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Old 10-10-2002, 05:47 PM   #12
MaggieL
in the Hour of Scampering
 
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Jeffersonville PA (15 mi NW of Philadelphia)
Posts: 4,060
Quote:
Originally posted by socrates


What I am saying is that I could not see the US in Afghanistan and Iraq(sorry for being premature) if the soviet Empire still existed....
My argument is far from eloquent...
Strikes me as a non sequitur; you started out talking about sustainable energy and consumption and ended up in Afghanistan and Iraq. I guess if you're part of the "big nasty US is the source of all evil" school, it makes enough sense to pass muster, otherwise I think you need to make some connections there first.

When the Soviet Empire existed, Afghanistan was clearly within their hegemony and Iraq was a client state. To this day the Russians are closet (yes, I do mean "closet" and not "closest") allies of the Baath Iraquis because Iraq still owes them several billion dollars which they're unlikely to collect unless Saddam remains in control. (A large part of that debt was spent on buying weapons from the Soviets....which didn't really perform all that well during the Gulf War.)

By the way, Jag: "Hypocritical" is the word you're reaching for. "Hypercritical" is a word too, but not the one you mean; in fact it is nearly opposite in meaning. Spelling does matter sometimes, and spell check won't always save you.
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