New York State of Mind

[Otto]

Robert:
> on 5/10/01 2:24 PM, Otto at o.sell at telda.net wrote:
>
> > Robert:
> >> (And in reply to Otto's point about Iraq, I suspect much the same
> > situation
> >> has prevailed under Saddam's rule there since those economic sanctions
> > were
> >> imposed, and I truly wonder how many of the 500,000 children who have
died
> >> were actually from the already persecuted minorities within his state:
> >> Kurds, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Mandaeans etc.)
> >>
> >
> > Rob, this may be the case but Mrs. Albright did not use this explanation
nor
> > did she question the numbers. She just said that it was worth the price.
>
> She has retracted the substance of those words on several occasions since
> 1996 I believe. I doubt that she or anyone else in the U.S. believes that
> innocent Iraqi children deserve to die. I doubt that she believed it even
as
> she was speaking those words: in fact, isn't it also true that on that
> interview the interviewer began to speak over the top of her before she
had
> even finished the sentence or had the chance to clarify her response?
>
> Whatever the case might be with Madeleine Albright, I certainly don't
> believe that 500,000 Iraqi children have deserved to die, and I'm not
> particularly happy about your insinuation that I do.
>
> > And
> > this is a question everybody who defends the sanctions "has the clear
> > obligation to answer".
>
> I'm not defending them -- you brought the topic up. But don't you think
> Saddam and his supporters need to shoulder at least some of the
> responsibility for what has been happening in the state he rules over? Do
> the UN sanctions forbid domestic or international aid agencies from
> providing humanitarian relief in Iraq?
>
> best
>

I have not at all intended to insinuate this and if I did my apologies for
it. Your assurance that you don't defend the sanctions is not needed because
everbody (there might be at least one person!) who believes that you or
David could really think this way as is indicated in the quote is deeply in
error imo.

The topic is: what are the causes for the 9/11-attacks. Of course the
worldwide terror-network solely is to blame, but it must be allowed to ask
to what extent the decisions (& careless words & errors) of our governments
have been helpful to install this, to give the fundamentalists their basis
in the Islamic World.

On Saddam I have said & I repeat that he's the main & foremost responsible
for the death of every Iraqui child, personally responsible for every death
that could have prevented if he had simply retreated and went into exile
after he'd lost "The Mother of the Battles".

May it be as it is with Mrs. Albright's words, it's Mr. Bush's and Mr.
Blair's turn now and as far as I can see they've done a good job up to now.
But as a reader of Mr. Pynchon's novels I've learned to watch politicians
critically and I don't believe everything "They" are telling us. Sometimes
it's hard to tell the truth from the propaganda, which goes of course for
all those ZNet & Alter.net-messages too.

I agree nearly totally to Michael Perez post that has just come in.

Otto