Article

2005-11-10 Iraq

Al Qaeda Declares a "Liberated Zone" Out West

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by Steve 2005-11-10 09:16|| || Front Page|| [4 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Is it just me, or is Al Qaeda sounding more like the mafia everyday?

Posted by mmurray821 2005-11-10 09:50|| 2005-11-10 09:50|| Front Page Top

#2 Americans are very naive about the old and honored traditions of bribery, which they mistakenly equate with corruption. In much of the world, bribes are used to show respect, friendliness, familiarity, and status.

From that point of view, a bribe is much like a letter of recommendation, and are mostly objected to by those who could never get a letter of recommendation.

A bribe indicates that you have some wealth, and are not just a poor man in good clothes. It also shows that you are willing to part with the bribe; which those who are greedy or treacherous are loathe to do. The bribe also implies kinship, which can get complex in an extended family. Finally, it is a great way to defer the expense of offered hospitality.

In one prominent Asian family I knew, everybody carried around a few small gold ingots, ornately marked with the family markings. Whenever someone traveled, they always exchanged their ingot with one from the family member they visited. The older members of the family were so respected that they did not need to give an ingot in return, and so each visitor contributed to their retirement.

Also bribes means that you get to know, and keep up with, your extended family. If someone is a "black sheep", everybody knows it, so he doesn't get any bribes. If someone else is very successful, he gives out a lot of bribes to the family as largesse, and his status in the family jumps.

Bribes outside the family reflect not just on you, but on your entire extended family. And since a government employee still belongs to his family, it represents a friendly gesture from your family to his, far more than meaning you want something from him in his office.

But Americans are less and less familiar with this, as they are with haggling instead of paying the retail price. It is a foreign custom.

Posted by Anonymoose 2005-11-10 11:02|| 2005-11-10 11:02|| Front Page Top

#3 Hey, Anonymoose, you never did business in New York City or Jersey. Where did the "sqeeky wheel get the grease come from?" Mafia is a good analogy but their food is so much better.

Posted by Bardo 2005-11-10 11:13|| 2005-11-10 11:13|| Front Page Top

#4 Shadowy area between a bribe and a gift. I invited a couple of Bahraini policemen to dine with me after I managed to keep one of my men from getting arrested (the idiot got drunk at a hotel, went out to dinner at a restaurant and argued with and insulted the owner and his staff). The cops got fed, the owner got profitable business and his staff got a generous gratuity. Bribe? Maybe.

Posted by Pappy 2005-11-10 12:22|| 2005-11-10 12:22|| Front Page Top

#5 "Leave the gun. Take the canolies."

Posted by Besoeker 2005-11-10 15:08|| 2005-11-10 15:08|| Front Page Top

23:44 ex-lib
23:43 Bardo
23:36 DMFD
23:35 ex-lib
23:31 C-Low
23:24 CrazyFool
23:17 ex-lib
23:09 The Happy Fliegerabwehrkanonen
23:07 ex-lib
23:01 Bardo
22:48 Captain America
22:46 Barbara Skolaut
22:30 trailing wife
22:28 Bardo
22:17 Bardo
22:15 C-Low
22:12 trailing wife
22:11 Bobby
22:05 trailing wife
22:05 Bobby
22:01 trailing wife
22:00 Asymmetrical Triangulation
21:59 Bobby
21:55 Bright Pebbles