[Krsqk]

I wouldn't disagree that both Saddam and his supporters were angling for good positions from which to stab each other in the back if necessary. I wouldn't necessarily link Saddam and bin Laden, by the way; but I would link Saddam and terrorism in general. There is also a definite trans-national link between Saddam and fundamentalist Islam--that's why we're encountering these fighters from other countries. There are several Groups in whose best interests it was to defeat the US and their coalition; they contributed whatever they could/would to achieve that goal.

Rex, that may be stereotyping; but stereotypes of Middle-Eastern Arab culture tend to hit a lot nearer the mark than stereotypes of other cultures, due mostly to the homogenizing effect of Islam. In fact, there are a lot more similarities among Eastern cultures as a whole than Westerners readily accept. We are conditioned to pick out differences in ourselves and others, and tend to project our blended culture onto others. In reality, differences in Middle-Eastern Arabs exist more in spite of their culture than as a part of it.

Taking the discussion in another direction--stereotypes are not evil. They are even helpful. Stereotypes exist precisely because there are factors which are generally shared by a large segment of a given population. Stereotypes deal with large Groups of people, and are useful in those situations. The statement "Iraqis are cheering the fall of Saddam's dictatorship" is not made false because some Iraqis support him, any more than the stereotype "The accent of Americans living in the midwestern regions of the US is easily understood" is false because some living in the Midwest may have an Irish brogue or a Southern drawl. Of course there are exceptions to generalizations, but that doesn't make the generalizations any less true.

I think many people have mixed up prejudice and stereotype. Prejudice applies a stereotype to every individual in that group, without accepting the possibility for the existence of exceptions. For example, "Southerners are stupid hicks" would be prejudicial, while "Education in the southeastern United States is lower than in the Midwest" is stereotype. No one is saying that all Arabs are US-hating, Saddam-loving, dictatorship-embracing scumbags--any more than anyone is saying that everyone who supports this war is a disingenuous, deceitful, greedy warmonger who wants a US empire in the Middle East. Most people who use statements involving "Everyone" or "All you" can be written off pretty quickly as either exaggerating or prejudiced.

[ April 11, 2003, 04:04: Message edited by: Krsqk ]