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Patience, Chris! I know you want the US to fail but be patient! (NT)
-- William, 16:21:41 05/06/03 Tue
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Governing Iraq
Middle Class Rule
Aristotle defines democracy as rule by the middle class,
the middle class being those who possess the goods of fortune in moderation.
There have been a lot of other definitions of democracy, but that one endures:
it has been a characteristic of every working democracy that lasted long enough to make the history books.
The implications are worth examining.
First, note that nothing has been said about religion, birth, military ability,
family connections, or anything else but property.
The ruling class is defined by an economic condition:
and that condition is the possession of property, not excessive amounts of property but not zero either.
Marx said that history would end only when the proletariat -- those who had no property --
became rulers and everything was held in common or owned by the state.
He made no distinction between those conditions.
The end result of Marxism has been rule by the nomenklatura, Djilas's "New Class",
everywhere it has been tried, and there is no reason to suppose it won't work that way every time.
When the state is the sole employer, dissent means starvation,
and power comes only from climbing the political ladder.
Most states that have tried democracy by enfranchising the proletariat
have ended with "one man, one vote, once,"
after which a strong man takes charge and ends the electoral process.
We then have rule by one party, such as the Baath,
or maybe rule by the bogeymen as they demonstrated in Haiti.
Incidentally, it may not be true that Haiti was as well off under Papa Doc,
Baby Doc, and the Tonton Macout as it is under the US-imposed thugs,
but I haven't seen any evidence contradicting that proposition.
Our nation-building experiments in this hemisphere don't augur well for what's going to happen in the Middle East.
The task, then, is to empower middle class in Iraq. Can this be done?
Well, on the plus side, Iraq has a middle class.
There are people there who own property, and many are well educated.
Most are literate. They're not all proletarians and thugs.
On the other hand, Iraq has never had a democracy,
and the middle class in Iraq has never had any power.
Ever.
Empowering people who have never had any experience of governing is a
tricky proposition at best.
Can You Afford To Lose?
The central question in a democracy is, can you afford to lose the election?
If you try and fail, is loss total?
Will you be jailed, your property confiscated, your family jailed or killed?
If the consequences of
loss are enormous, then you don't let the ballot box
be the final decision. Nor should you.
The first thing we must do is assure the losers they can afford to lose, and that we will be there to protect them.
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Hey, Fisk, and all you other Arab and European anti-American liars, instigators, excuse makers, and placaters, wake up! Stop covering for the thugs. The US is not to blame for Iraqis and other Arab idiots! Blame them for their own lack of self control and for their rabid behavior. In the mean time, kiss my ass you idiots! (NT)
-- William, 19:43:02 04/20/03 Sun
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BLOOMBERG
Wednesday, Apr 02, 2003,Page 12
Al-Jazeera Satellite Channel, criticized by US officials for its war coverage, is a favorite with rivals worldwide. The Arab-language network pays most of its expenses with fees it collects from other channels that use its news footage.
Executives at News Corp's Fox News Channel, Viacom Inc's CBS and General Electric Co's NBC said their companies pay al-Jazeera for the right to use whatever footage they choose, from exclusive video of Baghdad to captured US soldiers. The US-based broadcasters declined to say how much they pay.
The fees are enough to keep al-Jazeera, started in 1996 by Qatar's emir with a US$150 million investment, from having to ask its benefactor for more money, according to Al-Jazeera's marketing chief, Jihad Ali Ballout.
The agreements with US networks are "a beautiful thing," Ballout said in an interview. "It not only generates money, but it puts us in bed with reputable partners."
read the rest of the articlehere
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Thanks for the entertaining piece! (NT)
-- William, 13:02:34 02/27/03 Thu
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BBC's own man blasts
his bosses over 'bias'
By TREVOR KAVANAGH
Political Editor
THE BBC was last night sensationally condemned for one-sided war coverage
by its own front line defence correspondent.
Paul Adams attacks the Beeb for misreporting the Allied advance
in a blistering memo leaked to The Sun.
And he warned the BBCs credibility is at risk for suggesting British troops
are paying a high price for small victories.
On Monday, he wrote from US Central Command in Qatar:
I was gobsmacked to hear, in a set of headlines today,
that the coalition was suffering significant casualties.
This is simply NOT TRUE. Nor is it true to say as the same intro stated
that coalition forces are fighting guerrillas.
It may be guerrilla warfare, but they are not guerrillas.
Adams memo was fired off to TV news head Roger Mosey,
Radio news boss Stephen Mitchell and other Beeb chiefs.
It adds stunning weight to allegations that BBC coverage
on all its networks is biased against the war.
In one blast, he storms:
Who dreamed up the line that the coalition are achieving small victories at a very high price?
The truth is exactly the opposite.
The gains are huge and the costs still relatively low.
This is real warfare, however one-sided, and losses are to be expected.
The BBC has come under attack for describing the loss of two soldiers as
the worst possible news for the armed forces.
One listener asked:
How would the BBC have reported the Battle of the Somme
in World War I when 25,000 men died on the first day?
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