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Very accurate

Reader comment on item: Pouring Cold Water on WikiLeaks

Submitted by AdamB (Australia), Dec 14, 2010 at 19:50

I was born in the Arab world, went to school there, lived with and interacted with the butcher the baker and the candlestick maker. With first hand experience, I can vouch for the veracity of this article. Keeping "face" is not the main thing, it is the only thing in Arabia. "Face" is what drives the imperative of telling others what they want to hear, not what they should hear. Arabs have the ability to add and then strip the veneer of politeness from the truth of intent.

Just as a salesman will never be told that his merchandise is awful (it is always called superb, but either unaffordable or something else), westerners will not be told what the real intent is. One has to figure it out and unless well versed in the technique, one is almost condemned to fall into the trap, time and time again. Listening to what is said in English is totally irrelevant It is what is said in Arabic and what actually happens on the ground that matters. This is the trap that those currently attempting to broker agreements in the ME constantly fall into and will continue to fall into until they understand the game, if one could call it that. Shuttle diplomacy is a waste of time since those doing the shuttling interpret things as westerners do. It akin to playing the game in a different ball park and by different rules.

Submitting....

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Reader comments (43) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
2Doublespeak as Diplomacy [138 words]Frank LukeDec 27, 2010 18:26181305
3The Brass Ring of American Diplomacy [782 words]Tim HunterDec 26, 2010 16:52181268
2appreciation [89 words]HOWARD LAITINJan 3, 2011 03:06181268
3an apology [76 words]Peter, ScotlandDec 22, 2010 15:47181191
2Arabs want peace…Arabs don't want peace! [93 words]BADec 22, 2010 09:13181183
3The Saudis [75 words]PIM BequiriDec 21, 2010 13:55181173
In the hands of the Writer [206 words]Jay1Dec 19, 2010 17:17181129
Smoke and Mirrors [14 words]Dr. david UriDec 16, 2010 22:06181057
3buckets of blood [51 words]batya daganDec 21, 2010 00:31181057
2Now I Undersatand ..........Meaning of word "DIPLOMACY' [27 words]VIJAY GOPAL DONGAREDec 16, 2010 04:03181020
5Creepieweakiliki [398 words]Arlinda DeAngelisDec 15, 2010 11:40180996
1Arlinda and the Heads of Snakes [205 words]Sir Daniel M.J. TobinDec 17, 2010 13:26180996
I agree with Dr. Pipes [61 words]There is NO Santa ClausDec 15, 2010 08:57180992
Value of WikiLeaks [71 words]Mark D.Dec 14, 2010 22:55180973
Wikileaks Red Herring [70 words]RichJan 6, 2011 11:17180973
Call For Terrorism [34 words]Mark D.Dec 14, 2010 22:38180971
3In this case, trust the Arab leaders' comments [208 words]Stuart FaginDec 14, 2010 22:34180970
Can't Handle The Truth [68 words]Mark D.Dec 14, 2010 22:33180969
Head of what snake? [36 words]Mark DDec 14, 2010 22:27180968
1Iran Strike [54 words]Mark D.Dec 14, 2010 22:24180967
2much ado about nothing. [157 words]batya daganDec 14, 2010 22:13180965
1Truthspeaker [95 words]UgriDec 17, 2010 02:52180965
Politically incorrect=truth. [47 words]batya daganDec 20, 2010 19:55180965
He's the champ [24 words]UgriDec 21, 2010 02:33180965
Vanity [147 words]Alan FoxDec 14, 2010 19:56180964
1Very accurate [240 words]AdamBDec 14, 2010 19:50180963
What Must the Iranians be Thinking? [53 words]AlexDec 14, 2010 18:01180960
1Disagree about the impact [129 words]saraDec 14, 2010 16:12180959
An honest assessment of Arabs, Islamic Culture is what negates Wikileaks' revelations [47 words]RhetoricalGirlDec 14, 2010 14:08180955
Who is to blame but the naiveté of the People [535 words]NuritGDec 14, 2010 13:05180953
3The story of the engineer [150 words]Abu NudnikDec 14, 2010 12:28180951
1Follow the Money [132 words]Ralph C Whaley MDDec 14, 2010 12:06180947
misnomer [123 words]yuval Brandstetter MDDec 14, 2010 11:45180943
Arab diplomatic duplicity and the Saudi/Iranian relationship [58 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Lawrence M. SeganDec 14, 2010 11:42180942
Sunni Shi'ite divide [37 words]Fancy NancyDec 24, 2010 04:11180942
whatever [25 words]dick johnsonDec 14, 2010 11:24180941
1Question for Dr. Pipes [94 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Aymenn Jawad Al-TamimiDec 14, 2010 10:44180940
A prefered method perhaps [27 words]Seamus Dafydd Dives MacNemiJan 18, 2011 17:39180940
al-taquia [2 words]Ravi Ranjan Singh BharatPanthiDec 14, 2010 10:25180938
112to RAVI [124 words]mariahDec 15, 2010 04:51180938
4Private Candor v.s Public Prevrication [256 words]Prof. Paul EidelbergDec 14, 2010 09:42180937
1Thanks, Professor Eidelberg [125 words]Erich WDec 15, 2010 21:20180937
Pipes May Be Right, But He is Wrong to Pour Cold Water on Wikileaks [346 words]Bill NarveyDec 14, 2010 09:27180936

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