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Post 0

Saturday, January 1 - 4:23pm

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Jonathan,

This really is a stunning document. Thank you for posting it here!!

MH

Post 1

Sunday, January 2 - 7:31am

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Many thanks Matt. I genuinely appreciate your praise. I only wish I'd received more feedback...

Post 2

Sunday, January 2 - 12:35pm

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Jonathan - don't be disheartened. It's probably the wrong time of year to be posting a multi-part, heavily footnoted epic. (And you know SOLOists - their minds are on sex all the time.) I myself made a mental note to print the whole thing out when it's complete & have a good quiet read when the opportunity avails itself. In the quick perusal I've done for typos before posting (quick in your case because there usually aren't any - bravo! :-)) it's been evident that this would definitely merit undivided attention & leisurely study at an opportune time.

Linz

Post 3

Sunday, January 2 - 5:35pm

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Jonathan, you raise a good point. It's amazing how the major media sources virtually never make mention of the fact that the United States essentially told Saddam that he could have Kuwait in exchange for his efforts against Iran. I myself first learned of this in the George Friedman book, America's Secret War which I just finished reading. Your additional sources on the matter were informative.

America's foreign policy in the Middle East has almost always been characterized by alliances of convenience and backroom deals made with nothing in mind but temporary expedience. "Your enemy's enemy is your friend" is typically an underlying principle of such dealings. For as critical as I am of our current project in Iraq, I can at least acknowledge that it is certainly a bold new approach to handling the middle east. Rather than simply making alliances with the thug most suitable to doing business, the US is instead actually sending in troops and attempting a forced democratic transformation of an entire country. Whether in the long run this strategy will actuallly work is another story.

Post 4

Monday, January 3 - 7:23am

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Linz, I look forward to your feedback.

Regarding sex, I recently read an excellent 2004 round-up article in Salon by Rebecca Traister: http://archive.salon.com/mwt/feature/2004/12/17/malfunction/

> America's foreign policy in the Middle East has almost always been characterized by alliances of convenience and backroom deals made with nothing in mind but temporary expedience.

I totally agree, especially because the typical result is blowback. (Nonetheless, Charles Krauthammer offers the counterarguments in �Dictatorships and Double Standards,� Time, September 23, 2002).

(Edited by Jonathan Rick on 1/03, 7:25am)

(Edited by Jonathan Rick on 1/03, 7:26am)

(Edited by Jonathan Rick on 1/03, 7:26am)

Post 5

Monday, January 3 - 7:23am

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Linz, I look forward to your feedback.

Regarding sex, check out Salon's 2004 round-up: http://archive.salon.com/mwt/feature/2004/12/17/malfunction/

> America's foreign policy in the Middle East has almost always been characterized by alliances of convenience and backroom deals made with nothing in mind but temporary expedience.

I totally agree, especially because blowback invariably results. (Nonetheless, Charles Krauthammer offers the counterarguments in �Dictatorships and Double Standards,� Time, September 23, 2002).