From: Charles Hixson (charleshixsn@earthlink.net)
Date: Thu Apr 10 2003 - 11:40:43 MDT
MaxPlumm@aol.com wrote:
> Michael (Matus) wrote:
>
> "I am in absolute shock and awe that no one felt the events of
> yesterday were
> worthy of mention. Here the symbolic downfall of one of the worst
> murderous
> dictators in the world took place, and people held under his oppresion
> rejoiced and desicrated the stalinistic reminders of his murderous rule."
>
> "The events witnessed today were similiar in context to the destruction of
> the Nazi headquarters in Berlin in WWII, and the fall of the Berlin
> Wall in
> 89. People viewint those events witnessed the downfall of facism, and
> totalitarian communism, respectively. Yesterday we may have witnessed the
> tipping point to the downfall of non-democratic oppression, the
> downfall of
> the horrific statist imposed stagnation that has befallen the people
> of the
> middle east for so many years."
>
> "The people were exhibiting pure joy, why no recognition of this salient
> event in the history of the spreading of democracy and freedom throughout
> the world?"
>
> "Where is the joy at the spreading of freedom and democracy on this
> list, is
> freedom and democracy not extropian, or are members of this list not
> extropians?"
>
> Very well said, Michael. Those tremendous events and images are
> certainly worth the attention and comment of everyone on this list. I
> myself was reminded of the scene in Ethiopia on May 21, 1991, and the
> few days which followed it, where thousands of Ethiopians celebrated
> the fall of the Soviet backed Mengistu regime. Children were playing a
> top fallen statues of Lenin, and like in Iraq, many people dragged the
> statues triumphantly through the streets. For me, this is a scene that
> never gets old.
>
> They celebrate the fall of the Communist Derg as the national holiday
> of Ethiopia, one can easily imagine that April 9th will soon become a
> day of yearly celebration and remembrance for the Iraqi people.
>
> Regards,
>
> Max Plumm
Have you ever been present when new-folk were shooting, and then later
seen the results on TV? What they displayed probably happened, but it
was *highly* selected for ... usually it's for entertainment value, and
that's probable here, but it's also quite likely that they were
"advised" that certain shots were better than others. Some sources
claim that looters & celebrators & rioters (well it was riotous
behavior) all together only added up to a thousand or so. And I'd
certainly cheer. It means 1) a madman has been deposed and 2) they
aren't going to be bombing me any more. And 3) the water may be coming
back on soon. All three quite desireable.
The cost may have been quite high, but it could easily have been worse
(how many won't realize that?). Of course, the interesting question is
"what happens next". That will be the determining answer as to whether
or not there was any real reason to cheer. One can hope for less than
the worst (actually, one can hope for the best, but I think expecting it
would be unreasonable). I notice that the British have already
annointed some Sheik to "assemble an administrative organization". I
don't know anything else about him, or what his area of coverage is
intended to be, but he appears to come from an outlying area.
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