Saddam - The Sacrificial Lion

masadi, you talk like an anarchist (#63).

masadi,

..... this morning when i went to starbucks i was glad glad that my latte tasted the same even though the man-boy who made it had excercized his freedom to get a few more body piercings over the holidays ........... and i was also pleasently surprised when i discovered that people were still driving on the right side of the road, stopping at red lights and that nobody was peeing on the sidewalk ...............and tonight when i go home the mail will be in the mailbox, the electricity will be on as usual and the water pressure in my tap will be the same old standard 60 psi ................. i love these rules and regulations and get really upset if it drops below 45 psi when i am taking a shower ...........

...... i know that for those like you, who prefer to live in caves and have not heard of indoor plumbing, these things don`t really matter as long as you and your donkey are free to pee in the middle of the road ..............

#59 by nasah on January 2, 2007 11:57am PT


In reality, Cheney would have shot Calderon in the face and Calderon would have apologized for the anguish the shooting caused Cheney...

The grace and dignity with which Saddam embraced death has clearly left american and british officials at unease. When he stood on the gallows and cooly responded to his tormentors, he seemed like a giant in comparison to Bush who ran from one shelter to another on 9/11 and who took 7 defferments to actively dodge draft when his nation needed him during Vietnam.

Regardless of the merits of his alleged ruthlessness, even the shias of today`s Iraq long for the days when they did not face death squads, kidnappings and 20 hours per day without electricity. His ba`ath party was more inclusive than the puppet regime of today`s iraq. There were Kurds, Christians, and Shias in the upper ecelons of baath`s leadership. Yes, he was ruthless towards those who tried to fragment the country - but then, as author points out, Abraham Lincoln killed millions of fellow americans too to ``preserve the union`` of america.

Sadly, many more thousands of Iraqis will die violent deaths in the coming years. Its middle and intellectual class will continue to disappear. And an entire country will be laid to ruins and fragmented - no longer a threat to the racist Israel.

Re: # 66

Are you talking about the same guy who was hiding in a rat hole while his nation was under attack?

This was to be expected.On the occassion of Eid-ul-Azha, Muslims offer a sacrifice to Allah.
Munafiqs do too.Except it is not to Allah.Iraqi govt being a case in point.It offered its sacrifice to the Mushriks;the tyrannies of US and UK.
And if the Iraqi govt is under the impression that it has appeased its gods,let it think again.Its only a matter of time and then it`ll be their turn.

so masadi nothing will please you. pakis have dictators which are welcomed by the awam with gende ka har and dancing in the street but they are not representatives. nancy wins elections but she is not representative either. what do you want, a god-appointed calipha?

anyways as far i can see amricans are in no confusion as to their involvement in the iraq war and do not deny it and are paying thru their collective noses for it. they accept responsibilty in full. therein lies a chance...for ummah its on to somalia.

soysause writes <<< This is supposed to be the freeest nation in the history of the universe >>>

Free? The moment you step outside after you wake up in the morning, you are surrounded by all kinds of laws and rules from the time of birth to death, everyting is standardized and concentrated in a few hands and that is freedom? Never has that word been so abused as it is as American propaganda. The people in America are among the unfree-est people on the face of the earth not only in this subtle fashion but also explicitly, this nation imprisons more people per capita than any country on the face of the earth...

jang writes <<< they have elections on this issue >>>

Saddam also had ``elections `` as does every Pakistani dictator, elections mean nothing, they are a facade, how are campaigns carried out, who determines whom to cover and the issues to be debated and most of all who has the wealth to take part in all of this are the real tell tale. And urstruly, the media`s effects on the public, especially when this concentrated is no soviet conspiracy invention, many studies have been conducted on it, it is part of the organization of power in the US.

On pakistani culpability, remember Najibullah?

I must say this is a well-argued article altho i disagree with the central thesis of it - saddam is no saladdin altho he fancied himself to be such.
#44 kaurasach & #26 subashjoshi have made, imo, some profound points. Saddam was propped up by the CIA (not europeans) and supported in his war against iran by the US & the saudis. The europeans, who have mastered the art of fishing in troubled waters, unlike the americans whose foreign policy tends to be coarse, mean, moralizing, and militaristic, sold armaments to both iraq and iran and kept the war going as long as possible. They recognized the golden goose once they saw it. As for CIA`s role in Saddam`s ascent to power and his subsequent actions, Prof. Juan Cole, has the whole sordid history on his website (Juancole.com).
Saddam, the brave, was ready to sacrifice others when he himself surrendered to the occupation army without firing a shot. He may have redeemed himself somewhat by showing definance in his death but if you are going to hold up anything as symbolic of arabic attitude, the moment of his surrender was it.

On the parallel discussion on the culpability of americans in the destruction of iraq, the american public as a whole is indisputably culpable. This is supposed to be the freeest nation in the history of the universe which makes its populace completely responsible to whatever happens in its name. Have they lived up to that responsibility? Absolutely not. A foreign venture every few decades where they end up destroying another nation (vietnam, nicaragua, haiti, afghanistan, iraq) shows that american public sees nothing wrong in invading other nations periodically and grind them into dust.
Same goes for iraqis, pakistanis, or indians altho perhaps to a lesser extent.

the former puppet of the United states has been hanged by the current puppets of the United States -- tomorrow the current puppet Maliki will be hanged by another puppet of the United States -- so what else is new in the puppet lands of the United States....

......so where is the fucking `milestone` in this routine funny business?

the funniest ``milestone`` would have been if the Mexico invaded the United States -- caught Mr. Cheney from his hell hole in the white house -- examined his bloody canines on camera for cavities -- and had him sentenced by Justice Thomas in Alcatraz -- for crimes against humanity in Irak -- and then handed him over to Madame Pelosi -- to `hang till death` -- under the new international law for mass killers -- for `a mother of all milestones` in the anals of the United States history.

#57
The one expected response......

HP #56, {``A while ago Princeton philosopher Harry Frankfurt wrote a tiny little book called ``On Bullshit`` ...His analysis, in part, is that the bullshitter and the liar are not the same: the bullshitter is much worse.... such a way that it is advantageous to him/her and/or to some ``cause`` they are promoting. ``}

HP,
All this wisdom coming from a recently discontinued laser printer!

This post is for one special person...we all know know that person is:

A while ago Princeton philosopher Harry Frankfurt wrote a tiny little book called ``On Bullshit``

His analysis, in part, is that the bullshitter and the liar are not the same: the bullshitter is much worse. Have not read the little tome for a while so forgive me if I do not do justice to Frankfurt`s analysis. It seems that a bullshitter is in fact indifferent to truth and falsity. His/her aim is not to communicate information (which by definition is veridical). His/her aim is to mold people`s personal belief systems in such a way that it is advantageous to him/her and/or to some ``cause`` they are promoting.

A liar merely wants to deceive some person or persons to believe a falsehood. The bullshitter simply mixes lying and truth as different flavors in his/her narrative. The bullshitter is indifferent to the primordial function of language: to convey truth.

Can you guess who the bullshitter is here?

#42 i dont think amricans refuse their responsibility..they are in it with their (and your) tax-dollars and life and limb of their children. they have elections on this issue (a sign of taking responsibility) and that is why they are likely to ``learn`` from this. the question is how will the ummah larn, if they dont take the first step of acceptance?