> Aside from that Saddam Hussein is "secular," "pitiless," and
> "ruthless," "created and backed by the West," you don't learn anything
> about the Ba'ath Party in particular or Iraq in general from the above
> sound bites by Ali and Chomsky. That's the nature of sound bites, you
> see.
>
> Take a look at _The Clash of Fundamentalisms_ among other things, if
> you haven't already.
You didn't like people using the term "monster" because it keeps people from conducting proper analysis of politics. Now, Doug has just provided examples of both Tariq Ali and Noam Chomsky using that very same word. Unless you're prepared to claim that neither Chomsky nor Ali is sufficiently analytical about politics, it seems to me that you ought to back down from your position.