File spoon-archives/heidegger.archive/heidegger_2003/heidegger.0307, message 62


From: "Anthony Crifasi" <crifasi-AT-hotmail.com>
Subject: RE: blood for oil: jack up the child credit
Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 16:57:07 +0000


Rene de Bakker wrote:

>Guardian:
>The US deputy defence secretary, Paul Wolfowitz - who has already
>undermined Tony Blair's position over weapons of mass destruction
>(WMD) by describing them as a "bureaucratic" excuse for war -
>has now gone further by claiming the real motive was that Iraq is
>"swimming" in oil.
>
>The latest comments were made by Mr Wolfowitz in an address to delegates
>at an Asian security summit in Singapore at the weekend, and reported
>today by German newspapers Der Tagesspiegel and Die Welt.
>
>Asked why a nuclear power such as North Korea was being treated differently
>from Iraq, where hardly any weapons of mass destruction had been found,
>the deputy defence minister said: "Let's look at it simply. The most 
>important
>difference between North Korea and Iraq is that economically, we just had 
>no
>choice in Iraq. The country swims on a sea of oil."

And now you have misportrayed Wolfowitz a SECOND TIME, Rene, by not 
investigating the FULL quotation, just as you did with his earlier comments 
concerning the "beaurocratic" reasons for war in your post last month. This 
is the FULL quotation of what he said:

"Look, the primarily difference -- to put it a little too simply -- between 
North Korea and Iraq is that we had virtually no economic options with Iraq 
because the country floats on a sea of oil. In the case of North Korea, the 
country is teetering on the edge of economic collapse and that I believe is 
a major point of leverage whereas the military picture with North Korea is 
very different from that with Iraq."

So Wolfowitz was comparing Iraq's oil to the economic weakiness of North 
Korea with reference to how much ECONOMIC LEVERAGE the US could exert on 
each country as an alternative method of influence. With North Korea, the US 
could exert much more influence economically because it is "teetering on the 
edge of economic collapse," whereas Iraq which "floats on a sea of oil." 
THAT is what he said, and it is clear if you look at the whole quote. But 
Rene, without investigating the full original quote, left out the second 
sentence and therefore made it seem like Wolfowitz was saying that the US 
went in for Iraqi oil!

Again, Rene, as in philosophy, go to the PRIMARY sources, not secondary ones 
like the Guardian.

Anthony Crifasi

_________________________________________________________________
Add photos to your messages with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*.  
http://join.msn.com/?page=features/featuredemail



     --- from list heidegger-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---

   

Driftline Main Page

 

Display software: ArchTracker © Malgosia Askanas, 2000-2005