Friday, June 25, 2004

Posted here Friday, June 25, 2004 at 1:09:20 PM     Korean poeples' news (in english) where the news comes from everyone, not the press. for today's issue http://english.ohmynews.com/ and for background article http://english.ohmynews.com/ArticleView/article_view.asp?no=169396&;rel_no=1 ********

Posted here Friday, June 25, 2004 at 11:35:08 AM     It is going to be important to understand the place of culture in the unfolding of the US response to its difficulties and opportunities. From Infidels: the conflict between Christendom and Islam - 638-2002. By Andrew Wheatcroft  The battle at Lepanto (great sea battle,1571) would mark a defining moment in the struggle between Christendom and Islam: on the Christian side, war was fast becoming secularized. Where once the pope had decreed (ineffectually) that the crossbow was not to be used in conflicts between Christians, now no barriers were placed on any engine of war, however frightful.M The galleass (bulky ships carrying cannon) was remarkable not tor its technology, but for the ease with which it was created, adopted and immediately used in battle. In the Muslim ranks, by contrast, every innovation could become a matter for argument and even resistance. Honourable war was still fought with the weapons known to the Qur'an - swords, spears, lances, bows and arrows. The good Muslim soldier was the man who leaped into the breach or on to the deck of an enemy vessel without armour and only the strength of his arms to protect him. Guns and artillery were necessary, but carried no mark of courage. Perhaps for this reason few of the developments and innovations in gun technology emerged in the Islamic world.34 Implicit if unstated was the general belief that it was better to fight in might talk about traditions, caste and honour, but quietly discarded them in practice - occasions sucn as wnen otticers courteously invited their enemy to tire tirst became legendary precisely because they were so rare.35 In contrast, the armies of'Islam' might adopt new weapons but were increasingly hobbled by their ancient ethic. ********

Posted here Friday, June 25, 2004 at 9:18:29 AM     View revision..? Important from http://scoop.agonist.org today. The Coalition Provisional Authority has commissioned a poll which shows the majority of Iraqis back the government led by Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. The initial survey showed that 68 percent of Iraqis have confidence in their new leaders, with 73 percent who support Allawi, 84 percent who back President Ghazi Yawar and two-thirds who are in favor of the new Cabinet. Also, four out of five Iraqis believe the new government will improve the country's situation, while 10 percent anticipate the situation to remain the same and 7 percent expect a decline. Seventy percent of Iraqis support the new army, while 82 percent support the police. The poll, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points, drew from information from more than 1,000 personal interviews conducted between June 9-19 within the communities of Baghdad, Basra, Mosul, Diwaniyiah, Al Hillah and Baqubah.   ********

Posted here Friday, June 25, 2004 at 7:26:34 AM     Here it is,  so simple,  a la traditional Osama-type goals: a ramp up in the "eye-for-an-eye/war of civilizations" thing. The western tradition on the Greek side is based on the shift from revenge to justice (laid out culturally in the Orestia cycle of plays, which ends with Athena admonishing the Greeks to hold on to this shift). An eye for an eye justified continual defense of land and population through violence. The choice for the future is between those who can organize around compassion and justice vs those who will organize around absolutist belief  and violence. It is not yet clear which is biologically, socially and psychologically more likely to be successful. And someone once wrote, "history is a judge, but a bad one."   ********