According to the recent Pew Global Attitudes Survey (PDF here), 71% of Lebanese respondents like American music, movies and TV. However, when broken down by religion and sect, it turns out that 87% of Lebanese Christians and 84% of Lebanese Sunni Muslims like American cultural exports, but only 37% of Lebanese Shi'ite Muslims do.
58% of Ethiopians like American cultural exports; 73% of Ethiopian Christians do, but only 36% of Ethiopian Muslims.
59% of Nigerians like American music, movies and TV; 82% of Nigerian Christians do, but only 38% of Nigerian Muslims.
54% of Malaysians like American cultural exports; 73% of Malaysian Buddhists do, but only 40% of Malaysian Muslims.
What is really interesting, apart from the religious distinctions within these countries, is the fact that many more Muslims seem to like American culture than the proportion that likes the country itself.
Showing posts with label Ethiopia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ethiopia. Show all posts
30 July 2007
10 April 2007
A thousand killed in Mogadishu fighting
According to the Hawiye clan, one of the major clans of Mogadishu, 1,000 people were killed in recent fighting between Somalian government troops and the Ethiopian army on the one hand, and Islamists, as well as Hawiye fighters, on the other.
Ethiopia backs the recently installed Somalian government, while its regional rival Eritrea has started backing the Islamist Somalian opposition (and former rulers of Mogadishu), the Union of Islamic Courts.
This is the worst fighting in Somalia in the last 15 years. The high number of casualties was partly the result of Ethiopia's use of artillery against Islamists who had taken cover in residential areas.
The African Union plans to eventually take over the role of supporting the Somalian government from Ethiopia, but the process has been slow so far (BBC).
Surely, countries as poor as Ethiopia (ranked 170th in the world in the UNDP's Human Development Index) and Eritrea (ranked 157th) have better things to do than to fight a proxy war in Somalia. I think the AU should send in not 8,000 soldiers, as it's planning to do, but rather something like 30,000-40,000, and completely secuere the country. And most of the soldiers outght to be Muslims, to avoid giving the Union of Islamic Courts an excuse for further resistance.
Ethiopia backs the recently installed Somalian government, while its regional rival Eritrea has started backing the Islamist Somalian opposition (and former rulers of Mogadishu), the Union of Islamic Courts.
This is the worst fighting in Somalia in the last 15 years. The high number of casualties was partly the result of Ethiopia's use of artillery against Islamists who had taken cover in residential areas.
The African Union plans to eventually take over the role of supporting the Somalian government from Ethiopia, but the process has been slow so far (BBC).
Surely, countries as poor as Ethiopia (ranked 170th in the world in the UNDP's Human Development Index) and Eritrea (ranked 157th) have better things to do than to fight a proxy war in Somalia. I think the AU should send in not 8,000 soldiers, as it's planning to do, but rather something like 30,000-40,000, and completely secuere the country. And most of the soldiers outght to be Muslims, to avoid giving the Union of Islamic Courts an excuse for further resistance.
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