Obama thinks that Afghans speak Arabic

[R.R.]

Obama posited ? incorrectly ? that Arabic translators deployed in Iraq are needed in Afghanistan ? forgetting, momentarily, that Afghans don?t speak Arabic.

?We only have a certain number of them and if they are all in Iraq, then its harder for us to use them in Afghanistan,? Obama said. ?.

No sooner did Obama realize his mistake ? and correct himself ? but he immediately made another.

?We need agricultural specialists in Afghanistan, people who can help them develop other crops than heroin poppies, because the drug trade in Afghanistan is what is driving and financing these terrorist networks. So we need agricultural specialists,? he said.

So far, so good.

?But if we are sending them to Baghdad, they?re not in Afghanistan,? Obama said.

Iraq has many problems, but encouraging farmers to grow food instead of opium poppies isn?t one of them. In Iraq, oil fields not poppy fields are a major source of U.S. technical assistance.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/05/obama-gaffes-on.html

[kimba1]

it`s a easy mistake.
If I understand correctly
the koran(all copies of them are in arabic) with the respective translation.
so the afghans may not speak arabic ,but most likely know how to read it

[Xavier_Onassis]

The relationship is as follows: Muhammad said that the Koran should be read in Arabic and in Arabic only, that all translations are not the word of Allah, because Allah was speaking Arabic when he spoke to Mohammad.

So in theory, all Muslims memorize the Koran in Arabic. That is one of the major duties of a madrassa: to teach the memorization of the Koran in Arabic.

Suppose you had memorized the  entire King James version of the Bible in English. How well , one might ask, would you be able to speak and understand the English of King James' time?

The language it is written in is Arabic, and it is recited in Arabic in Madrassas.

So in theory, all Muslims understand Koranic, called Classical, Arabic.

Afghans speak a variety of languages, but more speak Pashtoon (Pashto) than any other. The other official language is Dari, or Persian (Farsi), also spoken in Iran and Tajikistan.

They also speak Uzbek, Turkmen, and Balochi.

Obama is correct in that the US has far too few speakers of ther places where our soldiers are sent.

[kimba1]

that is true from day 1
right after 9-11 I remember a great demand for middle-eastern agents for most dept.
translators and teachers of middle-eastern cultures.
I`m not even sure the demand ever went away

[Christians4LessGvt]

[Xavier_Onassis]

So now you are preaching that Obama is Satanic?

Is there, finally, nothing to which you will not stoop? Have you, at last, no decency at all?

[Christians4LessGvt]

"So now you are preaching that Obama is Satanic?
Is there, finally, nothing to which you will not stoop?
Have you, at last, no decency at all?"

Now that is funny as hell. (no pun intended)
From a person that demonizes Bush/Cheney like no other.

[Plane]

Barak Obama has thrown his hat into the ring , this not only makes it right and proper to give every detail of his carrear a public examination , it makes it inevitable that every little error will be exaggerated and loudly published. It also attracts a lot of comedians.


Why should Obama be treated more gently than any other presidential canadate?

[Xavier_Onassis]

Why should Obama be treated more gently than any other presidential canadate?

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I think that suggesting that he is Satan reincarnate seeking to roast the entire country is far from gentle.

This is not a valid politica issue.

Dick Cheney being the poster child of the military industrial complex, is.

[Plane]

Why should Obama be treated more gently than any other presidential canadate?

======================================
I think that suggesting that he is Satan reincarnate seeking to roast the entire country is far from gentle.

This is not a valid politica issue.

Dick Cheney being the poster child of the military industrial complex, is.

I don't think it would be hard to find a near equivelent illistration featureing George Bush ,would that be a diffrent matter?

[fatman]

I don't think it would be hard to find a near equivelent illistration featureing George Bush ,would that be a diffrent matter?

No.  I would think such a cartoon about Bush would make its poster border line retarded, much like how I feel about the Obama cartoon above.

[Xavier_Onassis]

I don't think it would be hard to find a near equivelent illistration featureing George Bush ,would that be a diffrent matter?

=================================
Being as Bush is not running for president and Obama is, yes.

I have yet to see a picture of a Satanic Bush. No doubt you could find one in some Iraqi or Iranian newspaper if you looked hard enough.
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No.  I would think such a cartoon about Bush would make its poster border line retarded, much like how I feel about the Obama cartoon above.

I agree that this is a rather dimwitted bit of propaganda.

[R.R.]

it`s a easy mistake.

Unfortunately, it exposes Obama's inexperience and naivety in foreign affairs. Maybe if this were 1992, we could take a risk on somebody without the knowledge and experience.