BS: What have the Iraqi's ever done for us ?

Subject: What have the Iraqi's ever done for us ?
From: GUEST,Saddams lookalike
Date: 25 Nov 02 - 12:27 PM

Apart from bolster the American arms industry ..What else ??????

Subject: RE: What have the Iraqi's ever done for us ?
From: Bert
Date: 25 Nov 02 - 12:51 PM

Oil
Jobs for Americans
Dates
And if you want to go back a ways, then a lot of our culture has its roots in Babylon.

Subject: RE: What have the Iraqi's ever done for us ?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 25 Nov 02 - 12:59 PM

I have never yet had a date with an Iraqui.

Subject: RE: What have the Iraqi's ever done for us ?
From: NicoleC
Date: 25 Nov 02 - 01:17 PM

Also known as Mesopotamia or Sumer, the cradle of civiliation

Agriculture
Writing, both pictograms and cuneiform
The wheel
Double-entry accounting and banking systems
The concept of privately owned property (vs. owned by the king)
King Hammurabi and first ever (known) set of written laws -- an important development, as it made it possible to have a rule of law, instead of just the whim of the ruler.
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
Literature, incluing the Epic of Gilgamesh
Birthplace of Judaism (hence the term "semitic")

With the arrival of Islam and it's scholarly traditions, we can thank the entire Arab world for preserving the history and knowledge of ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome, particularly medicine and philosophy. Much of this work was done in Baghdad, one of the great cities of the Arab world. The scholars in Baghdad did not just preserve and translate the old works, but built upon it. Arab physicians were far more successful at not killing their patients than the European ones, and modern mathematics and algebra were invented.

Later European travellers brought this knowledge back to Italy, sparking the great Italian Renaissance by re-introducing knowledge that had been forgotten in Europe.

Subject: RE: What have the Iraqi's ever done for us ?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 25 Nov 02 - 01:38 PM

Nice summation there, Nicole!

- LH

Subject: RE: What have the Iraqi's ever done for us ?
From: Don Firth
Date: 25 Nov 02 - 02:56 PM

Algebra, without which much science could never have happened.

Recently, a straw man for GWB to kick around.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: What have the Iraqi's ever done for us ?
From: *daylia*
Date: 26 Nov 02 - 03:24 PM

About the same as we've done for them - given us the 'mother of all scapegoats'. Also much appreciation for the evolution of the Western musical scale. No offence to one of the oldest civilizations on Earth, but their music sounds like a horde of giant mosquitoes to me ...

Subject: RE: What have the Iraqi's ever done for us ?
From: mack/misophist
Date: 26 Nov 02 - 03:42 PM

As long as we're at it, don't forget that a majority of stars have arabic names. Once upon a time the culture was BRILLIANT.

Subject: RE: What have the Iraqi's ever done for us ?
From: Amos
Date: 26 Nov 02 - 04:30 PM

Nicely put, Nicole and Misophist. The realm of ancient Persia is one of the fountains of our civilization; those who ignore it may find themselves repeating it! :>) (Scary thought).


A