RE: META: Dishonest debate (was "cluster bombs")

From: Michael Wiik (mwiik@messagenet.com)
Date: Sun Jun 15 2003 - 13:36:32 MDT

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    Lee Corbin writes:

    > Doesn't it bother you at all that you would consider the
    > Baathist murderers to be analogous to the U.S.'s original
    > revolutionaries and founders?

    While far from identical, they would share a number of facets. As in, if
    I was designing a database to track down these people, I might include
    insurrectionist tactics from many different cultures and times. I would
    never compare the U.S.'s original revolutionaries and founders to
    sadistic Baathist murderers, just that both groups might make use of the
    same stratagems and such have attributes in common.

    > Those like Saddam Hussein
    > ---criminals against humanity of the first degree--- need
    > to be hunted down after they lose wars!

    Yeah it's a lot easier than hunting them down after they win wars.

    Considering all the bombing the US has done, it's no wonder muslims hate
    us and become terrorists. So why not just rename 'civilians' to
    'potential terrorists'? That way we can say that US troops killed x
    thousand Iraqi troops and x thousand potential terrorists. No civilians
    were killed at all! Like that poster kid w/o the arms: he could've used
    those later in life to throw a grenade at US troops! (he might have
    reasons, like the US killing his family.)

    > Exactly the same thing was done to the Nazi organization
    > after WWII, and ought always to be done. Because if it is
    > not done, a ruthless minority of fanatics will once again
    > assume power, and the atrocities will go on and on and on.
    > It's how history works, unfortunately.

    Yes, but analogous to overuse of antibiotics, the overuse of force has
    only created super-resistant terrorists. (Cf. the 'TV Funhouse' cartoon
    (on Sat Night Live) where Hussein and UBL can shapeshift into innocuous
    typical desert objects when US troops approach). And isn't it ironic how
    we've accomplished two of UBL's goals: leave saudi arabia and bring down
    the secular Hussein regime.

    I recall some opinion piece in WaPo where the writer suggested that
    Microsoft, Sun, and Oracle launch a 'Digital Marshall Plan'. He
    suggested Sun supply the servers while MS supply desktops. Oh yeah I can
    see that happening. In any case a digitized Iraq, full of educated young
    men resentful at the occupation but too intelligent to face overwhelming
    US firepower, could probably turn out some hellacious encryption and
    anti-echelon software. Gee, wonder if there would be a market for that?

            -Mike

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