[tootsieflowrslave]

Originally Posted by LT89 ↗

It might be from '04 or '06, but this kind of thing is still happening up to this very day. And those ISIS terrorists aren't making the situation any better either.

A classmate of mine is an Iraqi, he's a lot older then me and the rest of our class (somewhere in his 40's). He and his wife and two daughters fled to the Netherlands in 2008, and had to stay in an a center for asylum seekers where he couldn't do anything but wait for the moment when he would hear if he could stay or had to go back home to face a civil war. Only in 2012, when he go the governments' approval to stay, he was allowed to start learning Dutch. It's been just 2 years, but he already speaks Dutch fluently (one of the most difficult Western languages that exists), and has become a hard working, productive and fully integrated member of our society. Even though he has a wife and 2 daughters to take care of, and the rest of his family was left behind in a country that's ravaged by civil war, he's always cheerful and friendly, always on time, and does his school work very well. He often even offers to help me out with my school assignments, even though I'm a native Dutchman who has to put in a lot less effort to make those assignments. People like him really make me feel sorry for the good people whore are just like him but who are left behind there, in Iraq, and in other war torn countries. And it makes me realise how incredibly lucky I am to have been born in one of the most prosperous, safe and stable countries on the planet.

I appreciate and agree with your sentiment. I have run into a financial setback lately that has, at times been a source of anxiety to the point where it becomes overly self-consuming and I end up wasting away moments spent with loved ones. Your comments here remind me that there are many many people who would gladly trade places with me and honestly, my little fiasco will pass eventually. But for me, making a comparison between my situation and someone else who lives in a destabilized sociopolitical environment where sectarian violence and lawlessness threatens his/her life on a daily basis would be silly at best and downright arrogant snubbery at worst. 6 years ago I went to Thailand to visit my sister who was on assignment over there and I will never forget that day me and my sister were sitting in an air conditioned taxi next to several dozen people living in makeshift shacks and tents under a highway overpass. One gentleman looked right at me and I looked right back at him for quite a moment. I didn't feel lucky but I did feel embarrassed. I felt like that man had far more dignity than me and I wasn't proud of myself for the things I assumed he associated with tourists like myself. It was one of those moments where I felt like an asshole for complaining about whatever petty bullshit I was going through at the time. Your comments definitely conjure up that feeling once again.

My whole point is that we get caught up in our own shit and tend to dissociate ourselves with what else is going on around us. I will say these things now knowing full and well that I will be back in my tunnel vision again soon. But I guess everyone does this. What I think what's more important are these kind of reminders, not strict adherence to principles we cannot possibly perfect. Nevertheless, I suppose your classmate can appreciate these things he has now in ways we cannot, not only because he knows what the alternatives are, but has instead lived and experienced them for himself.

[ptorico60]

Nice quote from Independence Day.

[blancadon]

Nice post!

[XxMutilatedxX]

Those are some really emotionally deep pictures. Each pic shows the horror and devastation.

[Sharon]

Horrendous images and year of publication is irrelevant in these incidents - it'll always look the same

[Lambiesinclair]

Originally Posted by Fr33dom ↗

Thank you for sharing this with us.
I guess for most of the Western people its not possible to see that. They are full of hatred and racism, while in fact no muslim made anything to them. Till today i dont get it, why western people are not praying and thanking for being not targeted here, while in fact their gouverment and armies are launching one war after another, and/or supporting terrorists.

fuck off

[Tibsim]

Only pussys use car bombs.