The Dubai Factor
January 28th 2008 17:26
Ever since the controversy about turning American ports over the the management of the Dubai authorities I have been curious about the small country that appears to be a world-wide dynamo. Dubai is an Islamic country (which caused plenty of Americans to question handing our ports over to them!) president Bush says they are a valuable ally in the War on Terror. So is Saudi Arabia, and look where some of the 9/11 high-jackers came from!
I got an email today concerning Dubai and it's current status in the world marketplace. They are building gigantic tourist attractions of almost every description and have become a vastly wealthy country in the last five years or so. From enormous sports facilities to hotels that reach to the sky, to underwater hotels, to theme parks that dwarf Disneyworld, Dubai is certainly a big player on the global stage! Although I saw no mention of drinking (alcohol) or gambling, there seems to be every other high-dollar entertainment imaginable (some completed, some still under construction.) The photographs are truly stunning! Using Dutch and German technology, they have even built man-made islands large enough for half a million people.
My questions about Dubai concern where their money comes from. Is it simply the benefits of having a great deal of oil and selling it at a premium? Does it come from international investors? From other governments? According to the email, Dubai now has more construction workers than population! I can't help but wonder how a country that had dirt streets and shacks a few years ago is about to become the center of entertainment and wealth for the whole world...
Now, I'm not an expert on Islam by any stretch, but don't they eschew frivolities and excesses? Isn't their usual way considered "Spartan" and devoted more to religion than the accumulation of wealth? Aren't most women (regardless where they come from) expected to remain quiet and covered from head to foot?
Why then would such a country expend such efforts and wealth to build something that will attract the very people they call "infidels" and their jihad is sworn to kill? Most of the jetsetter types who will flock to the new "planetary playground" won't be following dress-codes. They won't give up their drinking, drugs and hedonistic lifestyle, either. Once the magnificent structures are completed and the advertising is done, what customers will they have? Will they demand that all their visitors abide by Islamic laws and soon discover they have no one coming to visit? Or will they allow the tourists to have their way and abandon Shariah Law and their Islamic faith by becoming supporters of the "Infidels" they hate?
For those of you who demand "links" to further explain things, here's one for you.
Really Long Link
With any luck, I may be able to put the whole email (pictures included) into another blog, later today.
I got an email today concerning Dubai and it's current status in the world marketplace. They are building gigantic tourist attractions of almost every description and have become a vastly wealthy country in the last five years or so. From enormous sports facilities to hotels that reach to the sky, to underwater hotels, to theme parks that dwarf Disneyworld, Dubai is certainly a big player on the global stage! Although I saw no mention of drinking (alcohol) or gambling, there seems to be every other high-dollar entertainment imaginable (some completed, some still under construction.) The photographs are truly stunning! Using Dutch and German technology, they have even built man-made islands large enough for half a million people.
My questions about Dubai concern where their money comes from. Is it simply the benefits of having a great deal of oil and selling it at a premium? Does it come from international investors? From other governments? According to the email, Dubai now has more construction workers than population! I can't help but wonder how a country that had dirt streets and shacks a few years ago is about to become the center of entertainment and wealth for the whole world...
Now, I'm not an expert on Islam by any stretch, but don't they eschew frivolities and excesses? Isn't their usual way considered "Spartan" and devoted more to religion than the accumulation of wealth? Aren't most women (regardless where they come from) expected to remain quiet and covered from head to foot?
Why then would such a country expend such efforts and wealth to build something that will attract the very people they call "infidels" and their jihad is sworn to kill? Most of the jetsetter types who will flock to the new "planetary playground" won't be following dress-codes. They won't give up their drinking, drugs and hedonistic lifestyle, either. Once the magnificent structures are completed and the advertising is done, what customers will they have? Will they demand that all their visitors abide by Islamic laws and soon discover they have no one coming to visit? Or will they allow the tourists to have their way and abandon Shariah Law and their Islamic faith by becoming supporters of the "Infidels" they hate?
For those of you who demand "links" to further explain things, here's one for you.
Really Long Link
With any luck, I may be able to put the whole email (pictures included) into another blog, later today.
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