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.

[Main archive index/search] [List information] [Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq Homepage]


[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: [casi] New York Times covers up for lies on Iraq war



I shall be grateful if someone could re-send me the Bill Vann rebuttal.

mahmood mamdani


----- Original Message -----
From: <Aswed@aol.com>
To: <hc228@cam.ac.uk>; <casi-discuss@lists.casi.org.uk>
Sent: Saturday, June 07, 2003 1:44 AM
Subject: Re: [casi] New York Times covers up for lies on Iraq war



[ Presenting plain-text part of multi-format email ]

In a message dated 6/6/2003 7:25:24 AM Central Daylight Time,
hc228@cam.ac.uk
writes:

> In his latest column, Friedman writes, “The real reason for
> this war, which was never stated, was that after 9/11
> America needed to hit someone in the Arab-Muslim world.
> Afghanistan wasn’t enough.” Washington could have picked
> any Arab country, he argues. “Smashing Saudi Arabia or
> Syria would have been fine. But we hit Saddam for one simple
> reason: because we could

bill vann's rebuttal and analysis of friedman's column are insightful and
welcome. i thank him.
before 9/11 tom friedman, it seems to this observer, was the darling of many
arabs and american jews because he mildly criticized israeli policy,
primarily
the setlements. in that he was,  to the arab, an american jew  and a rare
journalist who seemed willing to criticize an 'untouchable' issue; and, to
the
american jew, a daring voice needed to express their silent disapproval of
israeli truculence. there was safety and a measure of expiation in that.
friedman
had a transforming epiphany after 9/11. he discovered evil and sin. his
angst
heightened. unfortunately, his mask was no longer opaque as bill vann shows.
friedman was quite transparent in personalizing his own desires about what
should be done after 9/11. the quote pasted above is in a tired style of
pretending to mask one's true desires by allusions to the will of a larger
group. it
does not work. i have read and heard him refer repeatedly to 9/11 as a
turning point in america's history that necessarily changes how the united
states
views its fair position in the world. he was personally frightened for his
and
other american children and expressed that quite emotionally in columns, in
lectures and on television. significantly. using the same venues, and within
the
same discussions, he has lashed out repeatedly about the 'inadequacies' of
arab and muslim culture, and about their shortsighted focus on perceived
injustices. he has borrowed a concept from bernard lewis that arabs and
muslims are
'jealous' of western culture, and are therefore angry, humiliated and
alienated.
 westernization is the best remedy. ergo the ensuing safety of his and other
american children. how arrogant and how insipid.
there seems to be little or no room for  complex ' patterns of culture'.

thanks again for posting vann's article

tony

_______________________________________________
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


_______________________________________________
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


[Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq Homepage]