Dan Minette wrote:
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Andrew Paul" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: "Killer Bs Discussion" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Sent: Tuesday, April 06, 2004 11:25 AM
> Subject: RE: Winning the War on Terror
>
> > From: Dan Minette [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >
> > snip
> >
> > >What mild questioning? Your arguement that its hard to tell whether the
> > >people in Iraq are better off than under Hussein indicates that either
> > >Hussein wasn't such a bad fellow after all or the US is engaged in
> torture,
> > >wholesale murder, institutionalized rape, etc., or that these things are
> > >not primary criteria. Since Gautam has shown that, materially, most
> folks
> > >are better off, what remains to decide on?
> >
> > Firstly, I just cant subscribe to the view that I have to give wholesale
> support
> > to the US actions or wear a "I Love Saddam" badge. Cant I be upset why
> whats happening
> > in Iraq? Cant I ask questions without bing a traitor?
>
> But, that's not what either Gautam or I have been saying. If you can quote
> where I have said that, then I will apologize, because that would have been
> unreasonable of me.
>
> > I thought that was waht democracy was about.
> > Secondly, please remind me in which post Gautum "has shown" that people
> are better off
> > in Iraq. Look, I dont deny that they may well be so. There is enough
> nasty shit on my TV each night
> > that I feel justified in asking the question. How do we show that they
> are "better off"?
>
> I think that illustrates the real point. If 50,000,000 people are killed
> by the government off camera, then its a meaningless statistic. If one is
> rolled over by a tank on CNN, its a tragedy that shows the moral depravity
> of the government.
>
> These two examples, BTW, have nothing directly to do with Iraq. It has to
> do with the world response to the actions of the Chinese government.
> Roughly 50 million people died in the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural
> Revolution. Few died at Tienemin Square (sp). Yet, the latter
> reverbarates in world consciousness, and the former is pretty well
> forgotten. Thus, whether one sees bad things on TV is not a good means of
> judging the actions of various governments.
>
> My arguement is that there is tremendous evidence for Hussein's actions
> being horrendous; not just bad horrendous. Do you differ?
>
> That is a key point for me that you don't answer. You are free to answer
> or not. But, if there is dialog, then it is worthwhile for each of us to
> lay out our assumptions so we can see where we agree and disagree. My
> assumption is not that you are favoring slaughter, but that you don't want
> to deal with the
>
The what? Could you complete the thought? Thanks.
Julia
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