Of Palestinians rejoicing

[Phil Wise]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Paul Mackin" <paul.mackin at verizon.net>
To: <pynchon-l at waste.org>
Sent: Saturday, September 29, 2001 8:29 AM
Subject: Re: Of Palestinians rejoicing


> I'd love to see bin Laden turned into a martyr and the sooner the better.
> However the thing I appreciated most about Mark's post was that he
bothered
> to point out how much  misleading caca appears on the Internet. The
greatest
> source of disinformation the world has ever known. But that's OK, it's a
> free country as they say. Since Mark asked for our opinions, mine on using
> nuggets gleaned from cyberspace as sources for points we are trying to
make
> would be--don't do it unless the material also appears somewhere in print
> preferably in something someone actually are willing to pay to read..
Well,
> that's going too far of course but some people, it seems to me,  have been
> far too undisciminating. Oh hell continue on as you were. A little
> disinformation is good for keeping your defenses up.

Well, since Otto posted the date of the 60 minutes broadcast, it would be
quite possible to go back and find the context of the remark, provided you
can find the episode.  May 12, 1996.  I presume that recording is in the
public domain somewhere...

There's lots of malarki on the internet, and tons of truth.  Was the quote
Otto posted, with a citation, malarki?  Was the material Calbert quoted,
apparently from an official website, the entire truth?  Probably no to both
questions - both are spinning, but both will have nuggets of truth in there
somewhere.  Is Saddam Hussain an inhuman monster who is responsible for the
suffering of his population?  Undoubtedly.  Did the US/UN commit war crimes
in the region, which are continuing?  Seems likely.  Does any of it
"justify" murdering yet more civilians, in New York, Washington,
Afghanistan, or elsewhere?  Bloody hell no.  Do the US have the right to
find and deal to the perpitrators of this terrible crime?  Bloody hell yes.
Should they expand this to eliminating existing terrorist organisations in
the world?  If they do it well, they'll be doing the world, including the
middle east, a big favour.  Should they emply any method to do so?  No,
because that'd be repeating the mistakes of the past.  Should they own up to
the unsavoury aspects of that past and determine to act more responsibly in
the future?  Absolutely.  To actually achieve this could make Bush a great
president.  Should Chomsky and Fisk and co balance their analysis with a
recognition of the complexity of the picture (e.g. that the States has also
offered generously an enormous amount to the world, that some of the
policies in the middle east, at least, were driven by impossible choices in
utterly polarised situations)?  Yes.  Is there some truth to what they say,
however?  It would seem so.  What should be done?  Damned if I know.

phil


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