DC Mongolian Community pushes for Genghis Kahn statue

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by Oerdin
Khan was a total barbarian mass murder. He should be held in the same disregard as Hitler.

Just... wow.

[Sikander]

Originally posted by OzzyKP




But yea, the wave of Mongolian apoligists prompted by that damn book is amazing. Everyone who has read that book seems to think Genghis Khan was some great humanitarian.

Sure he may have supported religious tolerance, he killed you regardless of your religion. What a great guy...

He was a cruel man, but fair.

[Drake Tungsten]

Hitler

[snoopy369]

Originally posted by Dr Strangelove
IIRC Khan once sent a pair of ambassadors to Baghdad, requesting its surrender. The rulers answered Khan by beheading the ambassadors. Khan's army exterminated the entire city, but the sultan had already escaped. Khan ordered his army to find the missing sultsn, prompting his army to overrun mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, Arabia and Egypt. Failing in the quest the army turned north to Anatolia then invaded Russia. They never found the Sultan, but they devastated the entire middle east and eastern europe, all to find one man. Millions died. It is said that in his wake one-third of the population of China, the Middle East and Eastern Europe had perished. What a swell guy.

Perhaps they could put his statue in Arlington Cemetary. Don't they have shrines to MacArthur, Patton and some other famous generals there? Think of the message it would send to the world, particularily to the Middle East.

That is entirely false. Your timeline is horribly off - Genghis Khan was not alive when most of the above countries were sacked.

Anyhow, I don't think I'd consider myself an 'apologist'. I don't think Khan was a "good" man. Absolutely not.

However, *nobody* was a 'good' man at the time. Genghis Khan did nothing that others of his time didn't do, or wouldn't have done. He *was* a positive influence on both the eastern world and the western world, and did actually provide an environment for significant development of the world for centuries to come.

Further, one of his primary goals in his military campaign was to spread the belief that his horde was horrible and cruel. This worked pretty well, given it continues to work to the present day... One has to wonder to what degree his atrocities were exaggerated.

Judging people by the standards of the modern day, as opposed to those of their period, is a mistake. Genghis played the hand he was dealt, conquered most of the known world, and was as humane as most of his era. Caesar? Alexander "The Great"? Did they do much better? No, they didn't. They also murdered and slaughtered indiscriminately. It's what was done back then. It's why we call them "barbarians". It's why we feel, rightly, that we have progressed since then.

[snoopy369]

Originally posted by OzzyKP




But yea, the wave of Mongolian apoligists prompted by that damn book is amazing. Everyone who has read that book seems to think Genghis Khan was some great humanitarian.

Sure he may have supported religious tolerance, he killed you regardless of your religion. What a great guy...

1. So wait. You're saying that the group of people who have more knowledge than you on this subject all agree that he is not as bad as you're suggesting. Hmmm, interesting.

2. No, he actually did support religious freedom in his empire. Yes, his empire. He actually had a political territory he controlled, and he permitted all religions to be practiced in it, and was strongly against anyone who said otherwise.

Object all you want to someone else's opinion, but if you want yours to be respected, do a little research first instead of just going with the fifth grade version of facts.

[Sir Og]

Iron Maiden's Ghengis Khan

[atawa]

Originally posted by Sir Og
Iron Maiden's Ghengis Khan

Statue for Maiden

[Fake Boris]

Originally posted by Oerdin
Khan was a total barbarian mass murder. He should be held in the same disregard as Hitler.

And so are nearly all admired leaders from the past.

[Wycoff]

Originally posted by Sn00py
Hitler did great things too, but he was still an *******.

Khan was an ******* too. Are we going to wait 800 years and raise a statue for Hitler for the things he contributed to science? And are we going to post comments on forums with the name Hitler and a thumbsup icon next to it? I hope not.

Possibly. You never know what will happen in 800 years time. Various dictators have already erected Hitler statues (Idi Amin did it).

[DanS]

Originally posted by snoopy369
Genghis played the hand he was dealt, conquered most of the known world, and was as humane as most of his era. Caesar? Alexander "The Great"? Did they do much better? No, they didn't. They also murdered and slaughtered indiscriminately. It's what was done back then. It's why we call them "barbarians". It's why we feel, rightly, that we have progressed since then.

How many cities are named after Genghis Kahn?

[Lul Thyme]

Originally posted by Dr Strangelove
IIRC Khan once sent a pair of ambassadors to Baghdad, requesting its surrender. The rulers answered Khan by beheading the ambassadors. Khan's army exterminated the entire city, but the sultan had already escaped. Khan ordered his army to find the missing sultsn, prompting his army to overrun mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, Arabia and Egypt. Failing in the quest the army turned north to Anatolia then invaded Russia. They never found the Sultan, but they devastated the entire middle east and eastern europe, all to find one man. Millions died. It is said that in his wake one-third of the population of China, the Middle East and Eastern Europe had perished. What a swell guy.

Wow.
That's not even close to believable, and contradicts big parts of history.
But it's a good story so must be true.

[DanS]

Different Khan. Genghis's grandson, Hulagu. Don't know the authenticity of the complete story, but Baghdad was indeed sacked and much of the populace massacred.

[snoopy369]

Um, two different sons conquered Baghdad and Russia, so that part is certainly untrue.

I'd wonder about the city thing. Whether any cities where named after his children or even himself. Certainly some cities were founded (or brought out of meaninglessness) by himself and his children, such as Beijing. I think perhaps the Mongols just didn't believe in naming things after themselves... as even in Mongolia their capital retained its old name (Samarqand) during their rule.

[Barnabas]

Merv and many other persian cities were also destroyed, millions died, and the people who watched it said that the destruction was soo severe that it would take persia more than a millenium to recover.

[axi]

Let's provide some inspiration

An existing statue of Genghis Khan, in China:

http://www.travelchinaguide.com/images/photogallery/0015000/baotou%2010014980t.jpg