The following is an archived copy of a message sent to a Discussion List run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
Views expressed in this archived message are those of the author, not of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
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[ Presenting plain-text part of multi-format email ] In a message dated 08/11/2002 4:21:46 AM Central Daylight Time, eric.herring@bristol.ac.uk writes: > In his book Endgame, he argued that Iraq had not been > disarmed and was so dangerous that the US should go to war against it > straight away. He also said in the book that if the US would not go to > war, it was imperative that it did a diplomatic deal so that Iraq would > give up its dread weapons. > I believe Scott Ritter is a life's lesson. He reminds us all of the danger of entrenching oneself in a particular position, or even more than that, of refusing to allow an individual to grow and reinterpret his/her world based on a new idea. He should remind us of ourselves. When I first learned of SR's varying statements I was INITIALLY disheartened, but only initially. Life is a series of revelations. If we were to compare our view of religion as an adult with that of our childhood, would it be the same, would it be recognizable? If we were to compare our views of political ideologies today with those we had ten, twenty, or thirty years ago, would they be the same? At one time I myself believed Communism=Evil, today I don't even believe in evil. SR was a young man doing a job in Iraq that he believed in absolutely. He was manipulated and molded both physically and mentally by the US Marines as well as the US government, two of the best brainwashing institutions in the world. He learned to wage war and to see it as both moral and the right thing to do, to protect....Democracy. He was taught that SH was EVIL, not nuanced, or complex, or god forbid human! "see spot run" SH is evil. (I don't like SH or agree with his position) I have been a different person than I am today. I worked in a corporate environment where the push to increase by millions was the single goal. In my heart I wanted to make peoples lives better, but ultimately I would cut off the head to make the next million in sales(period) Today I would not cross the street to increase sales, I care not for the dollar but for the person. What changed? Am I a crazy person, a loose canon, inconsistent???? Hopefully I am human, and as such constantly reinterpreting the world around me, adding data to enhance my understanding of what I see and experience. I no longer have qualms with SR. He is three, four years older (Endgame). He has distance from the hype and adrenaline filled life that he lived in Iraq, the fervor with which he pursued the WMD. He sees a more nuanced possible interpretation of Iraq. Quantitative v. Qualitative, or some such. He has, perhaps simply grown, simply perceives things in a less black/white way. Perhaps. Or perhaps I am full of poo and SR is just a nut. Of course you are all free to take this poorly written email and consider whether it has any value, or simply scrape it off the bottom of your proverbial shoe. Peacefully yours, Roger Stroope Peace is a Human Right Austin College _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk