From: Adam Flinton 

Gene McAloon wrote:

> On Thu, 02 Sep 2004 15:37:07 +0200, Phil Payne
>  wrote:
>
>
>>John Beamish wrote:
>>
>>
>>>I think most Americans truly do not understand how -- for decades and,
>>>perhaps, centuries --  Iraqis and Muslims will view the US-led
invasion of
>>>Iraq.
>>
>>The Battle of the Boyne was in 1690 and still causes riots just about every
>>year in Northern Ireland.
>
>
> That happens only because the Prots feel so insecure in a overwhelmingly
> Catholic Ireland that they must remind themselves yearly that they did
> win a war in 1690 that gave them dominance over the local Catholics - a
> dominance they are in the process of losing.
>
> In the absence of the current situation, who would bother remembering
> the Battle of the Boyne? People remember only when remembering is
> somehow meaningful in today's context. For the Iraqis what possible
> context could there be that would cause them t remember the US invasion?
> In fact, there would be none. All the US did was replace one
> totalitarian group with another and that one didn't last long either.
> What's to remember?
>
> You attach great significance to the US in connection with the Iraq only
> because on the one hand you revel in the idea that it makes the US look
> bad and also because you are a pacifist to whom the killing in Iraq is a
> really big deal. In reality, it is a far bigger deal for you the
> pacifist than it is for the average Iraqi.
>

That I very much doubt.

Adam

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