Comments on: The Echo Chamber http://rhinehold.org/2009/10/26/the-echo-chamber/ Politics through the view of a Libertarian Fri, 05 Nov 2010 01:23:48 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Rhinehold http://rhinehold.org/2009/10/26/the-echo-chamber/#comment-12 Rhinehold Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:51:26 +0000 http://www.rhinehold.org/?p=229#comment-12 There is a difference with Iraq in that he *DID* have WMDs. They were inventoried and Saddam agreed, as conditions of the cease-fire, to destroy them all in view of UN inspectors. This was to be completed within 90 days of the cease-fire. He spent the next 12 years blocking access to those stores in an attempt to convince the world that he may still have them so that he could not be seen as impotent in the region. He did a good job, convincing pretty much everyone that he still had some remaining stores of those WMDs (and we did find some evidence that some old stores did exist but were seriously dilapidated and mostly unusable due to inadequate storage). This was not a case of 'hive-mind' as you suggested, but a result of a direct manipulation by Saddam that led to the situation that existed. Remember, the sanctions in place because he refused to allow the inspections of the known WMDs to occur was resulting in the deaths of millions of Iraqis already... There is a difference with Iraq in that he *DID* have WMDs. They were inventoried and Saddam agreed, as conditions of the cease-fire, to destroy them all in view of UN inspectors. This was to be completed within 90 days of the cease-fire. He spent the next 12 years blocking access to those stores in an attempt to convince the world that he may still have them so that he could not be seen as impotent in the region. He did a good job, convincing pretty much everyone that he still had some remaining stores of those WMDs (and we did find some evidence that some old stores did exist but were seriously dilapidated and mostly unusable due to inadequate storage).

This was not a case of ‘hive-mind’ as you suggested, but a result of a direct manipulation by Saddam that led to the situation that existed. Remember, the sanctions in place because he refused to allow the inspections of the known WMDs to occur was resulting in the deaths of millions of Iraqis already…

]]> By: Warped Reality http://rhinehold.org/2009/10/26/the-echo-chamber/#comment-11 Warped Reality Wed, 28 Oct 2009 05:35:11 +0000 http://www.rhinehold.org/?p=229#comment-11 Partisanship is nothing new and double standards abound everywhere. I'm a Red Sox fan and I've frequently made comments to the tune that the only reason the Yankees are in the World Series is because A-Rod is back to his old tricks (namely steroids). I even through in the name A-Roid to make the attack stick. Meanwhile, the fact that Manny Ramirez was suspended for drug use a few months ago? Out of sight and out of mind. If the Obama adminsitration follows through on their treat to marginalize Fox News it will merely bite them in the but. It also would give the next GOP president precedent to marginalize MSNBC, CNN or whoever else is parroting left wing talking points. One of the biggest mistakes the Bush administration made in the run up to the Iraq invasion was the fact that dissenting voices were marginalized or pushed out completely, this allowed a group-think to emerge that differed greatly from reality, namely a consensus was reached that Saddam had WMDs when he in fact did not have any. Partisanship is nothing new and double standards abound everywhere. I’m a Red Sox fan and I’ve frequently made comments to the tune that the only reason the Yankees are in the World Series is because A-Rod is back to his old tricks (namely steroids). I even through in the name A-Roid to make the attack stick. Meanwhile, the fact that Manny Ramirez was suspended for drug use a few months ago? Out of sight and out of mind. If the Obama adminsitration follows through on their treat to marginalize Fox News it will merely bite them in the but. It also would give the next GOP president precedent to marginalize MSNBC, CNN or whoever else is parroting left wing talking points. One of the biggest mistakes the Bush administration made in the run up to the Iraq invasion was the fact that dissenting voices were marginalized or pushed out completely, this allowed a group-think to emerge that differed greatly from reality, namely a consensus was reached that Saddam had WMDs when he in fact did not have any.

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