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In deciding to use the unsung Zarqawi as an excuse for launching a new front in the war against terrorism, the White House had managed to launch the career of one of the century’s great terrorists.
“The fertile soil was Iraq after de-Baathification,” Richer said. “The rain and sunshine were the ineptitude of the provisional authority and U.S. misunderstanding of Iraqis and their culture. “All of that,” he said, “allowed Zarqawi to blossom and grow.”
I wonder what kind of flower Zarqawi would be. Corpse flower maybe?
his belief in his own greatness was swelling like a tumor. Long-settled doctrinal issues, such as the prohibition against killing innocents, no longer mattered, because Zarqawi’s opinions trumped centuries of Islamic scholarship.
“Let us not merely be people of killing, slaughter, blood, cursing, insult, and harshness,” Atiyah wrote. “Let us put everything in perspective. Let our mercy overcome our anger.”
You know things have gotten out of control when al-Qaeda is the one calling for mercy
tradition-bound political system that protected the country’s elite: wealthy oligarchs and rich royals who had no interest in giving up their privileges.
doesn't sound so far off from our own political system
