[lit-ideas] Re: Text of bin Laden Tape
- From: "Andy Amago" <aamago@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 21 Jan 2006 11:58:24 -0500
Interpretations are interesting but they don't address the issue that we're
burying ourselves in debt in exchange for the opportunity to prove, again, that
we're not invincible. The Soviet Union did what we're doing. Do you remember
that Robert MacNamara was against invading Iraq? Why do you think he was
against it? It's good to know history, but it's also good to learn from it.
As is typical for the human race, we've learned nothing except an interesting,
albeit completely useless, bunch of facts.
----- Original Message -----
From: Lawrence Helm
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: 1/21/2006 11:35:08 AM
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Text of bin Laden Tape
Irene, you can?t really get enough detail off the internet on such a subject as
this one. An excellent treatment of the subject and the one I had in mind
during my comments was A Peace to End all Peace, the Fall of the Ottoman Empire
and the Creation of the Modern Middle East, by David Fromkin, 635 pages. This
is an excellent treatment of the subject and rivals Margaret Macmillan?s Paris,
1919. I think you will find that Wilson did his own negotiation which was a
mistake from one standpoint because the clever Lloyd George and Georges
Clemenceau were able to pull the wool over his eyes in some areas. But he
insisted upon an end to colonialism and only agreed to British and French
oversight for limited periods as an alternative to political and social chaos.
Wilson was hailed by virtually everyone at the time as a world savior. He was
unselfish, taking no colonial booty and suffering the continued presence in the
Middle East of the British and French insofar as it was pro
mised to be temporary. He didn?t accomplish everything he wanted, but he
seriously curtailed the ambitions of the French and the British. He trusted
too much in his own understanding and should have had expert help.
Unfortunately it wasn?t available to America in those days.
As to modern Arabs twisting this and claiming Wilsonian malevolence, I refer
you to The Hidden Hand, Middle East fears of Conspiracy by Daniel Pipes.
Lawrence
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