Posted By:
JimBI think it is always important to remember that good people can disagree. As Barry mentioned, most of us have very similar aspirations.
I would like to address a couple of points that Bruce directed toward my comments. I will preface this with saying that I have had several very enjoyable conversations with Bruce about baseball cards and have found him to be very friendly, knowledgable, and dedicated to the hobby. I hope our differences of opinion on politics do not interfere with our hobby friendship.
However I feel I must address a couple of points he raised in his comments directed towards me.
>One final point...Jim Blumenthal is a well respected collector and an internationally
>known Tibetan scholar. He should know better than to imply that the US policy
>in Iraq is solely responsible for all the terrorists in that country. Jim, yours is
>but another example of left wing journalism that distorts the facts.
I did not claim or intend to imply that US policy is solely responsible for all the terrorists in Iraq but I do think it is quite fair to claim that US policy has been the largest single factor. Had we not invaded Iraq, they simply would not be there in anywhere near the numbers of terrorists in Iraq that there are today. And many (both Iraqis and foreigners in Iraq) are certainly new to terrorism since our invasion - no doubt enraged by our arrogance.
Second, Bruce, you claim that I have distorted facts. Can you be more specific? I do not see a single distortion in anything I have posted.
I just heard on the radio today that the UN announced that 3,709 Iraqis were killed in the month of October. That is more than were killed in America on 9/11. I am of the opinion that every needless human death is a tragedy. Having brown skin or being born in the Middle East does not make their deaths any less tragic. They all have mothers and brothers and sisters and friends who mourn their deaths. The needless killing that is a result of US policy is a terrible shame. Yes, I do think US policy has played a major roll in these awful events, but any good scholar knows that things are not as simple as we would like them to be. There are certainly other factors. You are right on that count Bruce.
I love this country, but I have been very ashamed of many of the actions it has taken around the world in the past few years.
Happy Thanksgiving,
JimB