Posted by pancho from pool0075.cvx24-bradley.dialup.earthlink.net (209.179.210.75) on Thursday, January 16, 2003 at 2:56PM :
...all the sharks had come onto land and nowhere was safe...along comes this response to that other post from beth...it is refreshing. I might even say I react so favorably to it out of sheer desperation....
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Written by Ben on 16 Jan 2003 17:43:15:
As an answer to: Protest Letter from the Assyrian partys to Georg W. Bush written by NEWS (from www.beth-il.com) on 16 Jan 2003 14:07:07:
To the writers of this letter:
While demanding more representation for the Assyrians and begin weary of Islam as the national religion of Iraq is fair the character assassination of the current Assyrian representatives is stupid because it will undermine their authority and those who replace them in the future no matter who they may be. If your side succeeds in ousting Mr. Yonadam Kanna and Mr. Albert Yelda through such destructive means what makes you sure that their supporters will not do the same to your candidates?
+++BINGO! That's the whole point of these exercises in rooting out "traitors" and the rest of it. The whole point is to weaken anyone who stands a chance of rising above another side... ahead of another Christian sect or tribal region. This is their "work"...keeping each other from ever reaching the "finish" line...never mind start.
It is one thing to sit safe and sound in Germany, sweden or the United States and not be afraid of angering the Kurds and the Arabs it is another to do it when you are living in the belly of the beast. The representation of the Assyrians was not gifted to Mr. Yonadam Kanna and Mr. Albert Yelda it was earned by them because of their dedication to the Assyrian cause, their hard and self sacrificing work of many years. Thanks to Mr. Yonadam Kanna and Mr. Albert Yelda and their supporters for the first time in recent history the Assyrian cause has been brought to the attention of the international community.
+++Ah...any attention that came to us didn't come as a result of anything positive we did...we got the world's "attention"...if you want to call it that...by getting killed...and by alligning ourselves with others. Attention has to be thrust on us, usually in destructive ways, before we'll meekly demand any.
It was all done while facing the formidable forces of Saddam and the Kurds.
You have undermined your first two objections by trying to discredit the current Assyrian representation. This letter portrays you as opportunistic and our people as a bunch of quarrelsome idiots who can not agree on anything between themselves and are constantly at each other's throats.
+++At some point, and 1000 years should be that point...it is no longer a "portrayal" but the real thing...we ARE oportunistic and quarrelsome, among other objectionable things.
The reality is that no matter who represents the Assyrians the 3% or even 6% will not be able to impose their will on the 94% majority . Regardless of who represent us he or she would have plenty of detractors and would need to be careful not to create more enemies for the Assyrian than they already have. Your letter sounds more like a plan by Ghassan Hanna to divide and destroy whatever Assyrians have achieved so far and to undermine our future accomplishments.
If you really care about the future of our people help the present representatives to do a better job rather than discrediting them and sabotaging what they have already accomplished.
+++Unfortunately that is neither realistic nor proper. Their motives need to be understood first. It may well be that none of those identifying themselves today as leaders and representatives have any standing or coherence...just happen to be the ones left upright. We need much more than that.
We need to solve our problems by being willing to help each other rather than considering each other as adversaries. Two thousand years of quarelling is engouh let us learn to solve our differenc
+++Refreshing ain't it?
-- pancho
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