Yassar Arafat's death was marked today at the UN where the flag flew at half mast in honor of Arafat. It did not fly at half mast when Reagan died. The press in America is exhalting him as the "George Washington" of the mideast.

Is he a hero or a terrorist? We know that Jimmy Carter idolizes Arafat what about you?

Terrorist who could play politics.

Grandpa, it is clear that he is/was a hero to the Palestenian people. To me, he has heroic qualities and despicable qualities. What an enigma.

Obviously Ed you are up early and probably saw the "funeral" . He obviously is an icon to his people. What I took away from the mob scene was that these people are not like us and will never be. Our way of life may never take hold with this 14th century culture. Just picture the funeral of Ronald Reagan with a million people screaming and shooting machine guns into the air..then swarming the casket.

Grandpa, I take a more optimistic viewpoint. I believe that people everywhere are more alike than not on the important stuff. What we want for our children, the thirst for learning, etc. I pray that is true as it is the only hope that we have for long-term peace.

If the Palestenians saw the scene outside a Wal-Mart at 6:00 AM on the day after Thanksgiving, do you think they would have an accurate picture of who we are as a people?

Except no one outside the WalMart is shooting an AK-47 into the air while chanting praise to Allah and death to the infidels.!!!

Flag staffs on land, except naval flag standards are called staffs. Flags flown on vessels and naval bases are mats.....just wanted to throw that in there.

Improper use and nomanclature of flags is a pet peeve of mine so I have to appologize for cutting in here.

Okay, flags flown on land are called staffs while flags flown on naval installations and all vessels are masts.

My last post was kind funky so i thought i would try to make it a bit more clear.

Tight lines and lets go fishin!!!!!

Upon hearing of the death of Yasser Arafat who was a documented terrorist and murderer of innocent women and children--The Secretary General of the U.N. Kofi Annan ordred the flags at the United Nations to be flown at half-staff.

When Ronald Reagan died earlier this year--SG of the UN Kofi Annan allowed the flags at the United Nations fly normally.

Guys, you need to chill out about the UN. Yasser Arafat was a current leader of the Palestenians, Ronald Reagan was a former President. I'm sure if GW died in office, the flags at the UN would fly at half staff.

Ya see?! There's another example of those phookin radical left wing liberal whinin' democrats takin' away my 2nd Amendment rights. I should be able to pop off a case or two of ammo if I wanna. It's my God-given right (not to mention my inbred machismo) to fire off as many rounds as I like, where ever I like. I'm an American, Guldarnit, and if I wanna blow off some brass, I should be able to do it! That's why there's mob scenes at Wallmart; no one's packin'. Next thing you know it'll be just like Canada with complete anarchy at Kmart.

And rant and whine and cry and on and on and on...

Goharley,

I know old habbits die hard, but it's still not too late to try and learn how to urinate while you're standing up....give it a try sometime. :p

Sadly for you, Krusty, it is too late. I believe you're destined to be an idiot the rest of your life.

SAY WHAT???

Grandpa,

Arafat is both a hero to Palestinians and a terrorist to Israelis.

I have no reason whatever to idolize Arafat or any Arab, but I respect him for earning the respect and admiration of so many Palestinians, whose cause he championed for nearly four decades.

So Palestinians are not like us and never will be. What’s wrong with that? Should every culture around the world aspire to American culture? If so, why? I take it you’re not into valuing diversity?

So some of them shoot off guns in celebration. I don’t approve of it personally because it’s not safe. But things we don’t commonly do nowadays once were common. Americans used to shoot guns in celebration also, but fortunately we’ve evolved past that as a culture.

As for Arafat being honored with the UN flag at half staff, while Reagan didn’t receive the same honor, that’s understandable from a global scale, if not with a provincial U.S. view. Arafat was the current leader of his people, and he was a hero to them for fighting (literally and figuratively) to build his nation from the ground up. Reagan was a former U.S. leader who is credited with winning the cold war by outspending the Soviets. If he had brought freedom to an oppressed U.S., or died trying to, or had even won a fighting war, then I think the world view of him at his passing would be very different.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.

So do you have the same respect for guys like Hitler and\or OBL?? To their own people, they are\were considered heroes...

Don't forget the Khmer Rouge they had millions of followers Idid Amin Dada was loved by millions as well. Stalin, Jim Jones the list goes on and on.

