From: David Buchanan (DBuchanan@ClassicalRadio.org)
Date: Sun Jun 13 2004 - 23:37:48 BST
David R said to Adam:
You're right that opinion polling has it's faults and that in Iraq it has
special dangers to do with fear and the nascent acculturation to free speech
and democracy (although to judge by their newspapers they are certainly
getting the hang of it). So there's a margin of error. Which in this case
may be large. But how large? 10%, 20%, even 30%, OK, maybe. But a *60%*
margin of error?
dmb chimes in:
I don't think that the margin of error is really the issue here. It could
simply be that 60% of Iraqis find it hard to imagine how things could get
any worse. After the war with Iran, the whole world in Kuwait and ten years
of sanctions and no fly zones over two thirds of the country, the place
became a living hell. The enviroment is so poisoned that new mothers were
more often asked if their baby is normal, meaning free of birth defects with
all ten fingers and toes, than they were asked about gender or names. Will
things be better in five years? Its hard to imagine how it could be any
worse.
David R said:
...a proportion of nationalist arabs and anti-war westerners *cannot
beleive*
that these people wanted their country invaded? Well, *newsflash*: they did.
They had good reason. Saddam was worse. You have no idea how much worse.
dmb says:
This is hard to believe. I mean, look at the same situation in different
terms. Let me put my feet in their shoes for a moment. Imagine that I'm
almost entirely opposed to George Bush and feel that almost anyone else
would be better. As luck would have it, this happens to be true so this
hypothetical has some realistic components. Anyway, do you imagine that my
oppostition to Bush goes so far that I would welcome a foreign army to come
and rescue us all? If the suggestion strikes you as ridiculous, then I have
made my point. Hating Saddam does not mean loving foriegn invaders,
especially if those invaders had a hand in creating the tyranny and misery
from which they wish to escape.
Thanks,
dmb
MOQ.ORG - http://www.moq.org
Mail Archives:
Aug '98 - Oct '02 - http://alt.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/
Nov '02 Onward - http://www.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/summary.html
MD Queries - horse@darkstar.uk.net
To unsubscribe from moq_discuss follow the instructions at:
http://www.moq.org/md/subscribe.html
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Mon Jun 14 2004 - 00:02:45 BST