Comments on: Dear Mr. Friedman

By: Quizman

Quizman — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Interesting take on the subject. Salam Pax on the other hand seems to have relatives who are convinced that this is a sectarian war.

By: raven

raven — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Aside from the ethical despicableness of Tom Friedman, what do you really think the facts are?

There is not a split between Sunni and Shia here, we are all Iraqi

Doesn’t this seem like the sort of thing that “religious leaders” say after every sectarian attack in Pakistan? No sectarian strife here, it’s the Americans/Israelis/Indians. No Muslim would kill another etc.

By: AD

AD — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Friedman has been on tilt ever since Katrina. He’s repeatedly savaged Bush and the administration… and now he’s pulling this bizarre reversal on Iraq. He’s been disillusioned with religion and ideology since his experiences in the Middle East with extremists of all types… so he turned to the marketplace and globalization as solutions to the world’s ills. After the recent graphic demonstration of just how fallible his new God really is… he really started to unravel…

By: sepoy

sepoy — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

raven: I don’t know the facts; I only know that the truth can never be as simple and stupid as friedman wants us to believe. There is a war in Iraq - between jihadists, baathists and civilians - sect or tribe notwithstanding. Is that a CIVIL war? I am not positive. It can become one, that is for sure.
and yes, the platitudes are quite familiar to me but that doesn’t mean they can be dismissed as fabrications either.
AD: Friedman was ravelled once? Hard to believe. And the beating he took for his outsourcing column ["They outsourced my job to India and all I got was this lousy t-shirt"] but no one will say anything about this one……

By: Suhail Kazi

Suhail Kazi — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Matt Taibbi of NYPress, generally derided as lowly and downmarket, did a kick-ass hilarious review of his book, World is Flat. A must read! :
“[The walls had fallen down and the Windows had opened, making the world much flatter than it had ever been‚Äö√Ñ√Æbut the age of seamless global communication had not yet dawned - Friedman]

How the fuck do you open a window in a fallen wall? More to the point, why would you open a window in a fallen wall? Or did the walls somehow fall in such a way that they left the windows floating in place to be opened?

Four hundred and 73 pages of this, folks. Is there no God?”

:D
A must read. Any idea where is Taibbi these days after leaving the NYP?

By: Quizman

Quizman — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

By: Raphael

Raphael — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

I too was shocked by the violence and pessimism of Friedman‚Äö√Ñ√¥s essay, but in truth his opinions are hardly unprecedented. Charles Krauthammer argued much the same in the Guardian last year when he urged the US to ‚Äö√Ñ√∫unleash the fierce and well-trained Kurdish peshmerga militias‚Äö√Ñ√π on Iraq‚Äö√Ñ√¥s Sunni minority, adding that the goal of a ‚Äö√Ñ√∫united, pluralistic, democratic Iraq‚Äö√Ñ¬∂ may be, in the short run, a bridge too far… [We] should lower our ambitions and see Iraqi factionalization as a useful tool.‚Äö√Ñ√π This kind of talk is also familiar from the Western debate over Bosnia, where many advocated arming either the Bosnians or the Croats.

By: Ali

Ali — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

I never took this guy seriously, I don’t see why others do and should. His writting is spurious - the sort of stuff one expects a ninth or tenth grader to churn out.

By: sepoy

sepoy — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Suhail: Taibbi recently wrote in Rolling Stones; so perhaps he is doing that.

Raphael: Charles Krauthammer. HA!

Ali: I have received two types of responses to this post [or my similar posts before]: 1. Why do you Bother? We are powerless to change anything or 2. Why bother specifically about X? Obviously s/he is an idiot.

I bother precisely because I have no power to change anything. I do have the power to point a finger and scream bloody murder. So, I do that - it just makes me live in this world. As for your query: you might not take him seriously but millions do.

By: kuffir

kuffir — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

so what do you think is actually happening in iraq ? a short paragraph please without any reference to any other person’s views.

By: sepoy

sepoy — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

What is going on in Iraq? I have no clue. I am not in Iraq. All I know is some Arabic press and European press. No freaking clue. A civil war - sure looks like it. A sectarian war - perhaps. A struggle against imperial Americans - in some quarters. Anything good? - no. Constitution will pass. It will NOT be a document that binds Iraq - quite the contrary. America should leave right now - that is, announce the leaving and take 9-18 months to get out.

By: SloganMurugan

SloganMurugan — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

He starts of by saying, “Maybe the cynical europeans…”

However, he should stick to theorising about a flat bread… oops… flat world.

By: cayenne

cayenne — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Finally! someone who can point out friedman’s b.s. with some eloquence and a desi male no less. Sepoy, will you marry me?

By: sepoy

sepoy — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Ladies & Gentlemen: My first blog wedding proposal. I can retire now. Cayenne, meet you at the chapel hall, decked as Elvis [of course].