A GLIMPSE INTO THE IRAQI MIND

[shabbadude]

Please read this with a clear understanding that I am not bigoted, racist or closed-minded.

I became a good friend with an Iraqi ex-pat while working in LA. He gave me some valuable advice in dealing with his fellow Persians, which I found to be amazingly accurate.

He saw that I was about to go postal in my dealings with some business related negotiations and shared the following with me:

He said that they have core values in their culture that that are diametrically opposed to our western values. Their culture places a high value on "negotiation" and more so on winning at the expense of truth. If one party can win the advantage over his counterpart by twisting, obfuscating and even out right lying, and do so without getting caught, he is regarded as a shrewd negotiator and honored. On the other hand, the loosing party is considered dim-witted and a fool. Even worse, if one is caught lying, they are looked upon as not only dim-witted but society's shame is heaped upon them.

One other is saving face. At one point one of the parliamentary blocs "walked out" on the proceedings as they had stated they would, only to walk right back in though a door down the hall. They "kept their word". Not at all unusual, for in their culture, literal and figurative interpretation is completely subjective.

We call it sleazy, underhanded, dishonest. They call it normal.

But in a twist, in personal relationships they are warm, generous and kind.

So with that bit of information in hand, it's not hard to understand why it takes so much darned time to reach any agreement. It sheds light on Maliki's twisting and turning and the infuriating way they legislate.

This is just my experience, and I hope that it will shed some light on who is somewhat in control of our investment......

[umbertino]

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his fellow Persians,

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That would be Iranians as current Iran was ancient Persia.