Reply #20: I am more partial to Iran than Gulf Arab states. [View All]

[amber dog democrat]

If the US had not meddled in their politics in 1954, the Shaw and the revolution that followed may never have happened. I tend to think the mullahs that are managing things now are more in common with fundamental Islamic principles that are alien to Persia and the Iranian people, traditions and culture.

I am very fond of Turkey too. I could live there. I think the Ottoman's tolerance to other religeoins and cultures had much to do with how they were able to create and hold onto such a large empire. But at the same time there is a legacy of violence and conquest in the Balkins that still smolders to this day. Its almost as if some of those cultures are conditioned to hate each other ever since. The Ottoman Turks consider themselves a part of Europe and to my knowledge they were not trying to root out and convert other religeons and cultures the way the Christians were.