and there was much rejoicing..

[mechromancer]

The news that Saddam was caught spread quickly, and it certainly cheered everyone up. We'll see what the effect of it is.

I had started to write something about why people shouldn't listen to the news, but I have actually found myself busy lately. And not busy swatting flies, in fact, the flies are getting a bit thick. I'll eventually post

Comments

Pangloss predicts...

[anonymous]

Or this could happen. Iraqis now can embrace a new freedom from tyranny and help rebuild the country. New ideas are exchanged, commerce and technology thrive, and other arab countries rush to join in the new paradigm. Women can throw off the burqa if they wish (or not), people make political decisions by voting rather than shooting or submitting, the kid from Bayonne NJ manning the m234 goes home to his wife, kid, and custom bike shop, and we move on.
Probably somewhere in between, huh?
I have absolutely no idea about what the Iraqi cculture is really like. I read your observations and realize that you are closer to it than any of us offering feedback on this blog, and perhaps better able to evaluate and judge. Even so, who knows or dares to presume to know what is best for the Iraqis? Unless we truly wish to undertake nationbuilding (and risk neofascist neocolonialism), we'd best leave it up to them even if it means risking chaos for the present.
Oh btw, did they say whether there were any wmd's stuffed down in that hole with ol' Saddam?

peter

Re: Pangloss predicts...

[mechromancer]

I'll stand by my statement that just about any way you measure it, the arab world is about 100 years behind us. You can look at that statement two ways, and it can seem either concieted or considerate. On one hand, I'm calling them somewhat primative. On the other, I'm saying that we're not fundamentally different, and I think that is true.

You can't deny some metrics, like sanitation, stability, and individual liberties. They're measurable quantities, basically your odds of getting sick, your odds of today's gov'ment being the same as tommorows, and your odds of being dragged out of your house in the middle of the night never to be seen again. Oh, and it's substantially worse if you have boobs.

But remember that Iraq's literacy rate is comparable to ours at turn of the last century, and we didn't even manage that whole woman's sufferage thing until what, 1920? I believe the brutality is something that will begin to fade. I'd like to see them learn that it's possible to have severe disagreements with someone, without having to shoot them.

Then again, I'd like to see the same lessons applied to some Americans, because we've got our own share of monkeys.