Salmo...are you sure you don't have respect for Arafat by default because you harbor so much disdain for Israel? Chosing sides as it were.

Objectivity while studying history. Some of the christian zealots should give it a try.

"Objectivity while studying history"

LOL. Objectivity is one thing - claiming you have respect for a known terrorist is another...

LOL. Respecting someone and approving of what they do are two different things. LOL.

LOL. By the way, you're a pretty happy little fella. LOL.

Grandpa,

Misunderstanding rules the day on internet bulletin boards I guess.

It’s not disdain for Israel. There are many good people of Israel not meriting disdain, roughly half, last I heard. It’s Israeli government sponsored and military implemented terrorism against Palestinians that has me riled. And I do believe it qualifies as state sponsored terrorism, where the Israeli caused casualties are non-combatant Palestinian women and children more often than combatants.

My respect for Arafat was simply what I claimed: he commanded the respect and admiration of his people for a period of decades because he championed their cause. An objective analysis likely would label him a freedom fighter, terrorist or not. If I were a Palestinian, then I’d probably idolize him. But I’m not. I’m a white American seeking to understand the craziness in this world.

PP,

It’s a different respect for Hitler. His charisma charmed most of the population of a major educated and industrialized nation. Scary, but something to respect, but not in a good way. And I’d be a fool not to respect OBL for what he was able to achieve against our country. Respect isn’t always about admiration. I respect OBL like I’d respect a large rattlesnake that was up close and about to get personal. I think it’s worth thinking about why OBL is a hero to many Arabs. Failing to understand the enemy is a fool’s game in my opinion. And as Harley says, having respect for someone is hardly the same as approving of what they do.

TK,

I think the Khmer Rouge followers did so out of fear. I don’t recall ever hearing that Idi Amin was loved by millions, although he was feared by many, perhaps millions. The Jim Jones followers take the cake, tho.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.

re·spect ( P ) Pronunciation Key (r-spkt)
tr.v. re·spect·ed, re·spect·ing, re·spects
To feel or show deferential regard for; esteem.
To avoid violation of or interference with: respect the speed limit.
To relate or refer to; concern.

n.
A feeling of appreciative, often deferential regard; esteem. See Synonyms at regard.
The state of being regarded with honor or esteem.
Willingness to show consideration or appreciation.
respects Polite expressions of consideration or deference: pay one's respects.
A particular aspect, feature, or detail: In many respects this is an important decision.
Usage Problem. Relation; reference. See Usage Note at regard.

respect

\Re*spect"\ (r?*sp?kt"), 1. To take notice of; to regard with special attention; to regard as worthy of special consideration; to heed.


Geez, that was easy. Nothing about approving of their actions, holding them in esteem, appreciating their actions ....


By the way, great objective viewpoint, Salmo.
" Failing to understand the enemy is a fool’s game in my opinion."

Some 7-11's were stoked and gave out free slurpies some ampm's were pissed and raised the price on hot dogs, it comes down to which side of the blood line you are on. Both sides the Isras and the Palestin's have terroristic ways, in my view they can both go get screwed, they are fighting over a useless fight, let them kill each other if thats what they want, I sure as hell am not going to praise either of them. Notice I don't praise Bush either. The only man I could trust in our office right now is John Mccaine, well I guess David Lee Roth is sacing lives these days to being a paramedic so I guess I could go for him and his state of the union speech. "I like the way the line runs of the back of the stocking, no no no don't take em' off I like those kind of high heels too." The only war their would be between Hagar, a breif and short attempt by Gary Sherone, and then in the end Roth would rock the vote. But yeah on the Arafat issue, I have shed no tear and won't.

Harley,

If you stayed in school you would have learned how webster structures it's def's. The most common usage on top the least common last. Your use of the term is least common.

TK - how dare you challenge Salmo Don't you know by now that we are supposed to read his mind to know what he INTENDED and not what he actually said. "when I said xyz, I meant 345". Maybe Bob could help us out and put a filter on Salmo's posts to show the appropriate translation?

PP,

Yeah, right. If I'd known you're not worth the bother, I wouldn't have tried to communicate with you. Sorry, I'll try not to repeat the error.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.

Arafat was a thug to many and a hero to many. Certainly he sponsored terrorism... but he is not alone in that department. Everyone has their own opinion and mine is that Mr. Arafat spent more of his life being a part of the peace problem than being part of the peace solution.