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 friends, many years ago i read t.e. lawrence's 'seven pillars of wisdom'. in dedication, he included a poem, "to s.a.", that was free flowing in structure and quite tender in emotion. sometime later i read a rather critical review by the poet robert graves in which he reconstructed that poem into one that was penned by a poet laureate. i was angered not so much by the "tightness" of construction that graves ably achieved but by the loss of the spirit and emotion that , i thought ,were stripped from the poem. graves, indeed, wrote a better poem, but alas it sounded as an ode to an undertaker, no pun intended. i sense that colin's treatment of al-taher's article were those of a very good editor, concerned with absolute truths that can be related with emotionless rigor, but would allow the emotions to develop after the telling. i doubt that his intent was to inhibit the stark emotions that such facts should elicit. that such editing would cause a bitter response is understandable because a good editor by definition imposes some rigid constraints on both the writer and the interested reader who, as in this case , is privy to the editing process. because this discussion is taking place within a group it should be welcomed without ascribing certain motives to the discussants. i sense a definite loss when we begin to discuss the exact number of deaths of children or the precise number of calories in an adult iraqi intake. there is a certain acceptance of terror in doing so, and a betrayal of an effort to better the sanctions rather than end them. these are extraordinarily frustrating times for any sane person--considering palestine, iraq, somalia etc--and that frustration has darkened all our arguments and tested our logic. al-tahir was perhaps correctly emotional in painting his portrait of injustice . his was a personal expression as was lawrence's poem. it should remain his. my regards to all, tony -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This is a discussion list run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq For removal from list, email soc-casi-discuss-request@lists.cam.ac.uk CASI's website - www.casi.org.uk - includes an archive of all postings.