tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077210.post2989272956859144423..comments2024-03-28T08:37:58.136+01:00Comments on Limited, Inc.: Election thoughtsRoger Gathmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257400843748041639noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077210.post-6510830593001204932008-10-23T19:06:00.000+02:002008-10-23T19:06:00.000+02:00I think there was a little more to it than purely ...I think there was a little more to it than purely theoretical dispute of how to best administer the economy.<BR/><BR/>Anyway, it's just that I'm skeptical about this theory of extreme hostility between Shia and Sunni Muslims. I think it's probably more like the USSR vs China rather than USSR vs the US. <BR/><BR/>I'm also skeptical about the 'Muslim fundies in Chechnya' stories, sounds like Russian propaganda.<BR/><BR/>But what do I know.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077210.post-44322469515002607702008-10-22T22:39:00.000+02:002008-10-22T22:39:00.000+02:00ps - were you pulling my leg, Mr. Abb? I was think...ps - were you pulling my leg, Mr. Abb? <BR/>I was thinking about cold wars. Actually, the U.S. and the USSR nearly destroyed the human population of the earth over the question of how to administer a modern industrial system - through a state payed management cadre, or one paid by each enterprise itself. It may seem to have been a petty thing, from a long distance, but it was a real dispute up close, as important, viz Lemuel Gulliver, as what side you should crack an egg on. Question not the symbols.Roger Gathmannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11257400843748041639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077210.post-22548247000738015762008-10-22T21:51:00.000+02:002008-10-22T21:51:00.000+02:00abb1, well, they have been having a cold war for s...abb1, well, they have been having a cold war for some time. Saudi Arabia is notorious for persecuting its Shi'a minority. The "conservatism" of the Sunni - which is actually a very modern Islamic trend, the Wahabis - think of the Shias as idolators. Whenever radical Sunni groups get a chance - say, in Chechnya in the 90s - they immediately start killing Shia or Sufis (the later being another heretical school). Besides which, the House of Saud has feared the Iranians since the revolt in Mecca in 1979, which was instigated by a group inspired by Khomeini. <BR/>Why do you think the Saudis financed the Pakistan bomb? We got to look at the totals of money that went through to Saddam Hussein in the war with Iran, and the totals were in the tens of billions. <BR/>"Conservative" doesn't mean very much in this context. <BR/>Saudi Arabia isn't the equivalent of the Vatican, either. That would be closer to the official government set up in Iran. In Saudi Arabia, the royal family does not have a religious position. They defend the faith, but they are unable to hand down fatwas. <BR/><BR/>Surely I am not telling you anything new, here.Roger Gathmannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11257400843748041639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3077210.post-21027043068188492892008-10-22T21:36:00.000+02:002008-10-22T21:36:00.000+02:00Hmm. Why would Saudi Arabia and Iran have a cold w...Hmm. Why would Saudi Arabia and Iran have a cold war or, for that matter, be antagonistic to each other at all? <BR/><BR/>Saudi Arabia is a sort of a Muslim equivalent of the Vatican, little ultra-conservative super-religious absolute monarchy. Its mission is to protect and administer Islam's holy sites. I don't get the impression that it involves fighting Iran, containing Iran, or doing anything to Iran, really.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com