My opinion
[quote=”Aleck”][quote=”A-DM”]his beliefs are based on religion, everything he does is governed by the belief that God has wished him too take such action, he rationlises his actions by what he believes God has asked of him, no diplomacy, politics or inspections is going to sway him in that belief, and If you really do think that diplomacy is the answer then I’m afraid you live in a fantasy world.
ADM[/quote]
[url=http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=615&e=19&u=/nm/20030404/pl_nm/iraq_bush_europe_dc_2]Bush’s Religious Basis for War[/url][/quote]
I want to clear up what is a misconception amongst some people (not sure where you heard it): Saddam is not really religious (although he calls on the religion now — jihad — so as to garner support from Arab peoples) — his party’s secularism is one reason why bin Laden hated it so much. He modelled himself after Stalin (even had similar purges after gaining power in a coup), and the Baath Party is secular (not religious), in fact it was originally founded on socialist principles.
As for similarities between the practises of the early NAZI party ( who were democratically elected as you know) and the Bush administration (which was…), think of as broad examples only (particularly since the horrible events of 9-11) increased miltarism, a decrease in civil liberties, nationalism, increased xenophobia, an international agenda that will bow to noone, and a strike first attitude.
BTW, “The National Security Strategy of the United States of America” (aka The Bush Doctrine), has me very scared indeed; as if the Monroe Doctrine wasn’t bad enough! 😯
Of course (to use an old idiom) one can draw similarities between apples and oranges if one desires — they’re both fruit for instance. But just because there are many differences doesn’t mean that there are no similarities — and I understood what he was getting at, and what he was not getting at. I think people need to be a little more generous with their replies, and try to think through what the other person is saying more (my humble opinion).
Just something that still bugs me…
BTW, ADM, you’re an old veteran of the war thread, why do you call people who organise war protests etc. cowards? Surely they are putting themselves at risk, just as protesters have been shot, arrested, interrogated, black listed, harassed, harangued, tortured etc. in many places on many occassions (including here using at least one of those examples), and can therefore not be called cowards. For me the coward is he who is too scared to speak out, or take any action despite his beliefs. How do you define “coward”?