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<div>Originally Posted by <strong>aussiemum</strong></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">You are not expanding enough. I want to know what you <i>really</i> think. Seriously. But I have to go water the seedlings now, so you've got a few moments to consider.... <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/orngbiggrin.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="orange big grin"></div>
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Far be it from me to speak on behalf of HB, but he was definitely being sarcastic. Unfortunately, many Arab governments simply will not admit that terrorism in their countries is perpetrated by their own citizens who are unhappy with the status quo. The usual scapegoat is the Zionists (in its more sophisticated form) or the Jews (in its less sophisticated form) or sometimes "American agents" (which is double speak for the Zionists/Jews.)<br><br>
In fact, they will go to outrageous and ridiculous lengths to try to support these specious arguments. For example, when I lived in Egypt several years ago, there was a horrible attack on a group of Greek (IIRC) tourists out near the pyramids. The semi-official line, espoused by commentators on TV and in newspaper editorials and quickly adopted by people in the street, was that Zionist agents--i.e., the Mossad--had used scuba gear to enter Egypt and had attacked the tourists to make Egypt look bad and to hurt the Egyptian economy.<br><br>
Yeah, that could be it. Or it could be that one of the many Islamically-oriented rebel groups, who were engaged in what amounted to a civil war against the government in some parts of the country, had attacked the tourists to hurt the Egyptian tourist trade, which is a vital part of the economy, in order to undermine the government and increase support for the opposition movement among the general population.<br><br>
Nah, that couldn't be it. It was definitely those wacky Zionists. You know how they are. (Insert sarcasm here.)<br><br>
It's really maddening. And it creates a smokescreen that these governments can try to hide behind to avoid addressing the real sources of the problems (i.e., their own illegitimacy in the eyes of many of their citizens; corruption and the mismanagement of resources; economic inequality and the horrible conditions under which many of their people live; etc.)<br><br>
Sorry for the diatribe. This is a sore subject for me. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/irked.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="irked">:
