>From: Michael Pugliese <debsian at pacbell.net>
>Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] Re: IAC/ANSWER hack to defend saddam?
>Date: Mon, 05 Jan 2004 15:11:17 -0800
>
> http://www.google.com/search?q=ramsey+clark+saddam+hussein
>
> From Bill Weinberg, NYC anarchist WW3 Report.
>http://www.ww3report.com/80.html
>>...25. AMERICAN "LEFT" HAS ITS IDIOTS TOO
>Former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark--now a leader of the anti-war
>movement--defended Saddam Hussein March 28, dismissing reports of his
>brutality as part of a US disinformation campaign. Asked about the death of
>an Iraqi dissident who was reportedly put in a glass cage and eaten alive
>by dogs while Saddam and other top leaders watched, Clark told WLIE-NY
>radio's Mike Siegel: "That's the most absurd story I've heard in a long
>time... Propaganda can be pretty vicious. If you believe that, you're a
>hopeless case."
I think far too much is being placed on the importance of Saddam the Evil Man. Saddam is one guy and did not make modern Iraqi history singlehandedly. Many people on this list consider themselves to be Marxists of one sort or another; can't we use a little historical materialism here? Saddam is the product of Iraqi society, not the other way around. I think it's pretty obvious why tribal societies marked by fractiousness and ethnic conflicts often produce brutal dictators.
BTW as far as I know most of "Saddam's" palaces were built before he was even born.
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