Re: Predictable catastrophes of human stupidity

From: Karen Rand Smigrodzki (karen@smigrodzki.org)
Date: Thu Apr 10 2003 - 23:27:15 MDT

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    ----- Original Message -----
    From: "Eliezer S. Yudkowsky" <sentience@pobox.com>

    > And now, having earned goodwill, watch as the Bush administration blows it
    > all on a series of sheerly stupid and arrogant moves that turn every Iraqi
    > against us and permanently sours the whole Middle East on democracy and
    > America.

    ^^^^^^^^^Yes, I agree that this will happen, but I don't think it will all
    be Bush's fault. I haven't seen (and I wasn't on the list for several days,
    so possibly I missed it) anyone mention that the liberation in Iraq extends
    almost wholly to the *men* of Iraq and not it's women. My point is that
    Islam does not allow for real liberty or for real democracy. America has
    gotten itself, rightly or misguidedly, into a real quagmire. Getting out of
    Iraq and leaving it in a better socio-political climate than it was under
    Hussein is not going to be easy.

        I want also to point out that the Shiite cleric Khoei who was murdered
    by Iraqi's, and whom the USA backed (according to the news), was not a
    friend to the USA. The USA has a history of supporting and empowering new
    leadership (e.g. Qadhdhafi of Libya) over their predecessors and having
    these new leaders turn out to be very poor choices. I am afraid that the USA
    is going to make such a mistake again in Iraq. The USA support of Khoei is
    fueling my fears.
        I saw or read in the news a few days ago that Khoei supported the USA.
    That is just not true. Khoei, according to information from the same news
    sources, simply told his followers not to interfere. However, this is in
    keeping with very strict Muslim tradition. He would not support the USA by
    asking his followers to kill other Muslims; most especially not to fight on
    the side of the satanic USA. I believe, based on my many years of
    experience with the Muslim community, that if Khoei had been in power in
    place of Hussein, then we would find that he was as anywhere from as open
    and loving as Ayatollah Khamenei to as sweet and charitable as Bin Laden.

    -karen



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