12/10/01
The Driving Forces in Iraq
“No leader of any country, no matter how cruel, inhumane or stupid he might be, would purposely deny his own people the necessities of life,” wrote Al Taylor in an October 23 letter to the editor of The Providence Journal.
Upon digging up the edition of that paper with “Saddam Wouldn’t Be That Bad to His People” for this column, I was surprised to discover that it had the same author as an email that I recently received attacking my essay, “Who Are These People?” I say “surprised,” not “shocked.” But maligning Mr. Taylor is not my intention. He has just provided such a concise — albeit extreme — example of a way of thinking that I quote him directly to avoid accusations that I am creatively rebuffing arguments that nobody is making.
This essay has been published in Just Thinking: Volume I, 10/29/01 –10/21/02 and is available in Confidence Place: The Timshel Arts Store.
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11/26/01 Thanksgiving Therapy (History)
11/19/01 Making a Better Victim: How a National ID Will Help (Liberties)
11/12/01 Behind on the Bills and Facing Delays (Economics)
11/05/01 Devil in the Details (Religion)
10/29/01 Who Are These People? (Society) The Providence Journal, November 2001