3/4 Umberto Eco on the US, France, and Iraq:
http://csua.org/u/a2c
(from http://Haaretz.com)
\_ I like that. "We should let evil assert itself fully
before we do anything about it." Apparently nobody
informed the UN that an ounce of prevention is worth
a pound of cure.
\_ you're an idiot.
\_ I admire your intellectual prowess and quick wit!
You've completely won me over to your point of view
with a clever sense of the moment intertwined with
a rich philosophy of the state of mankind.
\_ How 'bout this. The sentiment expressed above is
exactly what Mr. Eco is talking about. And if you
weren't blinded (deafened?) by sabre rattling, you
might be able to see that. A first-strike aggression
is not "an ounce of prevention." --scotsman
\_ First strike is prevention. Waiting them to
strike is like waiting for Hilter to invade
Poland before taking him out.
\_ Just because Umberto Eco wrote it, it's true?
Besides, he was saying that it is prevention,
he was just saying that prevention is not
necessarily prudent. And his main point had
nothing to do with that anyways. -mlee
\_ Mike, you're talking over yourself. (pronoun trouble)
What comments are you disputing? --scotsman
\_ The first line was a rhetorical question so "it"
clearly refers to anything that Eco may write.
The "it" in the second line refers to
first-strike aggression. Eco was writing more to
the effect of how improper emotional responses
can be--especially in these times--regardless of
whether they are emotional pro-war or anti-war
sentiments, much like the sentiment you wrote
in response to the op. -mlee
\_ I was actually referring to the plethora of
"he"'s, but I see what you're getting at.
Mine was less of an emotional response than
the "op"'s [sic]. His is a fear based response.
I believe calling for measured response based
on a multilateral platform is far less
emotional than saying "bomb them before they
bomb us" --scotsman
\_ True. op was emotional. But we should
bomb them--so that our bombs don't rust.
-mlee
\_ why isn't this 'intellectual' protesting the invasion of Ivory
Coast by France?
Coast by France? And he states 'as the Western democracies
eventually managed to eliminate the Soviet dictatorship
without launching atomic weapons.' Sorry Eco, you are
wrong- it was overwhelmingly the UNITED STATES, with the
help of Koreans, Vietnamese, etc. that defeated the Soviets.
The US taxpayer payed for it and the US soldier died for it.
France tried to play the Soviets against the US, all the
while secure under the US nuclear umbrella. All of Europe
treaded towards massive socialist behemoths, all subsidized
by Uncle Sam. Exactly how are France and Germany able to conduct
billions of dollars of business in Iraq with 17 UN sanctions
in place. Sorry, this article is trash.
\_ You should learn history before spouting. Korea? Vietnam?
Chinese supplied. They're still around. How many left-wing
terrorists were there in the US during the Cold War? Europe
took the brunt of that. And the US has companies that have
bypassed the sanctions too. See Dick Cheney? He partnered up
with Haliburton and helped Iraq out. There are 6000 pages of
the report given by Iraq about who supplied them with their
suspected WoMD. US, France, Germany, Britain, and Russia have
had the UN censor them out so the companies listed aren't
exposed. Viva Capitalism! Viva Free Market!
\_ Umm yea, a country who finished one civil war,
and in which 10-20 million died in the Cultural Revolution,
provided the material support for the Cold War - please.
My point was both the Koreans and the Vietnamese suffered
large casualties. The same can not be said of any European
country. France turned tail and ran after Bien Dien Phu.
I did not deny US businesses have operated in Iraq - however
this activity is not a full-scale blatant ignoring
UN sanctions as is for Germany and France.
this activity is not a full-scale, government sanctioned
flagrant disregard for the UN sanctions in place,
as is for Germany and France.
The point is thugs need to be removed once they exhaust
their usefulness. Also, I'd be very interested in
what 'brunt' Europe endured - it would be very
enlightining.
\_ So it was the Soviets that fought in Korea and Vietnam?
And those 30+ million who died in the Soviet Union during
WWII made them helpless? And if the US didn't give the
okay to ship stuff from US to Iraq who did? During the
Cold War, Europe endured ongoing assasinations, terrorist
bombings and actual invasion threats by the USSR.
\_ Regardless of who footed the bill, "the Western Democracies
eventually managed to eliminate the Soviet dictatorship
without launching atomic weapons." His argument stands.
\_ I find your cavalier attitude about 100,000 + dead
US troops and several trillion US taxpayer dollars
pathetic. |
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