Erik Reuter wrote:
Well that may be what he meant, but this is what he said:On Tue, Feb 18, 2003 at 06:29:24PM -0800, Deborah Harrell wrote:Gautam Mukunda wrote:Incidentally, the profound racism of the opponents of the war - people who basically claim that Arabs don't want to be free, deserve to live under the rule of someone like Saddam, and that a single American/British life isn't worth freeing millions of Arabs - is something thatI'm curious about the accusation of racism and bigotry. If 'not fighting to free Iraqis' is racist, then what is ignoring the torture and killings going on in Sudan and Zimbabwe? Is there justification for calling intervention in the Balkans but not Rwanda a racist policy?Okay, the phrasing was a little vague, but why do you interpret it in such an extreme way? He did not say "not fighting to free Iraqis is racist". I read it as, and I am nearly certain he meant, 'those who oppose war because they claim that Arabs don't want to be free are racist'. Doesn't that make more sense?
<< Whether they are or are not, unfortunately, will have
no effect on European public opinion, for two major
reasons:
1. The people protesting the war don't give a damn
about Iraqi civilians - they're just a prop to attack
the US with >>
and
<<Incidentally, the profound racism of the opponents of
the war - people who basically claim that Arabs don't
want to be free, deserve to live under the rule of
someone like Saddam, and that a single
American/British life isn't worth freeing millions of
Arabs - is something that I haven't seen explored
nearly enough. Those of us in favor of freedom should
not be afraid to name freedom's enemies as the bigots
that they actually are.>>
He doesn't acknowledge any where that there could be any other reason for protesting the war. I agree with you that most of his missive was well thought out, but if he means what you said he means then this part of it was very poorly written, seemingly labeling any and all protesters as bigots and racists and coming off as rather xenophobic.
Doug
_______________________________________________
http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
