travellers among the Chechens, ultimately this cultural gap will make it easier to isolate and obliterate the terrorist element.But in the meanwhile, they'll be trying to do what they try to do all over the globe: spark a cultural war of faith vs. faith, Christianity vs. Islam, and Chechen vs. Ingush.
¶ 9:39 PM
# posted by Andrew Gawthorpe @ 8:16 PM
Comments:
It appears that the BBC has become the British wing of Al Jazeera. That was absolute crap. A land grab? I really don't think so.Dan has exactly thr right idea. As someone who has actually taken a course on Middle East sociology (many moons ago) this is what happens with the arab culture. Certain elements within them push forth and propagate like bunnies. (no dehumanization intended) until they try to completely take over the region they are in. Ever heard of Kashmir? It used to be part of India. Now the Pakistanis want to claim it. Certainly the population in Kashmir is more arab/muslim now than it used to be. Would you want to give your territory to a slow moving variety of hostile takeover? That is what is happening, area by area.Welcome to Homespun Bloggers. I hope you don't mind if I link to your posts on Chechnya issues, particularly those about Baslan. I'm trying to set up a bloggers' memorial for what has happened.
# posted by Jeremy : 3:20 AM
Thanks for the welcome, and I think your memorial is a great idea.The most ironic thing about the violent extremism that is seeping into Chechnya is that Wahabbism and Arab culture are totally foreign to the Chechens, who are predominately Sufis. Although I'm sure the Arab Wahabbis find fellow-travellers among the Chechens, ultimately this cultural gap will make it easier to isolate and obliterate the terrorist element.But in the meanwhile, they'll be trying to do what they try to do all over the globe: spark a cultural war of faith vs. faith, Christianity vs. Islam, and Chechen vs. Ingush.
¶ 9:39 PM
