[dyed_in_the_wool]

Having learned to perform some complicated procedure, an Arab technician knows that he is invaluable so long as he is the only one in a unit to have that knowledge; once he dispenses it to others he no longer is the only font of knowledge and his power dissipates. This explains the commonplace hoarding of manuals, books, training pamphlets, and other training or logistics literature.

I worked with a Pakistani Muslim and this was his M.O.
Of course, the knowledge he thought was so special, secret and protected wasn't worth squat. His departure only underscored his lack of value.
Just a cultural observation, I don't want to start an, uh, *ahem*, Holy War.

[Mr. Thorne]

Kipling said it a long time ago...

The 'eathen in his foolishness
must end where he began,
but the backbone of the army
is the non-commissioned man.

[aculeus]

A long worthwhile read.

[Cyber Liberty]

Ping for self for later reading....

[Publius6961]

Fighting against each other they are evenly matched, since they are subjest to the same failings.

Matched against any western power they are doomed to failure because they are fighting for what they are told or indoctrinated to believe or directed to do, not for what they personally believe, what they own, or what they have experienced first hand as worthwhile.

[maryz]

Great article -- thanks for posting!

[CPT Clay]

Good G-2!

[lds23]

Interesting article. Thanks for posting.

[gcruse]

I really enjoyed reading both parts of this article.
This stopped me dead in my tracks, though.

"It obviously makes a big difference, however,
when the surrounding political culture is not only avowedly
democratic (as was the Soviet Union’s), but functionally so. "

[TADSLOS]

Education is in good part sought as a matter of personal prestige, so Arabs in U.S. military schools take pains to ensure that the ranking member, according to military position or social class, scores the highest marks in the class. Often this leads to “sharing answers” in class — often in a rather overt manner or in junior officers concealing scores higher than those of their superiors.

American military instructors dealing with Middle Eastern students learn to ensure that, before directing any question to a student in a classroom situation, particularly if he is an officer, the student does possess the correct answer. If this is not assured, the officer may feel he has been deliberately set up for public humiliation. In the often-paranoid environment of Arab political culture, he may then become an enemy of the instructor, and his classmates will become apprehensive about their also being singled out for humiliation — and learning becomes impossible.

I have experienced this firsthand, both as a fellow student in military courses and as an instructor. I never met an Arab officer willing to pull his own weight, either academically or physically in the field. They were all worthless and were not to be trusted.

[river rat]

We will not face an Arab army in the war against terrorism/militant Islam..

The terrorists are not the enemy we should focus on - the REAL enemy is militant Islam. The morons who buy into this murderous cult are simply looking for two things: first an explanation of why their life is so miserable (the Infidels did it) and secondly, a life better than his present miserable existence.. He is told paradise will be his if he dies in Jihad...

Terrorism is just one tool used by these militant Islamic radicals to spread Islam throughout the world - THEIR PRIMARY MISSION- Their MOST EFFECTIVE tool is to immigrate, copulate and populate. They mean to win this cultural/religious struggle by population growth within the non-Muslim nations.

The West must quickly come to terms with this fact....We have been engaged in a war of Borders, Language and Culture.... Radical Islamic Muslims in the west, do NOT intend to assimilate into OUR culture -- they intend to force us into theirs.
Semper Fi

[F16Fighter]

If the question posed is whether Arab culture and genetics doom them as a viable military machine, then the answer is a resounding "YES."

[Eaker]

GREAT POST!!

Stay safe; stay armed.

[xJones]

Just thought I'd bump this.

[Nick Danger]

The more I read about the characteristics of Arab cultures, the more I believe that they are at root matriarchies, and that all this "male domination" we see is a façade. There is a lot of "stooping to conquer" going on there. Not that individual women are not treated cruelly -- everyone is treated cruelly in those cultures -- but that as a class, women -- or more accurately women's values -- run the place.

Go back and look at the behavioral characteristics of the Arab officers. There are a lot of characteristically female strategies employed in dealing with one another, and with us. Arab culture may have the face of a man, but it is a woman.

[Voice in your head]

Bump

[knews_hound]

Bump for a later read.

[Busywhiskers]

It could be that they are just incompetent cowards.

[Axhandle]

A timely middle east bump to the top.

[AZLiberty]

The learning system tends to consist of on-high lectures, with students taking voluminous notes and being examined on what they were told. (It also has interesting implications for a foreign instructor, whose credibility, for example, is diminished if he must resort to a book.)

American corporate culture is not immune to this. My boss at a big semiconductor company told me one day that one of my internal customers had come to him and asked, "If AZLiberty is supposed to be such a big expert on X, why is he always reading books about it?"