Subj : Re: [OT] Iraq, USA, World, politics, etc. (Was Re: Mandrake vs Suse)
To   : comp.os.linux
From : Willem van der Berg
Date : Fri Aug 27 2004 12:15 pm

On Thu, 26 Aug 2004 16:18:43 -0400, Skip Cope wrote:
> Thanks for your reply Willem, and my sincere apologies for refering to you
> as hailing from Germany. I thought I'd read that somewhere in our exchange.

It happens, don't worry about it. Personally, I think it would be alright
to be German. It's just that I am not. Anyway, don't drag a war which
ended 60 years ago into it. It doesn't do any good and doesn't support any
arguments.

> As for what we've exchanged, even though it's been somewhat negative,
> I'll confess it has been thought provoking. I can wholeheartedly agree

Good :)

> having a balance of power in the world is a good thing, although within
> guidelines. Having someone (Saddam) known for gasing his own people (the
> Kurds), well he's not my idea of a stable world leader who should have
> nuclear weapons. United Europe, sure, as well as China, but not a regime
> like the Husseins.

No one should have WMD, it makes for very tricky games. It is wrong for
just a few thousand people (the ones in various governments) to even
consider/own means that would annihilate everyone and everything. It is
just wrong. I wouldn't appreciate people like Saddam with WMDs either, but
I certainly don't trust Bush's finger on the trigger either... the thing
is, I never asked for him or anyone else to possibly determine my faith. I
didn't vote for him. I can't get rid of him.

> Thanks for saying there's nothing wrong with our people. Guess those
> words were mainly what I wanted to hear. As a people, we're like any
> other, good at heart and lovers of peace. And also like any other, we

Sure. And no one has the right to say otherwise.

> don't like to be thought of as ignorant. I doubt that we're any more
> ignorant than the avg citizen in any other country. We simply have
> differing viewpoints based on what we learn. By the way, our media here

That's true also. It's not a compliment though :) We're all in the same
boat more or less.

> I'm sorry for any unpleasantness on my part within our exchange of
> ideas. I'm actually very glad to learn from you, minus the few ruffled
> feathers from implying I'm stupid :-). I'll take your advice & keep an
> open mind. I'd love to share a few beers and discuss politics sometime.

Well to be honest, I keep promising myself to stop getting involved in
political discussions. It's all bullshit anyway, so I'd rather discuss
something a bit more interesting ;)

> If you're ever in the states, please keep that in mind. Have a great
> day. Sincerely, Skip

Thanks! You have a good one too.

Willem

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