Dear List, As one American who has responded publicly to Arto's biased accusations against my country and my government I feel I must respond again to this recent bonhomie for Arto.
Regardless of how I feel about Arto's contributions egarding the actual topic and purpose of this list, the lute, I find his constant lambasting of America and Americans utterly uncalled for. He will always open such harangues with an apology. These are trite lies meant to lure us into a false sense of commaraderie with him in a failed attempt to garner sympathy for his uninformed opinions. He is not sorry, otherwise he wouldn't post such offensive off-topic material. I don't know why he feels it is necessary to bash America. He claims to have American friends, yet he goes out of his way to alienate and offend them. And on top of that he has never said a word about the atrocities performed by the previous regime of Saddam Hussein. Atrocities that took place constantly and over a much longer period of time than America has been in Iraq. Why is this? Surely if he is as imformed about the goings on in the world as he'd like us to believe then he must know all about the torture ! chambers of Abu Ghraib and the horrors that were committed there by Hussein and his sons and other Iraqi officials. Horrors to which the prisoner abuses by a few Americans (who are, regardless of what Arto would have us believe, are not representative of all Americans) pale in comparison. Why no mention of these? Has he forgotten what Hussein did to Kuwait (and the over 700 Kuwaitis who are still missing) that prompted the Gulf War under the administration of George Bush Sr.? Or maybe he's just interested in conspiracy theories. Maybe, like so many others (Michael Moore for example) he prefers to believe that America is the real enemy. That for all the cries of democracy America is really a fascist government cleverly disguised as a democracy just waiting to take over the world. Of course, that's why so many people emigrate to America from Europe, the Middle and Far East and various Central and South American countries. It's the Great American Lie. Like the old woman in the ! gingerbread house America dangles the sweet idea of Freedom o! nly to get more slaves to serve the needs of the Wealthy, Decadent Americans. Feh! I could go on ad nauseum, but as we all agree (even Arto), discussions of politics have no place on this list. I frankly don't care if Arto stays here and contributes to our overall knowledge of and appreciation for the lute, or if he wants to pretend to be the hurt little boy and take his ball and go home. But I will not sit by quietly while he or anyone else (regardless of nationality) spews hate mail about my country. Uninformed opinions that are nothing more than the mouthings of liberal conspiracy theorists will not go unchallenged. If that gauntlet is thrown, it will be picked up. I will tell you all this; there is more going on in the world than you will read on the Web and that it is very difficult for anyone not directly involved in these goings on to determine what is the truth and what is not. There are people out there (yes, many of them Americans) who will twist facts to further their own agenda or even out and out lie, making up so called facts. As for those wh! o are directly involved, they will not tell you everything, because to tell you is to tell the enemy, and one can not fight a war if the enemy is constantly aware of what you're doing. All that having been said, Arto, your contributions about the lute are welcome. Your political opinions are not. Choose which are more important to you and this list. Craig
