From: Gene McAloon 

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.

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