Interesting Paradox - Palestinians and Iraqis

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by Proteus_MST
It was about Hamas and Saddam.

And the DDR could be compared to Saddams Regime, democratic insofar as there were free elections,
but in reality totalitarian, as the ruling party would do everything to make it look as if the election was a success.
(as well as, just like within the DDR, Saddam had its spies among the population)

Wouldn´t compare the situation in palestine to the situation in former Iraq and DDR, as just like other posters within the thread mentioned, it is different.

Agreed 100%

I thought you were defending Berz's point, that the figures during the last Palestinian elections should be seen with the same suspicion as those under Saddam.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by molly bloom
And torture chambers, secret police, mass gassing and ethnic cleansing and war against their Arab brothers.

Aaahh, the good old days.

Aside from the gas, how is it different from today?

[chequita guevara]

A 95% polling rate isn't a surprise when you're 100% of the candidates.

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara


Aside from the gas, how is it different from today?

And your point is ?

This is what you said che:

More and more people are looking back to the good old days of the Hussein regime, when they had electricity, jobs, weren't being slaughtered like flies,

I think I missed this 'Our Town' version of Iraq, when Mayor Saddam held huge Euphrates & Tigris side barbecues for everyone, and all Iraqis had a great ol' time at camp-fire singalongs on Persian Gulf beaches.

Those Iraqis, that is, who weren't:

Kurdish

Jewish

Communist

Marsh Arabs

Shi'ites

Sunnis

or knew too much about a small-town gangster who made it big through murder, thuggery, coups, changing sides when it suited him, and playing one ethnic or tribal or religious group off another.

Ah yes, nostalgia isn't what it used to be.

[MRT144]

molly bloom for mayor!

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by MRT144
molly bloom for mayor!

I would decline any civic office that would have me fill its vacancy, as I'm far too louche, farouche, decadent and disgusting to be relied upon to do anything other than embezzle public funds and spend them on tattooed loveboys who'd fan me with huge palm fronds and feed me rahat loukoum from the gilded hollows of their throats....


but thank you for the vote of confidence.

[Victor Galis]

Originally posted by molly bloom


And torture chambers, secret police, mass gassing and ethnic cleansing and war against their Arab brothers.


Aaahh, the good old days.

You'd be surprised how much better it is to have one guy that you're afraid of, and knowing that drawing the wrong kind of attention from his secret police will get you hurt, than it is to know that at any minute when you're walking down the street, some random guy could gun you down.

Trust me, organized authoritarian governments that don't kill people for the heck of it are infinitely better to live under than civil war. I speak from experience

[MRT144]

victor, no one whose grown up in abscence of either situation can begin to contemplate that especially when the last revolution in their country was over 200 years ago and last civil war 150 and fought by 2 state actors. its especially bizarre when the idea of the grossest repression of freedom is preventing you from buying beer between 2 am and 6 am, preventing you from smoking in a bar, etc etc.

tyranny by the majority vs. tyranny of anarchy vs. tyranny of one man. its a choice that some people unfortunately have to make or have made for them.

[Victor Galis]

Originally posted by MRT144
victor, no one whose grown up in abscence of either situation can begin to contemplate that especially when the last revolution in their country was over 200 years ago and last civil war 150 and fought by 2 state actors. its especially bizarre when the idea of the grossest repression of freedom is preventing you from buying beer between 2 am and 6 am, preventing you from smoking in a bar, etc etc.

tyranny by the majority vs. tyranny of anarchy vs. tyranny of one man. its a choice that some people unfortunately have to make or have made for them.

Comparing 6 years of communist rule that I was around for. Yes, I was only 6 when it ended, but I still remember being really, really happy if there was something special in the store like a banana; not having power 12 hours a day, etc. All infinitely better than the few days of revolution when people were afraid to go out for fear of being shot. Granted, it was long ago, but I'm pretty sure I still prefer a rough authoritarian regime to civil war (Though a brief, successful revolution is a small price to pay to get rid of a bad government).

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by Victor Galis


Trust me, organized authoritarian governments that don't kill people for the heck of it are infinitely better to live under than civil war. I speak from experience

But not from Kurdish or Marsh Arab experience.

Unfortunately if you were the wrong ethnicity or the wrong religion or had the wrong politics in Saddam's Iraq, or indeed, if you simply got on the wrong list (as did many in the 'anti-communist' coup) or just on the wrong side of Saddam or his sons or his cronies, then you could indeed be killed 'just for the heck of it.'

Or 'pour encourager les autres.'

Halabja, that all the other Kurds might learn :

[Victor Galis]

Originally posted by molly bloom


But not from Kurdish or Marsh Arab experience.

Unfortunately if you were the wrong ethnicity or the wrong religion or had the wrong politics in Saddam's Iraq, or indeed, if you simply got on the wrong list (as did many in the 'anti-communist' coup) or just on the wrong side of Saddam or his sons or his cronies, then you could indeed be killed 'just for the heck of it.'

Or 'pour encourager les autres.'

Halabja, that all the other Kurds might learn :

Yeah... but given my experience, I'd reasonably expect the Sunnis to want Saddam back right about now.

[General Ludd]

Originally posted by molly bloom


But not from Kurdish or Marsh Arab experience.

Unfortunately if you were the wrong ethnicity or the wrong religion or had the wrong politics in Saddam's Iraq, or indeed, if you simply got on the wrong list (as did many in the 'anti-communist' coup) or just on the wrong side of Saddam or his sons or his cronies, then you could indeed be killed 'just for the heck of it.'

Or 'pour encourager les autres.'

Halabja, that all the other Kurds might learn :

Now anyone, regardless of their ethnicity or beliefs, is killed just for the heck of it. Equality.

[Victor Galis]

Unpredictibility, lack of control, etc. can make a situation seem infinitely worse. Consider how many people feel safe in their own cars, but are afraid of plane crashes, even though statistically, they're much more likely to die in their own car.