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Politics : Stop the War! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: rrufff who wrote (15693)	4/24/2003 10:04:30 AM
From: zonder	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 21614

I agree with you. My comments were not about you. I find it hard to find anything worth life in nazi sympathizers. Do you? I cannot see anything commendable in any racist thought/behaviour, including but certainly not restricted to Nazism. Oriana Fallaci, for example, is not far from the anti-Muslim equivalent of a Nazi. There are examples on SI that have shocked me with their complete lack of respect for human life, unless the said life belongs to a Christian American. can't judge the Koran. I am sure that, like the New Testament and the Old Testament, there are good and bad sections, as well as good and bad commentaries, by teachers, students, oral, written and some combination thereof. I have read the Quran, as well as the Testaments, not that I ever had a single religious thought, but because it was necessary to be able to quote from those Holy Books when confronted on religious issues. Life in the Middle East can teach you myriad ways of survival :-) the images on TV, even yesterday, of Shia muslims slicing themselves with sabers to bring blood from their heads and faces Yes. They are commemmorating the pain suffered by Hussein, one of the sons of Ali, a revered figure and also the son-in-law (I think) of Mohammed. He was lured into Karbala and then left to face 4,000 people with his sword in one hand and Quran in the other. Sort of like he way Jews commemmorate their ancestors' stories by acting them out, such as Hanukkah & Pesah. Although a bit more bloody, of course :-) It's an image that scares most Americans, particularly if there is a well-prepared sign behind them saying, "Death to USA." Of course most Americans are scared, because they have been lied to and/or misled into thinking that once Saddam was taken out, Iraq would be this island of peace and democracy in the Middle East, with Iraqis singing gratitude to Americans, forgetting all about their religion which was kept under pressure for so long by the secular dictatorship of Saddam. I don't want to say, "I told you so", but most people around here may remember my saying that US did not understand the dynamics of Iraq, and that their scenarios were too optimistic. I am not happy to see that some of my expectations are beginning to come true. Bush administration's thinking was along these lines: Iraqis are suffering under Saddam and they will love us AND democracy because we will be the "liberators". They will elect democratic, secular leaders and will live happily ever after. No doubt you see what is wrong with this Polyanna best-case scenario - it has nothing to do with the realities of the region. Now, Americans will have to answer some very important questions regarding their invasion of Iraq, such as, whether or not they are prepared to forcefully take down a democratically elected Islamist leadership.