merou,

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Better check your facts, the British, French, U.S (or all 3 in some cases) have occupied, and waged war in Somalia, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Iraq and pretty much any other country you're thinking of over the past century.

Prior to these actions, all of those countries experienced long periods of peace, prosperity and stability in most cases.

The fact is your allies and imperial predecessors _DID_ mess up their countries. Stop denying clear historical facts.

Okay mate, it's our fault that Somalia has been fighting a civil war for nearly 20 years is it? I suppose you would even argue that the only reason that UN Security Council Resolution 794 which approved a coalition of United Nations peacekeepers led by the United States
was passed so that the US could get it's hands on Somalias oil concessions.
I maintain - Australia did not fu*k their country, we should not have to support their violent refugees. Sure, not all of them are violent but before you go defending them go live in Balga or Mirrabooka (Perth) for a while,  let's see how sympathetic you are lying in a pool of your own blood after being bashed and robbed of your shoes.

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For the few millenia of historical records we have on the region, it was generally a prosperous trading centre, that was rarely involved in wars, and it's huge number of ports facilitated massive trade empires that stretched from China to Europe. During the 1200 or so years of Islamic presence there, it was an extremely prosperous region, until that is the British, Italians and French arrived. They divided it into their own little regions of influence (British Somaliland, French Somaliland, Italian Somaliland) and since then it's been turned into a squabbling backwater.

During the 1920's the British completely decimated the place with aerial bombardments, and then in the following decades the Fascist Italians further destroyed the country, fighting the British for control of it. Then after WWII the Italians lost interest and pulled out, leaving the country in a right mess. Then the Soviets got involved and setup a Socialist government, which eventually collapsed in the early 1990's after it's founders had also collapsed, and then the U.S (under the guise of the U.N) landed at the party... but pretty soon got their rectums booted out of the country and a coupla their fancy Black hawk helicopters shot down whilst fleeing with their tails between their legs... So they sent the Ethiopians in to do their dirty work for them... and here we are today!

But no... it's all the fault of the Somalis themselves, nothing to do with the 100 or so years of foreign domination and decimation that's been thrust onto them... of course not..

Go and learn some history instead of just spouting bovine faeces.

abu_rashid wrote on Aug 6^th, 2009 at 11:20pm:

Your right, I didn't take my friends next door neighbour to hospital with a broken jaw, broken ribs and stolen shoes after he asked them for his bike back that they also stole, Nor did I watch 6 of them throw rocks through a car window in broad daylight and steal the contents.

Your also correct in saying I am generalising, I have met some very nice Somali's and enjoyed chatting with them and was genuinely happy to share this country with them. I maintain my opinion I would rather see 42c of every dollar I earn go to an Australian who is struggling, I repeat AUSTRALIA did not turn their country to sh1t.

I respect your opinion Abu and will not say that you are wrong, but sorry I will not agree totally.

abu_rashid wrote on Aug 6^th, 2009 at 11:13pm:




Xerxes: What exactly are the demands?
Reg: We're giving Pilate two days to dismantle the entire apparatus of the Roman Imperialist State and if he doesn't agree immediately we execute her.
Matthias: Cut her head off?
Francis: Cut all her bits off, send 'em back every hour on the hour... show him we're not to be trifled with.
Reg: Also, we're demanding a ten foot mahogany statue of the Emperor Julius Caesar with his cock hanging out.
Stan: What? They'll never agree to that, Reg.
Reg: That's just a bargaining counter. And of course, we point out that they bear full responsibility when we chop her up, and... that we shall not submit to blackmail.
Omnes: (Applause) No blackmail!
Reg: They've bled us white, the bastards. They've taken everything we had, not just from us, from our fathers and from our fathers' fathers.
Stan: And from our fathers' fathers' fathers.
Reg: Yes.
Stan: And from our fathers' fathers' fathers' fathers.
Reg: All right, Stan. Don't labour the point. And what have they ever given us in return?
Xerxes: The aqueduct.
Reg: Oh yeah, yeah they gave us that. Yeah. That's true.
Masked Activist: And the sanitation!
Stan: Oh yes... sanitation, Reg, you remember what the city used to be like.
Reg: All right, I'll grant you that the aqueduct and the sanitation are two things that the Romans have done...
Matthias: And the roads...
Reg: (sharply) Well yes obviously the roads... the roads go without saying. But apart from the aqueduct, the sanitation and the roads...
Another Masked Activist: Irrigation...
Other Masked Voices: Medicine... Education... Health...
Reg: Yes... all right, fair enough...
Activist Near Front: And the wine...
Omnes: Oh yes! True!
Francis: Yeah. That's something we'd really miss if the Romans left, Reg.
Masked Activist at Back: Public baths!
Stan: And it's safe to walk in the streets at night now.
Francis: Yes, they certainly know how to keep order... (general nodding)... let's face it, they're the only ones who could in a place like this.

(more general murmurs of agreement)
Reg: All right... all right... but apart from better sanitation and medicine and education and irrigation and public health and roads and a freshwater system and baths and public order... what have the Romans done for us?
Xerxes: Brought peace!
Reg: (very angry, he's not having a good meeting at all) What!? Oh... (scornfully) Peace, yes... shut up!

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Yeh right... they didn't come here and setup mafias and import massive amounts of drugs etc. no no no, not those good European immigrants..

Merou, just out of curiousity are you aware that Muslims have been here since the beginning of European settlement (and before actually), and were quite instrumental in building the Australia we have today? Long before the Italians, Greeks etc. arrived, Muslims came by the thousands from all over the British empire, to help explore and settle Australia. That's why today our cross-country railway is named after them, the Ghan (from Afghan).

more information

Also personally I know of quite a lot of Muslims who contribute quite positively to Australian society. I know of two Muslim mayors, of many doctors, some of them reaching quite high levels within their profession and many others who contribute very positively to Australia in a vast number of fields. And historically speaking, Muslims were quite clearly the largest contributors to building modern Australia, after the British. The misconception that Islam is new, foreign and has no history or basis in Australia is just plain wrong, and neglects the massive contributions Muslims made, even sacrificing their lives in many cases during the early years of exploration.