RE: Why Europe is so Contrary

From: Grant Callaghan (grantc4@hotmail.com)
Date: Tue 19 Nov 2002 - 01:42:10 GMT

  • Next message: Scott Chase: "RE: Why Europe is so Contrary"

    And let's not forget what Napoleon did for the world in the name of France. And what Hitler did for France in the name of Germany. Oh, there's lots of room for finger pointing and cries of imperialism to go around.

    Grant

    >>> Attacking Iraq on the back of 9/11 is a bit like the UK attacking
    >>>the US on the back of the Omagh bombing, although that would have more
    >>>legitimacy given the very overt fundraising for the IRA that has gone on
    >>>in
    >>>the US for decades. Of course one big difference is that one of these
    >>>situations involves attacking a nation with weapons of mass destruction
    >>>that
    >>>it has used against multiple nations in the past- guess which one I mean.
    >>>
    >>> Vincent
    >>>
    >>
    >>I often see people on the UKan side of the pond refer to the fact that a
    >>large number of people fled Ireland to come to the U.S. a couple of
    >>generations ago and their descendants now number among their population
    >>people who support the IRA. Ever since the early days of the immigration
    >>from Ireland we've had those who wear the 'green' as opposed to those who
    >>wear the 'orange' or another color on St. Patrick's day. The IRA
    >>supporters here in the U.S. are individuals responding to a history of
    >>trouble between England and Ireland. It is NOT a plot by the American
    >>government against Great Britain. To imply that it is and to equate
    >>personal feelings with national policy is disengenuous to say the least.
    >>We have just as many or more people in the U.S. who deplore the terrorism
    >>of the IRA as we have people who support them and feel that they serve a
    >>righteous cause. The government has not only tried to mediate between the
    >>two sides, from Presidents of the U.S. to a Senate Majority Leader named
    >>Mitchell, but we have jailed and sent back to England IRA members who came
    >>here seeking funds from supporters in this country or who fled jail in the
    >>U.K.
    >>
    >>As a man who is deploring sweeping generalizations, you seem to be falling
    >>into your own trap. Is that YOUR petard I see you dangling from?
    >>
    >>
    >Let's see...shall we pry into that dark dusty history box of the British
    >Empire (upon which the sun used to NEVER set, or so they say)?
    >
    >On the other side of the Troubles are the Reverend Ian Paisley and his
    >rhetoric and Loyalist terror groups like the UVF. There's the Orange Order
    >who can't give up marching the proud chest-thumping anti-Catholic history
    >captured by the victorious Battle of the Boyne. There's the carrot of Home
    >Rule and the stick of the Black and Tans. Have I missed anything since the
    >12th century invasion and eventual emergence of the Pale and what his
    >face...ummm...Oliver Cromwell? Will the Brits own up to their side of the
    >Troubles? Their previous adventures in Ireland laid the foundations. Talk
    >about blind spots. If the US has to contend with question of "why do they
    >hate us?" wrt al-Qaueda and jihadists, by the same token the Brits have
    >similar issues wrt the IRA.
    >
    >OK let's move to the middle east...do the Brits really want us to replay
    >that part of their empire's history? Support for al Saud. Sharing the WWI
    >spoils (aka spheres of influence) with France. Propping King Abdullah up in
    >Hashemite Jordan. Propping King Feisal up in Iraq (a Frankensteinian
    >creation Britain stitched together out of Kurdish, Sunni and Shia areas of
    >the former Ottoman Empire). British reaction to Qasim's threats against
    >Kuwait long before Husayn rose to power. Before I was born actually.
    >
    >Wasn't Egypt formerly under British control? What was the 1956 Suez
    >collusion all about? A last ditch attempt at asserting imperial hegemony by
    >Britain and France?
    >
    >The US has learned the craft of hegenomy well from the shining example of
    >its former colonial master.
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >_________________________________________________________________
    >MSN 8 helps eliminate e-mail viruses. Get 2 months FREE*.
    >http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus
    >
    >
    >===============================================================
    >This was distributed via the memetics list associated with the
    >Journal of Memetics - Evolutionary Models of Information Transmission
    >For information about the journal and the list (e.g. unsubscribing)
    >see: http://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/jom-emit

    _________________________________________________________________ Add photos to your e-mail with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/featuredemail

    =============================================================== This was distributed via the memetics list associated with the Journal of Memetics - Evolutionary Models of Information Transmission For information about the journal and the list (e.g. unsubscribing) see: http://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/jom-emit

    This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Tue 19 Nov 2002 - 01:45:08 GMT