Re: OT: Saddam Hussein Arrested
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Don't misunderstand me. I know full well that after the fact Haliburton is making a killing off of the contracts for Iraqi construction. This is a bit disturbing to me as well, however, it's not unheard of for people in powerful postions to have powerful friends. But the fact that Haliburton is benefitting from the war does not by itself prove that the war was started to benefit Haliburton. That's the accusation being made by many in opposition to the war. But I have seen nothing that comes cloes to proving it. </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">This is another case of 'meme-folding'. There is ample evidence that the war was about control of oil in general, but this is such a large issue that it can be tangled up with legitimate issues of international politics -- which is how the war was in fact justified. So in order to make their point, to get the sound bite on the air, the opposition simplifies the issue and points out how one particular company is benefitting hugely from the situation and how that one company is linked to the administration. As the over-simplified usage continues, people forget that it's a simplification and it starts to become the meaning and reality of the argument instead of a sign of the larger issues behind it.

[ December 15, 2003, 19:04: Message edited by: Baron Munchausen ]

Re: OT: Saddam Hussein Arrested
 

Even if I don't agree with all this war, I'm glad there's one dictator less.
I still think it was possible to depose him without needing to destroy and rebuild the Iraq, but it's too late for worrying about that now.

Don't forget that although this dictator is gone, there are a lot more to go (and that even some of them hide behind a facade of democracy).

I just hope to see a fair trial and not a clumsy attempt to hide the truth, either if it's Iraqi or international justice.

I'm surprised he was caught alive. I always thought he was going to get conveniently killed while "resisting the arrest" or found he had already "committed suicide".
That's one point in favor of the US.

Re: OT: Saddam Hussein Arrested
 

man, this thing has got a bloody lot of Posts. i'm not even going to try to read it.

uh, nothing really to say here, carry on.

Re: OT: Saddam Hussein Arrested
 

That can't be Narf using such language. Must be an imposter.

Re: OT: Saddam Hussein Arrested
 

bloody? that just means 'a lot'.

well, it might be bad language to other people.

Re: OT: Saddam Hussein Arrested
 

Oh, dear. No offense Narf, but it likely means more than you thought. I'm confident some transatlantic anglophone will hope on and let you know where it come from and what it does mean. I didn't mean my comment as chastisement, just to let you know. There something to be said for vocabulary, even if it's not appropriate in church.

Re: OT: Saddam Hussein Arrested
 

Anyone heard from Roanon?

Re: OT: Saddam Hussein Arrested
 

Yes, 'bloody' is one of the older, milder British swear words, although it can be used politely when describing something that is covered in, or results in, a lot of blood or bloodshed (ie a bloody battle is not swearing, but a bloody mess might or might not be, depending on whether or not the mess in question is actually splashed with the red stuff.)

According to my Concise Oxford Dictionary, it stems from the "bloods", an old way of describing the aristocracy. To be "Bloody drunk" was to be as "drunk as a Blood" or "as a drunk as a lord".

</dictionary>

Re: OT: Saddam Hussein Arrested
 

sounds more like an exclamation than an explicitive, but there's not much point in using it if it's going to be misunderstood.

Re: OT: Saddam Hussein Arrested
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Not since his Last comments.