A quote of "Omar"

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This is a quote of a comment left by someone who called himself "Omar" (and signed a previous comment with "Sincerely, A Proud Muslim" at another blog:

...there are many in the Islamic world that view the United States as a natural enemy, The greatest fallacy is to attribute this to a question of religion. It really is all about the distinct perception held by the Islamic population at large that US foreign policy is to their detriment. Religion plays a role in the way it is used as a rallying cry and a banner under which to fight against the perceived enemy. Naturally, the Islamic world is not homogenous and things vary to some degree from place to place, but rightly or wrongly, US foreign policy is viewed as a threat and that is the reason why the Islamic world is at loggerheads with the US. To reinforce the issue, do you see the same level of antagonism directed at China? A land of polytheism and therefore the most anathema to monotheistic Islam.

I felt this was worthy of repetition.

It's really about foreign policy, history, respect, reputation, interests - a poor combination can yield a needless hot conflict. It's the job of foreign politicians and the diplomatic corps to prevent this from happening.

Shit happens at times, but you really should repair the damage once there's a needless conflict - and you cannot do so until you get the diagnosis right.

Sven Ortmann

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