Printable View
Sat on the manifold off Angola in 1974 looking at the tracers going up and down the coast as Frelimo and the Government killed each other , I asked the American who was loading us From the SPM , who's winning , he explained it might look like goverment vvs rebels , but what it really is is CIA and US forces keeping oil and diamond prices down , by arming both sides so they can kill each other , and that is how gasoline back home is 50c a gallon
Ref my post #6 and to give another example of Arab hypocrisy. During the years of Arabisation of the port in question a nearby town was created and a hospital to support it was built. The hospital was staffed by a mixture of Irish & Australian nurses. The Arab Pilots wasted no time in forming relationships with the nurses. Nothing wrong with that I hear you say. This did not stop several of the Brit/Irish/Scot pilots challenging the Arab Pilots as they were on the way to the local mosque for Friday prayer doing their best to look holy and humble. The jokes were made along the line 'Does you missus know about xxxxx'. Answer was unanimous from the Arabs. Why? There is nothing to say as it never happened. These western woman are 'kufir', non believers, so it never happened as they do not count.
Another example of Arab logic. Further, an order came down from high in the oil company that these 'jibes' against Arab Pilots must stop immediately.
#14 Sounds about right Jim, in my experience of living out their you can be friendly with an Arab, but you can never have one as a friend, because when the chips are down you are in their eyes still nothing as a non-believer, and that attitude will never change.
However I did find that the UAE Arab very honest in their business dealings, as long as you kept their signature on the back of the packet of cigarettes on which the deal had been sealed together with an handshake. Unfortunately that all changed towards the latter end of the 70's when the Palestinians and Lebanese started to arrive and obtain management positions then you had to have watertight agreements with every 'i' dotted and every 't' crossed and Confirmed Letters of Credit drawn on an International Bank in London or New York; the UAE Arab became tainted and it became a case of screw the infidel any way you can. I still found the Sheik of Dubai and the Sheik of Sharjah very honourable men when dealing with them directly, as they realised that without European ex-pat management to keep some form of routine and honesty that maybe their new ventures may collapse under corruption. Both Sheiks looked after their ex-pat European workers in allowing them drink licences and public places to serve alcohol, also providing churches for Christians to worship, the only thing they asked in return was that you did not take any drink, including water, in a public place during Ramadan. You also learned that the police were always right, even when they were not. Memories!
[QUOTE=Ivan Cloherty;286500]#14 Sounds about right Jim, in my experience of living out their you can be friendly with an Arab, but you can never have one as a friend, because when the chips are down you are in their eyes still nothing as a non - believer.
Isn't that the truth. I like the emboldened.