Ken:

Your post comes across to the "house dummy" here as a very practical, down-in-the-dirt understanding of some of the the culture differences existing over in the ME. It also clearly points out (in very practical terms) differences in cultural outlook.

It's a very thought provoking post, and raised all sorts of questions.

First, would many of these same "guidelines" also apply to the Persians (Iran)?

Second, if so, then you just provided the base outline for all our negotiations in any talks with Iran. I've often thought that maybe our best team of negotiators with the Iranian government shouldn't be from the DOS or the military, but should be a group made up of the best "Texas Holdem" players in the world. If the Iranians want to grandstand and play geopolitical poker, no prob. Sometimes you got to show 'em you can play the game, too.