The gem amongst the rubble

Found this link on google, while searching for something else entirely. The last post topic in fact.

"The crucial phenomenon in the society is that of honor. This is the supreme value, more important than life itself. Sharaf is a man’s honor of the man. It is dynamic and can rise or fall in line with the man’s activity and how he is perceived.
[...]
"The opposite pole of honor is shame. Researchers are not certain what is more important, the notion of honor or the fear of the shame that will be caused if honor is compromised. It is not honor, but shame that is the key issue. Public exposure is what harms a man’s honor and humiliates him. The Arab is constantly engaged in avoiding whatever causes shame, in word and deed, while striving vigorously to promote his honor. Beyond shame and preventing its occurrence, there is vengeance, which is also to be displayed to all."

This reminded me quite stunning of Japan's honor code. Not as a similarity, but as a basis for strategizing. We learned from Japan, through a military funded study about Japan's culture. The commissioned book, the Sword and the Chrysanthemum, was part of the study by the military on Japan and Japanese perspectives on the war. This is the same internal study that they just finished on OIF.

Is it possible that we will gain the same insights into Islamic culture as we did in Japanese culture, and thus in effect successfully be capable of using psychological attacks to defeat our enemies once again?

A goal worth pursuing, because if you keep reading, the Islamic culture is quite a lot more depraved than the Japanese culture was before we nuked them into defeat.