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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Dear Per and list > This situation is like something out of bad satire: the people of Iraq > is in urgent need of our attention, wholly at the mercy of the policies > of our politicians, who are not accountable to them in any way. This > list exists for the discussion of how we can address this situation, but > instead it's a place for the discussion of the size of Saddam's > moustache. Monty Python couldn't have come up with anything more absurd. Those who object to the poor quality of the list at present would be on stronger ground if they themselves would send mailings that identify important issues and reflect on them in an intelligent manner. We get (and I value) a large number of forwarded newspaper cuttings but hardly any actual original thinking. Per is certainly capable of this, as witness his letter to the BBC complaining about the way they represented the end of the Oil for Food programme. But even this was not sent to the list by him (it was sent by Daniel on Nov 25). Mike Lewis is also capable of it and so is Colin Rowat. Yet if I'm not mistaken the only substantial mailings any of them have sent since the invasion have been complaints about Tom. Which is a curious thing in itself when all of them are of the opinion that Tom's thoughts are not worth bothering with. I have recently mailed an argument in favour of supporting Grand Ayatollah Sistani's call for a rapid move to elections; and one pointing to our Prime Minister's claim that 400,000 bodies have already been discovered in mass graves (that IS what he said) as a travesty of what is known on this subject - a statement which shows much the same mentality as the irresponsible statements about weapons of mass destruction made prior to the war. I am also trying to enter into some sort of discussion with Muhammad and Yasser on whether or not a tribunal established by the IGC can have any credibility (Hassan Zeini has also mailed on this subject). And I have tried to get some sort of focus on the reality of Iraqi culture by drawing attention to the fact that there is among the Shi'ites a system of law with a respectable intellectual pedigree that is up and running and is probably the most important factor at the present time preventing an even greater slide into anarchy. None of these have so far attracted any interest though they seem to me to be important issues. The only thing I have mailed that has stimulated a reaction has been my remark in support of Tom on the subject of Saddam Hussein's moustache. The CASI analysis list has been established to try to get more high quality discussion through tighter monitoring, and there is a project for an improved website on similar lines. I have been trying to get some idea of the focus for these projects and of the topics that will be considered appropriate for them. So far I have failed but this might emerge over time once the people who have been refraining from posting to the rambling and anarchic discussion list start posting to the tighter analysis list. At any rate I suppose that the size of Saddam Hussein's moustache will not be considered an appropriate subject, but since we are still on the rambling, anarchic list, I might remark that the point under consideration is bushiness. The degree of bushiness is not revealed in the full frontal photos given by the BBC; it is revealed in the three quarter views given by Tom. This does not constitute evidence as to whether or not the photos are of Saddam himself or of a lookalike. My own speculation, if there's anything in it (and it may well be a trick of the light. But it doesn't look like one) is that whether it was Saddam or a lookalike they wanted it to look like Saddam and so probably touched up the photograph when they saw that the moustache did not look right. However interpreted the whole disgusting spectacle is a gross violation of the terms of the Geneva convention (the one our leaders evoked when they complained about Al Jazeera photos of dead US and British soldiers) and a monstrous way of treating a captive head of state (I seem to remember in one of my news mailings commenting on the regret George Bush must feel that he is no longer living in an age where he could use the captive emperor as a footstool for mounting his horse. I have also been put in mind of William Blake's great painting of the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar). For myself I think that getting some sort of coherent understanding of what Saddam Hussein is/was is a matter of the first importance and I would like to set about it (and would welcome help from those who detest him. The best polemicist against Saddam Hussein I have seen over the past few weeks has been Jo Wilding). But right at this moment I have the feeling that sending anything to this list is sending it into the void. Yours Peter _______________________________________________ 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