03-07-2003, 04:33 AM
Saddam, for all of his strong arm practices, is a modernist, secularist Arab, not a reactionary like, say, Osama Bin Ladin or his relative, the King of Saudi Arabia.
What I have no real feel for is how widespread his PoV is in Iraq. I do know that he has, like Khadafi, done his share to supress fundamentalists in his country. Once he and his core supporters are gone, will that create an environment conducive to the less progressive sorts being able to steer Iraqi society toward a more fundamentalist direction?
The response to Future SHock varies from place to place. I wonder if modern Iraqi society has, by the brute force of a generation of having had to do so, weaned itself from the Koran and the Sharia as The Law? Iran presents a compelling model for the backlash to medeival modes of social reaction when the modernists are thrown out.
What I am sure will not happen is a whole bunch of folks gathering around, holding hands and singing "kumbaya."
See Yugoslavia for a more likely model of post strongman social upheaval, as Jarulf suggests.
What I have no real feel for is how widespread his PoV is in Iraq. I do know that he has, like Khadafi, done his share to supress fundamentalists in his country. Once he and his core supporters are gone, will that create an environment conducive to the less progressive sorts being able to steer Iraqi society toward a more fundamentalist direction?
The response to Future SHock varies from place to place. I wonder if modern Iraqi society has, by the brute force of a generation of having had to do so, weaned itself from the Koran and the Sharia as The Law? Iran presents a compelling model for the backlash to medeival modes of social reaction when the modernists are thrown out.
What I am sure will not happen is a whole bunch of folks gathering around, holding hands and singing "kumbaya."
See Yugoslavia for a more likely model of post strongman social upheaval, as Jarulf suggests.
Cry 'Havoc' and let slip the Men 'O War!
In War, the outcome is never final. --Carl von Clausewitz--
Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum
John 11:35 - consider why.
In Memory of Pete
In War, the outcome is never final. --Carl von Clausewitz--
Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum
John 11:35 - consider why.
In Memory of Pete