Comments on: Pride And Petulance

By: msmolly

msmolly — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:02:36 +0000

The carnage on the Iraqi populous has been far more devastating however:

That would be “the Iraqi populace“

By: john in sacramento

john in sacramento — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 01:21:54 +0000

Or the “pleasure marriages”

Shiite Islam appears to tacitly recognize that marriage and prostitution exist on a continuum, giving religious sanction to an intermediate category of “pleasure marriage” (also called “temporary marriage” and “fixed-term marriage”).

Al-Zaidi hopes to soon finalize his third muta’a, or “pleasure marriage,” with a green-eyed neighbor. This time, he talks about it openly and with obvious relish. Even so, he says, he probably still won’t tell his wife.

The 1,400-year-old practice of muta’a — “ecstasy” in Arabic — is as old as Islam itself. It was permitted by the prophet Mohammed as a way to ensure a respectable means of income for widowed women.

Pleasure marriages were outlawed under Saddam Hussein but have begun to flourish again. The contracts, lasting anywhere from one hour to 10 years, generally stipulate that the man will pay the woman in exchange for sexual intimacy. Now some Iraqi clerics and women’s rights activists are complaining that the contracts have become less a mechanism for taking care of widows than an outlet for male sexual desires.

http://montages.blogspot.com/2.....under.html

By: Leen

Leen — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 23:46:12 +0000

Micheal Ware “the Iraqi people have been living this”

“end of a foreign occupation” well the very beginning of we hope an end

But what are they going to do with that big ole American embassy. Sure looks like we have our headquarters set up. Could see those Iraqi care plates in my minds eye just after we invaded.

Iraq..
51st state
“birthplace of civilization”

By: KarenM

KarenM — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 23:29:37 +0000

…not to mention the millions (?) of refugees, and the thousands (?) of girls and women who have had to resort to prostitution.

By: tbsa

tbsa — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 23:25:01 +0000

The figure is far higher than 200,000. Ans you’re right Americans couldn’t care less. It’s a sad fucking state of affairs.

By: KarenM

KarenM — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 23:02:31 +0000

Great post title… and unlike Austen’s title which referred to two different people, yours could easily refer to a single person, or to several, but still with both pride and petulance attributed to each of them.

In fact, you could even write: Pride + Petulance = American Exceptionalism.

By: Leen

Leen — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 23:00:23 +0000

“they never did” care.

Has the Lancet ever made such a big mistake before?

200,ooo dead Iraqi people and counting is plenty enough but guess what most Americans do not give a rats ass about Iraqi lives. And that is the frightening truth

By: SouthernDragon

SouthernDragon — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 22:53:20 +0000

There may be some of that but I’m more concerned about what they call “actionable intelligence.” Garrison troops get antsy after a while. A little action to break the routine could create a disaster. Hard to get promoted as a garrison officer, out there in the boonies an’ all.

By: Raven

Raven — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 22:43:44 +0000

Proly depends less on them and more on the forces that benefit from keeping them in the shit, don’t ya think?

By: SouthernDragon

SouthernDragon — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 22:41:31 +0000

As to whether the US military follows the terms of SOFA re combat operations, etc, we’ll see.