From: joedees@bellsouth.net
Date: Sun 24 Nov 2002 - 19:12:54 GMT
>
> A very interesting article regarding the memetic struggle going on
> within the US administration.
>
> The article shows the long-standing nature of this struggle, and
> indeed it can be traced back even further in US history.
>
> I would disagree with only one of its premises: IN Desert Storm, the
> US (properly, IMO) announced that its goal was solely to expel Iraq
> from Kuwait. The add-on idea that Saddam Hussein should also be
> removed is an example of mission creep, and it was rejected by Bush
> Sr. But many have come to believe that it was a part of the mission,
> and that the war was therefore only half successful.
>
Actually, the position of many (including myself) is that, in retrospect,
considering the subsequent course of events, that regime change
SHOULD HAVE been part of the mission, as it would have saved the
world a basketload of incrasingly serious trouble in the intervening
years.
>
> There are several countries in the Middle East who would love us to
> attack Iraq and get rid of Saddam Hussein. One country urges us to do
> so because it would poison our relations with the Arab and Muslim
> worlds, though, of course, they do not say this openly. Another
> country urges us to do so because of their continuing fear of Saddam
> Hussein and a desire for vengeance.
>
If you named these countries, you would probably say that the first was
Israel and the second was Iran. But I do not agree with the first of these
rationales. Israel views Saddam's 25k bounty for the family of each
Palestinian suicide bomber as a massive facilitator of continuing terror,
and itas threats to fire Scuds tipped with chemical or biological
weapons into Jewish population centers as a genuine threat.
Iran, OTOH, has had its country gassed by Saddam, and having tasted
his terror personally, knows him for the viper he is (just as the Kurds
do), and thus both consider regime change in Iraq to be a vast
improvement over the status quo.
>
> It is important for the US to formulate its own thinking on what is on
> our best interests, free from the importuning of even friendly
> countries. The New York Times article sums up the internal debate
> pretty well, but is a bit short of explanation on _why_ the disparity
> of views and prevalent memes exists.
>
It was an interesting article. Thanks.
>
> Cheers,
> Lawry
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/24/international/24DIPL.html?pagewanted
> =2&tod aysheadlines
>
>
>
> ===============================================================
> 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 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
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