Possible "Poet's Eye" prompt?

[Zlatko Waterman]

Dear LR:


Here's an interesting article with an interesting slant on the situation in Iraq:


(link)

http://www.iht.com/articles/538630.html



--Z

[mnaz]

You know, when I read through a link like that, I'm reminded of the
"power of information"..... the power to confuse, that is.

So Saddam's government was humanitarian to the extent of handing out free food each year to the people to keep them from starving? I thought Saddam was a thieving monster who not only continually brutalized his people, but stole nearly everything from them as well. So Saddam fed his people to keep them from starving in the face of US-led sanctions. How does that make the US look?

And how in the world is this massive $4-billion-a-year food program
still humming along without missing a beat (as the article implies), feeding friend and foe alike with remarkable efficiency, despite all of the instability in that war-ravaged country? It all just seems peculiar.

And then, right below this article is a link to a completely different
"slant" on the issue, the Untold story... link; one of those accounts of the conflict which briefly makes me ponder if I'm on the right side of the issue..... references to thousands of rebuilt schools and medical facilities, favorable Iraqi testimonials, and a reference to a newly discovered mass grave, courtesy of Saddam.
Of course, with the word "freedom" plastered all over this link, I'm immediately suspicious of its content. (these are "advertised links",
which probably only run for a short time).

Ahh, god bless the internet, and the "power of information".

[abcrystcats]

Mnaz, I didn't see the link you were talking about, but I read the article.

The part I find humorous about all this is how deep we've gotten ourselves into it! Free food today, free money tomorrow. Money MAYBE -- if the Iraqi government can trust that the men of the household won't take it to purchase new wives! And all these helpless people absolutely dependent upon us and asking for more and more every day.-- Talk about a proper karmic punishment for our invasion of Iraq ...!

When we watched the bombing of Baghdad on TV, the place looked so very prosperous -- fancy SUVs and Mercedes passing on the streets, big beautiful buildings, shops, factories. What happened to all that stuff? Apparently we crippled them so severely that now every single person in Iraq requires free food from us in order to survive, and they complain about the quality of it and lack of chicken and beef! Obviously they were used to a much better lifestyle before we got our fingers in their pie.

I just feel like giggling. We're stuck now, and it all seems so very appropriate, doesn't it?