[Pokey78]

[dennisw]

btttttttttttttttttt

[Mentat]

"All about oil"

Yes, that argument is heard here as well. I try to get through to people here by pointing out that if it were all about oil there is a very much safer and definitely a lot cheaper way to get access to all the oil you want for a long time - abandon Israel.

It would certainly not look nice to walk out on the only working democracy in the area but it sure as hell would give you access to all the oil you wanted.

Ergo: it is not all about oil.

[Dont Mention the War]

You can believe all this if you want, just as Harold Pinter believed that the Iron Curtain was only there to prevent fleeing Westerners from swamping Warsaw Pact social services.

From Haroldpinter.org:

Harold Pinter will be speaking at the Don't attack Iraq Lobby of Parliament INVITATION TO SPEAK on Tuesday 21st January 2003 from 7 - 9pm at The Grand Committee Room, Westminster Hall, House of Commons, London, SW1. Prominent people from all walks of life have been invited to speak to express the broad range of opposition to war that still exists amongst the British public.

Harold Pinter will be participating in a Cuba Solidarity Campaign event called the 'I love Cuba Cabaret' on Saturday 15th February 2003 at The Camden Centre, Kings Cross, London. Call 020 7263 6452 to book tickets

Plus ca change, plus c'est la même chose.

[aardvark1]

big PING

[upchuck]

Great article. Thanks for posting. Mark's analogies are spot on!

[facedown]

Thanks Pokey.

East German guards were not unduly overworked trying to keep people from getting in.

The elephant in the livingroom.

[GROOVY]

I am not saying this would be funny, but perhaps ironic. Lets suppose the "human shields" survive after a relative quick atttack on Iraq by the U.S and its allies. But then are killed, as the people of Iraq turn on them for prolonging their agony and supporting sadam. Something for the shields to think about.

[maica]

So many quotable lines! Hard to choose!

Let's hear it for reality!

[headsonpikes]

"fragile little pieties" of the academy bump.

Killer, as usual. ;^)

[rightwingreligiousfanatic]

But when I heard them chanting "Hell no, we won't go, we won't fight for Texaco!" the other day at the Minneapolis rally, I just thought that was so eloquent and persuasive I nearly joined them..... < /dripping sarcasm >

Steyn Rocks, as usual.... Thanks Pokey...

[angkor]

What's really behind anti-Americanism is the Euro notion that "America is controlled by the Jews."

Honestly, a German business associate said that to me in all seriousness last year, along with the "Bush is a cowboy" pablum.

A not-so-subtle combination of German, French, and Islamist anti-Semitism is what we're dealing with here.

[fporretto]

Another grand slam from the incomparable Mark Steyn, "the gold standard in political commentary" (Thomas Sowell). We are truly fortunate to have him. He outweighs all the spokesmen of the Left put together.

Freedom, Wealth, and Peace,
Francis W. Porretto
Visit the Palace Of Reason:
http://palaceofreason.com

[cyncooper]

How far are the "peace" crowd prepared to go? Well, they've stopped talking about their little pet cause of the Nineties, East Timor, ever since the guys who blew up that Bali nightclub and whoever's putting together those "Osama" audio tapes started listing support for East Timor's independence as one of the Islamist grievances against the West.

Bump

[Conservababe]

Please put me on your Steyn ping list?

[ShelleyAa]

Saddam thanks his supporters

Pro-Saddam supporters came out in force recently marching in denunciation of America and “Coalition of the Willing.” Observers of protest viewed a sea of anti-American signs and heard chants spoken against President Bush with insinuations that he not Saddam is the true Hitler.

In fervent herd mentality, his supporters swarmed cities through out the world in praise of keeping Saddam right where he is.

With the completion of the rallies, it must have been sweet music to their ears as they heard Saddam speak in praise of them, his “comrades in arms.” And to Hollywood, they must cherish Saddam’s gratefulness, where would he be without their strong voice?

What has Saddam done to garner such a following? What characteristic does he embody that many desire him to continue his work? I am sure his supporters wish they had the ability to bottle his genius, knowing then our world would be so much safer.

Demonstrations increasing, one is left to contemplate recent history, in search of the name of any ideological group that has both resources and zeal to organize such a worldwide outpouring of anti-American venom.

[Paul Ross]

[Southflanknorthpawsis]

Great article bump.

As one who is tearing my hair out after watching and actually encountering some peaceniks on Saturday, this is a wonderful uplifting read. Thanks for posting it, Pokey.

[Billthedrill]

The idea of the Universal Theory is very illustrative - I see it as a sort of leftwing, post-Marx amalgam of class theory and an overreliance on power relationships as descriptive of social structure. It's intellectual shorthand, easy to understand, pretty much predigested and when seasoned with a little good old-fashioned envy and hatred, very tasty to minds more attracted to certainty than truth.

The peace rallies of last Saturday are a good example of what the left has devolved into - internationally they were broadly anti-American, in the U.S. they were broadly anti-Bush. Iraq was almost irrelevant.

[Chemist_Geek]

The new Universal Theory, to which 99% of Saturday's speakers and placards enthusiastically subscribed, is that, whatever the problem, American imperialist cowboy aggression is to blame. In fact, it's not so different from the old Universal Theory, in that the international Zionist conspiracy is assumed to be behind the scenes controlling the cowboys: Bush is a "puppet of Jewry," just like Churchill was -- notwithstanding the fact that America's Jews voted overwhelmingly for Gore. But, if you believe that the first non-imperialist great power in modern history is the source of all the world's woes, then logic is irrelevant. "It's all about oil"? Yes, for the French, whose stake in Iraqi oil is far more of a determining factor than America's ever has been or will be. "America created Saddam"? No, not really, the French and Germans and Russians have sold him far more stuff, and Paris built him that reactor which would have made him a nuclear power by now, if the Israelis hadn't destroyed it in the Eighties.

Ping!