Posted by: Anonymous Coward
on January 18, 2004 07:01 AM
There are far too many ignorant Western stereotyped
ideas in this piece (and the four others in the series) for anyone who has any idea about the Middle East to take it seriously.
The opening sentence itself is inaccurate - computers and the internet are just starting to penetrate the middle east. It reminds one of the ignorant middle east "experts" who fronted shows in the run up to the iraq war, saying "it is said to be very hot in the gulf during the month of March."
Has Miller heard of the United Arab Emirates? It is far more advanced in all things to do with technology, holds the region's biggest computer fair Gitex, (which has been running since 1988)?
Most people in most countries are dirt-poor - can we have some statistics to prove these assertions? Such uneducated statements only tend to make people treat the author as a joke.
A man goes to Riyadh and thinks he's seen all of Saudi Arabia. Ever thought why Riyadh is the way it is? Maybe, just maybe, those areas on the coast, places like Jeddah, Taif, Dammam and Dhahran - may be a little different?
You don't need some tired American theory to explain things in Saudi Arabia - no, you need to lock yourself up in a room and read works by Arab authors for a few days to understand the area.
It is better to keep quiet and be considered a fool than to open your mouth and confirm it.
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Typical Western ignorance
Posted by: Anonymous Coward on January 18, 2004 07:01 AMThere are far too many ignorant Western stereotyped
ideas in this piece (and the four others in the series) for anyone who has any idea about the Middle East to take it seriously.
The opening sentence itself is inaccurate - computers and the internet are just starting to penetrate the middle east. It reminds one of the ignorant middle east "experts" who fronted shows in the run up to the iraq war, saying "it is said to be very hot in the gulf during the month of March."
Has Miller heard of the United Arab Emirates? It is far more advanced in all things to do with technology, holds the region's biggest computer fair Gitex, (which has been running since 1988)?
Most people in most countries are dirt-poor - can we have some statistics to prove these assertions? Such uneducated statements only tend to make people treat the author as a joke.
A man goes to Riyadh and thinks he's seen all of Saudi Arabia. Ever thought why Riyadh is the way it is? Maybe, just maybe, those areas on the coast, places like Jeddah, Taif, Dammam and Dhahran - may be a little different?
You don't need some tired American theory to explain things in Saudi Arabia - no, you need to lock yourself up in a room and read works by Arab authors for a few days to understand the area.
It is better to keep quiet and be considered a fool than to open your mouth and confirm it.
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